March 31 and April 1, 2022 – Still Just Riding the Extreme Ups and Downs – A Couple SEPA Limestoners

A couple outings outdoors.

I was able to find a couple windows to get out this week, but nothing all that awesome was happening.  There is a reason wind is a four-letter word, and I am used to fishing the beaches and bays where you just have to deal.  However, I feel like the late winter and spring this year have been excessively front-y and therefore windy.  The clearest evidence is the wild temperature swings each week.  On Thursday I snuck around a Lehigh Valley limestoner and had minimal success.  I was fishing ahead of the coming cold front that was set to bring rain, thunderstorms, and high winds in the evening.  I beat the rain, but I did not beat the wind—or the pollening.  At times, when the wind was really cranking, it appeared to be raining yellow tree pollen, and the stuff was coating the crick in fuzz.  At least a bobber was not going to be spooking fish. 

A thick hen in that 13 inch range.

That said, fish were acting like they were expecting to hunker in place soon, and most were already in cover.  The best fish, a good 13-inch plumper took a size 18 bomb waltz close to cover, really close, like I had to sneak a cast between a rock and a tree branch and hope the breeze didn’t take me into the mess and screw up the perfect spot.  Thankfully, I was successful and landed the best fish of the morning.  I also dropped a couple 8 inchers that barely hit—again, the cold front or maybe just because I handlined them instead of using the net?  I did land a 10-incher under a bobber in a deep wintering hole.  I had a couple more hits in this same hole, and actually saw a few little guys, perhaps YOY, rising once every 10 minutes to a midge or equally small olive.  In this same hole, I also stuck and landed a beast—a beast white sucker.  No, this was not Karen or even that creek, but I have the touch I guess.  As you can see from the shot in the net, right in the extended mouth parts too.  Skills, yo,

Karen's cousin likes the walts too.

The rain arrived as expected and gave Valley a little bump, but even at 70 CFS and falling the turbidity this morning and into the afternoon was sort of off the charts.  My experience with Valley before last year’s storms was that I could often see it falling and clearing in real time.  More recently, the water falls just as quickly, but the mud and leaves remain much longer.  I am going to have to plan differently before heading over there after a rain.  The water was warm enough to move fish potentially, but again I was contending with yet another cold front, or the back end of the same one.  Even though it was sunny enough to light up the muddy creek, wind still made anything but streamer fishing, and with a heavier bug, close to impossible.  I had no chases at all, no splashes at the surface as I lifted to cast again, not even on a black bunny leach.  I did land a handful of average fish just hopping an olive and black jigged bugger along the bottom.  The hits were barely commits, but I only missed maybe two other fish, so I had decent enough touch today if fish were feeling it.  I had to be home by 2:30 PM, so I did not have the time to fish the sweet spot of color, but more weather was coming and wind was increasing, so even the perfect turbidity for a streamer window may have coincided with yet another front.  Better days ahead, I hope.  Although I keep saying that, I do believe that spring will finally get here and even out the days.  Even in low water, consistent weather is a friend to the trout fisherman.  These extremes, not so much, but there are moments of opportunity, and I will be there for some of them regardless of what Ma Nature decides to do.

Still muddy at 12:30 PM and five average fish.