Rain swollen streams with unusual deadly results

     Well as I got off work this morning I couldn’t help but think about fly fishing.  The streams have been pounded by rain for the last several weeks and this week was no exception.  I arrived to the stream about 8:00 am to find that I had it to myself, no big surprise since the color of the stream resembled most mud puddles, but I thought I’d give it a shot. 

     I studied the water a little bit and realized that if I drifted nymphs or streamer low and slow, I thought I could pick up some fish.  Even though the skies opened up as soon as I got set to go, the morning proved to be a success. 

     I started with a fly that I thought would be a visual advantage for the trout to seen in the stained, or should I say muddy water, a wine colored San Juan Worm in a size 14.  After I fished for approximately 30 minutes I realized that this could be tougher then I first expected, but I pushed on and was rewarded with a nice brown that made an aggressive strike.  I no sooner released that fish and was quickly rewarded with the fish of the day, a nice 16 inch acrobatic bow.  Fishing the same run where the previous 2 fish came from, I kept dredging and a really nice fish hammered the San Juan Worm.  This fish was never seen but I had plenty of time to feel the weight of the fish and it was definitely a nice one that I would’ve loved to get my hands on.

     Now that I broke off I thought I’d try something else, so I tied on a size 14 olive soft hackle.  I fished pretty hard with the soft hackle and managed a few more nice trout.  That’s 2 different patterns that have produced on this raining day.  Being completely honest I can say I didn’t expect much to happen in the catching department with the conditions the way they were, but as long as the fish were active I wasn’t leaving. 

     Well the rain continued to fall, now at a pretty steady pace, and the trout kept feeding.  I thought that since I caught fish on 2 patterns, I’d try a third, so I tied on a size 16 caddis larva, green in color, to see what would happen.  After fishing the previous flies slow I really knew I’d have to slow it down with the caddis larva because of the small size and the discolored water.  I fished this low and slow and believe it or not, caught more fish with the caddis then I did with the others.  It just amazed me at how good a trouts eyes are to be able to pick up a size 16 fly in the muddy current, decide if it’s food, and strike.  I picked up several more trout with the caddis larva before deciding to fish a streamer.  Now I really don’t like fishing streamers and only go to them as a last resort, but today was such a good day I thought it was worth a try. 

     I fished the streamer for no more then 5 cast before the first of many browns became a victim of my olive Matuka streamer.  The more I fished the streamer the more I started to like fishing it, probably because I was catching fish.  Now this is the 4th fly that I have had luck with this morning, and I always try to tell people that the fly isn’t the most important thing and that proved right today. 

     I only fished about 100 yards of stream today because of the muddy conditions I had to fish slow and present the fly to the fish in a way that appealed to them.  Lets rewind here and remember I caught about a dozen fish, lost about 8 others and did so with 4 different flies.  If you ask me that proves my theory of Presentation is #1, and is something that I will always believe.  Next time your really itching to go fly fishing but the water conditions just aren’t right, fish low and slow and I promise you’ll catch fish that you thought couldn’t see your fly.  Also, the fly your fishing doesn’t have to be big, but it can help when the water clarity is a factor.  The size 16 caddis larva I was fishing found several trouts mouths, so just believe in the trouts seeing ability and fish your fly the way the fish want to see it.

     And as for now and always “tight lines”

     Rusty

Spring, fishable water, first timers and mushrooms

Finally, a day on the stream worth writing about.  We’ve had a wet spring here in western Pa, and when the water wasn’t high and muddy, there were weddings and first day crowds and work.  Rusty and I attempted to break in 2008 last weekend (4-20-08) but the streams were blown out, and the tailraces were packed with people.  We agreed to wipe that outing off the books.

This weekend was the next attempt, and was to be a unique first day out as I wanted to get a co-worker, John Z, out fly-fishing for the first time in his life.   Rusty got called to work, so it was just John and I this time.  We met up early and walked the 3/4 mile from the hard road down through the woods to the stream which was running at a decent flow and pretty clear for this time of year.  A big relief after last weekend’s blow out when the same stream looked like Nestle Quick.

This was the first time that I’ve gone out fishing with a first timer.  John was eager to learn though, and it was a perfect day to get someone on fish.  I don’t consider myself much of an instructor, and honestly, I think fly-fishing is something that just takes time and practice to learn.  I did my best to give him some basic tips and point him in the right direction without being too overbearing.  Being a nymph fan (highsticker), I pointed out that we’d be fishing deep as opposed to dry which is what everyone thinks of when you mention fly-fishing.  We turned over some rocks to illustrate what the nymphs were designed to replicate, and it was on to fishing.

The water was in perfect shape with a good flow and just enough tint to help our situation.  The fish seemed to want to cooperate right off the bat.  In the first hole we had several takers on the tandem rig I set John up with which was a very basic nymphing rig.  A #16 bead head hare’s ear with a  #18 gunmetal flashback beadhead pheasant tail (see movies section).  I could see John looking at me funny when I tied these on and could tell he wanted to ask if the fish could see them.  He made a comment about that later in the day.  It still amazes me that they can matrix out a #18 mayfly nymph a foot above them in the water colum flying at them at what would probably be 60 mph to us and manuever themselves into position to eat the bug/fly.

Watching John reminded me of when I started out.  It’s a daunting sport to jump into, with all the equipment, insect biology, water reading etc. and then enter the fact that you’re in a stream with other fishermen around watching you, and you’ve got a down right nerve wracking experience.  I guess that’s what defines us eventually in this hobby.  The ability to ignore all those factors and move ahead or to give up.  Regardless, John did great for the first time he’d ever casted a fly rod.  By the end of the day I could see a huge improvement in casting and line handling.  It was great to watch, and I’m glad I got to be a part of that.

John was able to land one fish, and had another one for as long as I would consider a “caught” fish, so we’ll say 2.  I had a few while poking around.  I was more interested in being out on the water on a nice day, helping John learn, playing with my new waterproof camera and just relaxing than slaying fish.  It’s funny, to me anymore, it’s not about numbers.  I’ve had those days of 30 - 40 fish each with Rusty, and they are fun.  This same stream last year wore Rusty and I out.  I still don’t know how many fish we caught that day, but it was simply amazing.  Sometimes though, it’s nice to take it slow, catch a few and just enjoy the outdoors.

We saw a lot of fish, and a lot of fish swinging at flies.  I rolled a huge bow at the last hole we fished, and I’m sure if I would’ve pounded the water to a froth, I could’ve managed a few more.  We hiked the long hike back out and I just couldn’t resist poking around in the leaves under the apple trees near the lot.  John took off, and I stayed for another hour harvesting wild mushrooms.  Morel mushrooms.  If you haven’t heard of them or seen them, they’re great!  You can only find them for a few weeks during the end of April and beginning of May (in Pennsylvania), and you can only find them in very specific areas like the North side of a hill with aged apple trees.  They’re really hard to see too, so the pic below should help  you find them.  Here’s a link to a site about Morels.  http://thegreatmorel.com/index.shtml

Now’s the time to TIE!

     Well it is officially cold outside on a regular basis and Philip and myself have been pretty busy with work, so the fly fishing adventures have been put on a halt.  Even though the fishing isn’t being done the flies in our boxes are sure getting stocked up.  Now is the perfect time to sit down at the tying vise and go to town on your favorite patterns for the spring. 

     My favorite patterns for the spring are basically big nymphs and streamers.  When I say big I mean like size 12 or 14 nymphs and size 8 to 10 streamers.  Most of you reading this will think that’s not that big, but to myself that’s about the largest I tie and it seems to work great.  In the nymph category I’d have to say tie a mess of pheasant tails, hares ears, and San Juan worms, at least here in south central PA that’s the trouts hors d’oeuvre.  Now in the streamer category I’d go with the woolly bugger, sculpins, and muddler patterns.  Try tying all these flies in a variety of sizes and colors and mix and match until you find your best arsenal.  Some people might try other patterns, which is fine, but I have had the best experience with the one mentioned above.  Also, you can tie flies larger if you like, remember it’s what works for you.  So I hope this advice helped a few people.  just have fun with the sport and I know some very rewarding memories will come your way. 

  And as for now and always “tight lines”

 Rusty

Steelheading Without The Crowd

     Well the steelhead have run into the tributaries by the thousands, and the people have followed.  One thing about steelhead fishing is that you will always run into a bunch of people, but if you are willing to walk a little bit you can get away from the crowd and still manage some fish.

     My friend Philip and I recently went on a trip to Erie for some steelhead action, and so did about five hundred other people.  Most people are really into mass numbers of fish when fishing on the Erie tribs, but if you like the solitude, you can find that also.  We started fishing way upstream from the lake where we seen the least amount of cars but still caught fish.  Now if we would have fished closer to the lake we could have easily caught more fish, but there’s also more people. 

     A good thing to remember when your on the water is to enjoy your time fishing not just the number or size of the fish you catch(even though steelhead are HUGE)!  I’m just simply saying that if your willing to walk you can avoid a lot of crowds and still be pleased.  Philip and I brought enough steelhead to the net to make us go back. 

     We did most of our fishing with woolly buggers and sucker spawns of multiple colors.  I think the best producer was the olive beadhead woolly bugger.  We did try single eggs also, but they didn’t seem to work quite as well.  Most people use bait of some sort which offers good numbers of fish caught, but I enjoy the fly fishing myself.

     The areas that we found fish was usually in slow to medium flow runs.  Some of the big slow pools had less fish then the runs we were fishing.  Most of the time you could see the steelhead in the river, but not always, it really depended on the amount of broken water you were fishing, since the rivers were low and clear.  Several different techniques can be used to fool these fish, so I recommend you get your fly rod(or spinning rod) and head up to Erie because it’s a blast and I’m sure you will enjoy your trip.

     The only stream that we fished was Elk creek, but there’s several other streams such as Walnut and the Mile streams.  All of the tribs hold fish depending on the water flow.  This is a good year for the fish.  They are in most of the streams and a good ways upstream as well.  I think we were at least 8 miles form the lake and the fish had made it that far, probably further.  Try you luck, even if you get skunked at least you got to go fishing, and that’s always a plus.

And as for now and always “tight lines”

Rusty

Rod Weight, Leader Length and Big Fish!

I was blessed yesterday with landing two big fish.  The experience embodied the reason for fly fishing and made me consider a few things.  Gear selection and leader setup are two things you should think about when hitting a river known to produce large fish.

First, I thought it would be cute to take my 7′-6″ 4wt on a stream that I know holds large fish.  I thought it would be a challenge to land decent fish in the 16-18 inch range, and make the experience with smaller fish more interesting.  This proved to be an accurate assumption, and almost a mistake.  Thankfully, the flow in the stream was low, as are most PA trout streams this time of year.

I managed several fish in the first hour, and the first big fish came in the first hour and a half.  It was a brown in a beautiful section of fast deep water who slammed the nymphs so hard I thought I snagged a mack truck!  He shot upstream spooling line out at a breakneck rate.  Thankfully, again, the low water level and the slack water on my casting side of the stream allowed me to “direct” him into areas where line tension from the current would be minimal, allowing me to deal with the weight of the fish alone.  I was actually concerned about the rod for a while, and the thought of trying to break him off even crossed my mind.  I held on, though, and finally managed him to the net.  He was then carefully revived, and released, but not before I dropped my $500 video camera in the drink trying to capture him on film.

I continued fishing, with a “miss”, “fish on then lost”, or a “fish to the net” about every 4-5 casts for the next few hours.  After lunch, I encountered the next true test of my light weight rig’s ability to land big fish.  I was pitching a heavily weighted pair of nymphs into the head of a deep pool when I saw the flash of a big fish.  The flash was followed by jerk of the indicator and a jerk of my arm as I set the hook.  She was acrobatic, and her entire huge body left the water around 3 times after the hook set.  This rainbow really made me question my desire to fish light tackle.  She made 4 big runs on me, upstream and down until I finally got her to me.  It was then that I realized my second mistake.  My leader was too long.

I typically try to keep a good handle on the length of the leader, but when you’re heavy into fish, and breaking off consistently,  it’s easy to add a little too much tippet and end up with a rig that wont let you swing a fish to your net.  Thankfully, I have long arms, and I somehow managed by bending my back backwards, and extending my body as long as I could to get her into the net.  Thank God I had a net too.  She was so tall that I couldn’t get my hand around her.  My later measurement of my arm from the tip of my fingers to about 2 inches past my elbow tells me she was about 24″ and about 7-1/2″ tall.  One of the most beautiful things about this catch (not my stumbling around trying to net her) was that the #16 barbless hook was centered exactly in the middle of her upper jaw.  A perfect hookset.

I’ve landed some big fish in my time, and some on fairly light tackle, but this was the biggest fish on the lightest rig that I’ve ever managed.  Some things that I did that I think helped me land these two:

(a) When I saw that I had a big fish, I made a conscious effort not to become overly excited.  Keeping my adrenaline down kept me from horsing her.  Try telling yourself: “oh well, I have a big fish on, I’ll probably loose it, and it doesn’t matter” or things like that.  (b) My arms were already tired from fishing heavily from 7:30 to 2:00 with very few breaks, and quite a few fish, so even if my adrenaline was rushing, my muscles probably wouldn’t have been much of a factor anyway.  (c) being that my leader was longer than it should’ve been, there might have been more elasticity in the line, for a little more forgiveness.  (d) I tried really hard to direct her out of fast water, and as mentioned, the water was lower than normal (more on directing below).  (e) I had my drag set correctly, and I let her run when she wanted to run.  Including at the apparent end of the fight when I got her near my net.  Always assume that a fish has one last “bolt”/run left in them when you get them near the net the first time.

More on directing fish.  You can direct a fish by laying your rod on one side or the other.  I actually had my rod horizontal to the water several times, and only a few inches off the water.  You’ll be amazed how easy it is to direct a fish when you lay your rod down horizontally.  A few things to keep in mind when doing this.  One, make sure your sessions of directing are kept at a minimum.  Two, immediately after “directing” return your rod to a vertical position to get the fish’s head up.  Remember, that unless you’ve foul hooked a fish, you’ve got control over where they swim.  If you can get their head pointed in the direction you want them to go, their body will follow like a torpedo.

Philip Light