September 22 and 23, 2023 – The Last Days of Summer at the Warmwater Jamboree with a Productive Coldwater Detour – Mifflin County

Not our tent. Beautiful night before the rain.

Out of character, perhaps, I ventured out to Mifflin County alone this weekend to meet up with a group of guys from the PAFlyfish community.  With a Nor’easter arriving, several dudes bailed out, but I believe I met about six good guys from the forum.  I have never gone to the bigger event on Penns Creek each spring, not even the year I was offered a spot in a cabin with some of the moderators—it always came right before my Canada trip, so a big ask at home, I guess.  I committed to this one to get out of my comfort zone, but also because the dude Josh that hosts has always seemed like a great guy—I suppose hosting a bunch of fly fishermen on his family’s property for a few years now is a self-evident sign.  Josh had offered to show me around his home waters earlier this spring, and with starting the new job, I was not able to get out there.  I can confirm that he is a good dude, and I will hook up with him next spring after he gets his waterfowl hunting fix this fall.  I packed to fish both bass and trout because I wasn’t going to Central PA and not catch some trouts, and I also packed to car camp in the ‘Ru with a thermarest and a sleeping bag.  It was not the best night sleep with all the gear and rod tubes, not to mention at least four high speed trains rolling by in the night along with some heavier rain for a period of time in the wee hours of the morning.  But somehow I rallied to fish for some trouts in the drizzle and rain from about 10:00 AM to 3 PM on Saturday.  A little sleep is still an improvement over my typical caffeine-fueled Central PA marathons alone or to meet Sam, of course.

Not a bad fly rod bass on a popper.

We had a big old event tent to hide under, but we really just got a chilly wind with our beers and fishing talk on Friday night.  We also had access to the bathroom and kitchen inside the old farmhouse on the property.  That came in handy for morning coffee on a very rainy Saturday morning, when we sat around deciding what to do with ourselves.  On Friday night, Josh grilled for everyone, and many guys brought sides and beverages.  Before that, a group of five of us hit the evening bite on the river just steps from the property.  Many small fish were caught, and at least one guy Joe caught a couple nice fish in the high teens on topwater just after sunset.  I caught a couple fallfish earlier and was ready to quit when I heard Joe’s fish and then saw it break the surface twice.  I quickly tied my popper back on in the near dark and managed to catch a pretty decent smalljaw on top before slowly making my way back across the river for camp.  The water was low, and that stretch of the Juniata is easy wading, so a few of us stayed out there into darkness.  It was just the one probably 14-inch bass for me, but it was a lovely night to be out and a good evening window before tropical storm Ophelia arrived.

Very late summer on the Juniata River.

It was dark and chilly on the last day of summer, so everyone slept in until at least 7 AM, which was about when Josh arrived to start coffee.  He offered to make us breakfast, but instead we sat around the kitchen until 9 AM drinking coffee, checking the forecast, and debating what to do.  A couple guys, including Josh, were interested in trout fishing, but I was pretty sure that was my plan all along.  In case it rained hard again, I was just going to use the time out there to explore a couple new spots on a creek on which I have had success but on which I have barely scratched the surface as far as potential.  I was graciously helped by Josh and a couple other sharpies with some suggested starting points, and one guy John was supposed to meet me at one location after he packed up his tent and stuff.  A few of the guys suited up in a break in the rain to walk to the river again, and one poor guy Dave who trailed a Stealthcraft from Johnstown never even fished before heading home, it seems.  John never found me or made other last-minute plans, so I had a social Friday night and Saturday morning followed by a solo trout outing on Saturday afternoon.  I like to fish alone, as you may know, and being social for too long is exhausting for an introvert, so I totally embraced the solitude, of course.  Even on a Saturday, the bad weather kept everyone off the water, so I had two new spots to myself.

A lucky break in the storm.  Swampy enough to fog the lens!

It was humid with periods of rain, but I had a great, productive window where the wind stayed calm and the fish cooperated.  At the first spot, I caught half a dozen average wild browns on small bugs.  The water was low here, and every snag came back with dark, cased caddis, so most fish ate a size 16 purple hotspot thread frenchie in shallow pocket water.  I did hook one slightly better fish at this first spot, but there was not enough deep holding water at midday, so I went to find another spot closer to one of the springs that adds cold water and volume, hoping for at least one good fish before making the long drive home.  With more volume and color from the spring and the continuing rain, the creek here looked very sexy.  There was a steeper grade and a narrower streambed here, so I had found the deeper pocket water I needed.  

The trout fishing went better than the bass fishing for me.

After finding some unposted but perhaps a little shady parking, I rigged with 4X and a jigged streamer to fish this deeper section of the same creek.  It was a good call because my first fish from this stretch was a beautiful wild brown close to 16 inches, I bet.  At some point, I put on an even heavier jigged bugger, this time in black because the water visibility was getting a bit worse.  That heavy bug accounted for two more solid wild browns, one probably a fat 13-incher, the other a little smaller.  I could not scare up any more in this short stretch, so I debated taking another short drive to a familiar spot that I knew had similar deep, narrow water, but when I saw it was 3 PM and my rainless window was about to end, I decided to pack it up.  My car was still there looking just as messy as I left it, so I took my time to hide under a tree and change into less swampy attire for the ride home.  I hit Penn State football traffic and early Friday rush hour and construction in Harrisburg on the way out there, but it was smooth sailing Saturday afternoon on the way home.  The same weather that had kept people off the cricks and away from the warmwater jam had apparently kept the PA Turnpike empty too.  I guess the weather only added to the adventure?

Best one at my second stop on the same crick.  Bonus shot.

September 17, 2023 – Spotted by a Former Fishing Buddy at My (Our?) “Secret” Spot – Monroe County

Pretty morning with clouds on the way.

My day ended today with a run-in with Kev, with whom I fished a few times in the past in places in NEPA and the Lehigh Valley.  Back in the day, he was coming down to SEPA from out of state to see a girlfriend in the City.  He had weeks off at a time due to his work shifts, and as we know I also had plenty of weekday time to fish, so it worked out well.  I think we found each other on the fly fishing discussion boards if I recall.  He is a young buck, but he has fished for a long time, even did some guiding, so he was a good fishing companion.  We also fished a lot of the same creeks—still do, obviously—so we shared good intel too.  Today, we spent close to 45 minutes, I bet, sharing pics and then walking out to the lot together.  It was random that some clown asking me if I was catching anything ended up being some clown that I knew, but perhaps it was only a matter of time before we ran into each other again.  He is in NEPA full-time now, and I fish NEPA a lot, so we confirmed we still had each other’s numbers to connect again.

Chub life is not a good sign of how warm the summer stream got.

Before I ran into Kev on a last ditch walk to catch some holdovers up a tributary that stays colder, I did some exploring in a section of the creek that gets warm each summer.  It was under 60 F to start today, so I am talking about how hot it gets each season.  As a result of this yearly spike, fish migrate each summer or go into summer survival patterns.  I saw a big old golden that made it through the heat, however, so the good rainfall totals in NEPA this summer did help.  This was a go for broke sort of trip, at least to start, and then I just wanted to catch a few fish after two fruitless hours of looking for “the one.”  I only caught two little wild browns and a couple fallfish before landing a nearly wild rainbow on a size 10 pheasant tail jig dredging the bottom of a deep, deep hole.  The browns that live here were absent today, although I did turn one decent fish with a hookset that looked like a brown.  This sporty and beautiful bow was definitely the highlight and maybe worth the effort it takes to get into this section of the creek.  She was 16 or 17 inches, but if she were 20 she might have been more than my 3 weight and 5X could have handled on big water.

Finally, a little something, you know, for the effort...

As the rain and clouds approached, a smattering of blue-winged olives also started getting active, so I stayed out longer than my normal.  At what would typically be my quitting time, I decided to take a little walk to the confluence of a larger tributary that adds volume and makes a large, bouncy, and deep hole.  I caught the king of fallfish, now my third of the morning, on a jigged streamer at the confluence and was about to head up the trib when Kev, whom I was trying to ignore as a curious stranger in my spot, interrupted.  He’d caught a handful of fish, including a big holdover brookie, up the trib, so I did not choose to fish “used water” and, instead, decided to continue our conversation on a leisurely hike out.  Having fished with Kev, I knew it would be sort of like fishing behind a young version of myself, so probably slim pickins in the remaining active fish department.  It was a good outing even if the fishing was mediocre.  September has always been an in-between month for me.  I should probably go to Montauk every year or something, just to kickstart the fall.  But, as you probably know, crowds of fishermen are not my favorite.

An average September outing.

September 3, 2023 – One Last Trip Before the Next Heat Wave – Monroe County

A visit home.

I have a handful of limestone-influenced creeks within an hour and change of home that I count among my home waters, but besides the Wissahickon, which has been in my backyard for most of my life, it is the Brodhead where I feel most at home.  It is a lovely and wild-feeling place despite being so close to civilization.  I also have a lot of knowledge and a rolodex of spots gained over decades of fishing, so even on a Sunday before Labor Day, I knew I could find some elbow room and hopefully some fish, maybe even some wild ones.  Saturday would have been better, perhaps, as the heat and humidity returned today, and high sun put the fish down by 10 AM or sooner, but I spent Saturday in Baltimore Harbor and the Aquarium looking at fish with my son and his friend,  Even though I was tired from a long day on the road, I chose to make the 90-minute ride to NEPA just to take advantage of one more trout-friendly day this weekend.  I did not land any big fish, but I landed a solid number of smalls and a few adults, all wild too.  I did run into one other fisherman, but he was cool, and we gave each other plenty of space.  I even spied more water-loving rodent life and a bald eagle just cruising the treetops, so the nature show continued.  It was hot at quitting time, especially in waders, and I ended the morning dropping two more adult fish that barely ate in pocket water, but I had my fun while it lasted today and overall for the past month.

Caught some wild boys and girls, some more than two years old.

Paying more attention to the actual rapidly changing sunrise times, I arrived a little later than false dawn today.  I was able to eke out every possible minute of sleep before making the longish pre-dawn drive, as a result.  I felt good and left the wading staff in the car.  The creek had been falling through the 100 CFS range all week and was at about 80 this morning, so not sporty enough in my estimation to need a third leg.  For the time of the year, that was healthy flow, and the water temperature at quitting time was still barely edging towards 60 F.  Like Thursday morning, fishing began slowly, so the summer pattern is ending, or the bigger fish are still firmly entrenched in night feeding.  Either way, I eventually started getting into some trout.  Most of the time, I was fishing a bomb hares ear on 5X with a 16 soft hackle on the dropper, with some experiments with a golden stone and even a jigged bugger—only the bugger interested a couple fish.  Some caddis were briefly active and they were small, so I am not surprised that the dropper was winning early.  The hits were tentative, and most fish fell off the small bug right in the net or sometimes just before me sealing the deal.

A weasel this morning or just another lighter colored mink?

I ran into the other dude as I was approaching what I had hoped to be one of two aces in the hole(s).  He was moving down and I up, so after a brief conversation, we parted ways.  He even let me fish my favorite spot while he had a breakfast break, but I did not catch any pigs with an audience (I guess that only happens to poor young Eric!).  I did catch more small fish out of this hole, which I fished a second time with a bugger before I left and managed to dredge up another adult.  The last spot I had in mind is hidden in a long run of pocket water, and it has accounted for a few very nice fish over the last few years.  I found fish here, including a couple 12-inchers that were a lot of fun in heavier current, but not the one or two I was hoping for.  Still, it did not disappoint.  I took a water temperature after fishing this spot, and it was still great, so even though there was high sun, I hoped I might get a presentation or two really deep and land a couple more fish before quitting time.  Committing to the bottom zone, I rather quickly lost two entire set ups with a double-tung golden stone (there were some dried cases on the rocks and an adult or two around).  I put a heavy jigged streamer on to end, and I hooked and nearly landed another adult trout before he came off at the net.  I then broke that bug off on a hero hookset on a big fish or a big boulder that surprised me, so I called it good after that.  My parking spot was now in full sun, so I took a ride in waders to find a shady spot not occupied by Sunday cookout preparations in order to ready for home.  It was cool in the shade, so I enjoyed a bit of food and an iced coffee while I aired out the inside of my waders and let my swampy quick-drying clothes quickly dry.  In the end, it was not a bad outing for early September, especially with another heat wave on the way this week.  The summer is holding on, but it can’t fight the shortening days for too long now.

One more.