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| Early success but not that early. |
While the gages in SEPA and NEPA are a bit depressing, Central PA is at normal fall lows, maybe a few clicks above that, actually. I wanted to fish today, but I did not want to fish low, leafy cricks full of vulnerable spawning trouts—low water any time of year can make them vulnerable, so imagine what making a redd in a tailout with birds of prey circling above (or Jun T with a trebled up Rapala) means for trout this time of year 😉 I saw some good looking evidence that Central PA was worth the long drive today, potentially. Sure, I found a crick with nearly 100 CFS, but there was always a chance of a long dinkfest tour if all the large fish have moved to spawning areas. I figured it was worth the gamble. Next weekend I am going to Asbury Park with some buddies for a drinking and eating weekend, although I will bring a pencil popper and a rod should those big fish come near the beach. Thanksgiving is coming up, and my son is home the weekend before that for a long break. I usually target the surf during that vacation time. Basically, time was running out until my 2 weeks off at Christmas to have another trout fishing adventure. I even texted Josh to see if he was willing to fish today, but he was tied up with life. He usually hunts this time of year, anyway, but it was worth a shot. Solo is not something I avoid, nor do I avoid the long drives to fish the right creeks. My buddy Tigereye says, Don’t let the old man in! Worth the gamble today? Yessir. A dinkfest AND a fall piggy, likely post-spawn. There were even a few rainbows and mink in the mix. It was a good, long day in the brisk autumn breeze.
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| Some smalls, some bows, and one good one. |
I did not rush out there to stalk the dawn, although I thought about it. Instead, I shot for 8 AM arrival to let things warm up a bit. It actually stayed milder than I expected with clouds overnight, but hindsight, you know? I was in position and fishing by 8:15 AM and I had a couple wild browns right away. The holes were pretty clear, so I eventually found the pattern for spot one, which was to target softer cushions in the riffles that still provided enough cover. It was also easier not to spook fish in this type of water. Ironically enough, I did find the best fish of the day and probably 5 others in soft, deep holes fishing a bobber, but that hole was chest deep not 3 feet deep and it was later in the day with more cloud cover. It was one of those variable fall days: windy one minute, sunny and calm another, cloudy then bright then cloudy. It was a good day to chunk a pencil a long distance into the ocean, but a bit more challenging to nymph small bugs. I timed most of my casts around wind gusts, but I definitely missed a few fish because the wind caused a bow or slack in the line. In the afternoon, the bobber was one way to minimize this effect since the flows were too low to fish heavy bugs effectively, but bobbers in the wind are another thing....
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| Hunting season in seasonable flows. |
Maybe it was hunting season or maybe it was the variable weather, but I did not encounter another fisherman all day. I saw one truck in a spot where I wanted to try after lunch, but I did not stop to confirm it was a fisherman since I had an additional spot in mind, as well. It was kismet that I let that truck guide me to spot #3 because the first fish there was a doozy. I tend to sneak up on holes, especially if I have a vantage point and so do the fish. I feel like that is an important practice that I am not always aware I… well, practice. I think I saw a recent article about big browns and rewatched a Kelly Gallup video about big brown behavior recently, and I realized that I naturally do the right things when approaching a hole. The big ones often don’t work really hard, so they can be sitting right where you might march into the water. And you only get one chance to spook or present a fly to them. I saw some fishing taking emergers as I snuck up, so I quietly got down the bank downstream of them. Instead of taking the time to tie on a dry or an emerger, I just went with the small bugs I had on and made a gentle cast. Thankfully, the big fish ate first because I caught four dinks in the same hole after that. Sometimes luck plays a part, as well!
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| Mink getting ready to fish too and some later afternoon trouts. |
I broke off one other decent fish on a poorly tied dropper tag—my day did start at 4:30 AM today, and it was at least 2 PM when this happened, so I did not beat myself up. Minor misses were bound to happen on little sleep and a long day. I did not fall in, which was surprising since I did it assbackwards, carrying my staff in the morning and leaving it in the car in the afternoon when I actually did a couple hero stream-crossings. Besides this one fish, the rest I landed at spot #3 were average wild browns or two-year old dinks. There were some caddis in the bushes and trees and also a few olives over the water, but the high sun, high pressure, and high wind, coupled with the aforementioned spawning, did not add up to a huge numbers day despite some good signs. I will take a high teens day with a high teens fish in the mix as a daymaker any day. I still don’t mind the ride. I even took the scenic way home and saw the J, the Susky, and the Amish headlights for a second time in 12 hours.
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| Bonus shot of bonus piggy looking even longer? |