October 15, 2023 – Another Literal Sick Day Fishing – Northampton County

Getting colored up already.

Still nursing a cold, I did what any sane person would do and set the alarm for 5 AM for a fishing trip.  I have done this many times.  Rest is one thing, but how can fresh air and fishing be bad for your health, right?  The only downside is that I am not always on my A game.  Case in point, unlike Friday when I left without appropriate attire or enough food, water, and coffee to keep going, I packed well today—the stuff inside the house, at least.  The thing is, I usually pack rods and waders the night before, so on autopilot I left the house this morning with my water and snacks and warm clothes, but I got a good thirty minutes into my drive before realizing I did not see fly rods bouncing in my peripheral vision.  No waders or flies either, so handlining tippet or knotweed tenkara were also out of the question.  When I got back home, the sun was rising and the breeze was picking up, so I almost went back to sleep.  Instead, I had a civilized sit-down in the powder room instead of a Wawa or the bushes, made a quick breakfast sandwich, and then jumped back on the road, choosing the turnpike this time to keep it fresh.  Ain’t nothing gonna break-a my stride, not even my own mistakes!  I am glad I kept going despite the illness-induced senior moment because I ended up catching a mess of colored-up small stream fish on a beautiful morning, even explored another stretch of the creek and had success there.  Who doesn’t like a new spot or two, especially one without any fishermen present on a late weekend morning?

Many pretty trout in the bouncy stuff eating caddis.

This is a little creek with a lot of current, so I love to fish small bugs on a mono-rig in the pocket water, often just a single bug when I can figure out what they want.  The pocket water plan worked out well early, but like Friday most of the fish were up off the bottom ready to eat an emerging caddis not the anchor fly.  I had the pinky pt on the dropper to start, and it got no love in the absence of mayflies.  But the CDC size 16 blowtorch was definitely worth the switch, as there were caddis in the air and in the vegetation.  As the sun got higher, the fish went deeper or deeper into the whitewater in some cases.  With the exception of a new hole I fished, holes in general were disappointing.  I did target two or three risers giving themselves away in bankside eddies, and they all ate a single, buggy nymph the minute it hit the water near them.  In those moments, I often say I should go back to ‘Ru and get the short rod with the floating line and the dry tied on, but I really wanted to try and catch a better fish or two.  To that end, I did toss a jigged bugger in the deeper spots, but that only accounted for one of two rainbows and another average size brown.

Many ate the dropper tag, a couple on a bugger, crick pics.

The last time I was here, the browns were more challenging after 10 AM, but the bows kept eating.  Today, I must have caught browns to rainbows 25 to 2, so the presence of active caddis had the residents tuned in and turned on.  When the hatch died out, I switched to a single frenchie on 5.5X and continued to catch fish letting the little fly get a bit deeper.  It was breezy around midday, so the leaves started going.  I thought about calling it a day when that weather started, but because it was so nice out otherwise, I decided to stay in the streambed and hike up to some water I had scouted by car and Google maps but had never fished.  The creek gets more and more industrial, and it was easier to stay in the stream through a mostly shallow and channelized riffle of some 400 yards.  I could eventually see the change in elevation and, in the distance, the plunge I had seen before but had not fished.  It was not pretty, but the water was deep and clear.  An underground tunnel was spilling water from an unnamed trib or just a storm channel, the hole backed up to an abandoned manufacturing business or something, and a retaining wall held back the city streets.  But there were at least six more trout in the plunge there!

Pre-spawn colors and another bow left over.

In fact, the best wild brown, perhaps two of the best wild browns by a hair, and even the second rainbow of the day came out of this hole.  I am thinking the tunnel trib was a cold-water supply that allowed these fish to summer in style.  Downstream of this section, there is definitely a small spring or seep where I have measured a couple degree difference in water temperature in the early summer—and tangled with a 20-inch unicorn enjoying the cool temps, a pig I have not moved since or who has since moved...  I fished a single size 16 thread frenchie under a very small indicator here since it was noon and windy and the hole quite deep.  Letting that little bug just fall through the moderate current was really effective.  I landed half a dozen fish and had a couple additional short pops before deciding I was good for the day.  Again, not the prettiest hole, but culverts do tend to dig themselves a deep depression during high water, and if the water coming from underground there is cold, this is a keeper spot.  Maybe that piggy finds his way here post spawn too?!  Compared to Friday, I was feeling closer to whole today, so I may have actually landed a good fish had I been given the chance.  As you can see, the fishes are getting some color, so the spawn is not that far off—in the freestone cricks at least. A good day after an odd start, but mostly just a good day.

Some b reel of pretty wild trouts.