July 11, 2021 – Now That Was Fun! – Northampton County Limestoner

I am never mad at a holdover this thick and angry.

I think it is heat wave number four that is upon us starting Monday, but I was fortunate enough to have the time to sneak in another trip before that this morning.  Flows were normal for summer, and cool enough in the morning, to visit a different Lehigh Valley limestoner today.  I was fishing, and even notching three rainbows, before 6 AM, and I was walking back to the ‘Ru before 10.  It was cloudy and gray, though humid, for most of my stay, and I even got rained on twice—once early in the morning and again as I was packing up (continuing for the first half of my drive home).  The water was very clear again, though showing a bit of limestone color due to the recharged springs, I suppose, but the gray, cloudy conditions had many of the fish eating.  I caught a mess of fish, an equal number of bows and wild browns, but the bigger browns stayed hidden again.  Catching a couple pig, long-time holdover rainbows, acrobatic and wily, I had a blast, though.  I don’t discriminate on this creek because some of the rainbows have been in here so long they may as well be wild.   When an 18-inch redband beauty takes to the sky twice and digs for all he’s worth it’s hard not to give him his just due.  I even got a couple bows and one wild brown to take a micro-sculpin on the swing just before I left.  Against brand, I also watched a handful rise to spent trico spinners for a while and was ready to switch out my nymphing line just before I noticed more approaching wet stuff and decided to call it good—preferring to be caught in a downpour only once today.

Small browns on Eric's caddis larva and even some bonus bugger fish to end the day.

I suited up before sunrise, made darker by the clouds, and walked into the first hole early enough that I was fishing mostly by feel when I landed my first two bows.  I had a sexy walts on the anchor fly and a pink tag fly on the dropper, and the first three fish took the walts very deep.  There were, however, a few splashy rises happening, so I did try to swing that CDC jig for a minute before deciding my best bet was to start fishing the pocket water I had parked here to fish.  A few average spring holdover rainbows who were smart enough to take a long swim for better conditions was a nice warm up but not why I came this morning.  The more seasoned browns were definitely spending more active feeding time in pocket water, I reasoned.  As I mentioned above, I did catch at least 8 wild browns in pockets and a deep plunge pool tight to the whiter water, but none of them was over 11 inches today.  Those pocket water browns all took Eric’s electric caddis larva in size 16.  They made me work for it though.  I got the feeling they were not interested in leaving their prime lies to make a move.   Luckily, if they made a swipe and didn’t feel a hook, they would swipe again.  That is a benefit of working pocket water and faster current.

A couple browns in the deep plunge pool too.

The browns were still beautiful and fun, but the stars of the morning were a pair of big rainbows and a couple smaller cousins.  The fish that opens this post was a big male, which is sort of rare with stockies that are overwhelmingly female.  I landed an even bigger male last year in this same creek.  I sometimes wonder with all the possible mates present that these guys don’t decide to move in here someday, but I have never caught any parr in this creek.  This one was roughly 18, colored-up, and ornery.  I landed a hen brown just shy of 20 inches in this area last year, so until this bow jumped (twice) I thought maybe I had fooled her again.  Besides how strong and beautiful they were, the other clue that a couple of these bows had been around a while was how well they knew their surroundings.  Like the two browns I also landed at this plunge, this big bow and another hen dug for all the obstructions that would lead to freedom once the leaping did not work.  The leaping might have worked on the buck because he took my dropper tag with a size 18 quill perdigon—only the two browns here took that fly over Sam’s sexy walts.

Many spring holdovers, some cuter than others.

When I was about ready to call it a day, I had a hard time believing that I could not find a decent brown with all these bows feeling good in the cool water full of bug life.  Maybe a bigger meal?   My last ditch effort was a jigged bugger, first tight against the plunge and finally swinging out in the boulder-strewn flats below.  I landed a couple bows hopping the bug in the white water, and I moved an average brown and another leaping bow swinging and stripping the bugger.  Now that’s a fun way to end an already fun morning!  Those two big rainbows would have to be it as far as big fish today, as it was starting to warm up.  The plan was to quit at 9:30, and I was looking at maybe 9:45, so not too far off the plan.   I climbed out of the creek and hiked the roads back to the parking spot, shocked that there were not dozens of enthusiasts suiting up and lifting bikes off racks.  I guess they saw the forecast or the radar.  I stood at a bridge and watched the tricos swarm and eventually saw three or four fish dimpling downstream a ways.  I grabbed something to drink from the ‘Ru and took a short walk down to watch them and debate with myself about re-rigging to dry fly fish.  It was not hot yet, and the sun had yet to come out.  I knew the water was 65 at best.  Dry fly fishing tiny bugs could be a nice way to end the day even if they were likely more stocked rainbows. 

A nice female too with white-tipped fins, good colors, and bad attitude.

Well, the rain started as a drizzle, then isolated big drops, and then two mountain bikers tore past me soaking wet.  By the time I walked back to the ‘Ru and got undressed, it was coming down steady again.  In the humidity, it had taken two hours to dry off (sort of) from the first downpour I stood in while catching the browns in pocket water, so I probably made the right call.  The only possibly unwise thing I chose was hitting the highway, but I got lucky and didn’t run into any accidents, just slower traffic.  The rain only lasted 30 minutes, so had it been earlier in the morning, I might have sat it out and thrown a streamer!  It did nothing to cool things off, so a nap was actually time better spent.