April 19, 2025 – As Spring Begins to Settle, Another Good Morning – NEPA

Last one of the day was the best one.

Still targeting bigger creeks and rivers as a way to maximize the opportunity lower water this time of year affords, I hit the river this morning at sunrise.  I had a bit of a walk to a favorite stretch where I was hoping to find grannom caddis in the numbers I encountered them a bit south a week ago.  Instead, it appeared to be small, like size 18, brown caddis hatching in the highest numbers.  Only a couple fish seemed to care, including one pig way across the river, low for April but still flowing over 700 CFS.  This fish was so big and splashy that I began to think he was targeting chubs rising to the caddis or midges, not the flies themselves.  Despite being at a good level, wading was relatively easy for a creek notoriously hard to wade, and the visibility was good. Still, I was not going to reach this fish.  There were plenty of others, including a couple very nice wild browns.  In three feet of pocket water, I could see my manly hookset turn a few of the fish, which was an advantage—it is nice to know you have good fish early in the game sometimes.  One 16+ inch fish was sitting in a pocket on the other side of the river over a fast riffle, so seeing him turn helped me formulate an endgame very early in the game.  I had to do a good downstream stumble, but I was able to do so proactively!

Another beauty.  And another.

I had a few average fish in the first hour, mostly in a deeper eddy adjacent to the main run, but fish eventually moved up into the faster water to eat.  A couple of them were definitely holdover stocked browns, but the majority appeared wild or too long in the river to show definitive stocker traits during a quick net, photograph, and release examination.  No bows or brookies, so the stocking brigade whizzed on by this spot or the fish have not moved much yet.  I was glad to leave this eddy, a notorious bug eater, since it appears some wood that was deposited a couple years ago is still there.  I like to fish this spot more when they are up off the bottom and will come out of the nonsense to eat a swinging bug or bugger.  Not today, so more of my tungsten deposited down there than I like.  It’s easier to deal with when catching fish, however.  The trout did move up as the morning progressed, but they were not spread out in the current.  Instead, they were using depressions and slicker, protected spots to avoid working too hard.  That probably explains why the risers were next to none, and I saw no emerger-chasing or porpoising fish either.  I don’t think these little caddis swim quite as well as grannoms.  I tried to make the most of all the bug life, even swinging soft hackles through the hole and down into the tailout.  I had even carried a dry fly rod, which stayed stashed in the bushes all morning.  The two best trout actually took a sulfur nymph on the dropper tag, so maybe those nymphs are moving around on the bottom fixing for their debut in the coming weeks.  

Crick pics and net pics

I encountered no other anglers on a warm Saturday, so I had chosen my spot or my timing well.  The liveries are not in full operation yet, either.  I saw a pair of buses loaded with bicycles on my way home, and I was greeted by one flotilla of kayaks accompanied by a guide in a raft.  It was warm.  The water was cold, so I was dressed for early spring, but I could feel the hot breath coming up the river once in a while.  Folks were on the rail trail in shorts when I decided to quit around noon.  I debated hitting one more spot, but my last fish at this first hole was just about a daymaker, pushing past 18 inches, and I don’t like to get greedy.  Had noses started breaking the surface hitting caddis or some Henricksons or something, I may have indulged them for a couple more hours.  In full sun at the parking lot, it was clear that 80 degrees was on its way, so that helped make my decision final.  I was due for a good day, and I was lucky enough to get one.  It feels like it’s about to get going in earnest at any minute.  I may have to burn a “sickday” this week, or at least a morning. 

Some bonus wild and a stocked trout, all pretty fish.

April 13, 2025 – The Grannoms and the Grind and the Wind – NEPA

Not the one.

Well, we had some rain that moved the needle on the gages, but we also had more cold temperatures and wind, so this spring continues to be a puzzle.  I have yet to have a great day, and I know I am not alone based on the feedback from fishing buddies and the chatter on the forums.  The aquatic insects have their own timetables, however, so the grannom caddis are getting active across the state, including in NEPA where I fished this morning.  The mayflies are there too.  I fondly remember dry fly fishing during the opening week of trout season when I was not even a high schooler.  These were Potter and Lycoming County Aprils too, but on the odd years with low water conditions, the kind of springs that actually give you a shot at dry fly fishing larger creeks this early in the spring.  I was hoping for the low water on the bigger cricks this year to allow for some of those dry fly days that are not a given in early- and mid-April.  It may still happen, as a pulse of rain does not erase months of dry weather.  Today, the creek was just a bit too high to get fish up taking dries, but they rarely ignore a swarm of caddis emerging in such force.  They at least take the pupa and nymphs in the riffles.  I got a couple average fish in the riffles during this prolonged and significant hatch, but the others were dredged up with a bobber in deep wintering holes with very little current.  The best fish was a solid fish, but I had been out since 7 AM looking for the one on a creek that has given me many big fish over the years.  I fished well, at least for the first 3 hours, and kept expecting it to happen, and then it just didn’t.

A bit cold, but it certainly looked sexy enough to keep me optimistic.

I got to cover a lot of water because the air was too cold and the water too high for most mitches this morning.  Noon brought out a handful of other anglers, but by then I was pretty much camped out in a prime hole waiting for some signs that the fish were excited by the grannoms crawling all over me.  Instead, I landed 6 trout in 5 hours, and I had to fish a known stocker hole to get on the board.  I put in 90 minutes early, just after sunrise, with a jig streamer and even a big stonefly and did not get a touch in some great spots.  On a drive to another stretch, I decided to stop at the stocker hole to get the monkey off my back.  I got one rainbow and left because I still believed that something was going to happen today.  Had the stockers made it easy, it may have been stocker day, but they too were sluggish in the cold, high flows.  I finally gave up on the idea of a pig, or even a dozen wild browns on dries or by swinging caddis pupa, at about 1 PM when the wind started pumping at a steady 15 mph with higher gusts here and there.  Had the grannoms not been so thick and the general personality of the browns in three different beats not been so dickish, the plan was to hit the headwaters of this crick and pick through some stockers for a mess of small wild browns.  Knowing I would be protected from the wind up yonder, I still debated leaving on the waders for one last drive.  Instead, I decided to conserve my energy and my optimism for another day.  It’s going to happen one of these days, so no use draining my battery on a day that was destined to disappoint from the start.  Stay tuned?

Also not the one, but half a dozen trout is better than a skunking, which felt possible early.

April 5 and 6, 2025 – Opening Day with a Mitch and then Some Small Stream Sneaking – SEPA

Rubbing alcohol and Aquaseal stat!

I wasn’t going to do it.  The boy is in Orlando for a week with his senior classmates, so I had no reason to brave the Opening Day crowds down the street.  That is until young Eric returned a fly rod I lent his kids for Mentored Youth Day last week.  He was even carrying a beer as a thank you gift!  He planned to head down to the Wissy hyper locally for a couple hours while his girls slept in.  They had a full Saturday of sports ahead, and Eric himself is coaching and in high season at his work.  I bit the bullet and said, Yes, I will accept this beer.  I hedged my bets a bit, telling him to text me in the morning and if I was up, I would go with him.  In the end, I set the alarm and decided it would be good to keep a tradition alive and good to hang out with a mitch.  It was chilly out there, especially standing waist deep, apparently with several pinholes in my waders on top of the raw, drizzly conditions.  We caught a couple fish but mostly just caught up.  We met some characters, including some cool kids way into fishing, and everyone was jovial and chill on our little piece of bend pool.  Honestly, the crowds were pretty solid—almost like days of old.  Eric said MYD was crazy, but also triggering with all the grown-ass men sans kids out fishing on a day they are supposed to be teachers not participants.  By 9:45 AM or so, we were done standing in the same hole for 90 minutes.  I got a couple rainbows to grab a bugger on the swing—on the hang really, just holding the 10-foot rod out there to let the bugger pulse in front of their faces.  I had a dozen short nips in the cold water, but I really didn’t expect much more.  Hopefully, we get a real trip on the books in the coming weeks.  I may at least convince him to take a 15 minute longer drive into the City for some water that at least looks like trout water, maybe after the Roxborough boys dump a load of monster stockers for their annual derby 😊

We put a couple fly rods in the line up!

The weather looked iffy for Sunday, but it appeared that I might find a window early in the morning if I chose the right creek (hah!).  I had a couple creeks in mind, but the further north and west I might go, the more likely I might encounter swollen cricks.  I checked one gage in the Lehigh Valley, and it had nary a blip, much like the creeks in my area.  The reason I checked this one gage is because the creek I actually wanted to fish does not have a gage itself—this gage was the gage to the closest creek.  Boy, was I surprised when I started seeing the gulleys and a small trib that lead into my destination creek.  It was completely blown out, unfishable!  I had missed a major storm by minutes, I guessed, or the government had shut down the website….  Back at the ‘Ru, I checked the gage of the nearby creek again, and it was totally fine and in working order, that same little blip from a small shot of rain.  It was maybe 7 AM, so I was not heading home.  The obvious choice was just go fish the low water on the creek with the gage and take advantage of the low light.  It took maybe 15 minutes to arrive, just winging it through town at a leisurely pace.  I was happy to encounter no other vehicles at spot two, at least.  I was also pleased to see clouds continue and a slight stain that might help my chances of scaring up a few in otherwise tough conditions.  This small creek is lined with trees and bushes and pretty shallow when not at normal spring flows.  Fish tend to tuck up under the banks, so I threaded my way up the middle fishing the sides or swinging back and forth for the best approach to each hole.  

Pretty, low: a lot different than the swollen cricks on the other side of the valley!

I hooked one early and it came off, which I saw as a good sign not a sign of things to come.  Real talk: It ended up that I could not net a fish to save my life this morning.  The first encounter was not an outlier but the norm this morning.  I hooked and fought 3 trout and 2 big white suckers, and the picture below is the only one that found the net.  Yes, I was even 50/50 on landing suckers for a photo today!  I would not have minded missing a couple shots of average 10-inch wild browns, but I actually fought a small stream beauty too!  In no more than 8 inches of water, a great 15-inch wild brown took my dropper tag, a size 18 black caddis imitation.  He was sitting in full current in the cushion in front of a big boulder with a log wedged in front of it.  He jumped twice after I hooked him, but he stayed above me, until he didn’t.  All of the sudden he decided to go downstream and fast, right past my feet.  He was probably looking for his normal hiding place when he’s not out there vulnerable and eating.  I gave chase down the middle of the crick, rod held high when I could avoid the tight canopy.  A good 30 feet down the stream, he found a bankside pile of brush and wood to get into.  I kept the line tight and was making a move to net him, branches and all, when he sprung loose.  He earned his freedom, at least.  

Karen's kin or future boyfriend.

I can’t say the same for another 10-11 inch brown that took the small bug 30 minutes later, nor Karen, my old friend the white sucker who was in her usual spot, a spot that often holds a big brown when she’s not in there.  She just did a slow motion run all over the pool before deciding, Nope, no pictures for you!  I kept working upstream, and did not find any more love.  No bugs active, not even midges, no real change in conditions despite rain happening all over the region all morning, just not over me.  I fished two holes again on the way back down and managed to land one of Karen’s kin.  I was seeing suckers on a spawning run all morning.  This one actually ate the dropper, just like Karen, and I actually took a picture of this one so that I had something to show you here for two mornings of fishing.  I had fun, but something was up with my net game today!  Maybe it was the low light or I was just out of small stream practice.  I know at least one spot where this nice brown eats and one spot he likes to hide out, so we may see him again this year.

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