May 13, 2021 – Got One of My White Whales to Pose with Me – Northampton County Limestoner

Second pig of the week

With low water, bright sun, and higher temps expected today, I did not go out with a plan to catch a big fish, especially after having a day of piggies on Tuesday.  Honestly, the cat somehow slept until 3 AM in the top shelf of my closet before lighting up the room with an unsuccessful attempt at entering my password on the laptop as she used my desk as an interim step to the floor.  Now up, I couldn’t fall back asleep for an hour, so I made coffee and made an impromptu plan.  I fish this creek a dozen times a year or more, but I had not been here yet this spring.  The USGS site is depressing right now, and even this creek was very low for this time of the year, but this is one of the larger creeks among my go-to’s closer to home, and I do have a white whale or two here.  The flow was about where it would be in midsummer and still had a little limestone tint, so it could have been worse conditions.  It was chilly, like 39 degrees on the drive up, and I even saw some frost on Bucks County lawns.  I took the scenic route up the river to give it time to warm up a little, and I watched an eagle fish while I took a piss break at a scenic overlook.  I was just in a relaxed mood, not expecting much and just set on enjoying the morning.

Pretty morning and a decent start.

There were some retired dog walkers out at 7 AM, and I ran into one spinner fisherman at around 11 AM when I was fixing to go home, adequately sated as I was.  The plan was to work some pocket water with perdigons, hoping for some holdover and spring stocked rainbows and at least a couple wild browns.  I hooked a bow on Eric’s quill perdigon early, followed by another bow and then a good wild brown over 13 inches.  I was already content with the choice of creek and my morning, but the flurry of activity gave me hope for an even better fishing trip than expected.  I had few half-hearted bumps in places where wild browns live, so the conditions had them feeling a little dicky.  Even to catch a half a dozen bows, I was using 6X and size 18 bugs.  Only midges were active even as the sun started to warm up the day quickly.

Eric's bug fooled a mess of bows and one decent brownie too.

Around 9:30 AM I did notice some caddis, so I thought it wise to stop the midge nonsense and rig up with 5X and a waltz on the point and a blowtorch on the dropper.  More bows as I worked my way quietly through a prime location where I have landed, hooked and lost, jumped, and/or broke off some big trout over the years.  I had one about 24 on the lip of an inadequate net before he just came off the barbless hook, and that was within recent memory.  That fish may no longer be with us, but one of his kin took the blowtorch in the head of a riffle.  I knew immediately by his behavior that he was a big brown, but I didn’t know how big.  He just did everything possible at first to stay in that riffle, so I took the opportunity to move down below him in anticipation of the fight eventually beginning.  It did, of course.  I had my 10’ 3-weight today, so I had my hands full, I guess, but I did at least have 5X and bigger bugs on now.  Instead of fluoro, I have been using the SA copoly tippet more these days too.  I had a couple nicer fish pull fluorocarbon knots, especially in the cold, so I have been shying away from it at times like these when I know a pig lives in the area.

Say "cheese" not "shoot" next time?

I guess the lens on my phone’s selfie camera got wet, so I actually got a full definition selfie shot of this one.  I have to reconsider using the command “shoot” to get the camera to respond.  First of all, Eric thinks I am having troubles when I say it, and second of all, I notice the shot catches the tail end of my mouth making the command—hence all the mouth-breather shots.  I suppose I may look sexier if I use “cheese” instead?  I guess it’s hard not to look sexy to other trout fishermen while holding fat 20-inch wild brown, however.  Anyway, I got many shots, as you can see.  Where to go from there?  Well, I just finished out the run of water with more bows before a logical take-out point.  I walked back down toward the car and had some water before retrying one favorite plunge that only produced rainbows the first time through.  It produced nothing this time, but it was getting warm and sunny and even less buggy as lunch time approached.  I took some time to admire the gosling and the merganser ducklings in a shady spot, and I took a leisurely ride home and stopped by another creek to watch some wild browns rise and fight off pesky rainbows for the prime lanes. I was just curious what was happening here, but sated enough to resist suiting up again.  No rain in the 7-day at all, so not sure what next week holds, maybe the beach?

The insurance shot in case nothing else turned out or I dropped him...