December 17, 2023 – Snuck One in Before the Next Flood – Northampton County

At least one adult trout in the mix.

I fished one of my former favorite creeks this morning before the Nor’easter arrived.  I still have a soft spot for this one, but the warp-speed development in the area makes it prone to flooding and flood damage, as the photos probably show.  The irony is that its profile has risen as fishing has diminished, and access is harder in some spots and easier in others, with more public land open in the last several years and concurrently more posting.  I like it because it reminds me of a baby Brodhead, but it is also not a true freestoner because there is some mitigating limestone influence due to its location in limestone-rich Northampton County.  Oh, and it has beautiful wild brown trout even though the Commish and others still want to stock it—I guess the stocking does contribute to the access, so I can live with it.  By this time of the year, a rainbow is a rare thing, so they are not taking over, even in stretches of the creek that certainly feel like high-gradient rainbow water.  I fished the pockets and holes and found half a dozen fish this morning, even one about 12 inches that put on a bit of an aerial show even in the cold water.

Hanging on despite pressure from fisherman and nearby overdevelopment.

I started out tossing a bugger in the low light, and I found early success around a log jam that is now clogging an old favorite hole of mine.  At least there are still fish in there, and the log jam could be gone as soon as Monday morning with the approaching storm.  Downstream of here, an old TU project that stabilized the banks and created a nice hole is a total loss, filled with rolled rubble just like its aforementioned big sister creek to the north.  I thought the fish might have the meat feedbag on today, but I only caught two more small to average fish after the first one, so I took a ride upstream to another more popular stretch.  I saw a couple vehicles in the pull-offs and, with the leaves down, saw two or three other fishermen out, including a dude tossing a spinner, but no one was fishing where I ended my short drive.  I fished a small jigged bugger for a bit with no love, and since I saw a few midges aloft, I switched to a small perdigon and a heavier quill body bug on the anchor, both not more than size 18 to 20.

More pics of pretty wild browns.

I stuck the best fish of the morning with those small bugs under an indicator right at the transition of moving water and the slack of a deep hole.  It was a lovely fish that took a couple leaps for my benefit.  I missed one other short, sharp pop in the same general area, and I could not tightline another out of the head of this hole, so I moved down to two more deep plunges.  I stuck one more fish there and had one come off a heavy bugger that I put on trying to find one of those post-spawn piggies.  The bigger fish tend to like the bouncier stuff, even in the winter, and I was hoping to find another full-grown adult at least before the rain arrived.  Even though it was warm and cloudy, it seemed that the noon hour did its usual to dampen the action, so I called it good.  I barely got drizzled on, and I only met short periods of rain on the drive home.  Man, the Delaware was already up from the previous rain, so I can’t imagine what it will look like early this week.  I am off Monday, but it may be a last minute shopping day with the looks of the current forecast and flood predictions….