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.