February 14 and 15, 2023 – A Couple of Midweek Midday Meh Days – Lehigh Valley Limestoners

Late afternoon light.

I have been busy with life stuff, so my fishing has been lazy, I guess.  Winter lends itself to middle of the day, sun is up, creeks are warming.  But with all these days in the 50’s and 60’s, especially in normal creek flows, I know I am missing the early bite.  It is more early spring than late winter conditions, that is for sure.  I am definitely not missing all the other anglers taking the lazy approach too!  I ran into no less than five dudes chunking spinners and another fly guy on Tuesday.  A couple creeks in this area are experiencing Valley Creek-like pressure, and my wheels are turning about new places for these impromptu getaways.  I actually fished a fly fishing only section on Wednesday, one that has not been stocked since probably April of last year, and I still ran into another fly guy.  Fittingly enough, he had spent the morning at Valley!  I went to great lengths to fish somewhere no one would likely fish, but that seems impossible in SEPA these days.  I know I mentioned night fishing for bass in the surf, and it’s looking like a more plausible future for me unless I get immune to the crowds.  I did catch at least 5 flies from trees to add to my collection.  Last year, I was pulling Rapalas and spinners, but those were out of reach today.

Went to great lengths to catch scrawny holdovers away from the crowds.

Tuesday was technically a skunk, as I had two small fish come off the jigged bugger.  I spent most of my time walking and searching for signs of life away from my usual haunts (and scavenging flies, apparently).  Wednesday was a slight improvement, as I was able to find three rather scrawny rainbows that had made it through the long summer (and short winter).  They all hit a basic caddis larva near the bottom.  With the high sun and clear water, I did see a bunch of fish both days, including a golden in the mid-20’s.  On Tuesday, fish were hanging in slow water, just chilling, at least until I walked by, then they scattered to cover.  I saw some olives but no risers that afternoon.  I saw no bug life at all on Wednesday on the FFO section, however.  That probably explains why the fish only ate the larva, which may have passed for scuds or other year-round spring creek forage.  As you can see from the picture, two of the bows were scrawny.  I was hoping to find the last vestiges of wild fish up in this watershed, but this stream section does not have a lot of good habitat.  The banks continue to get higher and muddier.  On a good note, I stopped by the headwaters of the creek Eric and I fish and poked around.  Sure enough, I spooked a wild brown hanging right in the deep wash behind a culvert.  I made a mental note for the next time I need to fish with some solitude and don't get up early enough....