More Nov. 2014 BWO fish

Fished again this Monday in the wonderful weather, high winds were the norm but the Olives came off as expected at about 12:30 PM before that I fished some new nymph patterns and found again that a hot spot does make a difference. Also found a ton of caddis larvae attached to the many weeds that were on my brace of flies, need to tie a #16 2487 or a 2457 hook with a "black" bead and a very dark olive (a hint of black and a pinch of yellow for sparkle) fur bodied imitation, my best fur would have to be a beaver blend it's soft and dubs very tight, I'll also rib it with 4lb. mono, these things are everywhere, maybe the larvae of the tan caddis that hatches all the time. If you have a chance go and see the BWO daily hatch or just fish nymphs. I did see some fish still on redds but most are done spawning for the year, be careful where you walk! I saw a ton of fish on the shore line and that would be a difficult presentation to try and get them to eat but maybe a dry just might do the trick.

Attached is a short film showing the spawning colors of a fish that was feeding and not mating.

Nov. 13, 2014

Our Granddaughter wanted to come home and spend the weekend with us to help us remember Trico so I decided to go to State College one day early and stay over and fish! Thursday morning was overcast and about 38 just about perfect, I checked out some of my favorite spots and did not find any rising fish that early but I did see some very large spawning fish and a ton of redds in Spring Creek, I even checked Bald Eagle below the Milesburg bridge- no rising fish. I took a chance and drove up the dirt road from the "shit plant" to the kayak hole and guess what rising fish all along the railroad tracks, #24 Black down winged midges or a Griffins Gnat did the trick on them, some of the fish were inches off the bank and some of them were very nice colored up fish, it is amazing to see how may fish do not spawn with the rest of the population. As I worked my way to the tail out I spied 5 huge redds and took a look at the residents that were in them, at least 4 of the females were well over 18" and maybe over 20", where the hell are they during a hatch? It was about lunch time so I decide to fish a good Olive spot after Sheetz hot dogs. Of course I slammed the GD car door on my right index finger as I parked for my lunch! I decided to fish the Willow hole above Hartles Bridge because of the amount of rising fish I was seeing, #22/24 Olives were coming off, so I put on my outerwear and was ready, this time I slammed the trunk on my keys but was able to push the button to unlock it! The fish rose till 3:30 and some rises were heavy and some just sips, noticed that the wind would catch some duns and make them move fast on the surface the results were great splashy rises while others were sips all you had to do is play to the music that was before you- what a nice way to spend a day, midges & olives it what Fall & Winter is all about. This week will bring more of the same but please stay out of the spawing beds.

Trico & TroutHunter

On Saturday we made the ultimate decision to end the suffering of our beloved Lab "Trico", I know he was just a dog but not to us and the hundreds of children he had contact with at Janet Weis Children's Hospital on his monthly visits along with Federal Prison's, Nursing Homes, VA Hospital's and Children's reading programs not to mention a great fisherman! There is a big hole in our hearts and we know it will take a long time to close.
  I forgot to mention that last Thursday I tried a new leader, "TroutHunter" Finesse Leader 9' 6x with 18" of 6.5x TroutHunter tippet tied to the end, right out of the UV resistant package I could see that it was a good bit softer than other packaged leaders and the nail knot was really easy to get a small one tied but on the water it performed like magic! The Finesse leader turned the #20 BWO emerger over with ease and it was a dream getting to the spot I wanted every time, great turn over & accuracy means a keeper in my book, cost is $4.75 each but with the 18" of tippet this leader will last a long time. Check out TroutHunter or Feather Craft to get them, also try their tippet material- it is simply the best I have every used.

Trout Food

Thursday I joined other TU members from Spring Creek & Lloyd Wilson chapters of TU and some local people just wanting to help pack fish food for TU's Trout in the Classroom, wow what an experience! We packed over 800 bags that will be shipped with the eggs next week for the class rooms to incubate and raise them to fingerling size then release them into an approved Brook Trout stream, it was cold,damp and stinky but worth it. I am amazed at how they get so much member participation in their projects, women, students and their use of a web page, Face book and general can do attitude gets people out, I'm one of them and love it.
  Fished Spring that afternoon and again found no one around but did fine BWO's and feeding fish, the Olives were very dark red brown and the males had big dark red eyes- they looked like a Halloween decoration! I fished the hole below the 550 Bridge (it's the first one that is not on private land), starting at the bottom and working upstream at a slow pace because they have not had a good hard flood rain yet- the mud and leaves are knee deep and it is a bitch to wade in it but it made me slow down, took a ton of fish there and move to Rock Road and saw the same thing hatching. A wonderful day and to top it off I got to spend the night helping my Granddaughter go Halloween, can't get much better!