March 30, 2025 – First Good Wild Fish of the Year on My Second “Real” Trip – NEPA

First good one of the young year.

I actually committed to the adventure today and made a longer predawn drive to try and intercept a few wild brown trouts before the month of March was in the record books.  I was on the road by 4:40 AM and was fishing a little after 7 AM.  It was cloudy, calm, and warm enough early not to wear gloves or long johns, but the breeze did kick up, reminding me that it is still very early spring in NEPA.  It felt good to be out there on a bigger wild trout stream after the long winter.  I technically did another real attempt earlier in the month and today was just as challenging in some ways.  The difference today is that it feels like it’s about to break open, especially if we get a little rain, as the water is half of what it should be for this time of year.  Midges, quills, and many BWOs were popping during the late morning hours, so many blue-winged olives that I actually sat and watched dry fly water for a good long time just hoping.  I did not see a dimple, though I did watch one little guy suspended up likely taking emergers.  I chose instead to spend most of my time nymphing bouncier water with a heavy perdigon on the anchor to deliver small olive and black caddis imitations on the dropper tag. I got one fish on each, the best one actually taking a black caddis larva imitation before the olives even started moving around.

Managed to get one shot in the sunlight.  Variable conditions all morning.

I did not take a water temperature reading, but the fish that I landed were in prime fighting condition—and I was totally comfortable wading ball’s deep without insulation.  Still, the fish were hunkered down.  I was ticking the bottom with the anchor fly the two times I got eaten.  I actually added a 3.3mm tungsten bead to my 4mm perdigon to get the best fish of the morning to eat.  She was tucked under the head of a deep run, under the heavier current.  I had a feeling this was going to be the case when I saw how low the creek was for March.  The roads were wet in places on the drive in, and there was a decent tinge to the water, but the fish were not in the soft water like they would be in higher post-winter flows.  I had to learn the hard way and took advantage of the low light early to try the softer stuff with a bobber and even with a jigged bugger.  As the day got brighter, I felt like my plan to fish close to and under bouncier water was the best plan for today’s conditions.  Was it?  I notched two good fish and did not get a hit besides those two fish.  I fished hard and pretty well, I think.  I expected a couple more, but my educated best guess is that most of the fish in the river were just not all that active.  With all the mayflies on the water and in the air, I expected more action near the wintering holes, at least.

Another healthy one (and done).

When a couple of March honey holes did not pan out, I hopped around to target the type of water where I had had limited success.  When it got sunny and warm for about an hour between 10:30 and 11:30 AM, I was hoping for another shot of activity.  Conditions kept changing by the minute, however.  I had plenty of food and water with me to make a day of it, but I was not feeling like it was worth the effort to push through the midday lull for a potential afternoon bite—maybe caddis would show up?  I even debated hitting a DHALO or even another big crick on the way south, but during a short water break I reviewed the photos I took of the two beauties I landed this morning, and I decided I was content.  If I was only going to catch two trout today, a 17- and a 15-inch fish is a pretty good way to do it.  Before I left for good, I did sit on the bank again and watch olives on the water float on by untouched.  There were some bigger mayflies, what I thought were blue quills, in the mix too.  They too were safe today.  The wild trout are waking up, but they are not that awake yet!  

Bonus shot of the better one.

March 16, 2025 - I Just Like to Know They're In There (Barely) - SEPA Freestoner

I thought I recognized this little guy.

I had a couple hours to sneak out before the wind and rainstorms arrived on Sunday afternoon.  It was midday, and I didn’t want to chase stockers or contend with the warm day crowds at Valley, so I paid my annual visit to this little crick that remains on the natural reproduction list.  The water was low, and was low all winter, so probably locked in ice.  I did not spook a fish for the first hour, and this was in three deep holes where I have always observed a couple trout each year since I've started looking.  I went as far as to jump on some hiding places and undercuts to see what might scatter.  Nada.  I saw some fry of some kind in shallow pools, so maybe they were trouts because I could not get a chub or minnow to hit in the first section I visited.  I took a short ride and didn’t fish a second winter honey hole because I saw five cars and several walkers with dogs (off leash, of course) in this section.  One more short drive to my other ace in the hole produced a single wild brown trout.  Yay?  I think I caught this fish last year in the same spot!  He hit a small natural colored jig streamer in a deep, narrow run.  At least it was a little something for the effort and evidence that there are still some in there.  Granted conditions were fronty as heck, windy and low pressure, and the water was low and gin clear, so more fish had to be holding on somewhere.  I caught a dozen one and two year olds last March, so I will try to remain hopeful.  A freestone creek a few miles from a major US city in a developing area, however, so I have to be realistic too.  It was better than chasing stockers, and I got some steps in?  Yes, I am overdue for a real trip one of these days! 

Low and pretty barren, at least on this strange weather day.

March 9, 2025 – Swung for the Fences on Another Chilly, Windy Day – NEPA

Spring is coming.

Signs of spring are showing, but I jumped the gun, which is something I often do.  I expected what I got, but I wanted the full experience after a long absence from the game.  I wanted to fish real water today for wild trout.  I wanted to get the kinks out, but I also wanted a chance at a day maker, especially if I was only going to catch a couple fish for all my driving, and prepping, and bundling up.  No felt waders, but I even carried the wading staff today, prepared to get myself into position for a shot at the glory.  I caught a good fish, one of them, but it was the wrong species.  This is a wild fishery, but rainbows do go rogue and get wanderlust, so the bows that get in here are big, mature ones.  They think they’re wild, at least.  A wild brown the same size would have been nice, but I will take what I got today under the conditions.  No wind to start, but the so-called warm up coincided closely with yet another blow.  I feel like we are living in Kansas as winter dies down.  Dry and breezy!  Despite the challenges and the lack of fish, I felt like I fished (and waded) well and was ready when opportunity knocked.

One, and a holdover at that.

I fished all the right water for this time of year, even the stuff on the other side of the crick.  I did not take a water temp reading, but it was cold.  There was still ice on the bends that typically get little sun, though mostly in the stagnant puddles.  The flows were perfect, maybe low for this time of the year, but perfect for fishing.  I saw one bug, however.  One.  I bet they will get moving this week with a warm-up in the forecast, but I had today to fish, so I fished.  I was not alone in needing to get out despite less than perfect conditions.  I even ran into a dude center-pinning before 9 AM.  I am usually the only mitch out there on winter mornings.  Of course, there were a handful of other visitors later in the afternoon when the air temperature approached 50 degrees.  By then, we were all contending with the wind, with gusts to 30 mph.  The bow took a caddis larva on the dropper tag below a big jigged bugger that I was using for the anchor (and hopping around ever so slightly in the slack pockets and eddies I could reach).  I fished a couple different stoneflies for a while too and only had one other tentative hit while tightlining a short run of moderate current. 

Good to be back, even if a bit early.

A lot of hiking and wading for one fish.  Nevertheless, it was good to be out on a favorite NEPA creek at this time of year.  A lot more water will be available to fish once Opening Day arrives, but I will not likely return until late April or early May.  We need rain, as the punch from any snow melt is gone, long gone.  It crossed my mind to visit a nearby DHALO with jumbos recently dumped in, but I guess this was actually what I needed today because I was content to catch one fish.  I believe I have at least an afternoon on Friday and one day this weekend to catch a few more.  Life remains busy, but longer daylight hours and nice weather will make it easier to sneak out.  I have a few college-related weekend things coming up with the boy, like accepted student days, but I know I will miss all this time with my son when he leaves us this fall!  Maybe he’ll pick a school near prime fishing?  We will know soon enough.

March 1, 2025 - Still Here, Waiting for Winter to Give Up

 

Of frazil ice and other winter fly fishing challenges

There are two schools of thought about winter fly fishing / One is the classic mentality / Match the hatch / In winter / Aquatic insects / If and when they do hatch / Are quite small / To give you an idea about how small / Some are even called midges / So Germanic and practical / Compared to fancier names / Like those given to mayflies / Order Ephemeroptera in ancient Greek / But still pretty fancy in plain English / Albeit not as exotic as hummingbirds / Like Green-breasted Mango / Like Bahama Woodstar / Far more pragmatic and descriptive instead / Like blue winged olive / Big slate drake / Ginger quill spinner / Pale evening dun / Dark hendrickson / Gray fox / Sulfur

The other approach to winter fishing is to go big / To offer the fish a big meal / So big within reason the trout cannot refuse / Present to them the largest plausible prey / Fish are cold blooded of course / Even fish like trout who must thrive in cold water / But it takes effort to eat / So make it worth their while / This is the other school of thought / The other approach to winter fly fishing

I sometimes net a perfect wild brown / Too exquisite for this world / Deep post-spawn reds / Kype-jawed for defense / Release him and sit on a rock / Feeling some sense of guilt / The water is 34 degrees / The air is 36 at best / It takes such effort to suit up / To leave the house / To fish in winter / Yet this trout left security / A log jam or rocky shelf / A massive mid-stream boulder / Swimming with what its cold blood could muster / Not for a tiny mayfly / Or a midge / But for a large golden stonefly / Or a minnow pattern / Like a sculpin / A real meal / The largest plausible prey / Yet hardly a real meal at all / Mostly manmade materials / Repurposed natural ones with very specific names / Things like ice dubbing and cul de canard hackle and zonker strips/ A 4mm slotted tungsten bead / All triple whip-finished / For security / A drop of head cement / For extra security

And so the guilt / The sitting on a rock / In winter / Thinking about effort / Security / About cold blood and peril and death/Imagining that swimming in frazil ice / For me / Would be akin to breathing gelatin

January 29, 2025 – Between Impending Snow Melt and Red Flag Warnings, I Got on the Board for the New Year (Finally) – Berks County

First of 2025 with not much January to spare. 

I should not have been too surprised that the creeks I drove over on the way to this limestone-influenced one were pretty much locked in ice.  It has been a cold start to the new year.  I have totally regretted waiting for better days to come when I’d passed on some decent weather days very early in the month of January.  But it is what it is.  As you can tell from the photos, this creek was also pretty hard throughout most of its length, so I made the most of a couple holes I knew would be open due to nearby springs and hoped for the best.  I needed a day off, a drive, and a walk in the woods even if the fishing was terrible.  I have been very busy on the weekends with the boy’s college decisions for the fall looming (and all the invasive paperwork and documentation that the fancier of the these contenders require).  I am also teaching a young mitch to drive.  Oh, and I have been deep in a job hunt with a couple interviews and way too many applications.  I am playing the long game on one very promising position—not because I have a choice, but because the hiring process for college faculty takes ages!  It would be worth it in the long run, I hope.  We live in uncertain times as far as enrollment is concerned, not to mention funding and loans for students and so on.  No less certain than my current industry, however.

Stop, collaborate, and listen?  Bonus points for the bad reference ;)

The drought continues despite the snow still on the ground.  The creeks are very low, which only helps with the icing up.  I don’t see the Skuke much from the train as I commute to work, but folks like Young Kenny tell me that it too is iced up.  The days are getting long and incrementally milder, so it won’t be hard water forever.  When my first spot of the morning was a bust since it was open but far too shallow for fish to get brave on a sunny day, I worked my way quickly to the second spot I had in mind.  This is a deep hole, very deep, so fishing can be a puzzle if they are not ready to chase a heavy bugger or come off the bottom to investigate an emerging olive or early stonefly—they were not ready for either, though I did see a couple small BWOs even in the cold, clear conditions.  Wind gusts to 50 MPH were expected by late morning, along with 50 degree air temps, an interesting combination.  Basically, I was racing the snow melt that would drop the frigid water temps some more and a front that would put the fish down and/or make fishing with small bugs and a bobber impractical to next to impossible.  Before all that intersected around 11 AM with some gusts to 30 MPH or more, I caught two wild browns, dropped one, and had three other quick hits.  Not great, but I got on the board before January blew away.  More time on the water in February for sure.

Tough out there for youngling, but they gotta eat.