September 22, 2024 - Low Water but Cool Water Temps Make the First Day of Fall a Success – NEPA

An elder stateman.

I tangled with two pigs this morning and landed one of them, so I can still make the playoffs, I gather.  The water was low, but this creek was doing better than most, so I made the drive and had the right level of expectations.  I just wanted to trout fish and possibly move a fish or two fattening up for the spawn.  When I hooked a fish as big or bigger than the one pictured above at the first hole, expectations were exceeded.  The first pig took a jigged bugger on the drop—I just saw the flash of head when he took it.  I had a sense I was going to lose this one all along because the hookset was not my best with some slack in the line to allow the streamer to fall to the bottom.  It was a decent hookset, however.  I fought him for a good while, but I think I pussyfooted around more than normal with the sneaking suspicion that this could end at any time.  Self-fulfilling prophecy because the streamer did eventually pull free on one of his/her longer runs.  It was still before sunrise, and this fish never jumped, but it was big.  Every time it lunged or ran, I could feel the power.  And those tell-tale head shakes.  I was throwing the 10’6” 4 weight and 3X to start my morning, so I definitely had the balls to take it took him/her, but I got cautious or just really wanted some content to share with you all.  That would come later, and I did not lose the mental game even though I lost this first battle.

Another early fish.

I will get to the fishing, but I guess I brought up a moment of growth as a fisherman just now.  I know guys who would be destroyed by losing a big fish—I have even written about throwing up after losing a big brown.  In my defense, that fish was 25 inches in a small creek and was nearly in my net when he popped off!  Anyway, this morning I just allowed the adrenaline dry heaves to pass, took some deep breaths, gave myself some positive affirmations, and moved onto the next hole.  This one was done for now with the mess the unknown pig and I had created.  I caught a dink or two at the next hole and then a nice fish over 15 inches, all the while still confident that another pig would show.  It did not hurt that this 15-incher first revealed himself trying to take a YOY off my hands for me.  I knew he was in there and hungry.  I also saw the pig I did land show himself while getting interested in my ability to catch dinkers on the nymphs.  This is not an uncommon occurrence for me in this creek, which is not always that fertile.  The YOY themselves are sometimes the hatch. 

Pretty low but just enough to make it worthwhile.  Fall has arrived.

That said, I did see a small smarm of olives and a few adult caddis as the day warmed up, so I abandoned the bugger pretty early.   Water was low, not unfishable and low, but just on the cusp of leaving it alone.   I hit the holes early when I could, but the rest of the morning was concentrated on the shallow riffles and small bugs.  Once I changed bugs enough to see that a single size 18 walts was the one they wanted, I had a blast in the skinny whitecaps.  Before my break at the ‘Ru at 10 AM to refuel and pick up the 3 weight to nymph in this manner, I did have success in those deep holes.  The pig I landed was an old fish, all head and skinny body.  He needed a rest after a reasonably short battle, so I hope he’ll be around to share his genes this fall.  I stuck with him for a good 5 minutes while I harassed Eric with some texts, and when I went to retrieve my rod from the bank eventually, he took off with good speed.  I caught a couple more trouts before and after this fish, but he was the highlight of round one.

More piggy shots.  And the one he went after to give away his position ;)

After losing some clothes, getting a snack, a cold drink, and picking up the other rod, I worked through some riffles and pocket water for round two.  Water was low despite good water temperatures.  All the channels around the islands, for example, were nearly bone dry or frog water.  I just couldn't justify spending more time in the car than on the stream today, even if I had made my day in just three hours of fishing.  I expected dinks in very shallow water for round two, but I should have been ready for more, of course.  I turned a very decent fish on a size 20 baetis nymph in the first deep depression in the riffles that I targeted.  The little hook did not hold, and so began several bug changes and weight changes to get it right.  Once I settled on an 18 walts on the point and a 16 soft hackle on the dropper tag, I had a nice run of fish.  Nothing like the first one I turned, but I did catch what the Silver Fox likes to call real-sized fish—10 to 13 inchers, many of them acrobatic.  These fish were quick hitters in tiny little spots in the riffles, which is a type of fishing I love and excel at—and probably love because I excel at it!  It was getting warm, and I knew I would be quitting at noon today, but these 6 or 8 bonus round fish further made my day.

Some round 2 fish from the skinny stuff.

Even minus an extra layer of clothes, I was starting to swamp my waders around 11:30 AM.  It was approaching borderline wet wading weather.  The sun was so high that shaded banks were at a premium by noon, and that had also become a pattern for the last 30 minutes or so.  In other words, I knew the clock was ticking on this particular outing.  Honestly, I was just thankful for not one but two rounds of very good fishing, especially since the flows were low and the water crystal clear.  It is good to fish a crick in as many seasons and conditions as possible.  I don’t make many fall trips to this one, and I probably won’t make a habit of it either.  I like to rotate them, especially when they are good to me.  I don’t know if that is responsible or superstitious or just my need for variety.  I like to say this creek never disappoints, and I have had to amend that to rarely disappoints this year, but this morning surely helped tip the scales back towards never.  Imagine if I had landed the first pig!  Nope, can’t think about that….

One of the better ones from the second round.