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A good plan delayed delivered |
I was going to fish this small stretch of a favorite
creek on Sunday, but I decided to stay in bed instead, so it was still on my
radar this morning. A couple weeks back,
I gave Eric some 5.5mm slotted tungsten beads and some long-shanked heavy-duty
size 2 jig hooks, so he has been tying some big-water sized jigged sculpins in
his spare time. A few meant for the
Brodhead, Penns, the Lehigh even have wraps of wire underneath! The plan was to hop a couple of these around
some very deep holes and runs for my first quality wild brown of the year. It’s been a while. I had a head cold that the boy brought home
from school, and Tami was out of sorts too, so three days of not fishing became
seven, then ten. It happens. On top of the annoying illness, it was the
first week of a new teaching session for me, and I had a draft of my thesis due,
so even if I was up for it I may not have had the time. I guess I needed the rest on Sunday morning,
especially because I had nearly four hours of meetings with students that
evening. That’s a lot of Zoom. But I really needed to fish today, so I was
grateful for the success. Despite the
sun in the forecast, I did get out early enough for the streamer but also late
enough for it to be warm enough to move with said streamer some fish, including
the one pictured above that was likely over 17 inches and just healthy and strong
and perfect. There were good flows and
plenty of midges, but few olives, so I only nymphed for 30 minutes at the end
of the morning, choosing to live or die by that new sculpin.
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A couple bigger ones got the whole thing! |
I was the only car in the parking area as I was suiting
up, not even cyclists or runners, but I thought I saw a dude entering the woods
from somewhere. He was not a morning
mirage, as I would run into him an hour later, but it all worked out since his
plan seemed to be sitting in one hole that the local TU had stocked with brook
trout. Before I turned a deep bend and
confirmed that there was another dude fishing this stretch, I had already
landed half a dozen of these stocked brookies on the big jig, just hopping it
through a quiet and very deep hole. He
was fishing small bugs under a bobber in water I would have called just a bit
too bouncy for a chilly March 21 morning, but what did I know? I had not fished in 10 days, so maybe spring
is in full swing and not just on the calendar.
We chatted a bit, and I asked his plans and if he minded me fishing
through. He really did wish to stay in this
one spot it seemed. Anyway, I caught
three of four more brookies in another hole or two above him, so I was getting
annoyed. This is a Class A wild trout
stream, but it is a difficult one, so this club must put in some fun fish. I did not renew my Trout Unlimited membership
this year for reasons like this. If you
are for wild fish, then why the Forks (hint, hint) the stocking supplements? Not the place, but just a brief description
of what I feel when I see way too many stockies dumped in a creek that has
plenty of wild fish. This creek is
stocked in other sections, so some awesome rainbows survive and thrive, but in
my mind it is different to plant stockers in a section of creek managed as a
wild fishery. Okay, enough soapbox for now….
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What the Forks? |
Eventually I began to see the willing stockies as target
practice, beta testing for Eric’s new streamer, and after my ten day hiatus,
they at least provided plenty of action.
A few even fought well and exceeded 12 inches in length. I moved more than I stuck with such a big
hook, but I was still hopeful that my plan hatched Saturday night might still work
out today. In fact, I stuck every fish
that hit the jig as if it was the target species, and eventually I found the
one I was looking for. The brookies were
sitting in the softer water all morning, but I had moved a bigger bow and maybe
a smaller brown in slightly faster water.
I had Sam in my head saying something like, the bigger fish are often
tucked up in the bouncier stuff. I have
found that to be true, even in the winter, and so it proved true on an average
March morning too. I was tossing the big
jig into the whitewater above deep pockets and plunges and letting it slide in
there with a push from the heavier current when I came tight to a good
fish. He went right into the air, then
took a drag peeling run, and then went up again, nearly 2 feet in the air. In pocket water, the big net came in
handy. With all the obstructions around
me and the good flows, the longer he got to play, the more likely I would lose
him. Thankfully I made the most of my
very first opportunity to net him.
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First quality wild fish of 2022, methinks. |
I moved a couple and snapped one off of a midge in the last hole on
this stretch of crick. The breeze had picked up, and I
was fast approaching the midday lull, so
I hiked it back to the ‘Ru a little after 12 noon.
Because it was so nice out, I sat in the lot for a bit and ate
something before heading for home early.
I thought about one more spot about 10 minutes away, but at this hour
more dudes hunting olives would likely be out, and I would only have 30 minutes
to fish before I had to leave to be home for the boy anyway. It looks like Wednesday on the Susquehanna
with Kenny is postponed, but I will be somewhere that day ahead of the
rain. Depending on how much, Thursday morning
looks open too. Eric claims he can fish
on Sunday, so more days of March fishing on tap.
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The full photoshoot.... |
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