Final Results

Received the final results of the 2016 Redd count for Spring Creek and the totals are about 20 percent less than 2015, the total for 16 was 1580 compared to a total of 1920 for 2015, according to observations this can be directly attributed to low water conditions of this year. A section that is along Rock Road was observed on 11-13-16 and had 18 redds was again observed on 11-27-16 and at that time had 51 redds with some having active fish on them.  Water levels and a later peak spawn resulted in our lower counts but even with a decrease we still had a great total of 1580 redds that we saw, not bad for a urban fishery, plus with the amount of wood in the streams to provide cover for the hatching fry we should have a good class of trout coming into the population in years to come but we still need a couple good shots of rain to provide enough water to allow the eggs to mature and hatch and not freeze or get scoured with ice flows during low water condition.
  Not much fishing going on now, just too cold and if you want a happy home life you would do well to stay home and help with Christmas prep. Time to get your fly tying material orders done and lay out your tying schedule for the winter. Keep and open mind about fishing in Jan and Feb., they are the typical start of good winter midge fishing for us.
Enjoy.

OMG how low can it go!

Just looked at the USGS and Penns is reading 45 cfs, that my friends will get us into some serious shit if the expected polar vortex comes to town next week, think anchor ice. If ice forms on the bottom and becomes even more widespread when the next shot of higher water comes we will have bottom scouring and some redds wiped out or the eggs that have been laid in the main stream will be frozen, not a good omen for natural reproduction. We will suffer for a few years of low populations of our brown trout due to the drought and the low reproduction rates we have seen, off course the PA Fish Comm. will have a magic solution, just stock a class "A" stream as they have now suggested as a quick fix- these guys will do anything to sell another license! We need to come to grips with the way our weather patterns have changed in the past years, seems as if the water turns off shortly after June is over and we do not recover our water table until very early Spring, yes we have short high water events but they are not long term solutions to our lack of water. Maybe we can talk someone into damming up the entire Poe Valley and making a huge hydro dam with a controlled bottom and top release, just a dream.
  Read and article in Southern Culture on The Fly about why a guy hates TU, interesting when you look at TU's stated values and their "wild trout" focus, his problem was with his local TU chapter and their focus on stocking of a delayed harvest stream and the members fishing the heck out of it just after stocking! Does this sound familiar, same stuff they have always done no new focus, no new ideas and no new young or female members with any influence in the chapter direction. Yes we all agree that the Trout in The Classroom could be considered stocking but the benefits that we see from young students being introduced to the wonders of the life of a trout give them a firm understanding of our natural world and how their actions have a direct influence on it. Look up the article and read it, makes for good thoughts.
  Another good read is "The Drake" magazine, short articles and off the cuff stuff- no me and Joe go fishing junk. Also now is the best time to tie flies, I have been filling my boxes with emergers, soft hackle emergers and "Big" streamers (but with no water they will not get wet)
Merry Christmas  

Another Year I Fished on The First Day of Deer Season

Ok I know this is a dumb thing to do but I had to got to State College and did not want to let that go without getting my hands smelly. Delivered Birthday gifts to our Granddaughter and Son In Law early and decided to look for rising fish even if it was a bit early, so I drove from the top of Spring Creek to the bottom stopping at known locations that usually have some fish up but it was a bit early in the day and still cold, well as soon as I arrived, below the bridge in Milesburg I could see them first one then more, slow steady rising fish and some looked to move a good amount of water. I pulled onto the street and changed into my double layer of capalene long underwear and my waders but I used a bright red jacket on the outside for deer hunter protection even if I was in the limits of Milesburg! You have to get into the stream well downstream and ease your way upstream at the same time looking for rising fish on the road side of the stream, there were 3 on the way up, all fell for a well placed #20 Grif's Gnat, get the float right and they ate, made it to the bottom of the pool below the bridge and spent the next hour and a half catching and then waiting for another rise to show then repeating the same action over and over, some nice fish and some small ones but "no one else around", no gun fire  the only negative was the cold which is made worse because your not moving much, time to wade down stream, some jerk has posted his land where we used to get out and any area near is just to steep or covered with thick brush making it hard to get out, wading upstream is not an option unless you can float! All in all not a bad little fish, this is one that you can count on about every day and it gets better as the day warms up.

Redd count for 2016

Sunday was the annual Spring Creek redd count, yes Sunday in all the wind, snow and cold but the people came out in force. We had coffee donuts and some heat at the picnic pavilion, got our maps and final instructions so off we went, I was paired up with the same partner as last year, a fine fellow from Palymra who is originally from Trevorton and has a cabin on Penns. We have the section that borders the Benner Springs PFC hatchery and this year we decided to start upstream and walk down. The first observation we had was that the water is extremely low and clear, all you had to do is move just a little and the trout blasted out from their holding position, second observation is the there is just so much fallen wood in the stream that the flow has been altered and shifted the main current to different locations not where they were last year, we are not talking about a few trees but a load of them both in the water and falling along the banks, the effects of the Emrald beetle has been dramatic everywhere but here worse than ever, if we get a really big water event I do not want to think what all that wood will do to the bridges! Our over all result this year was a total of 97 clean redds down from our total for 2015 of 160+, this has to be because of the low water conditions, we saw plenty of trout swimming away from us, We need rain badly and there is none is sight. Back at the check in site the same story was told by the other teams, some had counts off as much as 50%, Dr. Bachman said that we might have to revisit some sites in mid December to get a more complete picture of the number of redds in the stream. After some hot dogs, chili and very hot coffee a warm drive home was in order, no fishing after the count this year. Maybe next year we can get some of you guys to help, it is a really great way to learn a stream and have some fun.

I Just Had to Fish

I could not stand it any longer the sweet song of Penns just was getting louder and louder "fish me"!! So last Friday I decided to give it a try all 45 cfs of it, got there about 10:30 AM and walked to the stream with thermos in hand, just looking for any sign of life and low and behold there they were one after another slow easy rising fish from the soft water below the riffles to the mid point on the hole (the bottom of the hole was getting battered by the wind), up and in a good rhythm. Ok had my coffee and pissed a few times then back up to the car, got dressed and only took two boxes of flies with me, my Wheatly midge/Trico and my Olive emerger box, decided to try a #22 Olive emerger pattern, well that was the only fly that I used, it took every trout it floated over IF THE FLOAT WAS GOOD! In an hour I had 10 browns not big maybe 7" to 12" most were in good shape but the larger ones were skinny, did move some larger fish as I tried to either get into a better position or if I floated it over one of them and began to lift it off to cast again they took off like shots. All this time the sun was not on the water, I might have had the same result if I had used a Griffits Gnat but who knows the Olive worked well, slow determined rising fish usually tells me it is a hatching dun. I did not see any evidence of spawing fish nor were any of the landed fish colored up at that time. The water level is a sad site to see, we need rain badly. I think that I could have taken some of the larger guys if I had taken my 7 weight and run a large black streamer thru the pool but I was happy with the results.
  This Sunday the 20th is the annual Spring Creek TU redd count on Spring Creek, the fish are in active spawn now and it will be interesting to see just how the low water conditions will affect the numbers that we will see, it is to be windy and cold, just perfect for walking the stream and counting, followed up with hot coffee and hot dogs in the park!

I don't think so.

Took Drake to Penns on Saturday for a bit of off lease training and a long walk along the stream. As I arrived at Johnson's Pool the sheer lack of water hit me square in the face, this is just not good, yes it might be cool but with the extreme low water the fish are sitting targets for the birds of prey , mink, ducks and anything else that can get to them. We walked over Cherry Run to get to the Blue Rock hole and a fish has to be very little and able to fly in order to swim upstream to spawn, we just better get some rain before the urge to reproduce becomes strong. Blue Rock is a sad looking site as is the tree root hole just below the riffle before the stream hits White Mtn. and makes the turn.
  We then walked up the road to the Fish Comm. Cabin, while there is a little water in the Cabin pool it is moving slow and if you stepped in to get in casting range of the two rising fish you'll send waves to the opposite side putting any rising fish down for good. Best medicine for Penn is just stay away and if you can dance- do a rain dance or pray for rain- we need it badly. The rain will have to be a good one in order to flush the debris from the gravel beds in order to clean them before any fish attempts to spawn.
   Might be best if we tie some flies and get ready for the Winter Midge & Olive hatches that will be here soon, usually October is a good month for both but not so much this year, November & December are typically not great either. We get back to good rising fish in Jan, Feb and March for the Midges and Olives- so get tying or go bird hunting.

1 st. of the Season

Fished Spring Creek two days last week , we still saw Trico's in the late mornings and small Olives in the late afternoon both had fish rising to them, not great but good enough to keep your interest. To say the water is low is an understatement, it is very low and clear, it demands a slow and quiet approach when you get into position to cast, slow is the word. The Trico's are not strong but if you look you can find feeding fish in the quiet seams along the shore below a nice riffle, the fish are not giant but they do bend the rod. The Olives are #22-24 and come off in the later afternoon, the typical Olive pools are the ones to target, slow steady risers are the norm, and a emerger was the ticket.
  I took a walk along the new wall below the Commerce Street bridge to see how the stream looked and of course see the big fish that migrate downstream (mostly the white rainbows), there were plenty of them but I did spot "1" very large redd that held "2" very large brown trout in active spawning positions, this is the 1st of the season.
  I checked Penns on my up to State College, it is sad there is just no water in it but I did see a lot of fish up and feeding in the seam along the road side below Stan's bridge but I did not want to disturb them- stay away from Penns it is just to low. Bald Eagle has some water but those big browns are just to aware of their surrounding to let you get close in this low water, better wait till we get some more rain.

What a way to go

Just received my new issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine and in it is a very interesting story of how a fellow died, ok maybe not the best subject but hey it is a good one. Well this guy retired and after that day fished nearly every day after that, he went one day but did not return home of course his wife became worried and called the sheriffs dept. they went looking for him and found him face down in his favorite stream dead with his fly rod close to him and on the end of his leader was a 21" brown trout that was landed and released back into the stream- what a way to go! I remember only one fellow that I know died that way and he was lucky, of course it is not a experience the family would like to happen but all the same far better that wasting away in a dam nursing home. I know that the quick deaths are hard on the family but maybe it's the best way to go, so let's all go fishing everyday till we end up face down in the stream.
  As a side note the recent rain helped but most of the result was short lived, the streams rose well but then came right back down, yes they are cooler but still do not have the volume of water we need- can you imagine the negative effect this will have on  this years spawn, on 11-20-16 we shall see because that is the annual brown trout redd count on Spring Creek.
  Has anyone ever experienced the following, you swear off something like watching a program, reading a web site or reading a magazine but find yourself going back and doing what you told yourself you would not do, what the heck only to get upset or disappointed with what you just saw or read. I have a love hate relationship with Fly Fisherman magazine, just can't let it go but every time I read it I get upset with the me and Joe fish catching shit but I just can not let it go, even on the days when it comes to the house with my favorite "The Drake" I still take time to read it and every time it is time to renew I still do it, am I sick or just to dam nosey?

Just Take a Look And See

Someone sent me a picture of the riffle coming down from Cherry Run into Penns at the head of Johnson's Pool, OMG what a sad tail it tells. The fellow said that he did not want to venture over to the stream for fear of making the fish scurry around and build up lactic acid and go belly up. Yes the night have cooled but there is just no water to develop oxygen cascading over the rocks yet, so stay away. On a good note Spring Creek is still fishing well, beetles after the morning Trico spinner fall, then if it clouds over a nice number of Olives begin to come off! Bald Eagle still has a ton of those 4-6" mini rainbows, you can catch them till your arm hurts, better get them before the big browns get all of them.
  Last week I helped Spring Creek Chapter of TU with the "Duck Pond" clearing, Penn State people cut the trees and brush and we were there to help bring it up the bank and on to Route 26, I was the last guy in line getting the material over the guard rail and on to piles, well the guy giving me all that material was non other than Joe Humphries at 87 years young, man can that guy work. I have been friends with Joe for over 40 years and it is always a pleasure to just get him talking and take in what he has to say, we jut sat on chairs and talked for an hour after our work was done, I only hope that I'm in that kind of shape. He talked about the stocking of all those rainbows in Bald Eagle and said it will be good for our future but did agree that a lot of them become brown trout food. What a nice time, if you every have a chance to work on any project for this TU chapter please do so because you will see how things get done and how planning and social media come together and get results.

You gotta love it, can not make it up

Well the Angler is at it again, for the past month or more telling everyone not to fish but now because he is going to open Sept. 3 it is now ok to fish Penns, what a bunch of crap, it is low and hot. If you have seen it you would know not to even think about fishing it, it will take a load of cool nights and dark days with rain to get it back in order plus the fact the fish will be under strain because of not feeding well, for Christ's sake stay away from Penns unless you want to fish for bass below the village of Penns Creek. Again this year NO White flies below the Sunbury fibradam, in past years you could see the dead spinners piled up on the ends of the river bridges but not any more- what the heck happened to them? Bass fishing below the dam has not been good for the past 4-5 years, we stand there looking for rising bass and see nothing but a few cruising channel cats which are ok to catch but they twist and slime your leader. Looks as if a good old farm pond is still the best option for the later summer.

They do have balls

I can not remember ever having the PA Fish and Boat Comm. closing any section of Penns Creek due to low water and high temp's but they did just do it. A section in Mifflin County below Poe Paddy camping area on Penns, two areas surrounding the Panther Run and Swift Run trib's that feed cold water have at this time a lot of stressed trout trying to get a bit of relief from the low oxygen content and high water temps. Please do not go and take a peek, these fish are stressed enough and do not need to swim around trying to hide from us. Now we either need a really good rain and cold nights or the Commission should close the entire FFF area till the conditions improve. Way to go I take my hat off to you guys for helping to protect the resource. I think that DCNR also had some valuable input into the decision process.

Try this instead of trout fishing

Took my granddaughter fishing on Monday morning at the pond within the grounds of Tussy Mt. ski area near Boalsburg. We used wax worms and a simple bobber set up, she landed 23 sunfish in a few hours, lost a lot more of them and had "2" really big bass on (they took the small sunfish we had on) one of them released the sunny at the dock then tried to eat it again and again after we released it, he never did eat it, the second big bass was somehow hooked and after a really good fight near the dock he broke the line at the swivel! All the time my granddaughter was gaining more and more confidence and began to hold the fish in her hand before releasing them back into the water. We had an audience of about 25 kids from the State College "Y" watching and yelling every time she landed another fish. This is simple fishing just a short spin cast rod, wax worms and a few bobbers but the key is the hooks, we used Eagle Claw circle hooks size #12 - the fish tend to hook them selves BUT be sure to take a pair of forcepts to remove the hooks- we did not have a pair and had to leave when we gave our last hook to a fish that took it far to deep! Only one fish was hurt and we both had a wonderful time, with a fly rod someone could have a great time catching sunnies and bass all day long, try it and you will see how much fun it can be all the while doing your best rain dance to bring the trout streams back to life. One of the most important items to take along for kids is a lot of snack materials and drinks, they tend to think more about that than fishing at times, male it short and make sure they catch something.

Why they do it and what they miss.

Received an e mail the other day from Devon at "The Tactical Fly Fisher" and as I was reading it I became pissed about the content. A blog from a young kid that is into competitive fly fishing and all about his exploits in Central PA- of course it was The Little "J" and Spring Creek, talking about numbers of fish caught and how he did in the three day event, well what the hell are they doing to our resource in the mean time. Do any of these nuts ever take time to listen to the birds or even notice when an animal comes down to the water as they are fishing- no I bet not. How the hell does this prepare them for life, does an employer give a shit if this kid wins any thing while fishing, I bet the HR person is really impressed about how he traveled from NJ to PA and fished for three days and came in second- that is some great skill sets to bring to the work force. I have been in the parking lot at McCoy's dam when these idiots show up and watched them rush to get their spots and begin to fish all the while never bothering to ask if anyone there wanted to fish any specific water, it is all about them. I have seen the strips of bright plastic they put on trees or stream side vegetation just to show their "beats", have also seen them forget to take them down after the end of their competition, what a bunch of crap. I guess it might be because I am old but what the hell does this bring to our overall enjoyment of being outdoors. I love the idea of fishing with someone and doing it the as a partner, taking turns either catching a fish or missing (screwing ) one up then  your partner gets his or her turn, this really brings enjoyment to the entire day all the while giving both of you great lessons learned form the experience. I have little enjoyment in just going fishing with someone and then never seeing them until you have the urge to leave and then having to go find them, what shared experience did you have that day, maybe someone to talk to going to or going home, big deal that is what a radio is for! Maybe listening to them lie about how many they caught and knowing they are not telling the truth, same shit just a different day.
  If you ever see these nuts setting up for a competition get back in your car and drive as far away as you can and do not return for a while, as much as I hate this shit I will tell you these guys can fish and catch a shit load of fish, I guess that is what pisses me off the most, they are much better than I am at this age and they can wade a lot better also!

They are on!

Just returned from a Trico fishing adventure and they are on, maybe not really good but the fish were up- 30+ fish rising in sight and boy do they fight when hooked. Used a #20 double winged spinner a #24 male spinner and a #22 olive dun and all took fish maybe not on the 1st. float but they ate if it was a good drift. It was a mixture of nice rainbows and browns, the brown boys had big shoulders and fought like dogs. I used Trout Hunter 6.5x tippet and had no trouble fooling any fish that came to look and take but there were some that just did not like the first float and refused to come look again. About 10:15 the spinner fall petered out and of course the "tan caddis" come on not strong but good enough to bring some fish up, so a #16 bubble back tan caddis was tied on and brought results till I lost a hell of a good fish- my double surgens knot just shit the bed! Took 4 more and then called it a day when the plastic hatch started to happen. I will go now about every 3 days on various locations till the fish get picky then I'll wait and beetle the heck out of them!
  Go if you can.

Olives- Olives in June

Wanted to fish Penns on Friday with the cloudy conditions but the weather report said they expected late day clearing and that would push the Cornuta spinner fall later in the evening, so I decided to go about 10:00 AM. I checked various pools and runs but could not find any rising fish and really did not want to fish nymphs, then I stopped at the Junction pool in Coburn and it was alive with rising fish! Got dressed and in the stream just above the water was clouds of small spinners- the same we see all summer on Fishing Creek, tied on a #20 dark rusty spent wing and did not even get a look- what the heck? Above me there were at least 8 fish rising well, so I put my nose on the water and it did not take long to see what they were taking- #20 Olives (dark bodies and large slate wings) so on went a #20 Olive emerger and Wow what an afternoon I had. There were fish up everywhere in the pool, fish from 7" to 17" and willing to take if the float was a good one, if not you would not even get a look. The fish that reside on the North bank that normally hide in the overhangs were out and about and ready and willing to eat but as with typical olives they come in waves and the fish rise in waves- strong for a while then very few then strong again. I think the reason the hatch was strong there is because of the influence that Pine Creek has on it, I did notice that they were good rising fish on Pine as I drove in along side of it. Before stopping to check I did look at all the other spots below Coburn and found "0", just saying look at specific locations and don't think this is everywhere. I did see some tan caddis (few) and a few summer Cahills (lt. yellow) but we are about 1 to 2 weeks away from a strong caddis emergence, check out the raspberries, when they are ripe the caddis are on. Birds everywhere and the Eagles were on the dead trees at the tail out talking to me perhaps telling me to leave? A nice afternoon came to an end when the clouds disappeared and the sun came out strong, think about the next cloudy day and head out looking for a strong olive hatch. I did have one of the escaped big boys on for a few moments but just could not hold it, these guys come down stream from Donnie Beaver's place and seem to stay for a while or till someone takes them out.
Enjoy

 

New Olive Spinner pattern

For the past few weeks the Drunella cornuta spinners have been falling every night starting about 6:30 PM, the rise to them has been very good maybe not every night but good with plenty of very good fish up. I have been using a pattern that I tied years ago and have had very good success with but it just is not what I have been seeking, so to the tying bench I went. I used a wing material that I got from Russ Bowersox years ago, it is a Zelon type material that came from Megee carpet in Bloomsburg, PA, he still has some but the cost maybe high after this? The material has a very good off color that matches the wings of cornuta spinners and can be tied sparsely, it resembles Zelon but much stiffer. I tie it in spent winged and lash it down well and glue it with super glue at this stage, I always tie the wings in first to make sure the porportutions are correct and it also makes it very easy to glue it well, the super glue is very important because this material is very dense and it is hard to get it tied in to prevent it slipping when you get this first fish! I use microfibbits for tails (2) dark dun in color and spread wide but not more than 1x hook shake length. The body is Vevus body quill in olive built up well, these guys have a hump in their bodies at the rear wing and it is very apparent when you look at one. I use dark olive mole fur spun on olive thread to dub around the wings in a figure eight pattern then a bit more dubbing ahead of the wings. I then use Loon flow UV cure resin on the body and cure it with a strong UV light, it adds depth and a enhanced look to the body of the fly. I use Tiemco #101 or #921 size #16 for the pattern, tried some 921 #14 tied short but the fish did not like them so I'm sticking with 16's, I also tied a few with one wing tied at a rear facing angle and took fish. This week the Penns Creek tarpon were out in force and to get to the good fish you had to catch the little guys and give them flying lessons in order to get to the good trout, took a few nice guys and then noticed a really good one that I worked on for about 30 min's and took the fly away from him before he had a chance to turn downward, I just was on a razor edge because this guy is a really good one! I could see him well and did notice that more than a few times he took something under the surface because he never came near the surface and he opened his moth or turned in a fast motion - note tie some weighted spinners in the same manner that we have done for the Trico's or tie a small wighted pheasant tail as a dropper for this guy. This hatch is not heavy every night but it gets enough fish up to keep you busy, just get the dam chubs out of the way, give them flying lessons.

  Attached is a typical brown that has a scar from the Green Drake hatch but he was eating olives well.

OK the nuts are gone!!!

The Drake is over and all the one week wonders are gone, thanks for small favors. I do enjoy just seeing the wonder of a full blown drake hatch and the frenzy of feeding fish it brings but have never enjoyed the hoards it brings and the incessant talking and yelling that happens between the one week wonders, hell they can't even park right let alone have any manners at all. Now we have some of the very best fishing before us now, Drunlella coruta (old Conrutta) small Olives (Drunella corutella & Drunella lata) and ISO's are on tap as is the ever present ants,beetles and hoppers. Remember we also have some very large PE Duns in bright yellow and orange and the fish do key in on them from time to time, a dun or a floating nymph will usually do the trick if you can find that one fish that has taken a few of the duns.
  I love this time of year for one other insect the light tan caddis that will be present from now till fall, count on these guys every morning even during the Trico hatches, speaking of which usually starts around July 15. I have not seen Trico's on Penns except for a small population on uppers Penns but have heard that the fishing can be good from Spring Mills to Coburn, give it a try. For the caddis a CDC bubble back light tan caddis adult in size #16  or a caddis emerger will get you most of the fish but you might have to resort to something else to fool that one special fish your looking for some can be tough to fool but not the ton's of rainbows in Bald Eagle
   We can fish in relative peace and quiet till next year, what a blessing to have Penns to us free from the nut jobs who chase the Drake. Speaking of nuts I had an encounter with a guide from The Hook who wanted to put his client in front of me, never asking if it was ok or if I was done with the spot- well I hope they liked fishing to rock fish, what an ass hole.
  Fished Monday night and yes the big stoneflies are crashing the riffles, time to get the big stimulators and high floating "Big" dries out and search the riffles with them. Did also see some "Fish flies" but just not that many of them. The big happening was the Drunlella "Cornuta" spinner fall it was big, I saw nymphs everywhere on my hands as I handles the line and duns but the spinners were just nuts! The water was a bit off color and it was hard to see the feeding lanes the trout were in but boy did they eat and were they picky- you gave them the right color and size or don't even try it. I'll be back every other night to get some of the big guys I saw!

Gotta go but really do not want to

Really want to keep fishing because it has been good but with the Green Drake starting to hatch I'm not inclined to fight the nuts that come with this event. Most Drakes begin to hatch when the water temp reaches 50 and stays there for at least three days, then the magic happens. While it is a wonderful sight to see it is the people who ruin it, ass holes who have no idea of how to act on the stream, I have seen guys slide down the banks right in from of you while your working on a fish and they have no idea what they have done! You will see some awful shit on the end of their leaders and at some time they might catch one, after the crowds go we see many dead fish floating in the stream because of over playing or just ripping hooks from their mouths- sad to see such wonderful fish wasted but at least the idiots are gone and we can get down to some serious business of working on our choice of fish! The best pattern that I have ever seen for a dun Drake is the George Harvey bright yellow calf tail winged Wulff varation, easy to see and floats like a cork, for the nymph I like a pattern by Al Troth- simple and it works or try a Michigan Hex. pattern, for the spinner any big white body spent winged pattern that has hackle wings works well, the wings are just too big to use poly or another synth. material on them.
Enjoy and keep some big stoneflies in your box! The Olives will follow by the start of June and that means 3-4 weeks of great fishing with limited people around.

Loving something too much

Been fishing Penns this past 10 days and have seen nothing but a ton of people, heck even on Monday night it was full of guys everywhere! I see that the rental cabin is full all the time with as many as 8 cars there and guess where they end up Blue Rock or Johnson's, so try to avoid them if you can at least for now and till the "Drake" is over! Have been below Korten's riffle and have been seeing March Brown's, Grey Fox, Caddis and a few adult stoneflies on the water- time to get the big dry's out to get the egg laying stonefly eating trout. Not much happens on Penns on a sunny to partly sunny day till the sun gets off the water then thing begin to heat up, Sulphurs and spinners are on the menu for the trout, be careful, make sure you know what they are eating, they tend to switch as the night goes on. Grey Fox spinners then maybe Olive spinners then maybe spent caddis and Sulphurs but each pool holds it's own menu. Speaking of Sulphurs make sure you pick a good pool to fully enjoy this hatch, they tend to like to ride the water for a time so just make sure you are in a good long pool with a good riffle coming into it, think "Station 21" pool it is long and the bugs ride on the surface for a very long time before flying off. Station 21 pool is a bitch to get to, you need to be on the opposite bank from the cabin and grossing is not easy neither is walking the bank, cross at the bottom of the pool and walk back into the forest before you start upstream- along the bank is not an option! I like to fish the emergers and duns downstream, cast float and maybe drop down a few feet, your in a place where they are most time no other guys on the far bank because of the steep terrain, peace and quiet! At this time of year if it is a humid night make sure you have long sleaves on or very good bug spray- the dog pecker flies are a bitch.
  If you go try a new section to avoid the crowds, check out the parking lot- most times it is full and if it is a week day it will be anglers and on the weekend it tends to be a lot of walkers and bikers.

A Sad Story

This past weekend I fished Friday (on Penns) Saturday with my grand daughter in State College and attended the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet and Fund Raiser then fished Penns again Sunday, the Grannonm's were on in Coburn and it was not hard to find rising fish but you had to float it over them multiple times before they would take it but I did manage to take quite a few really nice browns on both dark and light #16 bubble back caddis. My granddaughter caught 9 fish before lunch at Mickey D's, then we fed the monster fish below the falls in Bellefonte before we finished the day at Sweet Frog for a treat, a day I think she will remember.
  While I was at the banquet I saw Greg Hoover who I have know and consider a good friend for over 38 years, we talked at length about Penns and Big Fishing Creek, I asked him what were his thoughts on the condition of BFC and he told me that in the past few years he has seen a steady decline in the water quality there. Greg told me that he has put in new substrate panels to access the insect populations and in past years they would be soon covered with caddis and mayfly nymphs but sad to say about all he gets on them now is midge larva and that in a red flag indicator of poor water quality along with a lot more sediment, he said it is a direct result of "the plain folks" farming practices! Ouch that really hurts especially because there is zero we can do to stop it, the use of chemicals is also playing a role in the water quality and insect populations, we need an orgization to step up and form a plan to help stop this from getting worse.
  Back to the fishing on Penns, did not see but a very few Hendrickson's all caddis and typicaly over by 1:30 - 2:00 PM. Did see a map of the deeded parcels below Coburn and low and behold none of the cabin owners above the bridge own any land from the edge of the road to the stream- amazing! All the no trespassing signs on the stream bank are a bluff, sad to see them but I guess it is a sign of the times. I need to fish below Cherry Run to see the full force of the Hendrickson's and a good spinner fall before the Grey Fox and March Brown start their march upstream but we need rain badly.

Go now young man or woman!

If you ever wanted to be in the thick of a Blue Quill, Quill Gordon (this is a once in 5 year affair) or a Hendrickson emergence, go this week and Monday would be the best day possible, cold damp weather helps to slow down the post emergence flight of the adults- easy picking for the trout. I have been told there are some little black stones around but have not seen many of them myself. I have not seen any spinners but that may be a case of not being in the right place at the right time. If you can make it, Penns and Big Fishing Creek would be your best bet, Spring has BWO's and does not see the big hatches. Be aware that some sections of the streams and other entire streams are off limits till this Saturday, Bald Eagle Creek is one of the them as is Penns below the C&R section, also be aware that on Saturday you are not allowed to start anywhere before the 8:00 AM time!

Early Day on Fishing Creek

I wanted to go to Big Fishing Creek the other day to introduce my lab puppy "Drake" to fishing just as I did my "Trico" 11 years ago, there is a spot where you can see an entire hole and riffle at the same time and can easly handle a new wild dog on a 30' lead- well almost! The day began very cold and that was not a problem, the flies were a bit late, little black caddis, Grannom's and a few (very) few Hendrickson's. Typical caddis emergence in the AM where you have to hit every fish as soon as you see it, no blind dead drift casting at this time. The swarm moves up the stream and as there becomes more and more of them the actual emergence peters out, time to sit down and have lunch and give the puppy a big chew bone to keep the bugger quite! A few Hendrickson's did do a float by and there were no takers at all. Just a typical very early season day on Big Fishing Creek, it is a stream that takes a while to warm up and get things moving, my guess is that if you are there today (Friday) you would see an entirely different emergence BUT remember caddis tend to emerge in the morning then gather on structure and do their mating swarm later in the day, at that time a down winged spent caddis will result in a lot of fish. For the caddis hatch I use black bodies bubble back caddis with CDC and deer hair for the adult and a bead head pupa pattern.
  Oh my "Drake" needs a lot of work before I can take him off his lead, he tends to be prey oriented and needs constant attention, our fault for treating like a baby.
 
Enjoy

It has started

I fished Penns on Sunday before going to State College and had a nice morning with no one around! The parking lot was full of cars but no one at Johnson's, a nice day was had trying out some of the monster new streamers that have come off my vise this winter, very big articulated patterns that I had to see if they swam right, they in fact did but I noticed that maybe I should put some weight in them because they did not track that deep maybe 18-24" under the surface and that is not deep enough for the cold spring water- so back to the vise for me!
  When I was getting out of the water I did notice that the shore rocks are starting to have a few Grannon cases on them and that is a sure sign that the emergence will be sooner than expected with the good weather and lower water on Penns.
  Stay tuned for more on the early Spring conditions, the Witch Hazel has bloomed at least 2 weeks early this year, maybe we will have Grannom's and Hendrickson's early this year?

Some dates to remember

Just received an e mail from the Spring Creek Chapter of TU reminding me of a very special event this Sunday March 13th! "Veterans Service Program Streamside Opener" at the PFBC Fisherman's Paradise facility 1150 Spring Creek Road., Bellefonte. Veterans and all family members Streamside Mentors Anyone interested in checking it out. Come out for fishing, great food, kids games, hatchery tours, hookups with veterans,business/ industry leaders, lots of laughs and fishing! The chapter has a help veterans fish on Sunday in Paradise, they provide the equipment and the leadership needed, just show up and ask for help, what a fine way to give back to the guys and gals who gave for us, come check it out.
  Save Saturday March 19 at 9:00 AM at the Union County Sportsman's Club in Weikert for the "Fly Pool", bring your fly tying tools and materials and show what your working on for this year and see what the other guys are doing, it is a great time to renew old contacts and maybe shed some of that excess material you have, coffee & donuts along with lunch is provided- just show up and tie!
 I'll see you at both events, this past week was "Olives" on Spring Creek.

A little venting

I received an e mail the other day about the The Feathered Hook wanting to start some float trips down Penns, I totally understand someone wanting to have more cash flow for their business and their desire to give their customers who may not be able to wade or walk the distances needed to get to some of the spots a helping hand, but? I have seen the amount of canoes and kyaks that come down in the Spring and just what they do to the fishing- nothing! the fish go down for a while then come right back up the only thing these people do is piss us anglers off, they almost never have manners enough to ask if it's ok to float by or try and go behind us instead they cause us to get up set! Think about it most of them go past quickly and quietly then the fish rise again in a few minutes but when the beer/soda cans come down after them that is cause for great concern but that is not why the new venture of guides and float boats is bad it is where the heck are they going to take out at, if it is private property without permission well then watch out for land to be posted and all of us suffer, this will prove to be a very toxic issue, stay tuned for the wars to begin. I for one will not be happy if some bearded guide floats to where I am and begins to have his client fish where I am- that will result in a not so nice conversation and maybe a raining of rocks in the water!
  Another subject that has pissed me off or shows how old I am is all the new films on fly fishing shows guy's with beards, tattoos and pearcings everywhere and they call every body "dude", where are the old gentlemen of our sport who have manners and style, I guess gone with the passage of time. I see the same ass holes doing competition fishing in our beloved streams for the sake of a few dollars or a medal, what the hell do numbers mean, just enjoy the total experience! For Christ sakes just enjoy the total outdoor experience and maybe catch a few in the meantime.

New items to consider

Just received a few items from Devin Olsen at www.tacticalflyfisher.com, Veevus Body Quill in various colors, this new product will allow you to make very thin life like bodies on nymphs, emergers and dry both duns and spinners just use white thread as a base and over wrap this to give your bodies a really good depth and life like appearance, comes is some great colors. Another product is Veevus Iridesent thread, this is what I have been using on most of my spent wing midge patterns for 30 years but finally it now comes on a standard spool, it is an iridescent threat that when used as a body will bring life to an otherwise dull looking fly, just catches light at the correct angles to appear to be moving! I bought this in a sewing store years ago and it came on some really weird spools that needed a special bobbin to be able to use it, thanks for the new upgrade to normal spools. I also just got some Semperfli Straggle String to fool around with- looks like ultra small crystal chenille , will make for some wild caddis emergers. Give this fellow a try his speed of delivery it just great and he offers some really new items and has some nice video's of new patterns.
  I have also been using some new Hends S10 barbless scud/Czech hooks and have found them to be a good quality and really sharp. One note the other week I was using some new Tiemco Comp. jig style hooks and found them to be sharp as heck but it was almost dam impossible to get a trailer hook tied on because of their sharpness and the fact that the black finish on them is just so darn slippery they make tying and improved chench knot a must and if it is not tied well it will in fact slip!  I did find that it was a little easier to fish a good run without getting hung up on the bottom because the hook rides point up. I will try to attach an article by Devin about how to tie the wing case on top and not worry about tying it on the bottom, his logic makes sense as does his use of black nail polish to make wing cases! Sorry can not figure out how to get the article attached so please check out his web page. Want to fish in a Winter flood- try today.
   Also check out www.flytying123.com some good stuff. Also Fly vs, Jerks is back with season 7 and the first episode was just great, just Google it and sit back an enjoy.

Look what showed up

If your not sure what this is, it is a "Little Black Stonefly" it showed up last week at the house, now that tells you a lot about what is going on in our underwater world. In no way am I saying that we are going to have a hatch when the outside temp. this morning was a balmy 12 degrees but is shows how active the nymphs are this year with out to much really cold weather until now, this guy was a good size #14. Might get you to start to tie some #14 & 16 "Black" pheasant tail nymphs, you can get dyed tails online but I would not use copper wire for ribbing I would use silver wire, remember to wind the PT towards you and the ribbing away from you because it makes for a much better body that will stand some abuse. I use real peacock for the thorax because there is simply nothing better than it for attracting fish. Get tying and throw another log on the fire in the meantime, just think Feb and March are not that far away.