March 30 and April 1 – The Barometer Swings Both Ways, but Lady Luck Did Not Change Quite as Much – Wissahickon Creek

Saturday: Backseat fishing?

Man, Saturday was one of the warmest and sunniest days all year.  No wind, really, hot sun, and everyone in the Philadelphia area wanted to be outside.  The boy and I took a ride on the afternoon of Opening Day of trout, knowing it would be crowded due to the pleasant weather, but there was no way to predict that hundreds of cars would be parked at many of the access points for Fairmount Park.  No exaggeration.  Hundreds.  There were walkers, joggers, bikers, strollers, and fishermen in the mix.  We abandoned the first stop quickly and decided to circle back towards home after another drive-by of a second spot proved just as crowded.  I was not going to idle in the car and wait for a parking spot to open, and neither was the boy.  We ended up nearly across the street from our house, and we luckily found a parking spot and one decent spot on the bank to give the freshly stocked fish a go.  Did I mention fresh?  Yes, they were put in on Friday, probably after 3 PM.  I was encouraged, however, when we saw a few of the fisherman lining the holes reeling in fish.  The warm up must have had the new stockies feeling good.  We only brought one spinning rod, like mentored youth day, and the boy did ninety percent of the casting and fishing.  We had one rainbow hooked that came off, and the boy’s trout magnet got bounced 3 or 4 other times, but he swung and missed.  Not bad for 45 minutes in one limited spot from the bank, so we called it good instead of hunting around for more real estate.

Monday: Bluebird day and cold!

I swore I was going to leave the creek in my neighborhood alone for a few days, but I only had a couple hours today to get out, so I fished nearly the same spot today.  Unlike Saturday, or even Sunday, which was rainy but still warm, today did not break 50 degrees, and the wind blew pretty much all day.  A classic cold front kind of day, and the fish acted accordingly.  I managed a handful in a deep, quiet hole with small bugs under an indicator.  Even then, the hits were barely distinguishable from the bottom at times.  I turned a few that I thought were snags, in fact.  I probably could have stood waist-deep in the cold and caught a dozen this way, but I wanted to have a little more fun.  In the end, I could not dredge anything out of the deeper pockets and runs where I enjoy fishing on warmer days, but I sure tried.  A few other fishermen were out and seemed to quit rather quickly.  They were probably smarter than me.  I earned my 5 fish, my suntan, and my windburn today!  Better days to come, I hope?

Slow and deep meant fish, but it was a cold day to stand waist-deep in the wind watching a bobber barely move!

March 29, 2019 – Still Just Paying My Dues This Month – SEPA

Old like me, but we were both rocking on a weeknight.

I did not do much fishing this week, not since Monday, actually.  The boy was home sick from school on Wednesday, and I went out and saw live music with my brother after my evening class that same night, so I got home late after a long day (and drank a few beers on a weeknight).  We let the boy sleep in a bit on Thursday morning, and I drove him to school instead of having him take the bus. Thursday ended up warm in the afternoon, but it started cold, so after taking the boy to school and some work at home, a late morning nap felt more attractive than a fishing trip.  I did not sleep, but I caught up on grading and got some rest, so I was ready for more of an adventure on Friday, when the morning would start much milder.  I considered chasing brookies in the mountains today, but instead I had second cup of coffee and took a much shorter drive to the Saucon Creek trophy trout section.  Expectations were measured, as they often are when I visit here, but conditions seemed promising.  The last time I fished here, I landed an 18 inch wild brown and moved one with a streamer that was even larger (and landed an out of place rainbow—more on that below), and this is usually how it goes for me on this section of the creek—feast or famine.

Looked fishy, but the fish had other ideas.

March is a tough month, and Saucon is a fickle creek with fickle fish, but I was hoping that the drizzle and clouds might amp up the blue winged olive hatches.  No such luck.  There were trace numbers of olives and midges coming off all day, but the water was a tad high and off color still, so nothing took notice of what little bug activity was happening.  Even birds were just mildly interested.  I was not in the mood to run and gun with a streamer, especially since I really only move fish on this creek with a streamer in pretty high, stained water.  They are pressured and smart, so I often move 5 or more to catch 1 on the streamer—sometimes a good one, but that takes a certain mindset that I didn’t have today.  Instead, I took my licks with the nymphing rod and managed to hook two rainbows, only landing one of them.  Rainbows, you might ask?  Yes, with all the rain this year, stocked fish are ending up all over the wild trout sections of Lehigh Valley creeks—Martins, Bushkill, Monocacy, Saucon, you name it. 

Lotta bows got moved around in the floods.

I don’t mind catching a fish on a tough day, but there is always a bit of disappointment when I set the hook on a decent fish on a wild trout stream and it ends up being the errant bow.  This one was 13 inches, and he fought very well.  I caught him in rainbow water, really, a pocket in the middle of a riffle.  The other came from water more friendly to browns, but I could not keep him on the line after a mediocre hook set—overhead branches!  I just knew from the bright silver and the white belly that it was not the intended target.  I have not had a real banner day this month, but that is often to be expected.  I don’t mind paying my dues, and days like this, months like this, make me appreciate even more the good days to come.  And how quickly I can forget March 11 this year, ingrate!  I can only guess that the very cold nights this week set the clock back for a minute in the Lehigh Valley, and perhaps tomorrow will be better for the olive-chasing weekend crew?  Opening day tomorrow, too, so I think the boy and I are going to visit the mighty Wissahickon, a do-over from the miffed Mentored Youth Day.  He paid his dues last week, so maybe the warm day tomorrow with make the city fish that have been in a while longer active.  Montgomery County was stocked at the eleventh hour, like after 3 PM today, the day before Opening Day (don’t get me started), so I will probably not waste any time there until next week, when you may start seeing my mentions here of the Wissahickon eclipse even my winter musings on good old Valley Creek….

March 25, 2019 - Falling Water, Mud Remains – SEPA

Kept the new(er) 'Ru clean, but it wasn't easy!

I fished the Little Lehigh fly fishing only (FFO) section today for the first time in a while.  I considered going to the Heritage section later in the day, but the water upstream was still running high and off-color enough to decide to stick it out where I started.  The flow was fishable, and the stain wasn’t bad.  The only real issue was my inability to step into the creek in a lot of places without starting the mud machine (or sliding into deep water).  So much rain fell all year, with last Thursday being the latest culprit, that the first few feet of water line and down into the creek a couple feet are coated with silt and mud.  One step near an eddy, for example, and the entire hole is muddied.  It is even hard to enter the water in many spots because the banks are so slick, covered with sand, silt, and mud.  I had a very similar experience on the Monocracy one day this winter after a bout of rain, and it prompted me to move on quickly to another creek.

Bright and healthy, just a bit sluggish with colder water and heavier flows.

Today, I improvised my approach to a few holes, and moved around to find clean water (and a clean way into the water), so I managed a half a dozen rainbows that were likely stocked at the beginning of the month.  About half took an SJ worm and the others took a green caddis larva on a long dropper.  I saw no hatches, besides minimal numbers of midges, so I figured the caddis close to the bottom might work.  Had I been given more room to cast, I may have tossed a streamer, but euro-nymphing was just effective enough to make my four hours on the water just enjoyable enough.  When I found a good spot to wade, it became a good place to fish, so I picked apart some runs that I knew had to be stocked and willed them to be productive, dammit!

Caddis larva fooled a few in the 13 inch range.

The fish were all average 12 to 13 inch stockies, and the water was cold enough to make the fight a tad lethargic, but they did hit the flies with conviction, enough so that I felt the takes telegraphed through the rod, something that I haven’t experience much since last fall.  It gave me warm wishes for May and June when the fish will be set up in heavier water and giving my rig a good bounce.  Rainbows like water to be a little bouncier, anyway, so the fish I caught today were close to current even if they were not in it.  I suspected that one fish that I lost was a brown, perhaps one of the remaining wild ones in this section, but he was not on long enough to confirm.  I did speak to a guy who has fished this section for 30 years, and he did confirm that he still finds a few each year.  I heard that this section dried up a few years ago, but I cannot remember who told me or how long ago it was.  I do know that even the Heritage section is not even close to the wild brown fishery that it once was.  Macungie and Emmaus are still experiencing suburban sprawl, so even though Lehigh County’s building laws around creeks are more progressive than in other parts of SEPA, perhaps, even creeks with a decent riparian buffer cannot handle the amount of runoff the additional nonporous surfaces create, it seems.  My photos show where the creek is leaving its banks and flooding the surrounding fields—better than houses or roads, for sure.  If it had rained today, I would have left promptly, but the precip held off until about 2:30 PM when I was making my way home.

San Juan worm in the muddy water got some love.

Small water like this was probably a decent choice for today, so I was glad I didn’t try some of my larger favorites.  The times I have visited this section of the creek during the week, I have only seen a handful of retirees, too, and that held true today, so I did have some solitude for most of the short day.  I am still getting used to my new schedule, where I teach two classes on Tuesdays and another on Wednesday evenings, so it is possible that Thursday will be my next opportunity to fish, unless I sneak a couple hours in on Wednesday morning.  It is supposed to get cold again tomorrow night, so I may wait until it gets a bit milder again (or roll the dice on crowds at Valley?).

Picked my spots to enter carefully.  The branches were useful in avoiding a slide into the water today!

March 23, 2019 – Mentored My Youth in Minor Disappointment – SEPA waters not yet stocked

Casting then lunch.

It was windy and cold, although we did see another dad pulling a wagon of kids up to the lake just before we were ready to quit, which threw us off a bit, so it wasn’t immediately clear whether the weather or the lack of fish accounted for no other fishermen at Loch Alsh Reservoir.  After the boy gave the spinning rod a dozen casts, ending in the predictable Rapala CD 3 Countdown losing a plastic bill from far too minor contact with, god forbid, the bottom of the lake, we took some time to check the stocking schedule.  Nope.  No Loch Alsh until nearly the day before Opening Day next week, and the Wissahickon on the same late day.  I left it up to him: take a ride to Stony Creek or go have lunch.  He wisely chose lunch but said he wanted to join me on Opening Day at the Wissy down the street.  Sounds like a plan.  I also looked to see if the Brodhead, where we had fun another MY day, would be stocked before April 6, the NEPA day.  Nope.  A good program in theory, but the execution has been scattershot.  My wise-ass son, un-coached—at least this time—said, “It’s more like Mentored Youth Locations if they don’t stock all the creeks for the Mentored Youth Day.”  Wise.  Wiser than his dad who didn't double-check the stocking schedule...  But should I have to in a county that sells so many licenses?

March 20, 2019 – First Day of Spring and I Didn’t Forget How to Cast – Valley Creek

The measure net made a return today.

Olives, and just talk of olives, in the spring can pack Valley Creek, even on a weekday, and today was one of those weekdays.  In the small section I visited today, I saw four or five guys on the water and just as many suiting up in the lot when I was coming and going.  Because the crowds on a small creek make it feel even smaller, it is about this time of year that I stop fishing Valley, actually, but I didn’t intend to fish today at all, and I only had a short window of about two to three hours, so I reluctantly joined the party.  Winter fishing on Valley spoils me, I know, but I still don’t expect company on a Wednesday.  It was fine though, actually, and I spoke to a few nice guys, so it was a pleasant diversion before teaching class tonight.  Everyone out there seemed to be having success in recent days, and fish are no longer concentrated in wintering spots, so there was plenty of room to move around.  

A few of last year's YOY made it.

I only saw a few isolated olives, but one 30 minute spurt of activity in a flat hole prompted me to tie on a dry and then a dry dropper.  Midges were a constant, too.  I nymphed up a few fish in some pocket water, maybe three, but I ended the short trip laying out some line with a hi-vis BWO dry and a zebra midge dropper underneath.  I probably caught six or seven more this way and missed or dropped at least three others.  Only one took the dry fly, and that was one of the fish I lost after a short battle.  Still, it was fun to fish clearer water and make longer casts under and close to cover and fool some fish in places where other methods of fishing would have been difficult or impossible today.

Still great flows and the clarity has returned.

I fished the stretch affected by the spill last year, and I still believe that the biggest effect was on that year’s young.  I did catch one fish about 4 inches long, however, and the only the upside of the absence of the uber-dinks is that the average fish that I have been catching is about 9 inches, with a lot exceeding that length.  I landed two today that were 10 inches, one maybe a hair more, and one 9 incher seemed bigger, but he was just a shorter and wider male.  You may notice the measure net in the photos.  It has been a while since I have brought that out, but I wanted to get a more accurate idea of the size of the fish—not only today's, but the better ones I caught this winter.  I am confident that a few from this winter were certainly 12 inchers.  They eluded me today, of course, but it was good to have the mesh yardstick for reference.

Wider but 9 inches, ate a walt's worm.

Granted, not my favorite experience, fishing with the in crowd, but it was an enjoyable and successful three hours on the water on a day I thought would be a rest, grade, and prep for class kind of day.  With all the nymphing I have been doing, it was a nice change of pace to fish the dry dropper too and to know I can still accurately cast something besides a streamer when needed.  I am hoping Thursday, more specifically Thursday’s weather, allows me to venture a little farther from home for some slightly larger quarry.   I have meetings on Friday, so that is off the table, but Eric and I may mentor our youths Saturday on the mighty Wissahickon if the rain doesn’t blow it out.

March 15, 2019 – Chasing Stockies Somewhere Different – East Branch Brandywine Creek

Midge size walts on the dropper worked on half of them.

I took a short ride to the East Branch DHALO today and fished for a few hours.  I have not been to this particular creek since January 2017, according to this blog.  It is in a pretty little park with trails for joggers and bikers and, while the water is not pristine trout water, it does look like a trout stream in places.  It is also only 35 minutes away from home, and an easy ride.  I have enjoyed fishing a few long braided runs here in the early season at least twice in recent years and, if this spot did not pan out, the West Branch of Valley is not far away either.  I did not have to drive to West Valley, as I mostly had the run I wanted to myself for about two hours, and I found over half a dozen recently stocked rainbows to cooperate.  I also stuck a sucker and my first smallmouth bass of 2019.  It was a little windy with the unstable weather; in fact, it may actually thunderstorm tonight.  Besides taking one fish on a zebra midge under an indicator before I left, just because I knew the slower but deeper bottom of this particular run had to hold a fish or two, I was still able to euro-nymph with my light 9 foot set up (although I wish I had brought my 10 footer).

A few fresh fatties on prince too.

Fish have likely been pounded since the stocking and, like Pickering, the older stockies from the fall probably are put out for the moment, so the hits were subtle at best.  A couple fish were fat and feisty, giving me some jumps and runs, however, so I did have fun catching fish today.  Besides catching the sucker, which I may have bragged before is something I consider an accomplishment while tightline nymphing, I also had an adventure with a prematurely active smallmouth.  Not long after catching my last fish, the one on the indicator, I saw two minnows jump out of the water.  What I thought was a trout at first was giving chase to one of them.  After witnessing this, I had the bright idea that I may catch some active trout with the streamer as I walked back to the parking spot.  Instead, on the first cast with the streamer, a little bass took it on the swing.  I did not move any other bass or trout before I quit for the afternoon, but it was fun to catch my first little bass of the year this way.

Bass on the streamer!

There were a lot of others out fishing the 75 degree afternoon, and I spoke to one friendly guy who fished the top of the same run I fished for a while.  I saw a couple others catch fish above me in a nice hole where I have had success in the past, but they never vacated, so I will have to try that one some other time.  It seems like I give this place a visit no more once a year, but it may be another good place to take my dad, so perhaps two visits are in order this year.  A cold front coming, but it looks like weather will bounce back for the first week of spring.  Today was a tame but pleasant enough end to my spring break.  I doubt I will take four trips next week, but I would not rule out at least two since my classes often get off to an intentionally slow start, dig?

Ron likes creek pics: good flow and some color to it. 

March 13, 2019 – A Tough but Nevertheless Enjoyable Clinton County Trip – Central PA

A pretty spot to take a beating any day.

For the third fishing trip of my spring break, I decided to make the long drive out to Central Pennsylvania and fish the olives on Spring Creek or (Big) Fishing Creek.  Usually, I would meet up with Sam, but he had a few guide trips this week, including today, and work on top of that, so our schedules did not mesh.  Instead of postponing again, I took the personal challenge to do the long run and the long fishing day solo this time.  Sam gave me a heads up about good conditions and bugs, so I was not totally flying blind, but because I ended up in the Narrows, some 25 miles from State College, I did not even get a chance to stop by and give him a high five before heading home.  I have fished the Narrows with him, and I really like the place—it feels like the Lycoming County creeks that made such an impression on me when I was a young fisherman.  My dad and I, and Wardman on several occasions, would spend a week in the Pine Creek valley fishing ourselves silly.  It is where I made my first real forays into fly fishing too.  With cahills and hendricksons alighting everywhere and fish responding, it was tough to keep chunking meal worms or spinners, I guess!  So, this section of Fishing Creek, much like its bigger cousin Penns Creek, reminds me of those days of my youth. 

Some reward.

As the pics probably show, it is exceptionally beautiful up there.  It is also challenging water, and the fish are fickle.  Good days are great days, partially because of this, no doubt, but bad days are both bad and okay too.  I took my licks and reminded myself where I was on a Wednesday.  My expectations were low, so the fact that I landed 2.5 fish did not really take away from the experience.  I learned a lot and explored on my own, and one of the fish I landed was a rather exceptional one too.  A tough day physically and, at times, mentally, humbling too, but in the end it was a worthwhile use of a day this week, and it will make the next solo trip more successful, I bet.  It helped to talk to Sam on the phone, albeit too briefly, before driving home, just to hear that it was a tough day on Spring Creek for his clients too and to get the reminder that fish on the Narrows are fickle things.

Mostly failed photo attempts.

I didn’t leave home until after bus stop this morning, so I was not even fishing until 11:30 AM.  With daylight savings time, and one break after a three hour fishless beating in one section of the creek, I was able to put in a good amount of fishing time, however.  It got warm, though, so snow melt was a factor.  The water went from cold to colder and green to an icy gray in the channel as the day progressed.  Word was it was low a few days ago, but I would say it was getting higher as the day progressed.  That said, for spring the flow was manageable and the creek very wadable.  Not only were blue winged olives present, as expected, but also little stoneflies crawling on the rocks.  The nice weather also brought a small crowd, which I was able to avoid somehow, perhaps because I fished pocket water and wasn’t looking for rising fish on flats much of the time—I saw none, for what it’s worth.  There was a lot jockeying in the pull-offs and no one left when I walked out, so that was probably a sign that others experienced a tough bite here too.  I did catch my last fish—well, hooked, fought and failed to net—after 5 PM, but the fish, not cooperative today to begin with, were probably pounded pretty good too during the prime hours.  I assumed that Spring Creek would have been worse for crowds today, so I just stayed and took my beating, exploring parts of the creek that I had not seen before.  I quit around 5:30 PM and, when I got a strong signal, called Sam to cancel a meet-up, and Tami and the boy to say I was alive, so I was home by 9:15 PM.  I learned as the sun set around 7 PM that both of my headlights were out, so I was that guy on Route 80 with his high-beams on for 90 miles or more.  I know what I will be doing on Thursday, resting my aging body, part of the time while sitting in the dealership getting those lights back on, but maybe the rain on Friday will urge me to Valley yet again to make it an even four trips this week?

No noses on my watch.