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.