May 4, 2021 – Able to Recapture a Small Percentage of the Old Magic – Northampton County Limestoner

Not a streamer piggy but a solid fish close to 17.

It’s been a weird spring even by the new normal standards.  I am almost used to it getting warmer much sooner than it once did and the hatches being weeks ahead of schedule at times, but this no rain thing in April is not great.  Trying to see the bright side, I have been taking advantage of the low water by going to sections of the Lehigh River and the Brodhead that I usually fish in late spring and early summer—I even thought about the West Branch this week!  Imagine waking at 4 AM this morning, then, and realizing that the Brodhead had doubled in flow.  I was all out of whack with my plans for today, as a result.  The storms must have been localized because I thought about Bushkill, but that had not moved, nor had other creeks in the Lehigh Valley, though storms were still moving through.  I just headed north when I left the house around 5:15 AM this morning.  When I got about 45 minutes into the ride, figuring I might just do a tour of three or four creeks within an hour of home, the skies opened up again.  Maybe it was the rain that made me think of some glory days on a particular creek that used to respond to rain in magical ways.  If nothing else, the memories made me excited enough to have a real plan in place now, at least to start, and I kept on driving.

A little muddy to start.

When I arrived at the creek, it was muddy and high, but not so high that it should have been this muddy.  It used to take a lot more rain to give this creek any more than a productive stain, but changes upstream are to blame.  I think they are temporary and might work themselves out over time if I am working with a half-full glass.  To that end, I caught a mess of fish here today, mostly one or two years old, so brighter days are ahead if the fishing pressure normalizes post-pandemic.  New homemade DHALO signs have gone up with the “Do Not Litter” signs posted by gracious landowners, which may be a sign of the pressure and a good reaction to it, as well.  DIY DHALO?  Along with another fly guy he encountered the same day, I helped convince a worm fisherman to release of 20-inch wild brown several years ago that was destined for the smoker.  I have caught many big fish here on streamers after the rain, but not in a few years.  I did land a 16-incher in early March here, but it was one of only a couple fish, I believe.  The new signs had gone up after that time, so pressure so far may have been silly this warm spring.

Eric's small sculpin bite

I was rigged up with junk flies to fish the post rain water, but until it got a little lighter out and I could see just how stained the creek was, I was not committed to staying.  It did not look like nymphing conditions in low light and clouds of 6:30 AM.  I decided that a streamer against the banks and in the eddies was my best bet, so I rigged one of Eric’s new micro-sculpins on the point and a black bunny leech on the dropper.  It took 30 minutes to move a fish that I did not see, just a surface splash as I lifted to cast again, but I did eventually land a 12-inch fish on the sculpin as it swung in the back of a deep eddy—a little validation that fishing might happen today, so I decided to stay for a while.  I at least had to work my way through a few big fish holes (well former big fish holes, at least) before I decided on my next destination. 

Long and skinny but delivered on hope.

As it got brighter out, I could see that the creek was indeed pretty muddy, and I only moved two other fish with the sculpin in the next 30 minutes or more.  Fish might be in the riffles where visibility is better, I thought, so I took the time to rig up some bugs that might fool a caddis eater or two.  That is when the dink fest began, but because I landed some fish, I decided that things might only get better as the water cleared and hatches began, so I planned to stay and try to relive some better times.  At around 11 AM, I needed to lose some clothing layers and get a little food in me, so I hit pause and moved to another parking spot further upstream too.  With sun and clouds, I could see that the creek was starting to look productive, but undecided about which way to proceed, I did something I rarely do: both.  No I didn’t both stay and leave, but I did decide to carry the streamer rod AND the nymphing rod for my second shift.

Dinks on larger caddis larva; turtle enjoying the clearing shallows too.

I could only see midges flying over the water in the morning, with an isolated larger tan caddis, but eventually I caught on that the real menu item was likely the hundreds of little dark sedges that were all over the place.  I think one landed on my neck, so don’t be quick to congratulate me on how perceptive I was this morning!  Instead of an 18 soft hackle pt or something, my eyes caught sight of a few of Eric’s small black stonefly ties.  We never got to fish the early black stonefly emergence with them this February or March, but they look damn sexy—the one I decided on even had a black bead and some rubber legs.  That made the dink fest go into full swing, but I also landed a beauty over 13 inches shortly after making the change.  From up on the bank, I swore I saw a couple fish flashing for emergers, and one looked like a good trout.  They were in a riffle all of 12 inches deep, so I crept in behind them and took two little ones before hooking this wide, leaping male.  Now I was excited and made my decision to stay and fish through the emergence and clearing water.

Sometimes you can bring a stonefly to a caddis fight.

The only fish I landed with the streamer rod, which I continued to carry along and tried not to lose in the knotweed each time I made the switch from nymphing rod to streamer rod, streamer rod to nymphing rod, were rainbows, which liked Sam’s roberdeau.   I caught a few stocker bows on the black nymph too, including one that looked wild.  The fish hold over in this creek for a long time before getting too big and moving to the river or the dinner table, but once in a while I catch small ones that look way too good.  The fins on this one were translucent and white-tipped, and for an adult fish well out of parr marks it was way colored up too.  I have caught a couple sub-legal bows in this general area too, which only adds to or confirms the mystery.  This is SEPA (or this is PA) so I am never amazed at where stocked fish, even stocked fingerlings, might end up.  It may simply be a great diet in a healthy creek, as well.  Besides the novelty of some bows, the sheer number of dink wild browns made me feel good about the future of this gem of a creek, even if I missed the past.  I had landed at least 25 fish by 3 PM, but the best were only 12+ and 13+ inches, respectively, which is a bit like the fluke fishing in Jersey back bays....  

A mid-afternoon rainbow interlude.

I was not done yet, however.  Before walking back to the ‘Ru, I decided to fish two riffles with some decent depth but better structure in the form of undercuts, roots, and overhanging trees.  I usually pull something out of one of these, and several dinks came from holes like this during the day, but neither of these prime lies gave up a thing earlier.  That could mean a lot of things, but sometimes it means a better but inactive fish has taken hold in there.  I expected the second such spot to hold a better fish, but it only yielded my last dinker of the day, but a good fish close to 17 inches surprised me in the first.  I was not so surprised that I was not ready with a good hookset—catching 20-some fish in a day will sharpen that skill too—but I was excited when I saw this one take to the air.  In shallow riffles, some 4 to 8 inches deep at best, he put on a show for anyone watching.  It was part comedy if you concentrated solely on me, I bet, as I stayed focused on the fish and keeping him above me while I stumbled through riffles and fumbled for the net.  

Took a lot of pics of this pretty fish.

There was no perfect place in sight to land him, and I missed the first decent opportunity to net him, but I did get him eventually.  It was not a ghost of the 18- to 20-inchers from the past, but it was a solid, sexually-mature fish, like the first buck I caught today only bigger, so hope remains for this crick.  All those fish from the previous year class and a few remaining good fish that look healthy as can be?  If folks would just go back to work and school this fall, this old favorite might have a chance, especially if I see YOY this fall in the same numbers as the previous class.  Fingers crossed.

Clearing water and the little black sedge proxy made for a fun afternoon.

I hadn’t much noticed how clear the creek had become by now, but I had noticed the sun and heat.  I was out of productive, unposted water here, so I told Tami via text that I might take a look at one more stretch.   If occupied with cars and trucks, I would head home.  If not, I would try to pick through some bows for another good fish eating those small dark caddis.  Well, now that it was 4 PM, dudes were in both sidings upstream suiting up, so I found another place to park and change for the ride home.  There would be no 12 hour tour this particular Tuesday, although the mighty Delaware was looking very fishable on the way home.  More rain on Wednesday, so maybe another adventure on Thursday this week, or at least a shot at some locals in stained water?  We shall see.  The upcoming week looks “normal,” at least.