October 14, 2026 – I Wasn’t Going to Miss this Opportunity with Isaias – NEPA

Mr. October

Storm chasing is tough when you have a 9 to 5 job, I guess.  When my schedule was more open during the day, I had quite a run of chasing post-rain pigs with a streamer.  I have since embraced the challenge of catching fish in any and all conditions, which is really the only way to be a truly competent fly angler.  But sometimes, I still get a feeling in my gut that says, Don’t skip this one, fella.  A tropical storm left anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches of rain throughout most of the state on Sunday.  Sadly, the boy was home from college for fall break, and we had Monday planned as a fishing day on some bigger water somewhere.  These storms often don’t live up to the hype and track differently, but Isaias followed through with the forecasted totals.  The boy and I slept in on Monday, even though I had a vacation day off.  He had to go back on Tuesday, and I had to work that day, so we will have to wait for Turkey Day stripers, it seems.  That disappointment may have motivated me to consider taking Wednesday as an impromptu sick day, especially because work is crazy right now.  When my usual train home was cancelled on Tuesday night, after a long, busy day, and I had to take the next one a full hour later, that made the decision for me.  Nope, not working on Wednesday.  I am getting up early, doing the drive in the dark, and doing whatever it takes to find a pre-spawn brown fattening up for the thing they do pretty soon—maybe REALLY soon based on the colors of the adult fish I caught today.  This was surely my last trip to this crick for the year.

Slow start, then starting put something together.  Second shot of first stud.

I monitored the gages on Monday and Tuesday and chose well this morning, but I had my doubts.  “Dawnstalker” struck out with a streamer early.  I only caught 3 or 4 average trout and a couple YOY in the first four hours of fishing, and those were on nymphs.  The creek was still dirty, and it was cold despite a near record warm day in the forecast, but the leaf hatch was what I blamed for the holes not being all that welcoming, even with a bobber and patience.  By 10:30 AM, I pivoted to targeting shallower pocket water with caddis larva and soft hackles, and I started sticking fish.  There were adults in all the knotweed along the banks even if very little was active on the water at that hour of the day.  Sunrise is not until like 7 AM, so 10 AM is still early for the bugs to be active, at least today.  The fishing was nothing crazy, but it was a little something for the effort.  Confidence restored, I focused up and did not miss the first opportunity I had for a piggy.  The first good fish pictured twice above, took a purple CDC soft hackle up on the dropper tag in no more than 2 feet of water.  He was so pretty, I leaned the camera up against the base of a bankside tree and yelled “shoot” to capture the selfish, capturing another old stud in the process....

Let's do that again!

I picked up a couple average fish working this long stretch of pocket water, so I was growing more confident that I could put together a decent day, even if it was just more 10 to 12 inchers in shallow water, which I always enjoy.  I had done the thing I set out to do, and this was just the bonus round.  They were not everywhere, and I bet I only landed 10 fish total in 5 hours of fishing, but things did get interesting again.  Not 30 minutes after releasing what I thought was my daymaker, my reason for making a predawn drive with the truckers on a Wednesday, my validation that this was the right move, the right creek, the right day, the right kind of water to target, I found an even bigger barely pre-spawn male.  I cashed in my bonus tag for another huge buck.  He ate the anchor fly, a small olive perdigon, again in rather shallow water.  No redds in sight, and he was eating in the head of a riffle not in the tailout or any obvious spawning spot, but he looked ready for love.  Kyped jaw, the dark colors, teeth, all the right tools of the trade.

Another shot of piggy # 2.  Some crick pics (for Ron).

After getting some good shots, including another selfish while yelling “shoot” at my camera propped on a mid-riffle rock, I decided that this was my day.  I am not a glutton, as I have probably shared a few times here throughout the years.  Sure, I have had days with as many as four high teens fish in one session, but many times if I get a good one, I can call it quits.  Two today within 30 minutes of each other was more than enough, especially because they looked like they would soon have other plans on their minds.  If I don’t catch them again, I at least want to catch their kids in a few years.  When I sent the boy some pics, he was jealous, but he understands that these things have their own clocks.  Monday was too soon, Tuesday was likely just a swing for the fences with a big, water-moving streamer, and today was just right.  Thursday had potential to be a 30 fish on nymphs in the same spots that did and did not produce today kind of trip, but I am back to work on Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday.  Maybe I can get somewhere in between on the upcoming, albeit likely freezing, Sunday morning.  I will have my eyes on a couple more gages following the cold front that may bring a bit more rain this weekend.

Bonus shot of a really handsome one ready to settle down and build a redd with someone special.