Bad Weather = Great Olives

  At this time of year the title will tell you when to go if you can, bad weather will bring the Olives out and the fish up.
   "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"

I really needed to fish after doing all the work around the house getting ready for the holidays and putting the yard and garden to bed for the winter. Started below the kyak course below Bellefonte, fish were up and taking midges very well. A cold downstream wind was gusting and forcing the midges to skitter and pile up on the railroad bank. A cast that put the Grif's Gnat close to the banl would bring a fish up and a slow take was the norm unless they were chasing a skittering morsel then it was a crashing take. Most of the fish were small but a few hit the 10-12" mark and this section is easy wading but when your in the water above your butt you get cold fast plus the gusting wind did not help. Saw a couple of those giant albino rainbows that sometimes come down stream when the browns are spawing, one took a midge so of course I had to give it a try well the dam thing did come up and look at my fly, don't know what I would have done with a 8" #2 rod but it would have been great fun. Well at about 11:30 AM it began to drizzle and sleet which started the Olives- ok get out of here and go to a spot that has better water for them.
  Below Paradise just above the concrete bridge is a good place no one fishes there most times, in the riffle coming in to the bridge pool there were 6 fish stacked along side a downed tree, I thought one of them was still spawing but learned it was just taking emergers and his tail was coming out of the water because of it. Olives were everywhere, so ok put on a #20 emerger (hook 2488) and took all six of them. Got out and started to walk up stream but caught a glimsh of a fish tight to the far bank, ok mark him for later becaus of the amount of water I would have had to cover to get below him, walked to the "Willows" and found 25+ fish up and taking the little green guys, fish everwhere in the middle and tight to the banks, well if you got it over them and it floated like it should they took it, I switched to another color emerger #20 2487 hook, first one was dark red brown and this one was dirty med olive, just to see if it was the color, it was not. I think that if the color is close (they all appear dark when wet) they will eat if provided that the size is correct and most of all the presentation and float is good they will eat! I took fish from 8" to 12" for the better part of 1 1/2 hours, with the last fish a male in full spawing colors and a good kype of 15", there were still fish rising but why be a pig if you want to remember a truly great day! I used the same tipped for the Olives that I used for the Midges, TroutHunter 6.5X and never lost a fly the entire day. The coffee in the thermos tasted great as the drizzle and sleet hit the windshield. This time of year if it gets shitty and you want to catch some fish on top go but do not forget your Olives.
Happy Thanksgiving

November 7, 2013

  Arrived at Spring Creek to a little bit more water than has been the case, the trout have started to spawn in the last 5 days and they are hard at it. Not as many as past years and I think it's a function of just not enough water but there are pairs actively enguaged in the spawn, leave them alone. I opted for a dry dropper rig with a #18 Hair Wing Royal Coachman dry and a #18 bead head Pheasant Tail nymph as the dropper, well it did not take long for the fish to tell me what they wanted, hell they were taking the Coachman! I took the rig off and knotted on a #18 BWO emerger and began to take fish after fish both small and larger guys all the while their brothers and sisters were haveing an orgy? If they are rising they are not spawing so there is no harm to the population. I did float an egg pattern in two redds because of the size of the males on them, took both of them and when I released them they were back on the redd ASAP. Look for either midges or BWO's to hatch every afternoon from now till Spring. A black #26 midge will do the trick as will a #22 Griff's Gnat when they want a buzzing midge as is the case sometimes, if they chase it when you take it off the water for another cast that's your key to add action to it. A BWO in sizes #18 to #24 will have to be in your box for the next few months.
  Sad to say the streamer fishing has been shit, heck I have only tried it one time, when the fish look up that's what I'll do. Ok all you Penns Creek snobs, dry fly fishing to any size fish is much better than killing yourself wading in heavy water fishing nymphs, just too dam much work.The dry fly fishing give you great skills for the warmer months plus it's getting you outside and fishing.
  Have a ball but stay off the water during deer season, your waders look to much like a deer to some guys!?

  Have to vent on a fly shop (TCO in State College) never has prices marked and the other day I wanted a small pack of white minnow wrap from Hareline, no price on it, at the register it was $6.30, WTF, yea I paid it but was bothered all the way home. I looked up the wholesale price and it was $2.97 a pack, no more 100% mark up for me, from now on if it is not price marked it can rot on the shelf!!!!!!!!!!!!