Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all

Time to go back in time

I like everyone else read a ton and watch as much You tube as I can get, sprinkle in Catch on line Magazine and we are all under siege with the latest nymph patterns and techniques, we run out and buy all the material and imitate the new methods of fishing them. During the last few weeks I have been trying them out with limited success, some of the new jig style patterns have shown promise, they seem not to get hung on the bottom as much, just need more time with them. Some of the newer patterns with hot spots seem to work well below Bellefonte in Spring Creek I think because of the high rainbow population but other spots not so much. Conclusion is don't get caught up with all the new stuff and forget your old stand buys, I went back to my old #16 scud pattern using carpet fibers that I blended and 5x mono ribbing over a shell back of 3 mm. plastic bag cut in strips on 5.5x with a BB shot about 6-8" above it, it still gets eaten fast.
  The only new thing that I have had a hard time getting used to is indicator's (bobbers if you will) I have tried them all and just hate the "Thingabobber" casting is a bitch and I really believe the fish are on to them with the splash they make, I have used dry droppers with good success but again casting them is a bitch, wait till you get one of those tangles that takes a new leader rebuild- not fun and your casting stroke just has to be very slow. The best thing I have found is the New Zealand wool indicator, it casts well does not make any noise upon entry and floats well BUT I find it is useful in only certain types of water, mid to tail outs of pools seem to be best for them, heavy riffs are a problem- if this is where you like to fish just use the old fashioned method of high stick folloing a colored leader section and watch the leader/water point for any movement- this is still the best way to fish nymphs on Penns- not pretty and not called anything sexy but dam effective.
  Don't give up on the new material, patterns and new methods of fishing them, most of all don't give up on what works for you.

Something to think about

OK you guys get sick of me talking about Spring Creek but if you have been there in the last few years and see just how much the stream is changing you to would be hard pressed to find another stream to compare the transformation it has undergone, witness the new wall in Bellefonte between The Veteran's and Lamb's Street bridges, stunning is the best words I can find. This area was nothing but abandoned industrial buildings with a mismatch of stream bank walls and with the hotel that burned a few years ago it looked bad, the trout were there big time due to the available feeding just above The Veteran's bridge by all the people in town, big trout! The PA Fish Comm. opened up this area a few years ago against some of us not wanting them to do it but it has drawn a ton of guys there and with the new construction this area is a show piece, ok what the heck does this have to do with anything, well once again The Spring Creek Chapter of TU was involved as an advisory body in choosing the wall design and the new walking path along the stream. Let me ask you who was involved in the design of Bull Run in Lewisburg near the new Giant, no one and I bet Dave Pearson is having a fit about that, at one point this stream had trout in it but do to poor management they are gone but could come back if a local organization would just give a shit and step up to the plate rather than planning the next stocking of White Deer, for heavens sake get involved and make some waves!

I'll fish when you guys hunt

Have not been fishing much during PA deer season because I just don't have a lot or orange to wear in order to alert those nuts who can not see the difference between a guy in waders and a deer! I did get out to Spring Creek a few times (this is a good bet because some locations are not in the line of fire like Penns would be)and guess what is going on - Olives, yes Olives, size 18 & 20's and the fish are on them big time. As I said many times this is not a stream wide event, you need to either know where they are from year to year or a good idea or go looking for them, it's not hard to do just drive and check the water to see if you spot any rising fish but remember Olives at this time of year tend to come in waves strong for a time then weak for a time (have no idea why this happens) when I say strong not like a Sulphur hatch but a good amount of the duns to get the fish up and at this time of year after spawning the fish eat well. All you need is a good pheasant tail nymph, olive emerger or a dark floating dun imitation to fool them BUT your presentation and float have to be spot on if not they will not even give you a second look, think down and across not up and over them, the water is low and the currents are tricky so be a sneaky bugger about your float, if they are in a good rhythm don't give them a long lead because they are high in the water and a long float will not help much and get the fly off the water when your past your target and back on the water- you can not catch fish by letting your float drift over nothing. This time of year does not tend to bring the big boys up but any time you can get 7" to 14" fish in the winter is a Christmas present- so bag the deer hunting and buy a cow to eat but do go fishing, if your on Penns or Big Fishing Creek wear a heck of a lot of orange!
  Have not seen any midge yet but may not have been in the proper locations!

The Redd Count

On Sunday I took part in the redd count on Spring & Slab Cabin Creek's for a shared project between Spring Creek TU and PA Fish & Boat Comm., I was teamed up with a fellow from Hershey who hailes from Trevorton! Our section was a 1 mile beat from the bridge at Benner Spring's upstream to the bridge at The Rock, walking was easy for the first 1/2 mile as we stayed along the hatchery fence up above the stream for a good vantage point, all the while spotting spawing fish or their redd's that were empty, in the span of 1 mile we noted 126, that is nothing short of great but another two man team doing the canyon area counted 196 redd's that my friend is just great- sure makes you smile when you see numbers like them. The trout in Spring Creek are doing very well.
  My partner has a cabin on Penns near the Boy Scout camp and spends a lot of time in Coburn and was telling me of the wonderful project that the PVA is doing in that area, insect population studies and tem and water testing, I'll try to get some info. and share it, why can't we do the same for the Cherry Run - Weikert area? More later

Results of trout tracking

As I said on the other post a presentation at Spring Creek TU by Dr. Uma Ramakrishnnan Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Juniata at College on Monitoring Brown Trout Movement Using Radio Trackers: Lessons Learned. I got the results of the 1st stage and they are as follows;
The results so far are very inconclusive, the only verifiable conclusion is that trout will move to try to get away from turbidity. Just as a note I will follow up on this topic from time to time from her web site and e mail to her about any other results they may find. This is a good tip to remember when your faced with a feeder dumping muddy or off colored water into your main stream, trout will hold on that line between the two, makes sense because trout are sight feeders.
  On Nov. 22 I will be helping Spring Creek TU with their redd count on Spring Creek, this is done every few years to help the PA Fish & Boat Comm. determine the relative health of the Brown Trout population and give us a chance to see just how many redds  there are over the entire stream length, I will be able to see the results because we all report back to the event heads and enjoy some food and drink while they tally up the results, this is the kind of activity that is needed on Penns but sadly there is none!

Time to do this

November is the best time of year to hunt some very large trout with streamers but be careful not to target the reeds of spawners! It might be a bit early for a good amount of the brown trout to be in the mating mood but I have seen some evidence of pre spawn behavior in some of the smaller males that are around. It's just unfortunate that we have not had a good water year and that our streams are on the low side of normal and the leaf litter in the water is at times bad, but if you can find some deep dark holes and some deeper water below good gravel bars the fish will at some point in the near future start staging in these areas. For flies I like to use light colors on bright days and darker ones on those dark overcast days (I really like purple and electric blue), I have a bunch of new tandem flies that I am just itching to try out, I hope that I do not see any adverse effect of hooking fish near their eyes or in the gills- if so these flies will be retired fast. I have only thought of using tandem's because sometimes you will suffer short strikes and only have swirls to your credit and no good pulls, if only we had the reflexes to stop the fly when a short strike or swirl occurs because sometimes I think the fish tries to disorient their pry and come back to finish them off but after all those years we strike and  hope for the best.
  One more thing we can all do is when we are on streams that have a lot of feeders take some time and make sure our brown trout have access to the feeder by cleaning our the mouth of any debris or rocks that may block their ascent to their spawning grounds, this is especial true in this low water year. it would be also a good dead if you are walking in the stream to watch where you are stepping, avoid the new reeds because they are our future.
  Last night a Dr. presented a show to the Spring Creek Chapter of TU about radio tagged mature brown trout to learn where they spent their time, I will try and get a copy and post it.
  I have at least 2 lbs. of yellow water Iris seeds that I will be planting this winter and spring in Penns, Big Fishing Creek and Spring Creek, look at my planting at Johnson's on Penns. I also have 5 small Ginko seedlings that will be planted along Penns on a bluff to avoid high water, some where that I can watch their growth- maybe they can take the place of all those Ash trees we have lost- hey feel free to plant a tree, it is heart warming to see something that you planted to mature- I have one in front of Station 22 on Penns that I planted at least 15 years ago and it is doing well, every time I see it I smile because of the memory of my black lab Abby and Warren Fisher  and I working to get the darn thing up the road to plant it (had 2 Ginko's and a second Maple that did not make it) just happy to remember those memories.

October on Penns

October is one of the best times to fish Penns if your into midges, for some reason the stream clears and does not have that limestone tint to it, the wading becomes easy at this time of year and the trout key on midges during warm sunny afternoons. This is not easy fishing but can be very rewarding for you if you have the skill set, very small patterns and accurate casting are the norm. Your pattern should be a grey or black midge in size #22 thru 26 even Grif's Gnats work well if you can tie them correctly so they do not twist your 6-7x tippets (my casting stroke gets me in trouble here). You need to look in mid to the tails outs of the pools, careful and pick your fish carefully and make sure you use a side slip strike on the hook set because if you have no control the fish will put the others down fast, side pressure is the key. Not all sections will have this activity you will need to search the pools out but the big pool below Rainbow Riffle is a good one if your up for a good walk, Stan's pool is also a great choice. Be sure to pack some Oct caddis patterns because you will see some awesome takes on the naturals and they will take a good imitation quickly. Be aware if it's a cloudy day "think Olives".

You know your old

Fished an old favorite 1  mile section of Spring Creek before the rain came, this is a very challenging section to fish when your alone, it is best fished having someone with you because of spotting and tight casting areas plus getting one another out of trouble. I had no problem with the section that runs along the Houserville Road as it turns away from the road the trouble begins getting over a small but high stone dam, ok got over it then a nice pool that has in the past held some nice fish in good cover, using beetles and hoppers brought them to my hand, then the next section was before me up the bank and get over "2" fallen trees ( last year I got stuck here when I fell thru with one leg and had a hell of a time getting out) this year no problem till I saw what was ahead! The next pool holds a lot of fish and some good ones at that,well now it has a "Big" tree over the entire stream- no room under it and I sure as hell can not get over it- ok just climb up the bank and go around it- no way in hell can I get up either bank, they are just too steep, now what the heck do I do go back to those "2" downed trees and try to bush whack my way around this tree, well that is what I did and it was not easy, shit growing up everywhere and most above my shoulders- just to old for this crap. Then as I did manage to get around this dam tree I could not get down the bank with out killing my self, I looked like an old river otter sliding down a bank. Just sad to see this really good hole is now off limits till very high water takes that tree out, at least the trout will have some time to them self's to eat and grow with out being disturbed other than an old fart falling around them. As I slipped it the water I began to work my way up stream casting the #12 black foam beetle in all the right places and the trout ate it big time, took a good 15" brown from a small run where a few years ago I had a similar fish take the same set up, it was not the same fish but shows that if good lies are the same you can expect the same results if your presentation is good. The rest of the water is as it has been, very productive and challenging but oh how nice it would be to share it with someone else, at this age you just might need help to be able to get out or in to a trout stream. When I speak of fishing with someone I don't mean go with someone and split up, I mean fish with someone, so both of you help each other and become much better doing what we love to do, number's do not count when your doing this it is the experience that counts and it will be some thing that you will remember, both of you will grow in your ability to problem solve. I remember a good friend of mine and I working for a good half an hour on an impossible fish in a very difficult position only to finally catch him and find that he was a 9" fish, it was good for the problem solving lesson of the day.

Do not forget these

If your out and about in this wonderful weather we have been having and happen to be along a trout stream in the afternoon and early evening- do not for get to carry a good selection of flying ants, if you do not have them and the trout begin to feed on them go home because it will be one of the most frustrating time you will every have. Trout become very selective when they are on the ant feed and will reject your offering if it is not the correct color and size, carry the following just to be sure;
#14 thru #20 Black spent winged ants
#14 thru #20 Red spent winged ants
#14-#16 Black front and cinnamon rear end ants these guys make an appearance on occasion. Your pattern has to have "2' body parts and either spent or swept back wings as long as they are there and some hackle, very simple patterns but if you do not have them along and the swarm occurs you are out of luck. This is the time of the year when the ants will swam to develop new colonies and warm sunny afternoon's are the perfect time, sleep in an arrive by noon and you will be fine. The following streams have very strong ant activity, Penn's, Big Fishing Creek, Bald Eagle and Spring Creek BUT this is a very specific area occurrence so you might have to walk and look for them.
  Also carry some Iso's just in case and the Olives should be along any day if the weather turns shitty, oh and a few smaller streamers would help, light & dark to cover the light condition.
Good Luck

At Last!

At last the Trico's were out in numbers and there were rising fish but had to wait till 10:30 AM for it to warm up. Fished Spring Creek early with a #16 red floating, under trees and in the shade, the browns like to eat the little guy, nice slow confident risers! Took off to look below the Milesburg bridge and what do you know they were up and in good rhythm, had to pick your fish because there are just too many of those smaller rainbows around but they are really fat and fight well. Took "2" really good browns in the shade and was on the move for a third one till the GD ducks decided that a fight was in order and raised hell on the water, count that good fish down! A #24 black spent wing Trico did the trick on 6.5x Head Hunter tippet and a WF #2 SA line just nice slow fishing with really good rising fish that were not in a hurry, this action lasted till 12:15 and then it was over! Asked a few guys at Fisherman's Paradise and they said the Trico's were there but that no steady rising fish showed, again that is why you have to look around till you find the fish that want to eat. All in all a very nice day, have to get them in before my new puppy gets here, fishing and dog training really do not go that well together but this guy will fish with me, look for us after the end of Sept.

There are none !

OK I have been checking Turkey Hill, Valerio and Panera for signs of the "White Fly" and there have not been any, I see some other smaller light yellow duns and spinners and a few Iso's but no white guys. What the heck happened, I will not accept the suggestion that is has been to hot, heck about every year we have low water and high water temp's but this years no flies, how can a population just not appear for a year, yes it has been true that the volume in the past few years has not been what it was at one time and we do expect that any population will have swings in density but to have them just disappear is just a puzzle. Might there be a correlation between the black fly spraying and the demise of the white flies? Why the heck does the State of PA waste money spraying for the black flies when it is a species that does not bite, oh yea it does bother the big guys while they golf at the country club- might that be the reason they keep spraying, oh no! Why take that amount of biomass and kill it rather that have it be food for our fish population, the logic is puzzling of course any thing the State does makes little or no sense. It would do no good to call the PA Fish Comm. because they are more concerned with their own agenda and would not want to bother with a trivial thing like the loss of a population if insects, just another bug lost oh well no big deal, remember the passenger pigeon! Anyone have any ideas?

What is happening?

Some of us really enjoy going to the Sunbury Fiber Dam and fishing the "White Fly" hatch but as of this week there are "0" of them, they usually make their appearance by Aug 10-15, so far none. If you look near the shores you can see them or on one of the river bridges their presence will be seen at night or the next morning as their bodies will cover the road like a blanket, not this year. I have seen other species on windows around town but no white guys, I have heard that they are around the Harrisburg area and by this time they should have been here! The conditions have been just right for them low water and clear on the Sunbury side (the water did come up after this weeks rain), just perfect for wading around below the dam and fishing towards the shore but not yet.
  Another mayfly that has seen better days are the Trico's on Spring Creek and Bald Eagle, they are there but not in the number we did have years ago (Christ I sound old). Thirty years ago I took Dave from Fishing Creek Outfitters and we had no less that 20-30 feeding trout in from of us at just one hole, well you might be lucky to see 10 fish up in a really long pool, the flies are just not there, yes you might see a small mating swarm but then the spinner fall is not en mass, this will result in the trout not getting on them like they should, all the good spots are the same, shit plant, pines, willow pool and the junction pool are all the same. What the heck is happening to our mayflies, anyone have an idea? Guys something is happening to our waters and we are just not seeing the results fast enough to react but I am not a fan of the DEP spraying on the river but Spring does not have that issue so it has to be something else!

Trouble in Coburn

Last week I looked at all the USGS sites and found that Penns was in the best shape, Spring and Bald Eagle were both too high to support a decent Trico spinner fall- hell the trout could not take them that fast as they would float by them! As one again cleaning the parking area at the walk over bridge below Coburn I met a fellow from Manitoba, Canada that has a summer cabin on Big Fishing Creek who had his dog over on Penns for a long walk an swim, talk about a long drive for a summer vacation- wow. Once again I had to clean the parking lot, just full of crap and one pile had nothing but sun tan lotion bottles on it (4 to be exact) as I was getting ready to fish one of the local fellows drove down and showed me more of his pictures and tell me about the 70 year old from Milheim that has long white hair and his habit of coming down at 5-6 AM and fishing minnows and taking every trout he catches home, some time eating them or selling them to the Amish, the fellow also told me that he and another guy called the PA Fish Comm. and got no where, heck it took them 4 days to call them back and the Waterways office told him that he was to busy to come over and take a look- what the hell ever happened to the old days when a poacher would be a target of an field trip, I guess a few trout are not that important any more,maybe the locals should teach the fellow a lesson on driving a truck that has holes in the tires or something else that will make him think twice before he does this crap again but these types of guys never change till they die or become to old to do their thing. If you are there in the early morning and see this guy fishing minnows and in the act of keeping fish do confront him, this crap has to stop.
  Tried to fish this Wed but it again rained like hell for most of the morning, my advice buy an ark.

Time for Trico's and Caddis

If it ever stops raining maybe we can fish without fearing for our lives because of the lighting or the fast rising waters. This week it looks as if we can get a chance to fish one of the best time in the entire year the first two or three weeks of the Trico hatch and spinner fall, I focus on spinners and very seldom even fish a dun but before the fish get spooky after getting pounded by guys who can't cast a shit or don't know how to get a good drift make the fish ultra picky- go now. As on the Missouri River make sure your first cast is the best one, across and slightly downstream is the best presentation. I use #24 or a #26 (if the fish are picky) poly wing black or dark olive spinner with the barbs pinched down. After a good hour of spinner time, it will be about the time the #16 tan caddis start to make their appearance, do not over look these, at this time of year the trout feed on them very well, if your on Penns in the morning look for spent caddis in the slicks or back eddies then as the morning fades look for the adults to emerge just fluttering over the waters surface, trout love them.
  If I'm fishing Spring or Bald Eagle and it gets to be noon, I have lunch then look for a shady section to fish a #12 black foam beetle or it it's Penns a #16 Black ant or a nice fat hopper pattern! Nice easy slow fishing and your home early- just do it. I was surprised as to how good Penns is holding up and how it did not get blown out at Coburn and below Weikert, not like Spring and Bald Eagle and not to mention Big Fishing Creek they all are suffering from excessive water but hey normally we don't have any this time of year!

Water water everywhere!

As I write this on the 4th of July we are blessed or cursed with a ton of water, no fishing for a few weeks will do the trout well. The other week I was to help the Big Brother & Sisters of Center County with a fish out at the Federal Hatchery in Lamar but due to a violent thunderstorm it was cancelled unit July 7th (no worry about high water all the fish are in a raceway), I drove back to State College to fish the afternoon. I have know Steve S. at Fly Fisher's Paradise for more than 40 years and always value our conversations, this time he was in a bad mood because of guys fishing Penns with the higher water temp's, ok we might do that but most of us stop fishing Penns in July & August because of low water and high temp's, ok that was solved. Steve also was adamant about anglers not using big tandem streamers for trout, might a new book by Geo. Daniel have something to do with this? Steve also once again told me to use wet black ants and this has not been the first time he has told me this, he even said it works well on Penns, ok I gave it a try on Spring that afternoon and it did work very well, I used a #16 black epoxy ant under a NZ wool indicator with "2" very small shot to get it down, not bad to cast and the trout ate it, next time your out give it a try! I have not used any streamers with tandem hooks and really do not know if it really hurts the fish as Steve thinks it does, all my streamers are single hooks and I am now just starting to do some tube and intruder style streamers for later in the year when I hunt for bigger browns in Bald Eagle!
  Until the water goes down read or tie flies and give the trout a good rest because on Penns they really need it, if you see the amount of guys that fish below Cherry Run in the last 2 months you will understand why they need a rest period- where the hell do they all come from "Hoffman's cabin"?

Too Much Love

Ok maybe I am slipping in my old age but Penns at Johnson's is just getting too much love, heck last night there was "6" guys in the pool & riffle. The "2" guys in the riffle fishing nymphs looked as if they really know what they are doing and by their use of landing nets they were catching fish while the rest of us were just looking and nothing but chubs were looking up. But to be fair they really was nothing coming off or falling on the water, I wonder if the trout there are becoming like the Spring Creek trout- night feeders. This happens in very heavy fishing waters and it has happened in some locations in our area, with no rest the fish become more wary than normal and the chubs take over feeding during the hours when we are there, ok lets try morning as see what is going on if that does not work lets try another section of the stream- more to follow.

"Lily"

If you are like me and wonder how the heck Todd Moen gets those overhead shots of anglers fishing for trout or steelhead and have checked out how much equipment costs and the practice it takes to fly one of those very expensive helicopters, well it just got a lot easier! Check out You Tube "Introducing the Lily Camera" for $499.00 preproduction price you get a great video camera, helicopter and a wrist band that tells Lily what to do, just throw it up in the air and it does what you asked of it, even takes off from the water and lands back in your hand. I am scheming to figure out how to justify the expense and it is a deal because the price will jump up to $999.00 after they hit the market but far below the cost of a really big model "think3K".
  Off to fish Penns tonight, Olive spinners will be on the food tray along with the odd big stonefly crashing into the riffles and getting eaten!
  By the way the PA Fish and Boat Commission has again struck this time they want to take away the protection for Brook Trout in some of the streams, read about in on their web site, looks to some of us as if they have sold out the gas guys and neck snappers, maybe it is time for them to shrink their own numbers in order to protect the resource but what the heck we need another buck to extend our own departments life. The other morning as I drove over the Veterans Memorial Bridge" in front of me was that red & white helicopter spraying the river to rid it of non biting black fly larva, now who the hell spends that much money to rid us of "ONE" specie of insect? Ever wonder what other harm that spraying does to fish and non target insects, sure as heck we will never be told the truth, only make sure the rich guys on the golf  course don't have to put up with those pesky bugs.
  Oh I am sorry that I did not give Tom Rall credit for an absolute pig of a brown trout caught in Penns on a "poodle" streamer, I would guess 5lbs plus and a solid 24", a great job! Both he and I are still after that "1" big guy that keeps spitting on us about every time out.

New Zealand Fish

Fished Big Fishing Creek Tuesday because Penns was just too dam crowded with the Green Drake crowd here for another year. Peace and quite were the order not many people around and as I stopped to look over one of the best holes in the "narrows" a fellow was there just getting ready to fish and we talked about how it is not as great as it used to be all the while fish were raising everywhere! A nice small hatch of #16 Lt. Tan Caddis was coming off and the fish were on them, as I stood there I looked to the far bank from our high vantage point and there he was a brown of 5lbs or over and a guess would tape him over 24" plus, he was in shallow water and would have been a good prospect for a #16 PT nymph but as I pointed him out to the fellow who was dressed in tan he got nervous and began to swim around and disappeared into the deeper water! Note to self tan is not a good summer color, wear green or dark colors. They are still there but not easy but they can be had if you fish two people and spot them and fish a small PH on a very small wool indicator but your casting has to be spot on. Took several nice 9" - 11" Brook Trout (limestone brookies are just colored up nice) and some nice Browns on a #16 bubble back tan caddis and as evening began the sulphur's began hatching as did the eating- the fish are still there but they come out to play where there is a good hatch or when it gets a little darker. It is worth a trip there but the Drake will be there within a week so stay away for a while- think Summer Olive's for the next month!

Note About something missing

I forgot to mention that the last couple of time I was at Penns I would hear the toads (we called them hop toads growing up and you would get warts if you touched them) not a good amount of them but a few as of last Wed. they are finished with their annual mating ritual of signing and the males hanging on the females backs no matter what. Years ago we would see them ever where and the sound would be all night but that has not been the cast the last few years, something is wrong and we need to fix it fast before the toads become gone from our world as are most of the frogs. I saw the strings of eggs that have been laid and there are not that many, have you noticed the same or have you not even taken note of their absence?

A Windy Nothing Day

Was at Penns Wed. May 13 and it was just not happening, very strong winds and low temps were the cause of NO BUGS! A few small rising fish that I left some other nice guys fish to, heck they came all the way from FL and RI to fish so let them have a shot at the fish. I'm focusing my attention to that "1" very large fish that is in the bottom of the riffle that I have been playing with for the last 3 years and now Tom Rall has also spotted it - so it's game on who get it to hand first?
  A few March Browns, Grey Foxes, Hendrickson's, Caddis and Sulphurs are coming off but not in force because of the wind, the spinner falls just at dark have been epic but the catching has been weak! Some guys swear that the fish are taking March Brown spinners at dusk but in 50+ years I have not seen that many time, most time it is Grey Fox spinners that are on the menu or some left over Hendrickson's. If the fish refuse you spinner try a different specie and not just a different tie, by way have you ever picked up a Hendrickson spinner and looked at the belly- not the standard dark red brown color- maybe that might be a good thing to remember also make sure the spinners are not moving in the water- wing beats!

Hendrickson's & March Browns

The Hendrickson's are winding down with just a small evening spinner fall but thru the day the March Brown & Grey Fox are coming off and the fish are on them! Penns came up a bit on Thursday and it was off color but the fish still ate, it will only get better. Head to Big Fishing Creek for Hendrickson spinners if you want them but you'll have to wait till almost dark but it is worth it.
  We will have PE Duns and Sulphurs soon.

All Is Right With The World

Fished Big Fishing Creek this morning and the big boys were there just as they have been for every year in early season, along the bank mid pool and at the tail out, 16- 18" heavy bodied browns that take a #16 dark olive CDC & deer hair bubble back caddis floated over them using 5.5x Trout Hunter tippet! They take them in the morning when they are hatching then only a few will rise as the caddis move upstream for their mating later in the day, it's not really heavy but there are a lots of bugs- no Hendrickson's yet. The water is still high and cold as is Penns and Spring is still 149 cfs. at Axeman and that is just not comng down as fast as it should.
  Helped with the Spring Creek TU clean up on Spring Creek last weekend and was happy to see the amount of people who helped, grade school, high school and PSU students and not just in a few areas they were stream side and along the road the entire length of the stream, must be social media but they get the people out to help and it's a special reg. stream so much for not cleaning open water! The next time your up in Bellefonte check out the old McCoy's Dam area and see the planting's that have been done and their is another work party this Sat May 2 to repair and add more vegetation to the bank on the far side of the stream. If your close to Fisherman's Paradise check out the additional stream bank planting's that were done in April, now there will be trees to help keep the stream cool in the summer, also check out the new parking lot's- now why could we not get something like that at Penns? Drive up and check out the parking area and planting's at the "Rock" area, these guys get stuff done.
  Oop's almost forgot to tell you but the walk over bridge below Coburn is now under repairs and will have a new deck in the near future, now all we need is a structure and deck on the old "Bridge 19" above Poe Paddy if we had that we could have access via foot or bike to the entire creek (ok the tunnel is still closed?).

Little Black Caddis & We Lost a Big One

Fished Wed & Thursday at Big Fishing Creek in Lamar because it was just too nice not to, water up a bit but about normal for this time of year, water temp was 48.3(not bad but could have been better) the Forsythia are about ready to bust open and that is the sign that we will have the Little Black Caddis emerge- not quite yet! There was a small hatch both days starting about 11:00 AM and lasting till about 1:00 PM not great but just a start, the fish rose to them and took a size #18 dark olive black bubble back caddis imitation, both days I spent hours just sitting and looking and enjoying the bird songs just nice not to have tons of layers on and the sun out, look for the hatch to pick up in the next few days because of the warmer temps. I saw no sign of Hendrickson's, Blue Quills or Grannom's (you can tell if the cases are all around the shore margins), just a bit soon- think warmer.
  On Thursday I drove to Coburn just to get a good look at Penns and on my way downstream from Coburn below Stan's bridge and Teaman's cabin I was greeted with yellow no-trespassing sign's on the entire bend and below to within 50 yards of the walk over bridge at the Coburn Tunnel and on the other side of the stream! Well boys we lost a big chunk of access to Penns, saw one of the locals and asked him what the heck happened and he told me that two guys bought the land two years ago and have had numerous run In's with rude and manner less individuals not the least some of the "Guides" working for "The Crook" and others, the fellows told me that they park where ever they want and will think nothing of crowding someone out. The straw that broke the camels back was the new owners took their elderly dad of 80+ years up stream around the bend and got him in position during the Green Drake hatch only to be pushed and crowded out by these same guys who have no manners and now we see the results. Guys I have been saying this will happen some time or another if your not respecting the land owners and parking where you are not to or your a hog and not respecting some ones space when they are fishing- get smart because this will happen again and I can understand why. OK you say I have spots to fish that my be so till it gets sold and someone else sets the rules. These guys have every right to do what they did and I understand why, heck every year when I clean that parking lot I have other guys there just looking and sure as hell they never help, great for our sport! Told you so.

Score one for us!

Just got word that the PA Fish and Boat Comm. has dropped plans to change the delayed harvest rules. they must have gotten too many comments about the changes and maybe some real political pressure was put on them? I hope this means they will go back to really protecting the resource and not their jobs, maybe it is time for them to downsize to save money and not worry about one more license sale to save them from the cutting axe.
  Looks as if we will soon be having Blue Quills and Little Black Caddis on the menu for the first day and for Wed., will post something after I fish Big Fishing Creek. The rain that we had will not effect any of our streams and they should be in fine shape. Look for a great week of pre season fishing.

They are out!

Today Monday April 6th I heard the first choirs of Spring peppers and it was great to just sit there and listen to them. Last week saw some epic BWO's on Spring Creek that lasted 2 hours and every trout ate like they had nothing over the Winter! Typical BWO hatch on Spring they came off in waves, strong then just a few then in about 20 mins strong and that is normally the way the hatch goes, not every hole or run had them but the Willow Pool did and the pigs ate. Late last week we were greeted to a great midge hatch so much so they are still everywhere here at the house the trout in Spring ate them like there was no tomorrow but they did like a Grif's Gnat with a bit of action because of the mating and wind, this might go on for a few week if not at least 10 days, pick out a wind swept bank and wait for them to be blown over to it all the while the trout will eat everyone that come close. Sad but Penns is just a bit too high to join in and Big Fishing Creek is also a bit high and cold but this week might get them both warmer?
  If our weather holds we will see Blue Quills and maybe Grannom's before or on the official opening day of trout!

Be careful it might happen where you live

Last month a measure to allow New Mexico landowners to restrict angler access cleared the House by a 32-31 vote margin sending the bill to the Gov. to sign into law. Like HB 141 in Utah, SB226 restricts access to rivers and streams that cross private property! This is a trend that started in Montana with Huey Lewis and his friends posting access points on a few streams and finally made it to Montana Supreme Court where it was defeated but not without a lot of support from sportsman and a ton of money. If you think it can not happen here think again money talks and those of us who relay on our free access to streams could be in danger if someone sees fit to close it, a good example is Big Fishing Creek with no Sunday fishing (that's not bad) and the cabin occupied rule ( if the cabin is occupied you can not fish there- now how the hell do you know if someone is there!), our Fish Comm. did nothing! If you see a property owner and your fishing take the time to thank them and for heavens sake pick up any litter even if it is not yours, help us all keep our stream access.
  Another disturbing trend from the PA Fish Comm., now they want to change the delayed harvest areas time when you can keep fish and lower the size to 7" and allow youth to fish bait, these guys will do anything to sell just one more license. With the decrease in anglers due in part to our younger people more interested in electronics than fishing our Fish Comm. needs to take a hard look at the facts, maybe it's time for them to shrink their size and maybe play up the wonderful trout fishing we still have in some of the Special Reg. waters to get more out of state anglers to come and support our business but no they will cuddle up to the neck snappers and change to reg's to make them a bit happier for the time being but our Fish Comm. has no balls to really make good choices for the resource it is all about money and their jobs!

Saw them

Finally saw a few little black stoneflies! I think we might have seen them a bit earlier but due to the ice cover on some of our better stonefly streams they have been absent. If there is or was some open water on White Deer or Big Fishing Creek you might have seem them sooner but the strong ice cover and the very low temps has the hatch off a bit. I am not sure what shape Penn  is in as far a ice covering but the stone flies there have never been a good dry fly occurrence but a small black nymph can do the trick. Any way the Spring melt is going well, not torrents of water just a nice melt and freeze at night slow but sure. Be careful if the stream your going to have a load of very cold water it can put the trout off for a few days due to the influx of very cold water. Let's see what Saturday holds with the rain event.
  Mystery solved! A long time ago I remember an event that happened at the "Hepner Hole" the next hole below Station 22 on Penns, Warrant Wolfe caught a very large pickerel while fishing a streamer, he thought it was a giant trout but it turned out not to be a trout but a member of the pike family, I just do not remember what we did with it, just to many years ago. Well for the last 10 years when I have taken my dogs for walks we have found fish and a lot of them in the small run off braid between the Hepner Hole and the Station 22 road, my Trico would just get in there and chase them but we could never really understand what they were, I have talked to several other guys and they all had the same story. This winter hat a Spring Creek Chapter of TU meeting I was talking to a PA Fish Comm. biologist about the health of Penns and told him about the trapped fish turn out they are juvenile pickerel and that they need to be given flying lessons, mystery solved. If you get a hell of a strike and think you have a monster maybe you just hooked another pickerel!

Just too dam cold to fish

These past few weeks have given most people a good dose of cabin fever and with good reason, most of the streams are ice bound. I know that some sections of Spring Creek are open but it is dam hard to get to the stream without breaking your neck. We get snow then it melts then it freezes sold at night then we get more of the crap, walking to the stream or getting out over an ice shelf is not a easy task.
This next week we are to see some day time temps in the 40's, just be careful because when it starts to melt that influx of cold water puts the fish off for a few days till they get used to the lower water temps, fish the slow "really slow" stuff and when they do take you might not every see or feel it- strike at everything. Be careful as it warms up on Spring Creek because March brings out the spin chuckers in big numbers, heck I even see minnow guys throwing 3" live minnows, have no idea what the hell they are doing but they can be a pain in the ass, no manners! Also remember that after a certain date any stocked section or an entire stream is off limits till the first day of trout, because I'm an old fart I never get a new book of reg's every years, my licence is one and done!
Enjoy- the Fly vs Jerk TV program is on and we are just now getting session 4 and the camera work is wonderful, watch it.

What to do with this cold weather

I know that telling someone to tie flies is like asking them to go out in the cold, most of us wait till the bitter end to tie what we need. I have always made a list thru the year of patterns that I need and others that I might want to improve or new patterns to try, I work on them thru the Winter but seem to always be behind and have to tie some at the last minute! Well here is just another reason to not tie this time of year, "Chromecast"! for $35.00 and a few min's you can be watching just wonderful high quality videos. I have an I Pad mini that I have the Chromecast app installed in and the unit in my TV's HDMI input, all you need is a good selection of videos from YouTube and your off to watching some truly awesome stuff, I just love the Scandinavia "kanalgratisdote" site with the new season of "Fly vs Jerk 6 - Episode 1- The World is Watching! You will find a ton of how to video's along with some awesome shows to watch, the heck with normal TV at night. The stuff from Europe has some raw language but the content and the picture quality is just wonderful, take a peek on your computer but to see it in full size is just great, if you have a smart TV no need for Chromecast! Last night I found a site from a fellow in NZ that was showing very large brown trout in a very small spring creek, I loved how for most of the time he used a NZ wool strike indicator with a small nymph about 8-10" below it to take some just stunning fish, all the while wading upstream! After that I found some dude from NJ showing where and how to fish Spring Creek in PA, dam didn't want to see that shit but it is better that the normal crap on TV at night or for that matter anytime! Give it a try. 

What a nice day

Wow what a nice day Wed. turned out to be, cold in the morning but as 11:00 AM came closer the temperature started to rise above the 32 degree mark and by 2:30 it hit 44 degree's, the sun was bright and the birds were signing heck I saw some Robins in the soft grass of some spring seeps, maybe a hint of an early spring? I was at Spring Creek and checked out some of the old reliable runs for signs of midge rising fish but only could fine that the boys were up and eating on the turn below Hartle's Bridge as they normally are. Started to fish a two nymph rig with a shot about 7" above the top nymph but with no really good deep inside bends to concentrate on, the taking was slim! I took the top nymph off and only used the new caddis larvae in dark green with a very small shot 8" above it that coupled with the black tung. bead got me down and the fish seemed to like it given the skinny water I was in, all the takers were small but with the bird songs and warmth of the sun and no one else around who cares.  I got to the rising fish at the corner and of course had to pee, taking all the shit off near a high bank is a pain in the ass and then putting it back on without getting anything wet is a feat in itself! Switched to a WF3 grey floating SA line with a 12' leader that I greased up but for the last 6" then tied on a #24 black midge pupa and wet it before casting to each fish, cast upstream with a good down stroke to make sure the pupa breaks the surface and watch the leader if it moves just raise the rod tip, this is slow fishing but works if you have good light condition, took 3 out of the 5 rising fish and the biggest was a solid 14" not the biggest that was coming up but then again each fish got me a bit warmer. Waded up to the bridge and there was "0" rising fish I think because of the melting water dripping down from the bridge but as I waded up I saw at least 6 good fish in shallow water under the bridge- who knew? Checked out the willow pool and nothing, well ok time to go and get coffee and Mickey D's, all in all a good day in a few hours in early Feb.
  Had to stay over on Thursday to help my daughter but after breakfast and some coffee I checked the same fish at 9:30 AM with a temp. of 19 degrees and they WERE UP AND EATING but no way was I going to attempt to fish! Just to show you one can find some rising fish there on just about any given day but you have to go to experience it. I saw "2" other guys in the two days I was there.

More about beads

More about the new jig hooks and the beads that are to work on them;

Allen J100BL #14 & #16 good looking hook but very thin wire, just too thin heck they even bend in the vise plus about 40% of the tung. beads will not fit even after the barbs have been smashed down. Allen beads are not up to standards that are acceptable, more on that to follow.

Umpqua C400BC #14 & #16 Great heavy wire hook s with a very nice round bend, good points and none bent in the vise! Used Hareline Tung beads in 2.8 & 3.3 mm but only 4 out of nice made it past the bend, what a pain in the ass. Tried some normal non slotted beads and they worked as they should even the new "Bug Collars" worked well.

Daiichi #4647 #14 & #16 Nice heavy wire hook but they have a Limerick bend and that means the beads have to be perfect to go around the bend, well non of the slotted beads worked! I tried normal beads and got them past the bend and so did the bug collars.

  I contacted Hareline and was told that the molds for the slotted beads are being reworked to expand the holes to allow for better fit- a work to the wise- wait till the new beads hit the market and that will not be for a while. I'm guessing that maybe one company in China makes all the slotted beads and it does not matter where you buy them you will have the same problem, lots of luck! The beads in question are Tung. black slotted beads in 2 2.3 2.8 3.3mm sizes. It is not you it's your materials.
  I will say that the new Bug Collars seem to be a really great item but time will tell how effective they will be but I know a section of Spring Creek where the rainbows will eat the crap out of the pink ones! Oops almost forgot to tell you that the new bug collars work best with the old style beads not the new slotted ones, they need a concave surface to seat against, so it is standard bead first then the bug collar seated tight against it.

New jig hooks and slotted beads

Tried some new jig hooks from Allen and found them to be way to soft, heck they even bent while tying them but the worst part of them is the G--D-- beads maybe 1 out of 6 or 7 will go on the hook as they should (small hole first) they just will not go up the bend, total frustration trying to use them. I have always been able to just let beads drop from a 1/8" distance and found that I might have had to do it a few times but most times the small end will land face up then it was an easy task to get the bead started on the hook if the barb was smashed down but slotted beads will not lad the correct way! I just tried some new competition hooks from Tiemco and found them to be much stronger but even Hareline slotted tung. beads will not work well again maybe 1 out of 6 works well, if this shit continues I will just give up trying to use them, I like the idea of the hook point riding up for a good hook set and it keeps the bend above the bottom for a better snag free drift. I'll try my supply of normal black tung. beads and see if they are any better, anyone else having the same problem? From what I see it is the inconsistence in the hole diameters of the beads?
  I was at the Spring Creek Chapter of TU last Thursday night to see the results of the creel survey on Spring Creek and WOW is not an accurate description, they are talking about Montana  numbers of Brown trout per mile and the angler satisfaction was at an all time high, this corresponds to the Fish Comm. shocking stat's from a few years ago, Spring Creek trout numbers are high! The Spring Creek Chapter provided the man power to have people go out and conduct the Fish Comm. surveys and the PFC boys ran the numbers. I think the full report might be on the Spring Creek Chapter of TU's web site, just Google it. Along with the survey results the Chapter President gave a presentation of the last years projects and results, impressive is a very good word, any time you go to Spring Creek you will see the results of those projects and they are not done! Join them if only to help this coming year, they make you feel welcome and part of the solution, check them out.

Just a bit too cold to fish then tie flies

In the process of updating  my inventory of flies that need replaced or redone with newer materials or better building techniques of the patterns that I tend to carry the most. Just finished 6 dozen of BWO emergers in dark red brown and darker olive just to give me something different to throw at them, I usually only carry Olive in a med olive brown for most all the Fall, Winter & Spring Olives but for Drunella I carry some very light and bright olive bodies because of the color of the emerging duns OK maybe it's overkill but what the heck I have the time. I just finished some Green Drake emegers (floating nymphs) they are on the drying rack and will be put away this afternoon. Here is an update on UV resin, most all the crap from Clear Cure Goo never really dries tack free and it just is madding, so early this fall I was watching Davie McPhail using "Bug Bond" so I  Googled it and got some from "Deer Creek, UK" and by dam it is tack free, what a pleasure to use. I just received a test sample from Loon of "Flow" and it also is tack free, so if you really want to get a finished tack free fly get either of these and enjoy tying with them but remember that you will still have to use some of the really heavy stuff and cure it then cover it with one of these, seems like a pain but really does not take that much time to do.
  I tried to get some Cat Gut material from Performance Flies but can never get him on the line and I do not trust his site to order on line, so I looked around and used some turkey quill dyed a dark olive that matched the caddis larvae in Spring Creek then coated it with some Bug Bond and it looks really good, I may try it this Thursday but only is the temp's hit 29/32, I have fished in the 20's and it is not fun to clean your guides every cast! Enjoy