October 31, 2022 – Despite Low Water, Trout Were Not That Spooky Today – Berks County

Glassy and leafy and fishy.

For my last trip of October, I intended to stake out a marginal creek that I enjoy fishing after the stockies are all gone and into the winter post-spawn because it is secluded and mostly sheltered from wind and cold.  It is in pretty farm country and easy to wade too, so just a pleasant experience.  The wild population rises and falls, but the tributaries are cooler and limestone-influenced, so there are some transient surprises at times.  Of course, those transients are more likely deep in the tribs getting ready to make babies this time of year, not wandering downstream to eat chubs and crayfish.  It has not been good this year, this creek, just messed up by Ida and probably Ian too, so I guess I talked myself out of it on the drive west.  That, or I decided that another creek on the way out was worth a visit, and then I could go back to plan A.  I have seen some big old wanderers in this plan B creek this time of year too—probably looking for love and fresh gravel—so that was likely on my mind as well.  I jumped one this time last year that was close to 20 inches and colored up.  I spotted no 20 today, but as it turns out, I had no reason to make a second stop since the first stop fished really well despite being the typical October glassy trickle full of dead leaves. 

A bunch of pretty and cooperative fish.

One stretch of this second creek that I (and many others) fish is in a SGL, and another truck was there when I arrived around 9:45 AM.  I have been getting a later start with the chilly mornings, partly because I am driving the boy to school a few days, carpooling with another friend in the neighborhood.  His bus arrives a full hour before the first bell, which is just silly, especially when it is dark at 6:29 AM when it rolls by!  The other reason for the later starts is that late morning bugs can make things fun, and the warm up can prompt the fish to move into feeding lanes in the riffles instead of hiding in the depths with the suckers or under rocks—I spooked at least four fish today that were over 10 inches and hiding from birds of prey and guys like me in rip rap and single boulders, perhaps because the undercuts are getting crowded or not too undercut with low fall conditions.  As I turned around to backtrack to another spot, I wondered if dude in the parking spot was a hunter late to leave the tree stand and made a note to roll by after I fished this other short stretch.

Outsized for this trickle but not the huge love wanderers I've hooked in the recent past.

The water was clear and pretty low, so I could see some action in the first hole once I started fishing.  I took the time to downsize tippet and bugs and considered dry dropper or at least greasing the sighter.  I only brought the one nymphing rod with me, so dry dropper would have been awkward with overhanging branches.  For my first couple of fish, I just stayed way back and landed the bugs softly with a bit of reach cast to keep the sighter off to the side and not throwing shadows.  That seemed to work well enough, so I never did grab the elk hair caddis or the Payette.  Don’t tinker if what you are doing is working, I guess.  I started out catching a handful of small stream averages and a couple YOY and the requisite chubs, so I was content with my choice of creek but secretly hoping to run into some surprises like last year at this time.

A couple more shots of the same fish.

I creeped along and hung back and continued to get fish to grab a single size 16 frenchie or a CDC tag fly.  There were midges around and small caddis in the vegetation.  I know I could have gotten some surface eats if I were wired that way or had brought along another better suited combo, but this was also fun.  I missed a couple and even broke one off with an overzealous hookset.  It is a different challenge to fish with a more slack in the line and from downstream—I feel like I just set on instinct or give a gentle lift most of the time.  This fish showed white mouth and turned before I even sensed him, so I guess I was jerky as a result.  It was a good reminder to be gentle and it paid off with a really beautiful fish not long after that.  It was not a monster but it was a gorgeous mature fish colored up for what is soon to come.  When he jumped twice, he definitely looked outsized for the surroundings!   My honey hole on this stretch did not hold the big pre-spawn fish I encountered last year and the year before, but it did not disappoint either.  Now with one single frenchie slowly falling on 5X, I managed a handful more in this last hole before a long posted stretch.  With the water so low, I did not entertain walking back downstream.  I sometimes do that here in order to catch a couple more and prolong what is typically an hour or two of fishing max.  Today, I just saved some time and bushwhacked to the road so that I could investigate the first stop I intended to fish this morning. 

Oh, the places stockies go!  More fall glass.

The truck was gone, so I parked and fished this other section, only finding YOY and one average fish.  I did coax a big fish out of hiding with a jigged bugger in a particularly deep hole.  He just took a look and shot back into cover, however.  It looked like a brown at least 15 inches, but I did see dead stocker bow and heard rumors of some stocked brookies in parts of this Class A creek earlier this year, so who knows.  I am betting dude was fishing not hunting because it felt like I was in the back of the boat fishing “used water.”  After the surprisingly willing fish I had encountered all morning, these fish here were not so nice.  I actually started driving to my plan A creek before pulling a U-turn and deciding Plan B was certainly good enough.  I was convinced that I would not top this at this hour in these conditions at a far lesser creek.

It won't be long before I start seeing redds.

October 25, 2022 – The Cooperative Rainbows are Often a Sign – Northampton County Limestoner

Bow and not a lot of bugs.

I fished from 10 to 2 today, and I only had three skinny holdover rainbows to show for it.  Two of them took a caddis pupa while I was targeting the rise, and the other one ate a walts deep.  It was foggy and then cloudy and warm all day, and I only witnessed small caddis hatching for about 30 minutes around 11 AM.  I was hoping for olives maybe?  Or I was hoping the low light and decent flows would get them up and going midday?  With the low light and slow fishing, I almost missed the brief bug appearance I did happen to get, until I saw the birds eating them.  Only two fish rose during that window, and I got both of them to eat a nymph.  It was over before it started and over long before I even considered rerigging to target more risers.  I tossed a bugger for a while in some deep holes when it was clear that the wild fish were not going to move up into riffles and get active today.  The leaf hatch is in full effect, as you may notice from the pics.  Tami was home for the boy after school, so I could have stayed out longer, but sometimes when the rainbows eat here it’s because the browns are letting them.  They were hiding or had lockjaw today.  Maybe the sun on Thursday will change the play book. 

Leafy.

October 19, 2022 – A Midday Midweek Walk with Small Bugs and Way Too Many Anglers – Valley Creek

A few pretty adults.

Okay, so I have been talking myself out of fishing Valley for a year or more now, especially when the Silver Fox invites me on a weekend, because the pressure over there has become insane.  I used to sneak over like I did today and not see a soul, or maybe run into one dry fly guy late afternoon as I was walking back to my car to go home.  Today, I ran into 6 dudes and avoided one other parking spot because an angler’s vehicle was there when arrived, so technically 7 dudes, all before 2 PM on a chilly and blustery Wednesday.  At least 2 "stocker lockers" on the rooftops of SUVs in the main lot as I was rolling home too!  I can only imagine what it would be like on a nicer day.  I will not find out because this post is a reminder to myself that I must stay away.  I caught some fish covering a lot of ground and targeting just the most midday nymph-friendly spots.  I thought with the sun up, they might move up into riffles and eat, and some did, but most were youths.  I caught over a dozen YOY on an 18 CDC jig, so many that I felt guilty like a cradle robber or something.  They are unavoidable with small bugs, and with normal clear flows and the middle of the day, I probably needed small bugs to catch the three real size fish that I did catch.  Wind sucked too: blowing 25 to 30 at times.  At least all the babies bodes well for the population, but they are ravenous and fragile, so I was part of the problem today!  It will be a cold day in late January before I poke my head around my old home waters again.  I may have to chase stockies close to home this winter if I need to get out for a couple hours to stretch the legs and the tippet.  

Bottom left is likely two years old, not even one of the little ones!

October 14, 2022 – A Misstep in Stream Section Selection Corrected Leads to a Late Morning Better than Expected – Brodhead Creek

A long hen and smiley guy.

Like all of us, I sometimes make the wrong decision about where to fish.  I believe it is often based on what I want not what I am given to work with, and I think that was in part the case today.  I knew I had to head north of the Lehigh Valley to get past the places that received real soakers, and I have no problem doing the Brodhead trip, even if I only have 4 or 5 hours to fish, so that was not the bad decision.  I just got lazy and looked at a gage upstream and not one closer to the river.  Had I looked at the lower gage, I may still have done the same thing because I wanted to move a piggy or two!  My mistake for the first two hours this morning was not leaving when I saw that the creek was a bit too high to navigate.  Instead, I fished some sweet spots from the bank and then took a long walk further into the gorge, as if I would find more wadable places.  Yeah, right….  It was a nice aerobic walk in the woods and plenty of bushwhacking on steep inclines, but probably 10 casts.  Bad decisions.  Wisely, I corrected before the window for a possible hatch or two and arrived at a section with prime conditions.  After that move, I had three hours of great nymphing in pocket water and riffles.  I even found that piggy I was looking for.  She ate an 18 perdigon during a BWO hatch, not a streamer, but that was possibly even more fun—dealing with a big (albeit end-of-a-tough-summer-skinny) fish on a small bug and 5X in fast water was a blast, especially because it ended well.

Far more steps than casts at stop one.

While the locations north of the ‘Burg must have been spared torrential rain, it appears that the tribs coming in from the west got a lot more rain.  It was night and day between my first stop and my final destination.  Where I ended the day had perfect clarity and flows; where I started was muddy, leafy, and too pushy to wade safely.  I started out with big bugs, a Pat’s rubber leg and a black leech on the dropper because that was what I had on for spot one, but I was seeing some caddis and olives at spot two.  I had one fish take the big stonefly and get off, but it was 10 AM and time was a-wasting, so I quickly rerigged with 5X and small bugs to approach the remaining runs and riffles.  Late morning can mean caddis this time of year, but I was happy to see the olives too.  So were the fish.  As you can see from the collage, perhaps, I eventually had fish take caddis larva, a big hare’s ear, an olive perdigon, and maybe even a size 16 CDC blowtorch before it was all over.  The best of the morning took the perdigon or the caddis larva, which I had to “double bubble” with an extra tungsten bead to get down in a couple deeper runs.  I think I got away with a 16 bomb walts on the anchor in riffles, but everything ate the perdigon dropper on that rig.  They were up and happy, likely eating emergers, for a magic hour, but I extended the good fishing into the 1 PM hour, even catching a few on the walk back.

Small olives and caddis.  Did not stop me from throwing a selection at them....

At least one fish might have been a holdover brown, though it did have some red spots and that blue about the face, but no rainbows today and at least a dozen wild browns.  I was here in September, and I caught bows then, so I know they held over and are in there as well, but I was happy to catch browns exclusively.  They were in prime fighting conditions, though very lean after a rough summer of low water and higher temps.  They are currently making up for lost time, and by the looks of them, not as close to spawning as the fish I encountered in a limestoner this week.  I had no dinks, either.  The average fish was 10 to 12 inches, and a couple were leapers.  The big girl was not a leaper, which was probably a good thing.  She did put up quite a fight in 2 feet of boulder-strewn riffles, however.

Real pretty day at a real pretty time of year in NEPA

A couple times, I had to push the butt of the rod at this fish in attempt to keep her upstream of me, and I had to keep the rod low so she did not entertain a tail walk in these conditions.  I was eventually able to get her out of the heaviest current, away from a down tree that would have been disastrous, and into the net for a couple shots, including the smiling face shot that opens this post.  I guess I was happy!  Here’s how I know the fish were happy too:  I caught fish that bounced or bumped a fly without getting stuck by presenting a different, maybe bigger bug, in the same spot after resting them.  I think that is why the bug collage has at least four different bugs despite the fact that it was clearly a morning to throw small BWO and caddis imitations.  I got one memorable 12 incher that I thought was a second piggy for a minute because he bulldogged toward that same down tree.  He ate a single size 12 hare’s ear out in a flat in front of a boulder.  I saw him bump me in the same spot the first time through, hitting the perdigon up higher on the tag.

Another shot of long tall Sally.

I picked apart a pretty nondescript piece of water that I know from experience has been holding fish.  Perhaps they are avoiding pressure there, or because it is below a long deep flat they get a good supply of mayfly nymphs year ‘round.  I landed two big fish in this spot in the last year, and I broke off one or two more because the water is fast and they just bolted downstream.  I used the wading staff today, but conditions were wadable enough that I could move to go after a big fish if necessary.  Other days in other conditions, that is not possible, so more fish can come off.  I only had to do a short drop behind a couple fish today—no downstream chases—but I probably could have if necessary.  I was worried that a 19-20 inch fish with a perdigon in her mouth on 5X was going to make me run, but with the 10’6” 4 weight with all that butt section, I was able to handle my business efficiently today.  Don’t be surprised if I am back on Tuesday!  This flurry before the spawn only lasts so long, and I still want to have a streamer day before the redd making begins.

More trouts.

October 11, 2022 – Typical Fall Conditions, but the Presence of Bugs Made for a Decent Morning - Northampton County Limestoner

Some decent small stream fishes.

I fished for a good five hours this clear, chilly morning, and about three of those hours were rather productive.  I caught fish periodically the entire time, and I was happy for that because conditions were low and clear: typical fall conditions, basically.  I did not catch any fish over 12 inches, but a few decent small stream fish and many smalls did cooperate.  If I count the two or three YOY boys, I estimate about a dozen fish ate.  It’s been about two years, maybe even pre-pandemic, since I enjoyed fishing a nice peak at this little limestoner.  There was some added pressure during lockdown, even from gear fishermen, that may have made a dent in a particularly impressive year class, plus Ida messed up some holding water and deeper pocket water sections.  The presence of at least three cooperative year classes today, including this year’s young just barely big enough to get a size 18 bug in their mouths, gives me continued hope that it will rebound again too.  The exceptional year or two was really nice while it lasted, this aforementioned peak—I had some mornings with multiple fish in the mid-teens back then with nary a witness.  I even brought Eric once hoping to share a bit of the bonus bounty.  Right now, I am happy with 10 inchers, but I still enjoy fishing this little gem and have fished through other lean years in the past.   Since I last visited in late June, some new trees came down, a bridge is out, and the RR company is doing its best to leave behind all its old hardware and other trash, but such is life in the Lehigh Valley suburbs. 

Small bugs.

I started fishing around 7:15 AM after hitting some traffic on the way up, but it needed to warm up a little anyway.  I caught a few fish before 9 AM, all on a size 18 perdigon, but I had to work for them.  I was sneaking around with a micro mono rig and those small bugs being really careful with my feet and making my first cast the right cast whenever possible.  Caddis were in all the bushes again, so I held out hope that late morning would bring the creek to life, and it did—but only for about an hour.  During that hour when small caddis were emerging, I had a good number take a size 18 CDC blowtorch on the dropper higher in the water column.  Around 11 AM, with bugs still active, I returned to a honey hole and a run of pocket water that should have been more productive the first time through despite the chilly water, but by that time it was already feeling over.  I did catch at least three more fish the second pass through, so I am glad that I did not take a ride to another section as planned because the productive window quickly fizzled with the high sun.  It was probably better that I just stayed put and enjoyed the nice weather for another hour and a good walk in the woods.

A mess on the banks of a Class A-protected crick, even fuel containers....

I referenced the railroad above.  They must have been doing major repairs recently.  Today, there was some heavy machinery and a small crew that may have been attempting a half-assed clean up.  They were making a racket dumping most (but not all) of the discarded metal plates and spikes into a metal bin—I actually like old school industrial music, but metal on metal does not mix well with nature, unfortunately.  There was plenty of crap left behind as they passed too.  I took some pics that I thought about sending to someone, maybe the TU chapter that takes care of this place or the Commish. I probably should because there were even a few containers with fuel residue left inside and a lot of plastic tarpaulin material, even what appeared to be discarded grinding or sanding wheels.  All too much for me to pack into the ‘Ru myself, although it crossed my mind.  A good rain and that crap will be in the already compromised crick.  I decided not to let it ruin my morning in the end.  Work is in progress, so maybe they will clean it up for real on the final pass.  One can hope.  I know Class A creeks enjoy special consideration, at least in theory.  If we get more rain, I will be back to confirm in the next week or so.  Fish tend to spawn early on this creek, and wading up the gut is necessary with the riparian buffer, so I try to get a few trips in before the spawn and then let them get to the much appreciated repopulation.

Fallish.

A couple of the fish today were already coloring up, getting darker reds and oranges and more dark spots.  The darkness is also likely due to where they hide in low water and the amount of summer algae still present because of the low water, but those other deeper colors don’t lie!  Fish spawn right in this section too because there is a barrier upstream, and they can’t go too far.  Last year’s young were gorging themselves on small caddis pupa even in high sun, but the adults went back to hiding deep in the bushes and undercuts even as the hatch carried on.  I think with more flow to make them feel safer or not acutely aware of my presence, I could have kept the action going longer.  Had I seen some rises, I had the dry dropper in the car too, but they were not completely feeling it this morning.  Maybe next week.  Before that, I have a couple bigger creeks in mind for Friday if the rain makes a mark but not too much of a mark!

More pretty trouts.

October 6, 2022 – Just a Good Day: Numbers, Solitude, even Some Size – Northampton County Limestoner

A little thin but perfect otherwise

Playing the longer game following this substantial rain worked out well today.  Because this creek had been so low all summer, all the remnants of Ian only left it with normal flows by this morning, but that was probably better.  I did not have a streamer day in clearing water and higher sun, though I did catch a couple early and lose a better one on the jigged bugger.  Instead, it became a bonkers nymphing day, especially in the late morning when larger October caddis even joined the party with the size 18 to 20 cased caddis lining every rock.   I landed seven fish in a row in quick succession on the perdigon dropper tag to end my trip, but it was a steady pick with many multi fish holes throughout my walk—and one short drive to another section.  Once the sun was up and I noticed so many hooks coming back with caddis larva stuck to them, I switched to a 16 bomb walts on the anchor and, later, an 18 perdigon on the dropper, and I notched both numbers and size.  I dropped one over 14 on the bugger, but I landed a 15 and one that I said to myself was a skinny 17 while on the water, but he looks somewhat longer as I examine the photos.  Perhaps the slenderness of the fish had something to do with it.  Dude had the potential biology to be a future stud, especially with a few big meals and continued cool temps and good flows.

The walts turned on the catch rate

This creek has no gage, so I was unsure how much rain it received.  A nearby creek on the other side of the hills was showing slightly higher than normal flows, and that was my only predictor.  I arrived before sunrise, so it was also hard to tell how stained or not the creek was.  I began fishing before 7 AM tossing one of Eric’s big jigged buggers with a smaller bunny leech on a dropper about 24 inches up the line.  I lost the first fish, and it looked like a decent one.  I think it took the smaller black dropper, so maybe the angle of the hookset was not optimal.  I kept another smaller fish on the little leech a few casts later, go figure.  As the sun got up, I saw it was nymphing water today, certainly not bugger water.  The first chance I got to step out of the creek, I exchanged my 10’6” 4-weight for my 3 weight nymphing rod.  Now rigged with a walts and a caddis pupa on the dropper, I had a lot more confidence.  It was certainly not a bad start with the bugger, but I started picking up loads of smalls and average wild browns once the nymphing began.  Nothing touched the dropper to begin, but the walts was getting eaten in every good-looking spot.  Recently, I have not had as much luck in this pressured section, and I was high-holed the last time I was here, but luck was on my side today.  I have had some memorable days here, mostly because of multiple big trout, but it was nice to see so many fish from a couple year classes this morning.  Numbers of wild browns were even arguably better in the second section I fished, a state stocked section, but an emergence of two sizes of caddis may have coaxed a few out that are usually in hiding.  I think I only landed four rainbows today, a couple really nice ones in the mix, but I bet I landed 30 wild browns in five hours.

A couple more shots of the best of the morning

It was still early when the best fish took the walts at the head of a riffle in about two feet of water.  The water temps were perfect, so all the fish, including an early rainbow, fought well above their weight class today.  In other words, I had no clue how big this fish was until I saw him and his impressive face.  As I said above, I was thinking skinny 17 as I photographed and let him go, but I am thinking he was a bit longer than that.  Two hand lengths for me, thumb to pinky, is 16 inches.  No matter, it was a nice fish, and I was not done after that either.  Before I got to the end of the line for this section, I also took another good brown out of a deep, bouncy pocket on the single walts.  And in a preview of things to come at my next stop of the morning, I also had a nice holdover bow and half a dozen more average wild browns take an olive perdigon on the dropper.  I was beginning to see October caddis in the bankside vegetation from the previous day’s hatches, so I was hopeful that they would emerge again today.  A couple small fish had already shown themselves eating what appeared to be much smaller emergers, so I believe those much smaller caddis that were littering my hooks all day like grannoms at peak grannom season were also beginning to become items on the menu.

Another decent fish

Before getting in the car and making a move, I fished below my parking spot in a couple former honey holes, but I could not fool another big fish, only more average fish and smalls.  I was hoping that more larger adults were getting wanderlust before the spawn, and I considered fishing way downstream to test my hunch, but I am glad I made the move upstream that I did.  I also had this second section all to myself, which was a pleasant surprise on such a perfect weather day.  It was cool, sunny, and dry, but there was nary a dog walker out.  The only encounter I had was with a buck who was hoping to cross the stream below me but thought better of it.  I captured him standing in the creek almost by accident in one of the crick pics.  Water was getting skinnier here already, so I bagged my other fuzzy plan to go even further upstream for a third stop.  I was expecting a few holdover bows here, maybe a couple small browns, but I did not have to consider leaving because I landed an additional 10 or more wild fish at this second stop.  Basically, there was no need for a third stop, which will have to wait until my next visit.

More bows and browns

Patiently letting the small bugs on 5.5X tippet get deep, I finished with a great run of decent wild browns and even another bigger rainbow.  They all fought just as well as their cousins downstream too.  The bow would not quit, but one memorable brown that was all of 11 inches fought like I had finally hooked that third good fish of the day.  Nope.  Another wide-bodied male all of 10 inches long was also mistaken for a larger fish for about fifteen seconds.  Both popped the perdigon as it drifted beside, or perhaps under a rocky shelf, and both tried their best to get back under there and off my line.  The fish were eating so well in the emergence of bugs, however, that even with an 18 barbless hook, nothing got away during my final flurry of fish.

Another 10 fish to end, including a run of 7 in a row on the perdigon.

It was still comfortable enough to fish around 12:30 PM when I was on the fence about making a move, but I decided to head for home instead of exploring another spot.  I don’t like to push things after I have such a great morning, anyway.  I have been known to catch a 20 and go home.  No 20 today, but there was not much to complain about either.  It was great to see so many healthy fish, and I hope this year’s spawn keeps things going.  The creek is in good shape compared to other creeks in the region that were more affected by storms.  The skinny stud is likely a sign that the water had gotten low and warm this summer, but he made it, and there are many places along this watershed to ride out the tough times.  I took a slow stroll back to the ‘Ru, just enjoying the perfect weather, and I even took the scenic route home, following the river and with the windows down.  Yeah, it was a good day.

Remains (begrudgingly) one of my favorites still.  Days like this help.

October 3, 2022 – A Midday Walk with a Small Stream Streamer Rod – Valley Creek

A nice little stick, but it may be for sale....

All this rain is exciting, but it is also 20 degrees colder than normal, so I am not sure if  it has made the fish go bonkers yet.  I hope it has for some of you!  I guess I am playing the longer game and really shooting for Thursday this week on a bigger crick.  That said, I was finished working on some things this morning, so I took a short ride to Valley to do some recon—a walk with a fishing rod.  The flows were not all that high, but there was a nice-looking stain that certainly looked prime for a streamer bite.  I did not bring the nymphing rod, though I wished I had after I had so many average fish just swipe at the big bugger or maybe nip the back.  I tend to go for broke with the streamer, and I was playing with a new-to-me toy, an older American-made Cabelas rod I found in my old man’s shed.  It says it is rated 6-7 weight, but it has a moderate action, almost like glass, and casts well with a 5-weight line.  I am still on the fence about whether it is the perfect small stream streamer rod or not, and this afternoon hardly put it to the test.  The action may bely the true weight rating, as one of the fish I hooked came flying out of the water on my surprised "trout set."  It may actually have more balls than it appears to have.... 

A lot of the same size fish, still some gravel, and new deposits of trash.

I have not fished the creek much this year, and it had been months perhaps since I visited.  There were no miracle cures to the damage done by Ida, especially after such a dry summer, and I only messed with one year class size of fish—they may be two (or three on Valley?), about 10 inches long.  I believe I may have caught a bunch of smalls, or at least had a better chance of gaging the overall health by the variety of year classes, had I brought the long rod and nymphed some junk flies or a duracell.  Even though it rained off and on, it was getting brighter, so they may have been done for the day.  It is also possible that I was not first through this morning since I fished from 11:30 to 1:30 PM.  This is Valley after all.  The Silver Fox was out on Saturday and invited me along, but I have a hard to time getting motivated to fish my old home waters these days, especially on a weekend, so I declined.  Oh, I will be back when I need to stretch the legs in the winter, but this little gem has lost its luster for me for the time being.  The short trip did give me the chance for a hike instead of streaming services on a chilly, rainy day.  A couple fish, some deer sightings, a little test run with a new toy, they were just a bonus.