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.