August 27 and 28, 2023 - A Couple Dog Days, Accompanied by Dinks – A Pair of SEPA Cricks

All bugger bass and not all that big.

I spent most of the weekend serving as a taxicab for the boy, who had a bunch of things going on, but after I dropped him off at a party on Sunday night, I had to fish somewhere.  Valley was hitting 68 degrees all week, so I struck that from the list.  It was getting too late, especially with the sun setting before 8 PM these days, to go too far, so I settled on a Wissy trip for some panfish and small bass.  It was crowded at 5:40 PM, with some shirtless jamokes swimming upstream and plenty of bikes and boots on Forbidden Drive, but it was not as crowded as expected.  I actually found a pool that had been quiet enough for long enough to allow sunfish to begin sipping bugs from the surface.  When I walked up to my first spot, there were at least six fish rising steadily, and I got three of them to take a small foam caddis before they shut down.  A couple of them were beautiful redbreasts that crushed the dry with splashy takes.   Even though it was a bit early and a bit low for bass to be anything but risk averse, I had to chunk a bigger foam bug for a while.   When nothing rose but sunnies too small to eat the bug, I swung a couple streamers and connected with a few bass in a deep run.  I had one very decent fish, like 12 or 13 inches, come and nip a thin mint bugger, but he did not commit.  I switched to a lighter and flashier bugger and caught more fish, but not that fish.  He was the type that I only mess with in high water.  They see so many badly presented bobbers in their short lives that any bass lucky enough to live a handful of years here gets real spooky.

Respect the redbreast, more bugger bass.

I finished out the night trying to get at least one bass to rise to the topwater, but neither a dead drift nor a popping retrieve attracted anything but sunfish.  I should have put the caddis back on at magic hour because the panfish were going crazy rising all over, but I had my heart set on a bass over 8 or 9 inches.  I guess the 13-incher sighting had me thinking it was possible this evening.  It was not to be, but I got a good wet wade in on a warm evening and caught some fish.  Like trout fishing in my youth, I was the last mitch hiking out of the too dark park, always timing those last few casts a bit too long after sunset, but it made for an aerobic climb out of the gorge, and I even had a fox sighting in lieu of a potential mugging or carjacking.

Two of each on small bugs and 6x.

I rinsed off my wading boots and hung the neoprene booties on the line, but I left most of my stuff in the ‘Ru just in case I saw rain or something to motivate me on Monday morning.  No rain, but I was up at 2 AM and again at 3:30 AM (too much ice cream too late?) so I stayed up.  I knew water temps would not be great, even at the limestoners within an hour of home, but I kind of wanted to catch a trout.  I hadn’t the stomach for the Little Lehigh again, so I hit a Northampton County limestoner instead.  Water was low to mid-60 with some overnight showers, but I stuck to pocket water and one hole below a couple springs.  I was wishing the creeks here had spiked like they had around Allentown, but they really had not done much rising if any here.  Speaking of rising, it was dead as far as bug life from 6 to 9 AM when I left.  I did catch a couple small wild browns and had a few one pop and done hits in some deeper riffles, but fish were not really feeling active this morning.  I had an 11 AM meeting, and it was uncomfortably humid, so I had no plans of staying out too late.  When it brightened up eventually, I could see how low and clear conditions were, so it would not have improved later unless significant rain fell or something.  Besides the two wild browns, I found a couple colorful but otherwise sad looking holdover rainbows too.  I got them both under a bobber in one of the few deep holes with any flow.  Seeing no risers even on the walk out, I should have thrown a small jigged bugger in the low light hours, but hindsight is what it is.  I am not convinced any adult fish would have moved too far to take even a big meal.  The wild trout like the wild bass were not having it.  It gave me a new appreciation for the violent takes of those redbreast on Sunday night at least!  

A close encounter with a bonus baby was surely the highlight of the morning.

The highlight by far was the close encounter with a doe and her late-summer fawn.  They were between me and the creek, and I assume the doe did not want to take the babe in the water to avoid me, or they were convinced I would do them no harm.  I was able to get the two of them in one shot and a close up of the fawn, probably only 12 feet away from me.  I don’t remember fall fawns until more recently, but I guess the does are giving birth twice a year now, as if there aren’t enough of them?  All I know is that Eric has no excuses for not filling his freezer with venison these days!