Merry Fishmas!!

Checked out Spring Creek on Sunday and it was as good as it looked, nice BWO hatch in the normal spots from 12 to 3:30 PM not great yet but a dry fly tug at this time of year is just special. We had a mature Bald Eagle circle around us about 50' above, weird to see the shadow just pass over us a few times, the fish did not like it very much! I know that a few spots on Penn's have had midges going on BUT be very careful if you go below Coburn on the creek road, it's just ice covered because the sun really never hits it well in the winter. The section of Route 45W from Hairy John's area to almost the town of Woodward was also not nice Sunday morning because of the wet frozen surface not getting any sun on it from the snow that fell last week, just drive slow or take Rout 80 BUT not if there is any snow squalls in the forecast!
  I still have been tying more flies this winter than ever, now working on a new supply of black beetles with imitation peacock dubbing and rubber legs, of course foam is the name of the game- you need a bunch of them because of what the brown trout teeth do to them. Don't be afraid to tie them in #12 & 14's bigger means a better plop which means more fish, also tie some up on longer shanked hooks because you see a lot of wood beetles in the early spring higher water, use some weight for these guys and no peacock for the body.
   Still waiting for the total results of the redd count on Spring Creek! I wish the Fish Comm. would stop with their crowing about how good the stream is, if not from a chemical spill years ago they would have continued their put and take management style on it. Now with Spring Creek TU's improvements and FFF no kill of course the population is 4000+ per mile, same could be said for Penn's if they really tried to manage it better. The only real improvement  the should make is get rid the three dams on Spring Creek that the Fish Comm. has- kind of an embarrassment for them?
  Merry Christmas and if you can go fish!!

Some Hook Thoughts

Doing quite a bit of tying in the last few weeks because of the length of the evenings and have been using both FireHole Sticks and Fulling Mill hooks and have come to really like both of them but I re ally think Fulling Mills is just a bit better. Some of the FireHole Stick models say they a 2x heavy but when you compare them to Fulling Mill they look kind of weak, yes Fire Sticks are a bit cheaper but if you loose fish to hooks that bend out at what cost were they then. In no way will I ever give up on Tiemco or Orvis by Diach- big eye straight eye hooks, these hooks serve a real purpose. The only problem with Tiemco is they have become relatively hard to find and they are not cheap, oh those cheap hooks you can find on line suck. A few years ago I got some on them on line and tied up as bunch of Trico's and only fished them during a good Trico spinner fall on Bald Eagle- every one of them bent out, they went into the trash can as soon as I got home! Please remember that our tippet material has gotten much better and we must consider what hook we are using and where we are using them, some hooks will withstand a Penn's brown long run but the same hook will not stand up to a Missouri rainbow's epic take and run. Another problem is the amount of hooks that are coming in from Europe, how can one keep up with all of them? I have used a few of them and find the short shank 60 degree jig hook to be a good choice for that style of flies. A good test might be to see how well a hook can stand a pull on 5x while you have the hook embedded in a piece of wood, if you can't bend it with moderate pressure then consider it a keeper.
   As a side note FireHole also sells beads for your flies but they are of very poor quality given the finish on them, I have not bothered to preorder any of their new slotted tungsten beads either. Beads are another big problem, it is really hard to get a good supply of them, every where you go they either only sell the small packs that are expensive or are always out of the size you want or the guys that sell them by the 100 are always sold out!!++##  Anyone have ideas where to get a good supply so your not always looking for a supply?

Results of redd count

The annual redd count on Spring Creek was held last Sunday under snow & ice conditions but it got a lot better by noon, still cold and a bit windy. Spring was at normal levels and the rain that we had the night before really never made a difference. I checked some of the more popular spots on Saturday and found a lot of active spawning going on, the Pines was full as was Paradise!
  Last year we didn't do well because of the high water but this year it was perfect. Over the course of two days I did the entire section from Rock Road parking lot down stream to the Benner Spring bridge (the blue one), really called Shilo Road bridge. I counted 137 redds not all of them had fish on them but there were a few really big females on some of them along with a few very active males just milling around. I called Ray my partner and told him not to try and come over the 322 mountains because of the snow and ice conditions in the higher elevations, that's why I did it in two days. It is hard to do it all in one day by yourself because of having to park your car and do the entire section then turn around and walk back to the car! Some of the conditions on the hatchery high bank are really hard to walk on but you need to get good elevation in order to see!
  I'll post the results as soon as they come it.

Time to find out how many

Sunday is the time to find out just how many trout are spawning in Spring Creek this year, we should get to see quite a few pairs and a bunch of wild smaller males around the many red's in our section. We check the stream from Rock Road parking lot downstream to the bridge below Benner Spring hatchery. We can just about tell where we will find most of them by now since we have been counting every year since 2015! Some years we find only empty redd's but sometimes we find pairs on them, can never tell when? Remember never step on a redd because of all the eggs in them, even if only a few become adults that's just fine, wild trout are just like jewels.
  When the spawn is over the trout will go on a feeding spree to build up reserves that they lost during all the actively. You can target them with streamers, leeches or white or very light orange egg patterns, just remember to use barbless hooks. Speaking about hooks and tying materials, why is there such a shortage of smaller counter sunk beads! Seems as if every time you need some everyone is out! Have been tying to buy them by the 100 packs and that is not an easy task, I love the mm. size designation and not the dam 5/64 crap, anyone know where there is a good source- not rip lips- they are always sold out!!!
  This is a great time to catch up on YouTube videos and get you list done for the Winters fly tying needs, you always seem to see or need new stuff- Get Tying

Join the swingers

Yes get hooked up with the swingers, and while your at it enjoy the nice fall weather. The water may be low but you can find some decent water to swing some trout spey or larger wet flies or even better some leech patterns. Simple tackle and not much movement needed on your part, hell not much wading needed either! A sink tip will work with a 7 1/2' leader tapered down to about 4x with only one fly, cast quarting downstream a give a good mend to slow the fly down till it gets down to where it needs to be and just guide it thru the water then at the end of the drift give the line some soft tugs to get the fly to move a bit, this gives the illusion of it trying to escape. Do the same again as you move downstream but remember to slow your fly down to the same speed as the flow, if your drift is too fast your fly will ride to high in the water. If your using a weighted leech make sure you give it a bit of action during the drift. Any one of these patterns or methods will result in some good fish without much effort, slow it down.
  One really great pattern is a large soft hackle using pheasant hackle and after shaft hackle tied on a #10 2x long hook with a bit of .20 lead near the thorax.
   Be careful there are some redds showing up on Spring and a small amount on Penn's.

Redd check Nov 24, 2019

It's that time of year again, the Spring Creek Chapter of TU to hold their annual redd check on Spring Creek, you can sign up by going to their web site and asking to be included. We have a great time both before and after counting. For the past four years Ray Sheetz and I have counted the stream from Rock Road bridge downstream to the Benner Spring bridge and have found our numbers to be in the very good range except for one year we think most of the trout spawned earlier than our count. It is just wonderful to see the amount of natural spawning that occurs here, while we have not seen to many really big females lately they are there! Join us if you want of just show up and walk along with us, bring waders and very warm cloths!
  Break out the BIG black streamers this week! Do not think Penn's does not have a ton of fish enjoying the spawn, they do it's just a bit harder to find them because of the bigger water, just look for good gravel bars!

Let it rain

Yes we do need a bunch of it, the leaves are falling and if it rains well it will produce the flush we need to rid the riffles of leaves, mix in some needed colder weather and the male browns will begin to get bitchy! It's streamer season along with some caddis and blue winged olive hatches mixed in but as the water gets colder the top feeding will not be a prime concern during the spawn.
  Streamers are the name of the game, you can swing them or strip them either method works well, just do it. Remember dark days mean dark patterns and light days mean lighter patterns. Colors that work well are black/brown, olive/brown & orange/black or brown, lighter is white, yellow or some lighter shade of brown/tan. Throw in some purple or red just to get them excited. Do not forget leeches on a swing or stripped back in a jigging motion, Arizona Mega Semi-seal is a very good material for the body, weight the head to get that motion of the head drop and then strip & drop the retrieve.
   We should start to see some redds very soon, so becareful where you step! On a side note if your in Houserville any time check out the stream improvement above the bridge that goes to Trout Road, it is a very nice addition for Spring Creek. If we could only get the Fish & Boat Commission to get rid of their stupid dam at Rock Road we would have a good solid run of bigger females going upstream to spawn. Great news they are planning on an improvement project on the golf course where Slab Cabin runs thru it- good news!!