January 4, 2023 – On the Board for 2023 on a Warm Winter Day – Berks County

On the board.

I am surprised it took this long to get out this year.  Some years, it takes weeks because it is so cold.  This year, I probably could have caught some fish on New Years Day if I had the time and the desire.  Actually, the Silver Fox wanted to hit his brookie spot on Sunday, but I had plans with the family, not to mention a couple fishing days in a row to end 2022.  With rain and unsettled weather around, including some fog, I was unsure about how some bigger creeks would fish this week.  Honestly, I just wanted to get out without too much planning and gage checking and all that goes into a longer ride to a bigger creek in the winter.  I took an educated gamble that this little Berks County creek on the natural reproduction list would be stained but fishable.  It is not Class A, but the wild browns do well, especially after all the stockers have been taken or gone belly up.  It took an hour to find them with any consistency, but once I did, it was clear that I made a good choice.  I landed nothing big today, but at least three hours of fun, small stream fishing for beautiful wild browns is certainly not a bad way to ring in the new season.

Mostly small wild trouts and small stained crick.

I started out fishing with the same little jigged bugger that caught so well with Eric on my final trip of 2022.  It was #chublife for a while, and then I broke the bugger off on a hero hook set on what looked to be a bigger trout based on what I saw by turning him.  It may not have been the knot, as the tippet broke somewhere in the middle, and I don’t recall adding any length to the leader the last time I was out.  Either way, it was better that the tippet or knot failed on this fish rather than the piggie from the trip with Eric.  I have not caught more than a couple fish over 12 inches on this little creek, so I may have broken off one of the few remaining holdovers—at least that is what I told myself while rerigging to nymph the upcoming run of pocket water.

Something to put a bend in the 3 wt.

Productive pockets.

Because the deeper water was really stained, I rigged with a hotspot frenchie and a darker soft hackle on the dropper.  The first consistent run of browns came in pocket water, not deep holes, so I don’t think the dropper netted a thing.  I probably kept it on for extra weight for a while, and then once I broke off (in a tree is the most likely spot on this sometimes tight creek) I went with a single heavier caddis larva.  With some chubs interspersed, and even a handful of YOY, I bet I eventually landed a dozen wild browns.  The biggest couple were probably 10 inches, but they put a nice bend in the 3 weight.  The stained remained, and rain began again as I was getting ready to quit, so I did try to bounce a clone of that bugger on the walk back, still hoping to find a standout fish or two.  Again, the trouts were not quite ready just to sit in deep holes and ride out the winter, which is slow to start or has come in fits and starts, so I only stuck uber-chubs with the bugger on the way back.  I only targeted three or four deep holes, and with the stain, I could not tell if they were silted up or had changed since my last visit.  Surprising, but I am not complaining because I would rather catch fish actively feeding in pocket water, anyway.  It was a good—albeit oddly swampy in the old waders for winter fishing—first trip of the year.  Many more to come, I hope!

Pretty and healthy trouts.