It Is Busting At The Seams

Oh my everything seems to be happening all at once, Grey Fox, March Brown, Crane Flies, Tan Caddis, Sulphurs and the stupid green thing. Talk about a complex hatch and stage of emergence and spinner falls to sort out and key in on what that fish you are looking to catch is feeding on? Again the best option is to stop casting and look at the fish the rise form will give you a clue as will putting your nose to the waters surface, but beware sometimes insects seem to prefer a part of the stream you may not be able to see. We found this years ago when we would see spinners on one side that had a good current flow and the other bank had minimal insects floating on the surface or emerging. Good rule of thumb fish Grey Fox and or March Brown emergers or wets during the morning and afternoon if the sun is not bright, followed by Crane flies (or fish a Walt's Worm all day) then Grey Fox spinners or Sulphur emergers, duns and maybe spinners depending where you are on the stream lower will have the hatches more advanced while higher upstream you might only see one or two species emerging at a time now, the cold and cloudy conditions will tend to slow them down and keep them on the water longer. Oh thrown a few splashy caddis rise forms to mess with your heads, use a LaFontain caddis emerger or a new bead head organzia caddis emerger but hold on to your hat the takes are hard and break offs are normal- Go Now!

Show Time in May

Things are looking really good this year abet for lower than normal water but the hatches are going well and the fish eating. Same order as other years, still some Little Black Caddis, few Red Quill Spinners but the show revolves around March Browns and Grey Fox thru the day if the weather is cloudy and dreary, some show if the sun is out but not like the dark days. I love this time of year a Grey Fox or a March Brown emerger fished to rising fish will take them, look for the best fish to post up mid pool and to the sides of the pool- tail out hold a lot of fish provided there is cover to hid them, they tend to come out and eat well because of the safety of the nearby cover. Also at this time we begin to see Tan Caddis make their annual appearance (one of the longest hatches we have) a #14-16 Tan Iris or a CDC Bubble Back Caddis will work well. The Iris is a Blue Ribbon pattern that has worked well for years and is a very good one for flat water, the CDC Bubble Back Caddis is a Davey McFale pattern not the Bubble Back pattern by Rene Harrop (his is really a great pattern for slower water and not super active fish. Our hatches will at any time include our lovely Sulphurs both the larger and the smaller ones but do not be fooled when they start as the fish key in of Grey Fox spinners at the same time they begin to emerge, a complex problem best solved by just watching and not shot gun casting to every fish you see- pick one out a watch before you cast. By all means it is very important to go slow and take in what has been offered to you, close your eyes and listen to the birds and the sound of the water, total relaxing. Do not forget the crane flies at this time of year, they tend to vary in size from a #14 down to a #18 mostly cream or tan, a sparse spent winged pattern with a turn of grizzly will do the trick.
  We have all seen the explosive rises to caddis mid pool and if you want to try for them just put on a wet fly that imitates and emerging caddis and do the Lisering lift- but hold on the take can be very strong.
  I carry a pack along and leave it on the shore just in cast the no see um's get really bad or I need a different pattern that what I have in my vest. The Buzz Off or the new Exoffico product worn as a primary layer or on the outside works well to keep the biting insects away, keeps it's power up to 20 washings then it's done the job and needs to be retired.
  I will fish for a few more weeks then will take 8 weeks off to recover from a knee implant, can no longer stand the pain and hope the Trico's will provide a boost for my recovery.

Little Black Caddis

Well it is going on now, the little black caddis "Chimera", then a good amount of Grannom's followed by a nice emergence of Hendrickson's, with maybe a few Blue Quills thrown in for good measure. The fish in Big Fishing Creek key in on caddis in the mornings then just about lunch they take a break and rest up till the Hendrickson's start about 1-2:00 PM depending on the type of day we have, they take their time and eat slowly, a slight twitch will get them to eat just a little faster! If the hatches have been good thru the day look for a flurry a egg laying caddis and Hendrickson spinners in the evening. Just in case, have a few spent winged caddis in your box. a poly winged caddis tied with swept back 45 degree angle wings and dubbed over works well if they are on them, this does not happen every year or for that matter every day but make sure that is what they are eating. it can be frustrating to think then are on Red Quills when in fact they are eating spent caddis, just sit there and watch before you cast away. At some times you might encounter a small hatch of Blue Quills, they are 18-20 here and the rise form are slight and not aggressive, if they rise is splashy look for caddis and when you cast hit them on the head or just when it floats near the fish give it a slight twitch!
   Go if you can the water levels are falling and the temps are still cold enough not to accelerate the hatches, enjoy.

When thus shit ends all will be fine

OK so I am bitching about the rain because it seems we get too much at one time and not enough the other times. The North Branch of the Susquehanna River is reaching flood stage from Hallstead downstream and the West Branch is still making nice. Penns has been up then coming down and now up and coming up as I write this. This will come to pass and we can get back to fishing this early Spring season, oh it is really not that early.
  I would expect to see the Grannom's starting their annual migration to the shore any time, this usually consides with the blooming of the forsythia bush's, remember the bloom may not happen the same time as your back yard, it's still cold in the mountains. I just love this hatch on Fishing Creek because it is one of the first good hatches of the Spring, yes we have midges and olives but somehow this can get your blood going, also because the Hendrickson's usually follow in the afternoon. So just wait till this liquid falls and runs off then go fishing. I'm looking for a window of Tuesday or Wendsday of next week.

A very good day

Wed. was a very good day on Fishing Creek, cold and windy was the norm which made it hard  some times to follow your leader/stream junction effectively but hey that is life. Took a lot of fish but most of them on the smaller size on a #16 tung. bead pheasant tail and a B or a BB shot. I have in the past been guilty of not really paying attention to the amount of lead (yes I use lead and like it) I have used and have not been at time down where I need to be, I guess just lazy or looking for the top water action. Saw a few other fellows out but did not bump into anyone else, I chose the right place to fish to avoid anyone else. The sun came out in the afternoon but I only saw a few midges and a couple of small stoneflies about, no olives but did not expect to see them in the sun. I did not see any signs of the annual Grannom migration yet but if the water warms up a bit we should see them in the next few weeks. Grannom emergence in the morning then Hendrickson's in the afternoon followed by Grannom egg laying later with maybe a few Red Quill spinners to end the day!
  Yes the water was high but not blown out and typical wading conditions, slippery and cold! This will be very busy in the next few weeks till the official opening day then the pressure tapers off, you will have to drive up or down the canyon and take the first available parking spot of if you don't it might be gone.

It all metled

Gees our hope for a slow melt and a steady water supply went out the window, it is all gone up here on the hill! Hopefully the rain that we see in the forecast will recharge the water table better than the snow has, we need a good supply for the critical time that in the past years we have not had, the May/early June period is most important to our resource. Let us hope for the best. I have had reports of really good #20/22 black midge surface fishing over the last week on Spring Creek, my gut tells me that some of the same conditions will exist on Big Fishing Creek but it may take some time to find the correct spot, drive up the creek and stop and look for a good while till you see the rise forms. When the fish are taking midges you will need to determine what stage they are eating, subsurface suspended pupa, surface emergers or adults, we do not typically see the large mating balls that they see in the West, they use "buzz balls" for this, we see maybe a pare mating. Any good midge pattern will work well if it is the correct size and it floats right. This is not a perfect pattern fishing adventure, get the color and shape correct BUT make sure it floats like a natural "NO DRAG" at all. If your fishing subsurface a little slight drag may be what is needed for them to strike but most times everything it dead drift.
  If your going to Penns be very careful with any attempt to wade, cold and high water in a toxic mix, you do not last long if you fall in or get swept off your feet, if you make it out it is a long and cold walk to your car or truck in wet cloths. Streamers that get down to the bottom or large weighted nymphs will work but slow and easy is the name of the game.
  Be careful if you go.
Watched a cool Youtube video of some young fellow nymph fishing Big Fishing Creek in early March, wow he did a great job with the browns there, looks as if he took most of his fish on a different looking hare's ear, look very dark with a robust trail on it. He did tie on a streamer and dangled it in a log jam and had a really extra large brown come out a munch it, I know exactly where the log jam is and it would be a bitch to land this guy. I was told about this fish a few years ago when a buddy of mine saw it, maybe I need to go and check it out. We have in the past seen a few New Zealand fish in this stream during the spawn season but they are just so dam tuned into their environment that it is hard to get them to eat most of the time, maybe I need to try some mice late in the evening this summer?

Just what we needed

Wow did we get hit with the white stuff, just what we needed at a critical time. The long range forecast looks as if this will stick around for a while and not melt away fast causing a high water event then back to low water conditions. I see maybe next weekend might be a slight warm up but I think we will be safe in the mountains where the sun and higher temps do not typically warm up as fast. Let's hope this melts slowly and brings a good amount of moisture to the water table and not run off.
  As I said this is the perfect time of the year to tie flies or get your gear out and inspect everything, I clean all my fly rods of junk from the past season using ivory snow and water. I clean every fly line that I have with the same ivory snow & water solution then wiping them dry before putting a line treatment on them and letting it sit for a few hours then wiping it off to a slick finish. You could also use a Rio fly line cleaner that comes in a small wet towel packet, cost .99 each and well worth it but make sure you clean it both ways because if you only clean in one direction you miss quite a bit, clean it going out of the reel and going back in, most time you do not need to put a line treatment on if if your using fairly new lines. This is also a great time to think about changing leader butts and adding new tippets, I for one am guilty on not doing this every years, I just add new tippet- not a good idea. This is also a good time to replenish your tippet selection, especially if you store you gear in a hot car for extended periods or leave it in the sun for long periods of time, I have seen how people just throw their gear in a car and for get it. I also clean my vest out completely and decide if I need the contents this year, I noticed that I was carry a second big bag of shot , no wonder the dam vest was heavy, you find crap that as you look at it now you wonder why you kept it in there?