May 28 and 31, 2022 – The Final Couple of Days in May in Southeastern PA – Bucks and Berks Counties

Some sunfish in pretty chubby water.

Tom texted me on Saturday wondering if I was free to fish in the evening, and I replied that it was possible.  It was warm, but not too hot yet.  He was thinking a local stocker or two, but he also floated a little blue line in Bucks that we have fished with some limited success.  It was only a week, perhaps, beyond prime time for bugs on this little creek, and there was a chance that sulfurs might even make it prime time at dusk, so that is where we went.  Well, I had not been here in a while, and I know Tom said it had changed quite a lot, but I guess I needed to see for myself.  Any wild trout stream in SEPA—besides, Valley, which seems unbreakable for the time being—is fighting an uphill battle with development, floods, and the siltation and pollution from these floods, not to mention we fishermen….  I can say with certainty that besides catching a couple sunfish and chubs, Tom did mess with a trout that came off after one leap.  And a larger wild brown, perhaps 11 inches, came after one of my hooked sunfish or chubs in the same hole, so there are survivors.  The place was a mess, though, and as we waited for sulfur spinners to fall at dark, it was pretty clear that only chubs would be feasting tonight.  Tom says a few years, but I know he’ll be back this winter when the riparian buffer dies and makes it more fishable, but it may take some time for this creek—that is, if it even comes back.  Sad, but we gave it a good try at a good time of year, and we did see life, so I remain somewhat hopeful?  I ended up having a late dinner with Tom, his wife, and the wife of another good buddy, so that was probably the highlight of the evening—although I forgot to tell my wife and son I was staying out until after midnight (my note probably said 9 PM)!

Not the creek my conscious mind intended this morning.

The heat arrived, so I did not fish on Sunday or Monday, but I decided I was going to NEPA this morning at dawn and fishing until 10 AM, at least—like it was August or something.  Well, I guess part of my brain had other plans because I drove right past the Northeast extension and continued west on the PA Turnpike.  I had been talking about a little gem of a creek with John at the fly shop when I dropped off my Simms for repair shipment on Saturday, and I may have even told Tom that evening that I wanted to get here before it got too warm, so perhaps half asleep, I piloted the ‘Ru here instead.  I was shocked to see muddy and high water.  I gather that a thunderstorm had arrived overnight.  I was not looking in this county for the forecast last night.  Anyway, it was fishable and improved throughout the morning.  I had to retool when I arrived and rig up to toss one of Eric’s micro buggers.  That was very productive until the sun started lighting up the water. 

Some pretty browns on the bugger and the nymphs in dirty water.

With the little streamer, I landed probably three rainbows, four wild browns, and I dropped or jumped a few others too.  I moved half a dozen others, mostly little wild browns.  I had one bigger rainbow on that did not get in the net for a photo, and I had a mystery fish that may have been a bigger wild brown.  Based on the type of cover it was in, I would say brown, but the light was still low, especially back in the deeper woods.  I had to horse him out of a tricky spot.  He came out of an undercut, but I also threw over a log to get to said undercut, so I had to keep him near the surface to get him over the log.  All that flopping on the surface, and he was gone.  The bow was fourteen inches, and this was maybe a hair bigger, so it’s possible both were holdovers, but I would not know today.   I actually landed another fish today that twice went under a limb that was sitting perpendicular to the creek and mostly invisible under the dirty water, and another jumped off on the other side of the same limb after a quick battle, so wood was not my friend today even if it meant fish.

Damn shame.  Pinch them barbs, yo.

After the bugger fun ran out, I rigged to nymph with a couple of Eric’s bugs, and I caught some fish.  Eventually, I rigged a single pink tag fly when I saw some caddis around, and that slower falling single jig fly in shallow pocket water accounted for the biggest and the most fish.  I landed a few rather decent small stream wild browns, and most of the bows were smaller but in fantastic shape.  Perhaps they were not kept to eat because they were small, so they had white tipped fins and great colors.  At least one otherwise gorgeous wild brown had a missing maxillary from poor handling or an encounter with barbed trebles, or both, and a rainbow had the same lip bone missing as well.  It makes me sad, but after I sent Tom a pic he reminded me that the wild fish had been released, at least.  The population of wild fish is pretty solid here most years, so I don’t fully understand the stocking, but the stockers appear to be mostly if not all rainbows these days, so at least word can spread about not keeping browns, as it has on some Lehigh Valley put and take cricks (for the most part).  I did post a pic last year of a brown from this creek with a shoelace in his gills—I assume the intention was to bring him home for dinner and dude did not have a stringer—so not all of these wild brown trout are spared each spring.

Some pretty rainbows too.

It was hot and humid and gnats were annoying too.  I had to dig in my pack and put on bug repellent, and I should have done it twice, as the sweat just wore it off over time.  My dermatologist gave me some sunscreen, and it smelled too pretty, so the bugs were all over it.  At least they were not mosquitos.  I also should have wet waded, but if you recall I intended to fish NEPA this morning, so I had waders, pants, and boots that were not exactly suited to wet wading.  I am rocking my old Simms, my backups, because the newer ones are making their first service trip, as I noted above, so they definitely had that not so fresh feeling (and smell) by time I quit and started hiking back after 10:30 AM.  It was not perfect trout weather by any stretch of the imagination, but I think the surprise shot of rain last night or this morning gave me a bonus window of opportunity on a tight and mostly shallow crick.  I turned back when chubs and bows were all that would eat, but wouldn’t you know that I stuck 4 or 5 more browns in a particularly productive run of pocket water to end the morning.  I only stopped because I stuck and lost a decent fish here on the way up, and it was still heavily shaded and cool in this stretch, even after 10:30 AM.  That made me want to keep going, but it was 88 degrees on the ‘Ru’s thermometer, so I knew the water was probably getting warm too, especially after that rain.  Hopefully, I get one more shot here before the summer arrives for good because it is still a fun and productive little freestoner within an hour of home.

Bonus b-reel of a pretty brown trout.

May 26, 2022 – Young Kenny Teaches Me How to Use Spinning Gear Again – Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers

Some chunks.

It has been a while, probably since fall surfcasting, that I have picked up a spinning rod for more than ten minutes.  It has also been a while since I’ve gotten to hang out and fish with my boy Kenny.  I got to do both for a full day in Central PA today.  It was good to have four hours in the car to catch up.  It’s been a rough couple of years for all, but fishing always helps.  We met up with Chris Gorsuch of Reel River Adventures after 7 AM this morning.  It was windy at the ramp, which was not the forecast today.  Clouds yes, but not steady wind out of the NNE that was strong enough to push a tank of a boat with three full-sized dudes onboard upriver against current, but that is what we found.  We launched and fished the main stem for a while, and we caught a few fish, and we lost a couple bigger fish, but it was a challenge, so we pulled the boat and moved to the Juniata in hopes of finding better conditions for fishing.  It was a good call, as we had a good day with fish up to 20 inches, despite continued wind and chilly weather.

Chris pulled the sled to two rivers to avoid the wind.

The rivers are healthy.  There was so much bug life for the small bass to chomp on.  Some sort of large drakes got them excited enough to rise steady on the main stem.  Oddly, we could not buy a bite on topwater.  Sometimes smalls looking up can get big mama looking up too, perhaps even to feast on smalls.  Not today.  I stuck with rubber, like neds and tubes for much longer than the nimbler Ken.  He was first to switch to swims and then a shallow running crank, and it paid dividends, as he kicked my butt.  It happens, but it happens the other way just as often.  No competition between us, so it was just awesome to see so many nice fish, even if most of them were not mine!

A few dubs +  Kenny kicking my butt.

Captain Chris gets all excited to deejay the soft rock for me, so everyone wins.  He was spinning the Bee Gees, Boston, Poco, America, etcetera to get me to exercise my impressive pipes, especially my falsetto that has put a lump in the throat (and trousers) of many lesser men and women.  It was hard fishing today and a steady pick, so I did not have time to sing as much as usual, even when Chris tried to persuade me with his disco moves!  We really had to target the small plunges and land the right cast to get eaten, even on the swims.  Even the crankbait was not a toss it out and let is swing proposition today.  Wind does not help casting accuracy, of course, so I was fishing more than singing.  Plus, you know, Kenny was getting a sunburn from all the flashbulbs from his photoshoots, and I had to catch up.  There were a couple hours where the fishing was on.  Cast to the right spot, and *plink*, a good fish picked it up in the case of the swims.  A good cast with a crank was met with the soft grab of a heavy fish.

Smiles, everyone, smiles.

Speaking of which, I did loose probably the best fish of the day at the boat.  Chris already had the net in the water telling me to go easy, don’t change angles like a pro basser, and so on.  My instincts for fighting large brown trouts kicked in, of course.  As this pig was digging for a boulder, I changed the angle on him like he was a trout and I could persuade him to turn the other way.  Nope.  Treble hooks with barbs pulled, go figure….  I did not care, as I have touched many a large smalljaw in my lifetime, but Chris was sad.  For a couple hours after, he could still be found muttering, “That was a big bass.”  We even returned to this spot before calling it a day to see how stupid this fish really was, or if he had equally swole friends hanging in the same spot, but only Kenny picked up another decent fish here, trying yet again another lure style and approach.  The simplicity of a davy knot is dangerous in his hands, and I recalled our days in Canada when he littered the decks of boats with all his lure changes!  Some days that willingness to switch it up works, so he deserved the success he had today, even if he is still a certified mitch.

A true mitch with another nice fish.

May 25, 2022 – Another Pretty but Average Day – Northampton County Limestoner

Pretty fish.

I landed a pair in the 12- to 13-inch range, lost one a bit bigger, and tangled with probably 10 more smalls from a couple year classes today.  I only had a few hours because I had to teach tonight, and I am actually spending the day on the Susquehanna with Kenny on Thursday, so I had no notions about going too hard today.  I would have liked to have landed the one fish that got off, but the fish that opens this post, and another about the same size, made it worth coming out this morning.  I fished from 6:45 to about 11:15 AM, and it was a slow start.  Surprisingly, a dude was already there when I arrived, and I saw more of them later, maybe three more.  Because dude had not been on the scene long, I could see him near the access point, so I took a walk below and fished some water that I only fish once every few trips.  It is not prime stuff, so I was not surprised that I netted only dinks for the first two hours, but I did catch a handful of fish.  I also landed a sad looking rainbow.  From about 9 to 10 AM, I had a good spurt of better fish, including the two I mentioned before, and then a lot of work for more smalls.  There was one encounter, as there sometimes is this time of year, but that fish got off before a photo.  I did not stay much past 11 AM when I did not see more bugs or other signs of life.  I figured a nap before class was better than working for more smalls in bright sun and average flows.

Pretty creek, bow?

There were plenty of midges and small caddis.  I landed an equal number of fish on a caddis larva, but the better ones took a size 14 frenchie.  I put this on when I saw sulfurs.  Sadly the bigger fish pulled free of an 18 walts that was on the dropper tag.  I was just being impatient. I couldn’t see the fish in all the glare, so I couldn’t tell how big, and I wanted to see.  He just wanted to stay put after barely registering a take on the small bug.  What I did that was unwise, especially realizing he had the small tag, was I changed the angle on him to get him to move, and he did.  Right off the hook.  The fish was probably not big enough to get mad, maybe 15 inches, but I was mad at myself because I was at fault getting fancy and impatient for the fight to begin.  When I see how big a fish is right away, I am usually more cautious about bringing the fight to them, unless the cover around is dangerous or something.  This was just a stupid move because I was mostly blind due to the weird light on the water.

A couple year classes of smallsies.

I was going to make a move to another creek because real estate here was running out, but instead I worked the same run of pocket water another time.  I landed a few more small or average fish this time through, and I foul-hooked one in the fin that also barely took the dropper.  I must have been late and hit him with the anchor fly.  It was just that kind of morning, I guess.  Fish would eat, but the buffet has been out there and warm for a month now, so something different has to spark an exceptional day, I suppose.  More of the same is more of the same for them too.  Fish were caught, I got some time outdoors before a work night, and I even got free parking in the City before class, so all in all not a bad day.  I am looking forward to a change of pace tomorrow with young Kenny.  A smallmouth or 50 on spinning gear sounds different enough because god knows I am not going anywhere near the beach to fish this upcoming weekend!

Some b-roll.

May 22, 2022 – Wet Wading Our Way to Well Over 50 Trouts – SEPA Blueline

A great small stream fish on a greater day.

It was a hot one on Saturday, but I guess the pattern started with the low coming in on Friday afternoon as I was leaving NEPA.  Eric had not been out in weeks with his work in full swing and family commitments, so he was chomping at the bit to go today.  Part of me was worried that the bite would be off, and part of me was convinced that by day two of this weird front, fish would be eating.  They were.  In fact, it was silly.  It was hot, but Eric and I were wet wading in May at 6:30 AM, and the flows were good from the previous rain and plenty cool.  As I speculated in Friday’s post, I had to have pissed 10 times while I was there, but I was hydrated, I guess!  One of my seasonal allergy meds is a diuretic too, I swear, so I had pre-hydrated all morning, expecting it to be hot and humid by 9 AM.  Because of the tree cover, some clouds, and good water temps, it was not uncomfortable fishing by any means.  More importantly, the fish were in prime condition, fat and colored up and with no quit in them.  We encountered a few year classes, but the most fun was a good showing of fish in the 11 to 13 inch range.  These fish may have been the dominant class of 8 or 9 inchers last year, but they are very mature right now.  One of Eric’s males today looked like a mini-football he was so thick in the middle and pointy on both ends.  It was like he skipped puberty at 12 inches and went right to full grown adult.

Little footballs, spring green, up up and away?

For a while, it felt like those larger small stream fish were dominating the numbers, but it all seemed to even out by the end.  However, the numbers we put up in about 6 hours of fishing were impressive and impossible to count.  We both fished a dry dropper most of the day, but we carried the nymphing rods, and I did fish with my long rod for the last hour and caught just as many fish as I would have with the dry dropper, perhaps more in the deeper holes where I picked up the longer rod. Twice for curiosity-sake I counted fish at just one stop, and I landed 6 one time and 8 another.  And that was just me, and we had a steady pick in between known honey holes.  With the warm up, they were already spread out in shallow riffles and runs, along with the bouncier holes.  The flat water was a bit chubbed up, and some of them were even rising to midges or really small olives, which we saw maybe two of today.

That simple buggy bug.

Overall, though, the bug life was quiet today.  There have been days and evenings of black caddis, for sure, as they were in every bush and on every tree branch.  I also saw a march brown or two and even a couple sulfurs.  We keep saying we ought to sneak over here in the evening, but life gets in the way.  Because of the dark caddis everywhere, I was cleaning up with a small darkly colored CDC blowtorch.  It was a convincing enough choice that even Eric elected to take not one but also a second when he eventually broke the first off.  For a guy who loves to catch fish on his own bugs, that is saying something, but some of the fish were nearly choking the fuzzy little size 16 bug.

Some fish pics.  Eric let me stick a few nicer ones!

Besides baby Thor, Eric caught another long and beautiful hen, and there were many exceptional fish today.  I only took representative pictures because the aforementioned volume of fish and because I was carrying the phone in my sling pack since I was wet wading and in a t-shirt.  First I got tired of netting fish, and then I got tired of even thinking about a photograph.  Not bad problems to have, of course.  I had a couple surprises that had me thinking much bigger fish until they revealed themselves after the requisite dig for cover or bottom.  One was a 14-inch holdover brown, I believe.  We have never caught a stocked brown in here, but one thing about stockies is never say never.  It had no eye spot and a jaw that looked like it had seen a spinner or two.  Eric caught a small rainbow that looked really good, too good, but then I caught a much bigger rainbow that looked even better, so both probably washed out of club-stocked tributary or moved up from below somewhere or, as I alluded above, got in there by stocker magic.  Both had me fooled for a minute because of how well they accounted for themselves in the perfect water temps—living with the wild fish had been good for these three interlopers.

The wanderers, Eric early AM.

We were going to push further on at the usual turnaround point, but by then the sun was pretty hot and we figured we would be working harder for diminishing returns, at least until the evening, and we did not have that kind of time today.  We did fish a few spots on the way back, as we often do, but today was a notch more productive than the usual.  Eric landed another nice 10-inch fish that he moved the first time through, and he jumped another fish that looked bigger than that—he may have miffed on this one on the way up.  I also took another solid fish out of a deep log jam with the long rod.  I had fished this hole with the dry dropper the first time, and I caught some fish, but I knew nymphing deep was probably the call, even though I had already stuck the big pretty bow and a few other browns here patiently letting the dry dropper do its thing.  

More trouts.  I am not saying 60+ fish because someone might cry bull, but...

I think we continued with the dry dropper for the change of pace and the visual good times provided to the spectator.  Nymphing might have been as effective in many spots, but not all of them, but because so many fish were eating, we hardly switched up approaches like we thought me might.  I was also hoping for a hatch that never happened, the real reason to caddy four rods all day!  Still, there was little room for improvement on a day of 50+ fish, many of them solid small stream trouts.  Eric even had two or three fish, including one of his better ones, take a big stimulator on the surface.  Good times, good times.

Eric's stimmy eating hen.  Showing off at that point!  Another pretty b-reel fish.

May 20, 2022 – Not Spectacular with High-ish Flows and a Low on Its Way but Not Too Shabby Either – The Mighty Brodhead Creek

Gorgeous start to the day.

The creek was over 200 and slowly falling today, so a bit too sporty to reach all the little pockets across the way, but I gave it a good effort.  I had the felt and the studs on the feet, and I even had the staff on my belt.  I did not bust that out until deep into my trip when I was in need of food and water and felt myself on the verge of stumbly.  It probably would have felt good to get wet today, honestly.  It was bit warm for my liking today, even in NEPA.  Eric and I are fishing Sunday in SEPA, and I know I will be wet wading even if I have to piss every five minutes as a result of standing in 60 degree water at 6 AM.  I put in a full day, fishing from about 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM, which is when the skies were starting to look ominous.  I got caught in a sunshower before making it back to where I parked, and I had a crappy and long commute home because the rain arrived right around 3 PM when I was beginning my drive.  The early start to Friday rush hour probably did not help.  Aside from that acutely annoying closing low, it was pretty much a day of highs.

Gorgeous fish too.

With the flows up a bit and periods of cloud cover, I started out tossing one of Eric’s big jigged buggers, but I only moved one average brown and then stuck a holdover bow for the effort. I had another average fish on the swing come off after a leap. It was a go for broke situation for the first two hours, I bet, and the elusive piggy did not eat.  When I switched to nymphing around 9 AM, I had a very solid two hours of cooperative wild browns.  Some were smalls that took the little caddis dropper, but I also caught two good fish and a couple in that 11 to 12-inch range as well.  One better fish took a bomb hare’s ear deep, and the other took a big golden stone.  I see from the pics that I also had a smaller golden stone on the dropper for a while, and that notched a decent rainbow too.  The caddis were maybe thick enough to start something for an hour, but with the creek flows up, matching the hatch and getting those small bugs deep, even on 5x, which on this section of the creek means losing a lot of tungsten, was not easy to pull off.  There was a lot of uncomfortably high sticking for really short effective drifts with the smaller bugs, so I believe that informed the choice to keep trying the stones.

More bouncy crick in spring.

I lost at least one 12- or 13-incher that came off a size 18 caddis larva, and in the same run where I did land a good 16-inch fish, I also had a pig come off.  It happens in these flows and while using such a heavy anchor fly to get the smaller bug down to them.  It has to be done sometimes, but I know from experience that the heavy fly pulls the little one sometimes, like when the anchor gets drawn in another direction in fast-moving pocket water and changes the angle.  It can even hang on rocks or the bottom in pocket water when the fish digs for freedom.  The pig today had the small bug and just took off downriver and the small fly pulled.  Luckily, another decent fish was feeding nearby, and I was able to land him.  Only maybe 16 inches and change, but he did the same thing, took off down river with me chasing and trying not to swim.  Of course, this smaller fish had the anchor fly, a size 10 hare’s ear, so that stayed in his mouth!  The other nicer fish I caught a little later took the big stonefly, which was also fortunate.  This fish was broader and a closer to 17 inches, so I was happy he stayed on and posed for the full hand-with-fish photoshoot.  

Bows contributed to the action.  One even walloped the bugger early.

Basically, fish would eat that little bug on the dropper, but the conditions were just a bit too bouncy to keep some of them on for very long.  I eventually stuck with two larger bugs because in addition to the caddis that did get the wild fish going subsurface for a couple hours there were a few sulfurs in the air and even a couple craneflies.  I also saw three or four slate drakes that are massive mayflies, probably size 8, early in their seasonal hatch.  Without the rain tonight, they might have given a dry fly guy a night to remember if enough are showing already.  Without the new shot of rain, the flows might have been near perfect by evening too.  Had I been able to fish a single caddis larva or small blowtorch in pocket water, it may have been an even stronger showing today.

A beauty or two, a sunshower.

I usually have a bang up day around this time in May each year, but flows at 150 or below make that much more possible.  I think with more cloud cover or barometer not plunging, the fishing could have been magic.  Could’ve should’ve would’ve.  In the end, it was still a fun and productive outing.  I landed about 10 browns and another 5 bows, and I did drop a few, so there was action.  It was a good day, but it was not the day.  Maybe next week in cooler temps I will get another shot.  It looks like the 90’s are short lived, which is good.  Not only do I like to stalk the pocket water in late May and early June here, but I also like to take a couple shots at the bigger water closer to the river before it gets too warm.  I landed a couple really nice fish last year and the year before, but I also broke off and jumped a couple well into the 20’s.  I would sure like to see one of them again before summer decides to stay for good.

More pics of cooperative wild browns.

May 12, 2022 – An Incrementally Better Day Today – Northampton County Limestoner

Junior stud.

The creek I fished from about 9 to 1 today was on my list yesterday, but the gage looked a bit high still.  This creek holds a charge for a while longer than some of the other creeks nearby, which is a good thing, I guess.  I can usually hit this one, say with a streamer, the day after I would have fished a streamer on another creek in the region.  I did toss said bugger today, both in black and in olive, and only had one follow, so the fish had settled into eating small black sedges (or not at all).  Anticipating some mayflies larger than BWO’s soon, I did toss a larger frenchie on my anchor fly for about half the trip, and did land a couple of the better fish on it, but a size 18 purple hotspot CDC bug on the dropper was what most of the fish wanted in the stained water—again, that black caddis that seems to be dominating still.  Like yesterday, I beat up the smalls for a while before finding a few decent small stream fish, and then I beat up the smalls again for a while.  I did end with a nice wide male in that 12 to 13 inch range, however.  He weighed twice as much as the skinny 12-inch hen I landed yesterday, and he fought really well in the great water temps and strong flows. 

Pushy still, new wood, Ryan and his siblings out for a swim.

If I found multiple fish, they were pretty shallow and in a very specific rate of flow, and some of my honey holes gave up nothing or nothing but last year’s young of the year. The water was probably double normal flows, but it still looked great.  The visibility was at least two feet deep.  I had not been here since the last heavy rain, and there was evidence that it flooded here pretty good.  There were a couple of fresh trees in the water, including one right in the middle of the sweet spot of a favorite hole.  At least it will provide shelter for a big fish and/or the YOY.  It was good to see so many smalls at both of the creeks I have fished this week, but they are ravenous and hard to pick through at times.  I had a run of 6 fish under 6 inches at one spot today!  The downside of fishing small bugs, even if that is matching the hatch….  That run of smalls is what prompted me to put a gold hotspot frenchie on the point.  I know some 14 to 16 sulfurs arrive soon on this creek, and possibly some even some larger mayflies a bit later, so it was just a hunch.  I was also looking at my mayfly box and thinking, man I have not tossed many of these bugs yet this year.  My caddis box needed a rest, maybe?

Someone chomped the top's tail!

At two favorite big fish holes (well, for here where 15 is pretty huge), I caught nothing, not even a small fish.  I fished one of these spots twice, first with the two different colored buggers and then on the return with the nymphs.  Concluding that they were not active in the holes today, even in the sunny conditions, I took a walk to a run of pocket water with substantial intact riparian buffer on both sides of the creek.  It is fun to fish, but sometimes it takes higher water to make it an effective area to fish.  I have to stay in the water here and creep along without stumbling and breaking sticks and snagging bushes and trees.  It is good small stream fishing in other words, and it sometimes reminds me of fishing Spring Creek and one of its tributaries: standing in the middle of the crick fishing both banks.  Some of this area is still shallower than normal since Ida, but there are a few root balls and deeper depressions under overhanding trees and bushes where fish can and do hold.  I only caught two fish working this run thoroughly, but the second and final fish of the day was a baby stud.  He was probably 13 inches and hot.  In only a foot of water, he had to go up or up and down the creek and under bushes in order to try to escape.  He took that bigger frenchie right at the base of a root ball pocket too.  After a little downstream chase with the net, I took a few pics and called it good.  It was close to 1 PM and feeling hot and humid in waders already.  It was a good way to end a two-day run of just pretty average fishing before it breaks open again this month, I trust.

Small dark bug and one last shot of the incrementally better fish.

May 11, 2022 – Just a Pretty, Average Day – Northampton County Limestoner

Just some pretty, average wild trouts on a bright sunny day in May.

I poked around a small limestoner for a few hours today, trying to take advantage of the good flows.  I am glad I stopped here instead of another nearby creek that was on the list because the other creek was even higher, and I did not seem to benefit from the higher flows today.  Every trip can be a new puzzle on this creek.  It was not like I wasn’t catching fish, either.  It was just that they were smaller and really making me work for them.  Some hits barely registered as pause in the sighter, and I know I caught two fish by setting the hook on a sixth sense vibe—like I knew that was where in my drift a fish was holding, and I should give it a yank to confirm.  Perhaps it was chilly to start, and I did have to take a one-hour break in the late morning for a conference call, so maybe I just missed it?  No, I doubt it.  It was a just a pretty decent day, but not mad decent.  Pretty and breezy and warm, but not enough of something to get the caddis going like the last time I was here.  I had to leave around 1 PM, so there is every possibility that the afternoon was much better, as the fishing did improve a little after 11 AM.  I just had a steady pick of average fish.  I fished from 8:30 to 10 and had 5 browns and a recently stocked rainbow.  After the phone call, I fished from 11 to 1 PM, and I bet I landed another half a dozen trouts, like 5 or 6 more browns and another better looking rainbow too.

Good flows, but only the smalls got even mildly excited about it.

In the absence of rising bugs, I had to shake a few trees and bushes to confirm caddis, and most of the fish came on a green larva or a brown larva.  I also got a couple to take a soft hackle on the dropper, both on the swing.  I thought maybe the swing might have been the thing, but even those hits were light today, as if the fish were just not feeling it.  The biggest fish was all of 12 inches and skinny, and it had been wounded by a barbed hook and had part of her lip missing as a result.  I have pulled Rapalas with three sets of barbed trebles out of trees here this year.  The last time I was here, a twelve-incher was average or even small, so a different class of fish was active today, and not really the ones I was looking for.  I also caught no rainbows last visit, and I messed with two of them today.  I guess they are starting to wander.  The last round of rain probably pushed a few into unstocked water too, and yet I could not get one to eat in one hole where I usually find one or two this time of the season.

A couple bows too.

I had to be home for the boy today, and I also had to drive to Center City tonight to teach my first in-person class in probably two years, so I could not stay longer or try another stretch.  Like I said above, as the air warmed and the flows kept coming down, there may have been a magic window in the afternoon.  I would not get a chance to find out.  Still, it was a pretty decent day or pretty and decent.  Sure, it is hard to get too enthused about small fish, but catching a dozen trout on a Wednesday in about 3.5 hours of fishing is not a bad way to spend some time.  The only person I shared the stream with today had a paint brush in his hand not a fly rod, so there was that relative solitude on an oft-pressured creek, as well.  I have some time on Thursday, so I may give the other spot I had in mind a shot tomorrow.  It will probably benefit from another day of clearing and a warmer start to the morning.  Maybe I will even stumble into a hatch or something.  If not, I will take another pretty decent day and try to be more grateful?

Pretty, small.

May 6, 2022 – Beat the Heavy Rain Close to Home and Landed a Sand Bag with Fins – Wissahickon Creek

The mighty Wissy.  Preview of bow flex.

With rain coming late in the morning, and a little work to do in the afternoon, I decided to stay close to home today.  Valley was on the table, but there was a chance Eric, who was also working from home today, could join me close to home for a couple hours, so I decided to make my second visit to the Wissy of the year.  With the rain starting, the park started thinning out in a hurry.  I arrived around 8:30 and fished until 2, with a couple longer walks in there, and the place was empty by 10:30 AM.  I would like to say that fishing was great, but it was not.  I caught a mess of bass and sunfish, but their activity level and light hits gave me a clue as to how the trouts were likely feeling too.  Perhaps with the front coming, they were shut down.  Sadly, there were midges and caddis present all day until it really started to pour, but all the fish, including a golden and Porky Bow pictured above and in a blurry collage below, took a size 18 walts on the dropper tag.  I guess midges have been on the menu, but it was hard getting a tiny bug in front of the less than eager faces today.

They made we work and only ate small bugs.

I would not accept that one of favorite holes was empty, so I spent way too much time there trying to get one to eat.  All my stubbornness was rewarded with rock bass, small smallmouth, and sunfish, no trout.  When I finally moved and targeted some pocket water, I put together a run of 4 or 5 rainbows and then my only brown of the day.  There were probably lockjawed fish in that favorite hole because I had a similar experience with the hole where I eventually landed the pig and another bow after stopping on the walk back.  I fished way down beyond where the Commish has been stocking, and it was not awesome, but I did land a few fish down there, so they do still stock it when they have help.  I also landed a decent sized golden down there, but the pics turned out blurrier than those of the pig rainbow.

Brownie.  I guess I missed the place because I took a lot of creek pics in the rain.

The rain stayed light for my entire stay, but I did not want to stay too long either.  The water was not really coming up with all the older growth trees around, but dirty water from the streets was finding itself to the creek from some ditches and little tribs, so I knew it was only a matter of time.  To take advantage of the stain below one of these tribs, I even tossed a black bugger for a while, but I only landed sunfish and little bass.  There were trout in there, however, because once I started nymphing again, I hooked a few more trout and that golden before turning back for the parking lot.

Like wrangling a small toddler.

Climbing out of the wet, muddy gorge was a chore, so I only stopped at the hole where I landed the pig in order to clean my waders and hands, honestly.  The golden in there was looking active, so I made a few casts, and low and behold the pig next to him that I had not seen ate the little walts.  These are primo fish left over from the local tournament, so it did not fight like a bag of cement even if it looked like one.  I had 5X and the 3 weight rod, and I could not chase after this fish because it was sheer rock on my side of the crick, that good old Wissahickon schist.  I had to tire this one out, allowing multiple runs downstream, before reeling it back in at least two or three times.  I could only see the back when she tried to jump or roll, and because it was low light, I had no clue how wide she was until I got her in close.  After a meh day, this was some content for the blog!  Well, sort of, as the rain and humidity did not make for great photos.  I did the right thing and revived this fish, and stood in the rain while some mutant stockie regained her strength.  I guess I just figured some kid would love to take this thing home.  She eventually moseyed off, and I did the same.

I guess only the selfie lens was fogged.  Not a hideous fish by any means!