January 23 and 28, 2022 – Ice and then Snow before the Next Storm – A Couple SEPA Cricks

A stealthy young Eric at the bottom left.  Ice should be easy enough to see.

Despite the cold week, Eric and I hatched a plan to fish for a few hours on Sunday at our little blue line spot.  As a freestoner, there was no doubt there would be ice, but we were lucky enough to have Eric’s dad do a drive-by with his phone on Friday.  We saw enough open water to justify a walk in the woods with fishing rods if nothing else.  With low expectations, we did just that, and things turned out about how I expected.  There were quite a few spots totally locked in with ice, but we landed a few fish, including a decent and camera shy 11-incher for Eric.  I believe the fish took a size 16 or 18 caddis larva.  Both of the fish I landed took an olive jigged streamer in a deep wintering hole, but I lost a much better one on a golden stone when it dove under the ice in front of me—like slipping on that invisible ice at the edges of the fringe ice, a hazard this time of year.  It was a risky (or stupid) cast, under a rake of branches and tight to a log jam, but with water low, clear, and frigid, of course one ate right there in the mess of wood and ice.  Had I thought not only about where to land the fish but where my rod could go to get a better hookset, I might have had a picture for you.  Eric’s fish, well, I am pretty sure he also dove under the ice, and the lip of my net.  One thing for certain, we thought the fight was over and were digging for phones to take a pic of this lovely male still colored up from the spawn, and all we got was that caddis larva stuck to the outside and bottom of my net.

Some fish caught, even one photographed.  Treated to snow geese on the drive out.

Another Nor’easter is slated for tonight into Saturday, and like the last one (or two?) South Jersey seems to be taking the brunt of it.  We might get up to 7 inches tonight, but the snow showers today that amounted to maybe a couple inches motivated me to take a walk with a fishing rod. As I suspected, it was pretty as heck along this SEPA limestoner, and I even got a picture of a fox crossing a snowy log (though you may have to squint to see him in the collage).  Fish were caught too.  I landed two decent ones around 8 or 9 inches on a jigged bugger.  The first was my first fish, and I did not take off gloves or dig out my phone in the snow showers.  The second, well, I dropped that one trying to take a photo of Eric’s jigged bugger in his jaw.  

Pretty woods, a ghastly hookset, a fox on a log with ducks.

A theme this week, besides cold, is my poor or apathetic fish photography!  I guess I have seen enough average small stream fish not to want to handle them too much when the air temps are below freezing?  Yeah, maybe.  If I do land a decent fish this month, I promise to do a decent photoshoot.  Besides the two fish I have to leave to your imagination, I also stuck a small one a little too hard after that with the bugger—the barbless hook went clean through her poor face!  I was only there from noon to 2 PM, but I also landed at least five more on a perdigon under a small Palsa pinch-on indicator too.  Of course, I got clear, clean pics of a couple dinks from that collection.  Not a banner month, but I may be able to get out one more time before January comes to an end.  Regardless of what our boy Phil sees next week, the first week of February looks promising on the fishing front with needed rain and a warm up. 

Warmer weather and better fish pictures in February?

January 14, 2022 – Just Barely Snuck in a Morning before the Next Cold Front – Berks County

A handful of small stream wild browns on the bugger before the blow

I almost missed the first milder window in a good while.  I was tied up on Thursday when it reached about 47 degrees in my area, but I saw that the weather change on Friday was coming during the late morning.  That means it was above freezing overnight after many nights in the 20's (and forecasted future days in the teens and single digits).  I did not get out at the crack of dawn like I intended, but for winter I was fishing pretty early this morning.  I took a ride to a beautiful trickle in Berks that was surprisingly occupied one post-spawn morning the last time I was in the area.  There is not a lot of water to cover, and only two spots I can park and fish without trespassing, but I knew where fish would be.  There are only so many winter spots on a creek this small.  Well, I caught a handful of trout, all but one a small jigged bugger, before the wind kicked up and the temperatures dropped again, so mission accomplished.

Slow and deep + ya! ya!

Tami checked to see how I was doing and to let me know she’d be home for the boy’s early dismissal, and I sent her a couple pics of the woods.  She asked if fishing this time of year was just a reason to hang out in the pretty woods.  She was of course right.  To catch 5 or 6 fish today was a bonus, and there is pride in a plan working out, but really I am just happy to get out when the weather sets in like this.  The fact that I didn’t have to fish for local stockies, or even visit Valley, and could actually get out in these pretty woods is even more awesome this time of year.  Some residual snow remained in those places where the sun rarely hits, but besides some fringe ice and frozen side channels the creek was free and clear.  I had heard some reports of frazil ice in freestoners, even Lehigh Valley creeks getting over 50% locked up, but this creek is helped by a few springs here and there and has a good gradient.  I did text Ward a picture of what he and my brothers and I used to call “ya ya” ice as kids.  It’s that air-filled fringe ice between rocks and such, and it used to provide hours of fun chopping with hockey sticks and dead branches in our local woods—a lot of karate “hi ya’s” mixed in for effect.

Should have known to sharpen the hook after looking at all the paint off that bead!

The water was low and ultra-clear, the sun was bright, so I spooked a few decent fish despite my best intentions.  I also successfully stalked a pod hanging close to a rocky shelf and enticed the smallest fish in the bunch, and my smallest of the day, with an egg pattern.  The other fish I landed were 10-inch class wild browns, dark and lovely from hanging in a deep rocky hole.  The most memorable was the 12-icher I lost before a photo.  Even in a hole at least 4 feet deep, I could see this one slowly chasing and swiping with a wink of white mouth—one time, two times, three times, and I finally stuck him nearly at the end of my rod when he finally caught the jig.  We had a short tussle in the deep and even two jumps before he dropped off right before the net job.  It was my first fish of the morning, of course, but at least he prompted me to sharpen the hook on that jigged streamer and that probably allowed me to land the others; plus I know where he lives if I get another chance before spring when the fish spread out again.  It might be nice to fish in the fresh snow on Monday, but we will have to see how much snow (or rain) we get.  I am hoping I don’t have to wait another 10 days or more between trips, and I am also glad I did not miss this window, however short.

I guess the dink beat the others to the clown fart, but she needs to eat more than they do.

January 2, 2022 – On the Board for 2022 Just Before Winter Returns – Northampton County Limestoner

A couple "early" on a black micro-streamer and one on an olive before I left for home.

I thought the rain on Saturday night might get me excited enough to rise early and give the streamer bite a shot this morning, but I guess I had my fill on Friday or just needed the rest.  Knowing the flows were muddy but also the best they had been in months, I eventually decided at least to stretch the legs and get on the board for the New Year.  Monday and Tuesday this week promise to be cold, too, so after a couple cups of coffee I convinced myself with Tami’s help to take a low-stakes ride and toss a small streamer or, if the flows were clearing, something buggy and dark like a duracell.  It was probably 11 AM before I left the house, maybe later, and not surprisingly I saw a dude suiting up and another in the water at the first spot when I arrived, so I took another shorter drive to look for some elbow room on this small creek.  My fishing agoraphobia does not jibe well with these relaxed start times, but that’s why I have to convince myself that some trips are just a walk with a fishing rod not “serious business”!

A couple on a small duracell, muddy normal flows, and Eric's jigged streamer.

At the first hole, I jumped one and landed two on a black jigged bugger just hopped downstream on the mono rig.  I thought I was going to keep this pattern going for a while.  It fizzled pretty quickly, though.  The fish were actively hanging in the softer tailouts of holes, at least to start, so despite my best intentions I had to fight off some mild disappointment in myself for not getting out earlier.  I landed one other decent brown before I left, this one on Eric’s olive jigged streamer, but visibility was good enough and the skies were bright enough after the first hour to nymph up a couple fish on a size 16 duracell too.  I think I landed 5 fish in over 3 hours of fishing, so despite it being 55 degrees out, the creek fished liked it was a typical winter afternoon.  Still, that was one more fish than I landed on Friday, and the purpose of today was just to get out there and get on the board for 2022.  Mission accomplished, and with an actual 2022 license this time….

On the board for 2022.