May 17 and 18, 2018 – The Front, It Stalled, Yeah?? – A Couple of the More Local Limestoners

That was some sky!

The skies were ominous when I left Philadelphia for home after teaching on Tuesday, and the power even went out at home for a couple hours, but after coming in with some fury, this front just decided to hang around for a few days, not always doing all that much.  There were periods of heavy, localize rain, including a cell that hit the Saucon Valley just before I fished the area on Thursday.  I had to exchange a pair of leaking bootfoot waders if I didn’t want to wade the surf this month in stocking foot waders (not fun, unless you like a lot of sand under your arches and between your toes and Swiss cheese leaking), so I packed my streamer rod in case and, in a break in the showers, gave the muddy Saucon a try for the first time since the winter.  Besides one half-hearted bump while highsticking a bugger through a deep run and one heart-stopping follow by a pig that didn’t commit, my plan did not really work out.  The creek was muddy not stained, so I shouldn’t have expect much, but one nice one would have made the afternoon.  At least I will have a new (and free) pair of waders arriving in the mail by Monday (45 minutes of driving, and not my size in stock!).

Just stained, and plenty of survivors in the Park.

I woke up today, after listening to the ever-changing forecasts last night, and expected more floods, but the gauge at Valley looked great.  I was still reluctant to fish the creek, not knowing the extent of the damage from a water line break/chlorine spill and ensuing fish kill last month, but I headed for the lower end of the creek, hoping that fish had fared better there.  I was ready to switch to a streamer the minute the creek started to rise, but that never happened while I was there today.  Instead, there was just a healthy flow, accompanied by a good stain to cover my approach, pretty much a nymph fisherman’s dream conditions.  By sneaking up and fishing broken water and riffles, along with overhangs and roots and other stick-ups, I probably caught 15 fish, from 4 inches on up to 11 or 12 inches.  All the fish took a basic Frenchie nymph, and besides chunking a streamer for maybe 20 minutes before I left, I was able to Czech nymph the entire time.

At least 6 decent fish took a Frenchie, including this little chubby one.

By using two small tungsten flies, I was able to fish very shallow riffles and runs, where fish were likely waiting for caddis and other nymphs today.  I could have taken the dropper tag off because nothing touched my top fly!  They did eat the anchor with gusto, though.  I started getting brave after landing a good half a dozen fish over 8 inches (and many others on the smaller side) and began tempting fate by dropping the Frenchie in some hairy spots, looking for that one.  I never lost the fly, but I never found anything over 12 inches either.

I didn't need the rain gear, especially black rain gear...

A couple deep holes were very stained, or at least the depth compounded the effects of the stain, so I made a note to come back and throw a streamer in a couple of these spots.  Granted, it was now 1:45 PM, and the sun was peeking out at times, but I did move a bunch of fish and had a bunch of nippers.  Again, no big fish committed, but I did move two Valley-respectable fish who turned back after a short pursuit.  Good signs, at least.  Hindsight is, well, hindsight, so I decided to be content with a day of numbers on Valley, and a day to Czech nymph Valley, to boot, instead of second-guessing my decision not to throw meat at them.  There is more rain on the way, or so the meteorologists say, so now that I know there are plenty of survivors in the creek, I can always return early next week.

May 15, 2018 – Even Stocked Fish Move Around – Wissahickon Creek

Good temps and flows for now.

I had about two hours to fish today in between prepping for my classes starting tonight and Wednesday night and helping to doctor up the student commencement speech to be delivered at my college’s graduation next month.  With the fish kill that happened at one of my go-to spots on Valley, I settled on the Wissy, as the flows looked good with the rain over the weekend, plus there was a fresh stocking about a week ago, the last of the year.  Though the PAFBC would no doubt be happy, I did not expect the creek to be so “utilized” today, but when I peeked over a bridge, I could see at least five guys, including one fly guy, working two spots I was hoping to have to myself on a Tuesday at 10 AM.  It was supposed to be very hot today, with severe storms on the way, and I was planning to quit by noon, so the idea of driving to another stretch was not an option.  I decided to fish the riffles and runs, hoping that fish that had not been harvested from the first two stockings would have found their way to healthier, cooler, and buggier environs.

Pretty browns away from the holes

I was happy to be bounced on the first drift through a riffle below the popular holes, but less happy that I had tied my sighter to my tippet in the low light of my garage with a very suspect knot, which pulled free immediately upon my hookset.  Great start!  I always love having to re-rig after my first cast, but I focused on the positive: fish were in these neglected runs.  After rigging up again with a classic hare’s ear anchor and a small pheasant tail on the dropper, I caught at least 4 browns that were in beautiful shape and missed a couple too.  I also caught the requisite rock bass, sunfish, and small bass that become active as the waters stay over 60 degrees on a daily basis.  I didn’t take a water temp, but I was happy that it felt cool.  Perhaps, the creek had survived the early onslaught of temperatures and could now stay a decent fishery a while longer with the help of all this rain and the ever-growing shade cover.  Two nice young guys, one a fly fisherman, came downstream and inadvertently low-holed me—heading for one last good hole in this stretch that takes a bit of walking to approach.  Oh, well, I should have headed down there first on a crowded day…  I took that as a sign that the holes above were now free(r), and I did catch a couple on those pressured spots and lost a few too before deciding I had had enough for today.  A lot of action, nice weather for a time, half a dozen nice stockies, all made for a good stolen moment close to home.