Results of meeting on Penns scetion 5

I was sick with a terrible cold and could not make the meeting (presentation) concerning Penns Creek section 5 rule change. This does not take effect till 2019 and it was posted on YouTube, well I tried to watch it and all I saw was some old fart going on about how bad a job  is doing and on and on, ok get to your point, I just could not watch it any longer. From what I hear it will be the same as the Coburn section, a slot limit and continued stocking of fish to Glen Iron (some say it is too warm there but they did in fact stock it that far down years before), long story short is the Fish & Boat boys need to save money and this will get them where they want to be. The Coburn section has always had a very good population of resident fish and has suffered only because of one very good old guy that keeps taking all the big fish he catches, other than that the population might have gotten a bit smaller but has held up good.  Check out YouTube "PA Woods and Water channel to get a good idea of the relative size of fish there. I hear that Joe Humphries was one of the few who wanted the section to stay the same and to continue stocking, strange coming from him? We shall see what the future brings for our beloved stream, just don't screw up the FFF area!
   A short note on where to buy stuff if you shop local and need tying materials it is hard to beat Jerry at Fly Tiers Heaven but if you need more, try "Fly Fish Food" or "Worley Bugger Fly Co." for mail order they are very fast, your order will be there from Utah or Washington. If you are looking for the very best materials on the market, then try Worley's selection of " Natures Spirit". Everything that I have ever gotten from Natures Sprit has been top quality. I first ran into them when I ordered material from Trout Hunter, never knowing that it had been packed for them from Spirit,I was in Helena and found a huge selection of their material in a big sporting goods store, it was just a quality selection but they did not do mail order nor does Spirit sell direct to consumers. If you need something give them Worley a try.

Meeting That Effects Penns Creek!

The PA Boat & Fish Commission has a meeting scheduled for Monday February 26, 2018 6:30-8:00 PM in the Mifflinburg Are High School- Cafeteria to discuss new regulations for Section 05 witch is the section just below the FFA near Cherry Run to the bridge at Weikert and hear public in put. They are looking to change the rules to either of following, Catch & Release (very unlikely), Class A Wild Trout (very unlikely), Slot limit or Delayed harvest (I am betting on a slot limit- just as the Coburn area has)! The boys at the Fish Commission have got to come up with novel ideas to save money by decreasing the stocking of trout,  wait till you hear the bitching and moaning at the meeting about not having trout for the grand kids to catch and the threats from some land owners to close off access if they do not get their way, in the end I an almost certain the Fish boys already have their mind made up, this is just another dog and pony show they seem to want to put on every time they need to save money. The could care less about the resource or the economic benefits that a strong catch and release or a totally wild trout stream has on the local and area economy. I still think that the idea Sherwin has is the best long term solution to the cost of raising trout, make the hatcheries private and just purchase the trout from them, thereby saving costs on health benefits and retirement coupled with no cost for general upkeep of the hatcheries. This ever changing of the rules for section of the stream has a adverse effect, no one reads the rule book or the signs posted on the trees or the people who just do not give a shit and do what they want. A case in point is the old guy that fishes the Coburn area and kills every big trout he catches (he uses minnows and is good at it) he will tell you that he will not get arrested because no one ever checks that section. This is a real problem on all the good trout water- no enforcement of the regulations takes place. I remember a few years ago I witnessed three guys taking fish on Spring Creek and I called the Regional office and it took "3" days for a call back and I was told next time try to get their license numbers-WTF- no have someone at least drive around and look rather that you guys patrolling in your boats on the lakes and rivers! We are going to see this kind more often than we care to think about just to save money, remember that they just has a hissey fit because they wanted to raise prices and were turned down, maybe they can do what the Game Commission has done, make a license for every species that you fish for!
  In any event it is a meeting you need to attend but you to sit on your hands and just take in the focus and scope of the event.

Noticed something interesting

I have my list of flies to replace or redo this winter and have noticed a trend that has happened over the years, everything that I tie has gotten sparser! Case in point is the Drunella (Cornuta) spinners that fall after the Drake's over, thru the years I have tied them thinner and the wings sparser, maybe at some time I will regret toning down the wings because of the loss of eyesight but not yet. My caddis emergers also have been getting thinner with less material not that I want to preserve material I just think that most of us have tied flies that are too robust. Most all my spinners now have some 2mm foam on top of the wings to help them float but if they float flush so much the better, years ago we saw trout swing up and reject spinners that seemed to float to high in the surface film, we would cut some material from the bottom of the wing and get them to float flush- boom a take! Even my nymphs have lost some weight thru the years as has their color, most now are med/dark tan in overall color to mimic the bottom of the stream bed, except for olives and stone flies, not to mention cress bugs and shrimp patterns. My cress bug are round but not fat, just pick out the dubbing when finished tying and trim excess fur from the bottom, my shrimp and sow bugs are tied with various colors with pink and orange being the go to colors. My cress bugs are brown/grey or in some streams that have a lot of underwater grass olive is the key.
  The oxy to the above is streamers- I like them big and black or light colors- mostly tandem tied, throw in a few "rainbow" like colors and that is that. Try some Hareline "Ripple Ice Fiber" for your streamers, not much is needed but boy do they look great in the water. If I could figure out how the hell to record fly tying I would post a new fly every week!
  Heads up I just tried some Duku hooks from Europe and they are just crap- soft- hell some of them bent in the vise!

They Just Keep Trying To Kill Our Resources

The Proposed Prebble Mine, subject of 20 years of controversy, 2.2 million public comments, a dozen Congressional hearings, multiple documentary films, media campaigns, ballot initiatives, lawsuits, and the most ubiquitous sticker in all of fishingdom, is back on the table. Seemingly the result of one 30 minute meeting between two men: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Prebble CEO Tom Collier.!!!!!!!!!
  The above is from an article in "The Drake magazine,Winter 2017 issue titled;Reignited, EPA moves to scrap Prebble Mine restrictions By Mark Menlove, read it and wonder what the hell is going on!

In the same issue is an article "Yellowstoned" Locals fight to protect Paradise Valley from mining By Jesse Robbins,  Can you imagine drilling on public lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, read this one and think what the hell is going on.
  I also read another article about the continued assult on Public land in Utah, these guys will not rest until every public land we hold dear has a oil or gas well on and guess what we will still pay $2.75 a gallon for gas at the pump. We are helpless in this fight.

Baby it's cold outside

Spent quite a few days in State College in the past weeks  watching the temp's carefully in the hopes of getting a Christmas or New Years trout but not with a high of 10 degrees most days and a strong wind, so I did the next best thing- took a daily ride along Spring Creek. Above Paradise along Rock Road the stream was clear with only minor shelf ice but in Paradise and up the walk in road it was just covered with ice and only a few open water pockets available, not till the outflow from the hatchery joined Spring just at the end of Paradise did the water become open and remained that way to Bellefonte. I assume that the canyon section must get really cold and battered by the wind but I also assume that just below the hatchery outflow of  Benner Springs the water would also be open. Any section that is open would be a good spot to just give it a chance this week, maybe Friday?
  Most of the time I have been cleaning fly lines and finally cleaning out fly boxes that I have not taken care of, when I'm fishing and need to replace a soaked fly I just toss it back in the box and tell myself that I'll pick it out and dry it when home- ok I do dry them with the box open on my desk but most of the time never take the time to fluff them back up- so that is what I am doing now plus taking inventory. Most of the time I have more than enough flies but I never seem to have enough of the #16 tan caddis CDC bubble back caddis dries that I need, note to self you dumb ass tie more!!!
  I have a new pattern that I have been messing with for a few years and here it is, tan caddis;
#14-16 Tiemco #921
Body; tan Aust. Opp.
Wing; tan CDC under wing & Med dark deer hair on top, with the head clipped
Legs; poly tied spent winged style on the top of the hook then clipped short to just come out past the clipped deer hair head
  Using this has given me a fly that lands just about perfect every time and floats higher on the surface. The best poly is a clear or slightly darker off shade, do not use much and don't tie it in on a bare hook (it moves) when done with the head clipping just turn the fly over and hit it with a bit of glue. I am tying it in both tan and a sotty darker olive for the Grannom.
  Happy tying!

Loon UV Infinity Light

If you have read this blog for a time you will know how much time and effort I have put in learning what products do and do not work in the UV resin world, gone is Clear Cure Goo (bad product and really bad company). I settled on "Deer Creek" from the UK because is was thin and cured tack free but back then it was a bit hard to get but now it is readily available on the market. The UV lights have been a source of frustration because unless you use them a lot by the time you set up to tie you will need batteries in them or wonder why you heads are tacky, along comes Loon with a really nice new product;
   Loon Outdoors UV Infinity Light that uses a USB charging system, it has a 3 watt output, rechargeable using a USB cable (included), uses 1 18650 battery( included), on/off switch indicates power level. I got mine and wanted to set it up so like a dumb ass I hooked up the USB cable and plugged it in and left it for 4 hours, green light on but no light, OK what do I do- call Loon. Loon tells me to take the battery out and take the plastic off, OK I thank them and hang up. Well trying to take that GD battery out is just madding, until I discover that the light comes apart in two sections and you only have to push it out, I tried every way to get it out even resorting to a pair of pliers! OK set it up again and same shit, OK now I have to turn the battery around to get it to charge. I leave it charge 4 more hours and took it off the USB cable and turned it on- NICE bright light and now I want to tie some streamers but can not get the dam thing to turn off, I can turn it off when plugged in but who the hell wants to do that, call Loon again and they tell me to hold the switch down for "2" seconds-WORKS. Tied some big streamers and some midge pupa using both Deer Creek and Loon UV resins and the cure was tack free and less than 10 seconds, and in all a dam good product, not cheap but worth the $59.95 price tag. Loon has told me that they will include a better set of instructions and also Fly Fish Food is going to do a short video on how and what to do when you buy one.
  Loon has been one of the top companies in the Fly Fishing industry always moving forward with better products, this is just another example of that as is their selection of resins that do cure tack free. Give them a try, available in most well stocked fly shops and on line.
   Now is a good time to hit the water, post spawn trout tend to eat to regain their spent energy but they will not move that far for your offerings. Have not seen a great deal of movement to their typical winter spots yet, the water is not that cold yet but look for them to seek the softer water very soon and at that time it is slow and deep!

Final results of 2017 Spring Creek Redd Count

Well another redd count season is behind us and the results are down but confusing, best guess is that we were early in our counting, perhaps another week was needed in order to get the trout going but here they are with some sections to note.
Boalesburg downstream to just above the quarry, 13 active redds BUT in 2016 this section had 171 active redds!

Route 26 bridge downstream to Puddintown bridge, 67 active redds and in 2016 this section had 30 redds BUT - NZ mudsnails were found in this section! Be careful and allow your wading gear to dry well between fishing sessions or have two pair in the ready to rest one and allow the snail fry to die in the air and absence of moisture.

The bridge on Rockview property down stream to the bridge above the PFC pistol range had 181 active redds and in 2016 it had 184 redds, a good solid number each year.

The Rout 550 bridge downstream to the Distillary bridge had 39 active redds and in 2016 it had 119 redds, some of this area is very hard to see but still the numbers are down.

   Overall the number have fallen in the past years,
2015 had 1945 redds
2016 had 1597 redds
2017 had 1236 redds
   A drop of 348 from 2016 to 2017 and a drop of 361 from 2016 to 2017, I hope this trend does not continue but I think we need to go back to are old date to do our survey even if it hurts us in the cold, just more hot coffee and chili to keep us warm in the process.