October 19 and 29, 2024 – A Short Surf Attempt and a 6-Hour Drive for 6 Hours of Fishing but Well Worth It – Monmouth County and Central PA

An early start in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania.

This no rain thing is depressing.  At least the bass are starting to migrate into Jersey and will hit the beaches consistently when the winds and water temps get right.  For the time being, looking for a quick getaway on a weekend morning has been nearly impossible.  I did make a few casts on the evening of October 19^th when I was in Asbury Park for a weekend of drinking and socializing, but kids were swimming earlier that afternoon, so my confidence was not high even though the surf looked very sexy.  The following weekend found me looking at gauges and nixing plan after plan, deciding instead to wait until this week to play hooky and fish a destination crick without the crowds.  This destination crick had been holding its flows better than most, but it was still very low.  Still, Penns Crick is almost always a memorable and productive trip, so I made the 3-hour drive in the dark to arrive before sunrise to 35-degree air temperatures but eventually cooperative wild trouts.  Despite my once-common practice for which this blog got its original title, for the first time in quite a long time, I used a true sick day to fish, and I regret nothing.  Remember the math is only bad if the fishing is bad.  Three hours there to fish six to drive three home?  Yep, and I caught over 15 wild trout in so-called “technical” but lovely conditions. 

I gave it a shot at least.

Technical is guide speak for low and clear, basically.  For me that just means small tippet, small bugs, stealthy wading in pocket water, and very careful casts in what deep holes I can find.  It also means fishing early for the advantage of low light.  In the mountains of Central PA, depending on where you fish, that low light could last until 11 AM this time of year, and I was fortunate to find a really good stretch of pocket water right as the warmup and the last of the shade converged with a sparse hatch of small caddis and midges.  I caught maybe 5 small fish, including a double (so 6), on small bugs under a small bobber before the magic two-hour window.  It was cold to start, a few clicks above freezing, so the slow start was not unexpected.  During that perfect two-hour window, however, I landed a couple good fish in pocket water, a handful of 12-13 inchers, and more smalls.  I even found one of the rainbows that the locals put in and had my second double of the year too.  I eventually settled on a single olive perdigon and fished upstream.  Most of the better fish ate when I was well below them fishing a long 5X leader—another “technical” approach I use. 

A good fish in "technical" conditions.

A couple of the females looked misshapen and hollow enough to have been post-spawn, but I saw no evidence of redds.  I recall Sam, who knows this spot well and even gave me some boots on the ground intel the evening before, saying that he believes most of the fish here use the tributaries because they have better gravel substrate in them.  Sam was guiding (again) today, so we have yet to find time to fish together this year!  I can confirm that even in the low water, I noted nothing that looked like good spawning habitat.  When I fished around one nice island and expected to see redds, there was nothing but large rubble fanning out behind.  There were some fish in all the deeper riffles and pockets in the riffles, one pushing over mid-teens and a few over 12 inches.  That handful alone made it worth the long ride.

More fishes.  Post spawn hen below?  Doub life.

When I reached the end of the island, it was close to noon, so I decided to walk back to the lot and take a break.  My day had started before 2 AM when I got up to piss an hour before the 3 AM alarm, so I was running on caffeine and freedom.  On the walk back I did watch a couple pods of average fish dimpling for olives or midges, so I debated walking back up after the break and fishing the same stretch again in warmer (but far brighter and breezier) conditions.  Instead, I decided to test my memory and navigation skills to find another unposted stretch of water where I have had some memorable visits with Sam.  Access to this stretch is in flux with some purple paint upstream and what appears, judging from all the trampled grass and riparian plants, to be a thriving Airbnb downstream, but I found the riffle and bend pool.  Water was low and clear, so after nymphing the head and some pockets without a touch, I even fished with a New Zealand indicator for 30 minutes in the deeper water near the tailout.  Not a touch.  I spooked one fish out from under a rock as I made a crossing to fish the opposite bank—a novelty crossing since it would have been impossible on most days.  I was hoping that I might scare one up in a deeper run along that far bank and away from the pressure, but that productive morning window had likely closed for a few hours.

Even lower at the second spot I managed to relocate.

With the breeze kicking up and some increased clouds, I was hoping for some bug life to save the second shift, but I resisted heading back to the first spot.  It would have been a lot of effort if the fish down there were acting the same way as their cousins upstream.  I accepted that the productive window had closed and decided to get a jump on any Harrisburg rush hour traffic.  The boys, especially Sandy Dunkin, are chomping at the bit for some surf fishing.  Pete already had success with the snag and drop fleet in North Jersey, so if I head out this weekend it may be in search of striped bass from the sand.  I would rather be here in these mountains, however!  The drive up took me over the depressingly low Juniata and Susquehanna rivers, but the drive home had me winding through the heights of the Bald Eagle State Forest.  I have done this drive while snow was falling on the peaks in January.  Today’s drive was equally enjoyable with the remaining fall colors, and probably a lot safer.

Bonus shots.  Another angle of the best fish of the morning.

October 14, 2024 – We Found a Handful During a Rough Fall Transition Day – NEPA

One dude, two hats + hmm... leafy.

The Silver Fox has off this week, and I only had Monday free, so we made the most of an iffy weather day in NEPA today.  With nary a raindrop in sight for what feels like ages, I slept in both Saturday and Sunday mornings this weekend.  I was tracking better flows in central PA, but I didn’t have it in me to make the long drive, I guess, especially not twice in two or three days.  Instead, I took care of some things around the house and saved my energy for Monday with Tom.  I was encouraged when I saw a dam release on the Lehigh River this weekend and thought we might have a shot at some eager fish closer to home as a potential alternative.  Besides a half a dozen fallfish, “some” fish disappointingly meant a total of five average browns for me, and a goose egg for Tom.  It was warm and humid at first light with the weather carrying over from the weekend, but we fished through the arrival of the cold front.  That change came with falling temperatures, winds, a barometric change, and the best part of fall fishing in the wind, the leaf hatch.  For what it was worth, there was plenty of actual bug life, including caddis in two sizes, and even a smattering of olives—who sometimes like to choose nasty days to hatch.  None of these bugs seemed to interest the trouts all that much.  Slow and low, including two of my five fish coming on a big bug dredged under a bobber and 8 feet of 4X tippet, was the name of the game.  Not awesome, but it was a good social trip with Tom and, like our summer trip that was equally middling, an excuse for me to have a planned day out of the office.

Pretty fall-ish and blustery by late morning.

I avoided the first cast curse by logging a first cast snag.  I lost it all, including the aforementioned 8 feet of 4X fluorocarbon, due to a terribly tied knot at the tippet ring.  I caught a good 13 inch fish after rerigging, so technically my second cast of the morning.  And I actually got back all the tippet and two bugs a few minutes later when I snagged my own long-ass tippet and freed all of it.  Had I one of those handy rigging spools, I could have just wrapped the whole jawn up and been ready with a super-quick rerig following the inevitable future snag.  Instead, I clipped off the bugs and saved the tippet for some dropper tags later in the morning.  I mentioned the two bobber fish, well the others took a perdigon or a jigged bugger deep and near the bottom on a tight line.  Despite the presence of caddis, nothing took the dropper tag like they did on my last visit.  Speaking of which, I usually don’t like to double down on the same watershed, let alone nearly the same spot, but this drought is playing havoc with my fishing plans.  Before seeing the detailed Monday forecast, Tom and I were slated to drive out to Central PA, but with this front I figured our time would be better spent fishing the early morning window before the major weather change—a change that was happening west to east too, mind you.  Besides a couple trout, I did catch a solid fall fish bite before the weather changed, so there was that part of the plan that worked out, I suppose....

I caught some wild trouts (and likely one holdover top left).

Tom is not accustomed to fishing big water like this, so I let him figure it out for a while before sharing that he was probably two feet short on tippet length and way light on tungsten for a day where the fish were just hugging bottom.  He had some hits that probably surprised him (a couple of mine did to be honest) after long lulls in the action.  None of the trout were dinks that I did land, but none of them were likely much over 12 inches either, and the first fish may have even been a long time holdover, not even a wild boy.  I made some bug changes when the leaf hatch began in earnest, going for the big old isonychia or stonefly approach in the underwater leaf storm over leaving (get it) it up to the trouts to pick out an 18 or 20 caddis pupa down there.  The water was a bit stained from the release, even though the flows were still very wadable and had dropped back to normal by the time we arrived.

Bonus shot.  Some fall colors.

We quit the first spot before 10 AM to hike by the ‘Ru on the way to a second spot.  To give you an idea of how not nice it was, we were still the only vehicle in a usually quite busy lot.  By noon when we returned, it was bumping like usual, but I have never seen the lot empty on a late morning in the early fall.  I refused to believe we could not catch a trout at the second spot.  I even sat out and coached Tom for some time before giving it a shot myself.  I eventually dredged up a couple fallfish in a row on a size 8 jigged pheasant tail, a single heavy bug made heavier with even more weight added and one that may have said iso nymph to the residents because I finally caught my fifth and final trout with this cumbersome rig.  We could not get Tom on one even with the same bug and the same weight.  Instead, he lost it all in some random encounter with the elements.  On that note, we were done.  I am going to see the mitch again on Friday when we join a crew of aging hipsters for a drinking and eating weekend in Asbury Park.  I will bring a rod, especially with this cool week ahead, hoping to blind squirrel one of those cows that are the first to begin migrating south.  I will take a bluefish or two on a pencil popper, of course.

October 6, 2024 – Avoided the First Cast Curse with a Pair of Good Fish and a Good Many More – NEPA

Sexy piggy/stud in training.

When I landed a solid high-teens wild fish on my first cast this morning, I was worried about the first cast curse.  And even if fishing remained good, there is always the concern about how do you top this/where do you go from here?  I have come to appreciate a good fish early for what it is.  In some ways, it takes the pressure off for the rest of the day and makes me relax and smell the roses a tad more.  My morning began with a foggy porcupine close encounter at 6:30 AM.  I arrived in the Lehigh River gorge before sunrise because I had a bit of a walk ahead of me and wanted to arrive at my first spot at prime time.  Besides the porcupine, I also got a talking to from an osprey with a fish in his claws, and I even had an eagle sighting, all before my noon quitting time.  Besides the first nice fish, I plucked another a bit larger right out of a bouncy pocket a couple hours later in the morning.  I had to keep the rod low and nudge him across the deep whitewater to avoid a downstream chase.  I landed at least a dozen browns, and all appeared to be wild—only one might have been a multiyear holdover, but I am thinking a spotty wild one now that I see the pics more closely.

A couple full sized photos.  Not selfish worthy, but damn nice wild trouts.

I also had a fish on my second cast, this one an average wild fish, but I am not aware of a second cast curse, so I just kept catching after that.  I would say that before 9 AM, so barely 120 minutes of fishing, my morning had been made.  I picked away at average 9 to 12 inchers just on the edges of the current.  Flows were low but not so low.  I think the gauge below the dam was 178 CFS, but I had picked up a few tributaries between there and the next gauge.  Water temperatures were great; not that I took out my thermometer with it being 44 degrees when I was suiting up at the ‘Ru at first light.  I know the water coming from the dam is under 65 degrees now, so game on again.  Some rain and/or a release would be nice, but I am accustomed to low fall flows and embrace the big stream exploration that low water affords.  Would I like a change of pace to chase fish on a small stream again?  Sure thing, but I have had some great outings on big creeks, and even the Big D, this fall because of the low water.

A beautiful foggy start, but began to brighten by 10 AM.

I worked what I could with my 10’6” 4 weight and a size 12 perdigon with a 4mm bead.  Most fish took that fly, but I did have a good number take a size 16 CDC pink tag blowtorch, which did a good job of acting like the small caddis emergers.  The best fish of the morning, that second little piggy of the day, took this little fly in big water, so they know what they want when they see it.  Nothing on the swing, but like last week on the Brodhead, half the fish took a small bug 24 inches up on the dropper tag.  When I had fished all the closer edges and targets I could reach with a good wade and the long rod, I worked the other side of the river with a bobber for a while.  That was not as effective, but I did catch enough additional fish to make the second pass worth it, including another 12-incher.  The chill was out of the air and the sun had finally burned off the fog by about 10 or 10:30 AM.  A little breeze had picked up, but it felt good now that the warm sun was out.  It felt 10 degrees cooler in the shade!

More fish along the way, and bonus shots of the best two.

Now that it had brightened, I was able to spot the eagle in a clear blue sky and was able to enjoy some of the fall colors.  On the way home, I ran into traffic due to a leaf peeping festival in Jim Thorpe, but I didn’t want to tell folks it looked a bit early for peak colors.  The breeze did start a bit of leaf hatch, especially at my second stop of the morning.  After a rest in the lot with some more water and a snack, I spent the last hour at another deep run adjacent to a tributary.  The warmth and sun had brought out the outdoor enthusiasts, though no other fishermen, so I had a cheering section way up in the 700 level/rail trail when I landed my first couple small browns at the second stop.  I only landed two more after that, so I decided not to go looking for more.  I made a couple bug changes to see if I could spark something new or get another bigger fish to eat, but it was becoming clear it was over.  I thought about waiting out the caddis for a couple hours or getting a real lunch while waiting for a real caddis hatch to develop, but the river had been good to me already.  I opted instead to get on the road home by noon and arrived before 2 PM even with all the activity in the river towns.

Signs of mid-autumn.  The possible holdover top left.