December 15, 2023 – Into the Woods Again (with a True Mitch) – SEPA Blueline

Breaking in the fancy new net.

With PA deer hunting on pause, Eric and I thought it would be a good day to venture into our little spot near his old hometown to reacquaint ourselves with the wild brown trout.  He has not fished in months with responsibilities at work and home.  What little free time he had this fall was devoted to bow hunting.  I did see a buck skinned and ready to be quartered in his shed this fall, and he does have a couple doe permits too, so this is really just a pause for him too.  We heard a few gun shots in the distance today and saw some fresh ground blinds and deer stands, but we did not have to wear the blaze orange.  That pop of color might have made us stand out even more in the bright sun and clear water conditions, and we needed all the help we could get.  The rain from Sunday had the ground saturated, I suppose, but the stain was long gone.  Flows were not as bad as they could have been for this time of year, however.  We knew it might be challenging once we set eyes on the little crick, but it was just good to get out with a mitch.  We both had the entire day to walk the woods, so we spent most of today’s daylight hours in pursuit of some skittish fish, arriving around 9:30 and leaving about 45 minutes before sunset.  Fish were caught, about half a dozen trout, including a really nice small stream fish all colored up and well fed, even post spawn.

A real beauty.

As we were suiting up, we decided to cover as much of the stretch to which we have access as possible.  We had not been here since early spring this year, so we wanted to assess as much water as possible for deadfalls, course redirections, and so forth.  It was about a year ago, actually on December 31, 2022, that we found our first real brood stock fish in the creek.  It was a gorgeous wild post-spawn male that was likely the papa of most of the creek’s small fish.  We marked another milestone today, although one that was as disappointing, perhaps, as the other was exciting.  I actually pulled flies out of a tree, our first sign that another angler had been back here.  I could not miss a three-fly rig wrapped around an easy to reach branch, so I don’t know how this fly fisher did not retrieve his own bugs unless he was without waders or blind or lazy.  It was definitely not something Eric or I would throw: a glow bug, a waltz, and another waltz for good measure, all tied off the hooks of each other (they must have been watching too much PA Woods n Water on the YouTube!).

Fishing was tough, but the outing was hardly a chore today.

Besides some springtime caddis, this creek is not all that fertile with bug life.  We saw midges and even a pod of three or four, a couple probably chubs, rising to midges in one hole, another single rise in a braided run late in the day, but we decided early on to forego small bugs in lieu of some Eric-tied jigged buggers.  I often choose to go with the big meal in the late fall and winter over matching the hatch, and meat is hard to beat some days.  It takes energy to feed in water whose temps are in the thirties, so I try to make the fish think it’s worth their while to make a move.  Not that they were chasing today: we caught the fish on a dead drift with maybe a flick of the wrist for some life for the most part.  I did catch one fish that popped the bug once and did not connect by swinging the bug in the same little pocket on the next cast, but it was more of a hang than a swing, just a stationery bugger letting the materials do the enticing work.

I did catch a couple.  Eric in situ.

Speaking of misses, I was hardly on my A game today!  It was likely a combo of two things.  One, I have not had the fly rod in my hand since October, so I started out rusty, I am sure.  Two, I forgot to bring food, so I was working on a couple small oranges and some watered-down juice.  Eric offered me an Uncrustable around 1 PM (I have been telling you he is a mitch!) and I stupidly declined.  I did take a single serving of trail mix about 3 PM, but it did not help me much, as I missed a fish at our last hole of the afternoon too.  I caught a couple trouts and at least a couple big old chubs and an uber fallfish, but I had missed a handful of chances by day’s end.  Thankfully, Eric was sharper today, and it allowed him to land a real small stream beauty at one of his favorite holes.  He caught a nice 10-inch fish first, and because he loves this spot, I said, “Go ahead and get another one,” instead of taking my turn.  We do this sometimes at a few holes that he or I have history with.  Today, that second fish I gave him the go-ahead on was a good mature adult hen.  The colors were beautiful, and I estimated her to be a plump 12-13 inches too.  He deserved it today, and I reacted the same way I would have had I caught this fish, had he caught the aforementioned piggy last winter.  He would have done the same.

Some B reel from a good day back in the woods.