June 13, 2021 – Quite the Unexpected Adventure – Berks County Limestoner

Flowering catalpas providing the shade.

Taking advantage of cooler temperatures and better flows, I decided on Saturday night that I would sneak out early on Sunday morning and fish a Berks County creek that I have not fished since the winter or very, very early spring before it was off limits in March.  It is a stocked creek with some pockets of wild fish, but most of them (though certainly not all) are small—the wilds that is.  The creek has great bug life and cooler flows than your average freestoner due to some limestone influence in the tributaries, so the fish hold over really well here too.  As a result, I avoid the creek until June and also love to fish it in the fall and winter when it’s only me and a handful of other fly guys who bother to fish it (three of us during the weekdays).  This solitude and mixed bag was what I was expecting this morning: some pretty and healthy holdovers that the bait crew had forgotten about, along with some small to average wild fish once in a while, all in a shady wooded area hopefully not teeming with mosquitos yet (not yet anyway, but gnats are out!). 

Would have been content with this.

The population fluctuates here, but the swing has been up in the last couple of years.  Today, I found the hen that likely birthed a good number of my small friends over the years.  I always assumed reproduction here took place in those aforementioned tributaries, mostly in private hands, but I may have to look more closely for redds this fall because of her proximity to a historically rich cache of wild fish.  My adventure ended about as well as fighting a 19 or 20 inch fish with my 3 weight in a small creek full of woody obstructions on 6X with a size 18 perdigon in its mouth.  She had the dropper too, not the main line more firmly attached to my anchor fly.  I haven’t done the math, but I think I am back to batting 500 with these pigs during a spring where I had been enjoying better than all-star numbers with my at bats. 

Pretty holdovers, one bow all morning.

I was fishing by 6 AM.  I was shocked that another car was parked when I arrived, but there was another when I left, and both had hitch racks, so I think my only competition for these spots are road bike enthusiasts.  It is bucolic AF in this part of SEPA, so I am okay with sharing.  The pull off had a foot of water in it, and the early bird was in the only dry spot, so I had to dress out in the road, but thank goodness for a little ground clearance (and a little who cares if it gets wet and dirty) with the old ‘Ru.  I didn’t take a water temp, but the gage was showing low to mid-60’s after rising over 70 a couple times in the last week.  The water was higher and stained, so maybe a cell of storms had passed in the night.  These storms also raise the water temps this time of year, especially if they run off over hot road surfaces.  No surprise, then, that chubs were out.  I think they are spawning too, so even more aggressive than normal.  I caught a colored-up king chub later in the morning, and I also encountered smallmouth throughout the day, including one close to 13 inches, that I dropped before a photo, on down to several YOY who loved Eric’s perdigon.

Small wilds, small smallmouth

I started out tossing a caddis larva and a frenchie with a gold hot spot on the dropper.  Only the stockers took the dropper, but they were gorgeous, perfect fish.  For a couple, if I didn’t know better (I do) I would have called them wild fish at first glance.  More likely that they were multi-year holdovers, plus the Commish is stocking some browns that have much better diets and colors these days.  I did pick up a handful of small wilds on the larva too.  In a couple deeper holes, I switched out the larva to a bomb walts in size 16 and added a darker size 18 perdigon to the dropper.  It was the perdigon that opened up the buffet.  I landed a couple respectable wild browns, plus more holdovers, even the only rainbow of the day on Eric’s tiny natural-looking bug.

More wild browns.

I was fishing 6X, as I have mentioned, but as I approached a stretch of the creek where more wild fish are present, I had the forethought to switch out to 5X.  The water was stained, and the bugs I was using are designed to sink pretty fast, anyway.  Had that stop gone differently, there is a chance this post would have opened with a big old wild trout photo!  Maybe.  Anyway, I usually have a 5X spool on my tippet tender and an extra in the bag, but when I pulled maybe three feet off the spool on my tender and realized that was it, I could not locate more 5X in my pack.  I also dropped that three foot length somewhere in the grass.  Instead of going to 4X with a perdigon, not great, I re-re-rigged with 6X again.  The knots were good, as I landed a mess of fish with the new rig at a favorite deep run and hole.  The holdover browns, including more lovely fish, even a male that, short of an eye spot, I would have called wild, jumped on Eric’s perdigon and a bomb walts in equal measure.

More lovely holdovers; that one male in the top left though...

There were only signs of caddis and midges all morning, but the fish were up off the bottom and eating at this hour.  After a good run of fish here, I kept pushing upstream towards the two holes at the end of this stretch, the ones that made me want to switch to 5X.  I have never seen a huge fish here, and I have put in some time for many years here, but I have landed many over 12 inches.  Storms alter this stretch every year, and it is full of sand but also wood.  It is an obstacle course of down trees and undercuts piled with flood-deposited limbs.  I landed a couple small wild browns in a certain newer hole, meaning it has not always been this deep.  It is near a big fish lair, in theory, but I have never seen a big one here, and I would have—it is clear and low between the obvious structure.  Well, I tossed the bugs up into this new hole a third or fourth time, and saw a massive fish take.  I set the hook, and turned a big wild fish.  The minute she moved out of the darker depression and over the shallower sandy bottom, I could see just how big and wild she was.  In the sun, she was lit up electric like a mahi mahi, gold fins flared! 

That tiny bug on 6X a catch 22 itself.

This was a potential PB for this creek, and potentially another 20-incher.  Knowing I was fishing 6X and eventually confirming she had the smaller of my two flies, and on the dropper tag, I really just kept her tight and gently fought her for a couple minutes.  I even got behind her and tried to spook her upstream a few times when she looked ready to head down into her hiding spot, one of the aforementioned woody messes.  I could not stop her from eventually making a run for it, but I avoided disaster at least once.  She found one stick on the way to the undercut and was wrapped, so much so that I grabbed my net to try and salvage the landing—I was so convinced that this was going to be over soon.  As I approached, she spooked again and actually freed herself from that one.  But now she was below me and pulling drag towards more logs and limbs.  I chased and kept her from the obstructions again.  I was nearly below her again too.  I thought this was it, I had this one.  When I had a good opportunity to net, I went for it, and in the muddy water my pursuit had created, I actually thought I had the fish.  Nope.  She must have shot under my legs.  The tag was gone, along with the perdigon and the fish, and the anchor fly was in my gravel guard…

Everyone loves that little sculpin, I guess.  I actually see real ones here often.

After the dry heaves subsided, I fished the single walts through the rest of this stretch and kept taking a more smalls.  For the walk back, I switched to 4X and Eric’s micro-sculpin.  Now I had 4X, you know?  I had fun on the way back with a mixed bag of fish, including more wild browns, a couple decent small stream bass, and even #chublife.  I think I have had larger chubs eat a streamer on other creeks too.  They are a tough fish when they get to a certain size, sort of like the fallfish on the mighty Delaware.  By noon, I could not even get a follow, and I was close to the parking spot again, so I called it good.  Paradoxically, this would have been a good day with and without the big fish encounter.  Going out with low expectations and having them met or exceeded is a successful day in my book.  It is a catch 22, however!  Would it have been better if I just caught 25 or 30 trout on small bugs with 6X?  It also sucks that I actually took the time to make the right move, and I failed to have my bag stocked with a backup spool.  The through the legs thing?  Rookie mistake.  In the end, I will just say awesome day that could have been much more awesome.