Did it

Well went fishing maybe a little later than I wanted to but with a new knee things take a bit more time. Arrived at Bald Eagle to a load of rising trout and a good Trico spinner fall going on. Got dressed and in the process of putting my waders on (hard to really bend for them to get in the legs) I noticed that I put my size #10 Simms felt sole leather wading shoes in the tub- they were not "WET", what a hell of a time to get them on, must have looked like a 85 years old walking down the street! When I got to the stream bank, oh boy it is very steep and it must have looked bad as I went down it but got down and into the water- all is good. Fishing rising everywhere, picked a few good ones out and everything was good except on the first few I was just to fast setting the hook. Most of the fish in Bald Eagle now are browns and not the same rainbows that were there other years and that is fine because the browns are much larger. All in all I took over 14 fish and had no problem wading around the ledges but that darn bank was staring me in the face, slow and steady did the trick. Back at the car still had a heck of a time to get the wading shoes off, note to self pack the size 11's next time.
   Got some lunch and wanted to fish a heavily wooded section of Spring Creek but when I got to the parking spot I noticed that Steve S. from Flyfishers Paradise was there, oh well maybe next time.
  As a side note I did tie up 24 new Trico spinners that have larger dark olive bodies and have to say did not notice any refusals from the fish, maybe all those years of #24-26 thin bodied spinners was just in my head. I have to say the fish in Bald Eagle at this time of year can be really picky and you need to have a good pattern and most importantly a good drift or they will not look at it. My experience the other year with shitty store bought spinners has opened my eyes, the fish do not mind the pattern as long as it is close but the drift has to be perfect.
  Went to Penns to fish tan caddis a few days after and had no problem with size "11 wading shoes! They was a very good Paralep. spinner fall going on when I got there and the tan caddis did start to come off as usual, nice colored and very fist browns at the junction pool with Penns and Elk Creek. Then "3" new fly fishers just came walking and fishing downstream with no idea of what they were doing, oh well I just gave them the time of day and decided to quit and go home. All in all not bad for the first couple of time wading after total knee replacement.

We lost another good guy

I was informed of the passing of Mike Marcinek, he passed away at his Weikert cabin, this bring a close to a very large figure in our area. Mike's voice was very distinctive and carried long distances, you could tell he was around even if you did not see him. Very active in Scouts, teaching young children and TU, he would give of himself for anyone who needed a hand or wanted to learn. I remember him 40 years ago going with us on the Loyalsock and him climbing down a very steep bank, it was fun to watch till he give me hell for picking a spot like that to fish but we all caught fish that night!
  Perhaps the best way to remember him is to think of the following, "Ginger Quill", I could hear him say that every night in May just before dark- put it on they are on that.
  He was a gentle giant in every way except of the football field, there he was a very good lineman.
  Gone but not forgotten.

Well we got water!

We received rain at the just the right times this year, our streams have been running on the above normal side most of the season except Penns which has avoided most of the really hard rain but still it is better shape than normal. Our best bets now are Spring, Bald Eagle and Big Fishing Creek, the Trico's will be starting any day now, normal date to watch is July 15th but I have hear a few reports of minor activity already. I just love to fish Trico spinners in the morning then have lunch and pick a good shady section of stream to fish ants and beetles in the afternoon. Steve from Flyfishers Paradise swears by a black wet ant but I have only had limited success on them, I still give them a try. My favorite is fishing a #12 black foam beetle that I plop near the shores or in the area just below the riffles, if you find good overhanging bush or trees that is the magic spot. It is always surprising how large a trout and how fast they will come to take a beetle. My beetles are easy just black hackle palmared up the hook and trimmed top and bottom then a foam back gets pulled over the clipped hackle- no legs only the clipped hackle extending out the sides. I have seen the patterns with rubber lags and peacock bodies but I want to tie these fast because the browns will tear the foam up with their teeth and you can go thru a bunch of them either damaged or lost to the overhangs!
   Now is the time to also fish Iso. nymphs in the heads of riffles- yes the very head of them, you would be surprised to see how big some of the fish are that hold in this water at this time of year. Remember Iso. nymphs do swim very well and the fish tend to take them hard- maybe a heaver tippet would be in order.
  My target date to fish is July 10th and I will be looking for a small Trico spinner fall to get me back in the saddle. Oh do not for get the #16 tan caddis that emerges mid morning and all tru out the day on all our streams, fish wets, Iris caddis emergers and CDC adults but make sure you tie a ton of CDC flies because they are very hard to dry off and get them to float again.
  Enjoy