2023 Spring Creek Redd Count

Nov 19 was cold in the morning as we started but as the morning wore on it bacame very uncomfortable with the layers of clothing necessary to keep warm at 9:00 AM. We did our usual section of the creek, from the Blue Bridge at Rock Road downstream to the Benner Spring brodge, saw a good number of fine fish BUT none on their redd! Our count this year was down (115) from other years. There was one section we could not get into because of fallen trees and steep banks or just plain deep mud but still we are off by at least 30-40 total. I think we were about 1 week too late and can not understand why the board will not move the date to one week earlier! I for one do not enjoy being in the canyon on the first day of bear season and having to wear a bunch of orange, that may be why we don't see tha many fish? As soon as I get the final numbers in total I will post them. For now don't fish bbecause today is the first day of PA deer season and our brown or grey waders do not make for a good warning to someone to not shoot at us.

I told you about them

Remember that I told you to be on the lookout for flying ants, well it happened not once but on a couple of days. Just after we had that last tropical storm and the sun came out so did the ants, #16 Black ones and the entire surface of Penn's was just a delight to see, very nice fish were up and eating really well. A guy from State College that posts on Youtube also had the same experience and he was just below the tunnel and in "broad waters" and down to the "braids" but he was also using green inch worms to fool some fish. Those guys fished in the shaded areas with the inch worms and in the sun with ants while I just stuck with ants, wow what a time to be on Penns! Saw some small caddis and very few olives (of course the sun was out) but the main menue item was winged ants, nothing really hard to imitate. Some black fur in two balls with the back ball a bit longer than the front some clear winged material like Zelon and a turn or two of black hacke at the waist nothing more is needed. The key is to use a long leader with 5.5 or 6x tippett and get in the rythm of the rise and hold on because they take ants really well not hesitation at all if you match the size and have the wings, bingo your on. Maybe we might see another fall if the sun come out well and the winds is not a factor- Wed. the 25th might be it!

Still going strong

We have a good supply of water this late summer and early fall, some Trico's, Little Tan Caddis and ISO'S make up the top water choices. Under the water it's ISO's, Pheasant tail's and of course scuds. BUT at this time of year never leave home without some flying ants in your vest or pack. On sunny days after some crap weather the ants will be out in full force BUT have both black and brown (some red brown and some cinnamon) in sizes from $14 thru #22, if you don't have them go home when it starts because the fish get really picky. Attached is a page from my 1977 catalog showing what Hrdy Lightweight reels were selling for - who knew what they would be selling for now!

Trico's, Tan Caddis and Eye Sight Loss

So Bald Eagle was just wonderful yesterday, the Trico's have just started and the trout were very happy about that BUT they are super picky! Scared a great fish at the area where you can get into the stream not once but twice, I checked the area from the car and zoom and again when I was all geared up and climbing down the bank, mental note to get in downstream. Most of the fish either took on the first or second float or out right rejected it ASAP, I hung a #24 bead head PT under the #24 black Trico spinner and that worked very well on the tough fish. Some wanted a #16 tan caddis and some wanted nothing I had, rainbows, browns and very large silver creek chubs all ate in the day. I saw a few reall good fish under the overhanging trees and tried a beetle on them- ZERO on that! All in all a pleasant day until 11:00 AM then it became sunny and really hot, time to go to the woods on Spring Creek and beetle them up,well that worked really well, a #12 black foam pattern with peacock body and irri. black/red rubber legs will bring them up when you get the presentaion right, plop goes the beetle. Remember to play the fish quick and if the hook is deep just clip the fly off and put them back. But just go and have fun even if you happen to fall in. Also don't forget about the small dark red/brown spinners on Penns and Fishing Creek in the early morning, this can be just a slow blast. Also I woud sell my soul just to be able to tie 6.5 & 7x tippett onto flies, you have no idea how long it takes to get the darn clinch knot tied! Had "3" more fish lost to a curley tippett end, the direct result of not tying a good knot. I have 2.5+ readers but don't know what to do with my normal pair of glass' when I use them without dropping them into the stream. I really need a good soultion to this problem because Trico time is my favorite time. I also had a ton of black raspberries, yum. That is the sign that it's Summer season of small spinners, Trico's, beetles and ants.

Two more outing in the evenings

Two more outing in the evening on Penn's and it looks as if your going to have to get up very early in the morning to fish Penns, The spinner falls have become a thing of the past abet for a few stragglers in the evening. I am not one to stay till after dark, hell I can't tie on a small fly in good light let alone in the dark! My second Saturday night in Coburn was nothing but crowds and rude guides. It is raspberry time and that means very small rusty spinners in the mornings and tan caddis on both Penns and Fishing Creek's. The Trico's are just getting going on Spring and the beetle season is upon us, remember to plop beetles in the shallow riffles and not just in the pools and under overhangs. I hope to find Trico's on Bald Eagle this week but if not I know that a well palced bubble back tan caddis in size 16 will bring fish up as will a small tan caddis emerger or a soft hackle drifted into a trouts window. It will be hot so maybe leave the vest home and wear a small vest pack and only carry min. what you need, keeps you cool.

Dick Head

Third night on Penns was a good one, got the big boy that I have been after, a solid 20+ brown that gave me a hell of a fight and with the GoPro on the wrong wading stick I had what looked like the Keystone Cops fire drill. I finally got him in and had to lift him out of the water to bite off the leader, I yelled to Art to look and all he did was yell back get it in the water, "I have seen enought trout". As soon as he said that I said OK dick head and by golly he heard me and said something back. This guy has done more than anyone and caught more and bigger fish than anyone and has no stream manners at all, best to let him alone with his mirror that he must carry with him. I also saw a long time friend that has turned into the same kind of person, giving advice when it is not warnted or needed. He has turned into a very different person and not one that you want to hang around with. Looks as if I'll just fine peace in a different location and leave the fish for another year. I'll try to get some good video but not sure how good it will be. The video was bad, sorry I will have to get a grip on the camera or a chest set up for the GoPro. Oh by the way I missed the second guy but had him swim under a spinner a nose it befor going donw BUT I did hook the number three guy but set the hook and felt a tug and got a curled leader back, I guess I just should learn that when the light is low just go home and not try to tie another fly on because I just have a hell of a time doing it!

Two Nights on Penns

The first night on Penns was a wonderful evening calm with pleasant temp's and bugs all over. Scanned the entire pool and determined that the big boys were up mid pool, water is low and easy to get around to comfortable casting distance for all the rising fish. Got into position and waited till the boys were up because the smallmouth are also up and a pain when your looking for something larger. Took the first one on a sulphur emerger and he was a very big boy, good fish and very good weight. Got into position for the second one and now had a BWO emerger on, well this boy was harder than the first one but got him and well let me tell you he did not coperate at all giving me all I could handle on a 3wt rod but finaly he came to hand, wow what a really nice brown, gave him a kiss as I bit the fly off because he was hooked really well and I did not want to fuss getting the fly out. Had to take a few min's to calm down and look for the next guy to cast to, well it did not take long for another guy to begin to rise, put another Drunella (Cornuta) emerger on and after the 3rd drift over him he took BUT I pulled the dam fly out before he turned to go down! It's like getting buck fever when it happens. No more guys up that were showing signs of being good fish, still a really lot of small dimples showing. Went back to shore and looked up stream and saw that the riffles and just below them was alive with risng fish so tied on a #16 Drunella spinner and picked out a good fish, well it took about 10 drifts over him to get him to take and after a really good fish had him in hand, another good fish, that was just the cherry on top, time to stop and just be happy with the evening. On the drive home the road was filled with at least a billion spinners on the road till about Little Mt. Road but the raod then goes away from the creek but I am sure the sky was just filled with spinners stream wide. This year the spinners seem to be on the smaller side, most years they are about a size #15 with a kink in their body but this year i got a ton of them in the car as I drove home with the window down and had pleanty of time to look them over when I got home and took a bunch to the tying bench. Well went another night a few days later and decided to get into position for the 3 really fine fish just below the riffles, these guys and I have a few years under our belt with most years them winning the battle. All of them were up but not in any kind of good rythm yet, they were on emergers and of course that is what I put on, well the lower fish was eager to eat and he did, a really good solid fish who gave a great fight. Some ass hole of course had to come in just above me and begin to cast, well he caught a smaller fish above me and played the shit out of it and released it BUT it ended up belly up in front of me! Not happy with this kind of half ass fishing, learn to fight your fish fast and relaese them alive not spent. Well the two other really good fish were getting hotter and hotter and the night settled in. The closer fish came up for my emerger and GD I gave him the atomic hook set, just taking the fly out of his mouth before him turned to go back down. These fish have been stung before and know how to keep their mouth open till they turn to go back down so it is a slow hook set for them. So 1 out of three is ok so it's back to the really good one in the seam, this time I had a #16 black spent wing on and waited till he was in a good rythm and moving upstream and he does, he starts lower and keeps eating as he moves upstream, well he took and I gently set the hook and all hell broke loose, a great bend in the rod followed by violent head shakes and a run that resulted in a SNAP and gone! At 75 sometimes my knot tying is not the best and this time I got a curled leader end to show that I did not infact tie a good knot! After that I went to the bank and smiled, decided to just go home and lick my wounds. I have a half ass picture of one of the ones from the first night that I will include but I will tell you that trying to take pictures with a camera while your fighting and landing a fish is a total cluster f--k, I amy going back to my GoPro.

The Drunella (Cornuta) will be on the stream for a bit longer but the lower water conditions has condensed the emergence and will tend to shorten the duration. Look for the ISO's to come early as will the larger cream/oranger duns. Be aware that the gypsy moths are all ovr and a catapillar pattern will be a good choice to have ans will ants and beetles.

Stay Away

Stay away because the Green Drake is on and it is overflowing with one day wonders, you can see clearly why land owners get so upset with the part timers that decend on the stream this time of year. Fishing has been very good for those that choose to stay later with duns and spinners on the menue plus craneflies and caddis. Very sad news to follow. The passing of Greg Hoover last week was a very sad event, I was a friend of Greg's meeting him thru Clayton Peters 45 years ago and would meet him many times at TU events plus e mailing him questions about the hatches that are the big problems to solve on Fishing Creek. I worked with him and the others on Spring Creek TU projects and I know the entire fly fishing world will miss his gentle nature. We also lost one of the best casting and fly tying guys ever, Mark Antolosky has passed on in April. Mark is the brother of my best fishing friend Paul Antolosky and both are missed. Mark learned to tie flies from George Harvey and casting from Lee and Joan Wulff, having worked at their fly fishing school in the Catskill's for years. I have never seen anyone who could cast as well as he could and tie perfect flies, he showed me how to tie short on hooks to expose more of the hook gap and I still do it today. The last few years when we would talk at his house on Spring Creek below Fisherman's Paraise he would tell me to reread the classic English fly fishing books to learn more about trout behavior, often giving me the books to read and return, I can tell you they do help to make you a better angler. Mark had a very long list of clients that would book him year after year to have him guide them and teach at the same time. Both of these guys will be missed by many! Go out and find a spot and plant a tree in their memory.

And Monday happened

Monday came and I was at the large tail out that holds a few really good fish that are really hard to get to, bank weeds and deep water prevents one from getting a good shot at them. i was there early and boy what a shock to feel the temp.and the "wind" coming downstream. I walked the bank looking and waiting till the boys were up BUT nothing but a rise then a long nap occured. I found a spot where I could get down the bank and cast but it was slippery and needed extreme caution to move, the boys were up again and I got drifs over them but no takers. The wind became stronger and colder coupled with me having the wrong rod/line make up. I could not get and long cast like I did with the same line and a Winston BII 2X, every cast fell short of the mark and it would have been a chore to go back to the car and change. I moved to the riffle and began to nymph with a stonefly and a female grannom fished deep with good success. Lesson for the day make sure your rod/line match is a good one!

Wow what a morning

The dafidols and the forsytha are in full bloom up in the mountains of Penn's and that means only one thing Grannom's are on and oh what a moring was had. Got to the area around 8:45 AM and the fish were just starting to geton them. My favorite area is above the Corburn walk over bridge, now I have clean access because those ass hole people with the Dobermen are gone. The house was pad locked on Jan 1st and it is empty, now we have good landowner relationships. I just happy with the amoutn of rising fish and the quality of fish that were landed if it keeps up I just might have to carry a net?! The pattern of the day was Davie McPhail's bubble back caddis in a size 14 & 16, this pattern rides high and can be skittered if needed. It was a simple task of lining the fly up with the rise form and just getting a good drift was the key. I tried a few newer patterns, "a foam baloon caddis" while they float well the fish did not like them. In the end you could see some fish on the 16"s and some on the 14"s as the hatch progressed it became easier to pick the fish that you wanted and just keep floating over them till they ate! At the end of the emergence when the flies were egg laying a good high riding skittered pattern would have really worked well but I will not complain about the "bubble back caddis", you can find out how to tie one on YouTube. Did not see any good numbers of Hendrickson's on the water yet, it got hot fast, by 11:00 Am it was getting close to 80 degrees. I checked another area where I know there are some really good fish while on the way out, they are there and I think bigger this year, maybe Sunday might be the day to hit them?

Love them or Hate them?

You either love squirmey worms or hate them, or deny ever using one? Well I use them at times during very high water and give a lot of them away. Guess what I found at 5 Below a small take out box filled with them for a few bucks!

The box had pink, blue, yellow, green and dark yellow/tan in ot, you can tie a ton of them from this box. Spring Creek is fishing very well wih BWO's and #22/24 black midges on top and small PT's under the surface. A new item to try is tying a #22/24 stripped natural peacock quill with a black fur head, like you tie a brassie and cover the body with UV cure. I attach this to the down winged midge on top with 6-8" of 7x tippet and watch the top fly to see if it moves, it can be deadly BUT make sure your in the correct position to have the light at the right angle to you so you can see the take, it is really delicate! Fishing Creek is still cold and Penn's is on the fall and should be just about right to do a day of bottom bouncing. Go out and enjoy

It Is Real

Climate change is one of the most talked about subjects that we seeing and hearing now, is it real or not? I'll give a few examples of how real it is. Last week in the morning when we came hoem from our dog walking there were "2" smaller bullfrogs out of the water on the edges of our gold fish pond looking for some sun and bugs to eat, they were black from being under the water in the bottom muck but they were out and about! The next day we were walking the dogs in the early afternoon in the cemetary and in the field were 6-8 vultures feeding on some thing, in a normal year we do not see them until late Feb. or early March and then it is the smaller black vultures who come back first. I also notice a large amount of black midges on the garage doors and a couple of little black stomeflies. Last Thursday we were out in the yard and heard a large flock of geese flying from the Sunbury resivor going West until they were overhead they turned North BUT these were Snow Geese and not the resident canada geese that stay here all winter. My friends we are seeing signs all around us telling us that our world is changing, want to help? The one thing you can do it find areas that need to have trees growing in them and plant some, it will help ever so little but at least your doing something. We all know to well what happens when June rolls around and the rain shuts off and Penn's just gets too warm to fish that lack of decent rain really hurts our resident trout population. Have you also noticed that we have a real lack of the "white flies" on the river in August below the dam in Sunbury, it used to be so large that you could see them on the bridge on both ends just piled up like snow but not any more, what happened to them? We are also seeing the Trico hatch on Spring Creek not as strong as it was a few years ago, yes we see some areas that have good populations but they are not as steady as they once were. Some of us old guys now realize that we have lived in a truly golden age of trout fishing, good water, great hatches and kind considerate people on the stream. It is really hard to find a place where your alone with pure nature and good fishing without some dam ass hole stomping along the bank and saying something stupid or the guy who has no manners and steps in just above or below you and never asked which way your going! By the way the midges are going on strong on both Spring and Fishing Creek's but we have been having a few days of high water due to the rain and not snow we have been getting.

Results of the 2022 Redd Count on Spring Creek

The total numbers are in and the results show that Spring Creek is in great shape, total for 2022 was 1473 redd's, 2021 total was 1755 and 2020 was 1633, a reduction in the total numbers but still very high. It just might have been that the brown's may have started earlier than normal or they may have done more after our count. Our section (from the blue bridge on Rock Road down stream to the bridge at Benner Springs hatchery was 133, 2021 was 127 and 2020 was 137, my inital tought was that we were off by a larger number given the fact that because of the number of man made fallen trees it was impossable to get in the water and trying to see from the hatchery side at the fence was impossible on the upper section (too steep), plus the sun's angle in the morning makes it hard to see into the water. The best numbers were at two other sections; From the 550 bridge downstream to the walking bridge at Big Spring was 180 and the section starting below Paradise downstrean to the birdge at Hartle Farm was 140. Please consider coming to the 2023 redd count about the 3rd weekend in Novermber, you will see a lot and learn more new water to enjoy. A time ago I wrote about the many advantages of fishing with someone, no not going with someone and then going your seperate ways but really sharing the many problems and solutions that twon people can slove. Please read the article "Two Anglers are Often Better Than One" on www.ginkandgasoline.com/blog/ it deals with the advantages. I had the best fishing partner anyone could ever want for over 30 years until his passing of cancer, we had a great time fishing and solving on stream problems, came up with new patterns and even learned new methods. Neither of us ever talked politics, only football, investments, retirement age and of course out West fishing. If we fished when Penn State played the only thing he wanted was not to hear a radio or have lunch where he could hear the score and always be done befor the game was over so I could drive home in peace. Pick a good partner and develope a good relationship and I'm sure you will see more fish and have a much better time sharing it with someone. The midges are on heavy on Big Fishing Creek and Spring- just make sure it's a good cloudy day.