2014 - Fishing Highlights

I haven't posted to my blog for over a year but I have been still fly fishing every opportunity I have. I averaged around 75-100 outings in 2014. Some were full days and some only about 20 minutes in duration. One of the biggest differences in 2014 (not sure if positive or negative) is that I don't think I nymphed one time. I caught fish on dries or streamers every month in 2014. I'll admit that I'm not a great nymph fisherman primarily due to the fact that it bores me but it could also be that because I've not put my time/effort into learning the technique. I'm a visual fly fisherman and enjoy watching a trout eat a dun from the surface and I love seeing a big brown trout flash at a streamer a few feet below the surface. For streamers, the tug is the drug. 

I explored a lot of new waters in 2014 as well. I found a very small wild brown trout stream about 2 miles from my house that I previously always dismissed. This stream generally only fishes well after a decent rain because it's shallow and the fish are very skittish even though they see little if any pressure.

My fishing journey's took me to:

1) Pennsylvania's famous Letort Spring Run in January. Surprisingly, I caught a small BWO hatch and even fooled one of those allusive browns with a streamer in 35 degree outside temperature.

2) March brought bonefishing in Hawaii. I caught one small bone off Hickam flats which is the entrance of Pearl Harbor. This was my first saltwater experience with a fly rod. I can’t say I enjoyed it much. I prefer running water and dense vegetation much more.

3) Oklahoma's Lower Mountain Fork River in April.  Who would have thought there were wild trout in Oklahoma? My job brought me to OKC but the closest wild fishery was all the way to southeast OK near Broken Bow (4-5 hour drive each way). I fished the Lower Mountain Fork River below Broken Bow Dam. It is a wild brown and rainbow trout fishery along with stocking. The wild bows/browns I caught were small/feisty but colorful and the stocked bows were large and sluggish. I enjoyed the fishing but the weekend crowds were not for me. By the afternoon, it was difficult to find an open stretch of water to fish alone even if I walked far away from the parking lots.

4) Nebraska's east branch of the Verdigre Creek. Wild trout in the cornhusker state. I traveled to Omaha Nebraska but I fished the east branch of the Verdigre Creek over the weekend in northeast Nebraska. It’s a spring creek in corn country and holds wilds browns and stocked bows. Beautiful stream with lots of scuds. The browns offer technical fishing while the bows were pretty simple. I've fished this creek before with my brother in law. This year the dry fly action was slow but I still found some easy stocked rainbows and 1-2 wild browns. 

5) Black Hills of South Dakota. I love fishing the Black Hills because it’s where I cut my FF teeth. This trip I fished Rapid Creek and Castle Creek. Both are Black Hills tailwater streams and have good populations of wild browns/brooks and supplemented stocked bows. My time on Rapid Creek was only the 1/2 hour of daylight and I got skunked. I fished Castle Creek below Deerfield Lake and caught 1 brown on a dry fly. Included picture is of Castle Creek as I didn’t take a picture of Rapid Creek. Both are beautiful streams with the smell of pine throughout the air. The Black Hills remind me of the Pocono’s except with coniferous trees. I also did some river fishing on the Missouri River and kept most of the fish for an evening fish fry.

6) Colorado's South Platte River. I fished around Decker's again this year in July and caught a few smaller trout but the fish I'll remember is the big one that got away and broke my knot. It was only on for a few seconds but it looked like a bow or cutbow when it raised for my emerger and based on the drag, I'd say it was around the 20" mark. The thing that made this fish so memorable is that I had to cross the stream to be able to fish over the many different currents in order to get a good drift. I was the only FF'er that did this and caught a lot more fish than the others as well. 

I also fished Cache La Poudre River west of Ft Collins in October. I fished the main river on Monday late afternoon (20th) and the North Fork all day on Sunday (26th). I missed 3 strikes on Monday which ended up me getting skunked but Sunday I caught several trout on the North Fork below Seaman Reservoir. The browns were small and the rainbows were fat, spunky, and around 15". About 50% of the trout were caught with small dries (BWO and attractors) while the other half were caught with streamers. I've always heard that you have to "nymph" to catch trout in Colorado but this is the 4th time I've fished CO and I haven't resorted to nymphing one time. 

7) Alaska for grayling and red salmon. I honestly don't know how many times I've been fortunate enough to fish Alaska but I'd guess around 12 so far in my 32 years of life. This year I fished the Delta Clearwater again for grayling and the Gulkana River for red's. Each year I catch more and more fish at these locations and this year was no exception. The grayling again started taking light duns at around 1 pm every day and I successfully timed the run of reds again. It was another great week in AK!

9) Pocono area streams. I didn't fish the WB of the D this year nor did I finally make it out to central PA. This was mainly due to the fact that the Pocono's have so many quality streams and I don't bore with any of them yet. Local government organizations continue to purchase land along the upper Brodhead and Paradise Creeks which opens up a lot of new opportunities not to mention all of the unlisted tributaries that have wild trout. One new thing for this year is that my first 20" + trout was a wild trout and not a stocker. I fished the Lehigh a few times this year but didn't get into any numbers/size/hatches. Hopefully when we move to Blakeslee, I'll be able to fish the Lehigh more and learn the potential I know it has. I didn't fish the McMichael's this year much either mainly because I feel it lacks good trout structure on the sections that are open to the public. I did kayak it from Hickory Park to the Pocono confluence in August and saw lots of trout. I still haven't caught a wild trout in McMichael's but I'm sure they are there. Thanks to a hint from a local conservationist, I found a much easier spot to access the Brodhead Gorge this year. It had some amazing BWO hatches in October and not surprisingly; no other fisherman. For as densely populated the Pocono's are, I seldom every compete for water in on ATW's when I fish for stockers.

2015 will likely bring a lot of the same events that took place in 2014. Hopefully, I can venture out of the Pocono's on a camping trip sometime in the spring and I want to kayak more. I'm pretty sure  switch rod is in my future for 2015 as well. My last desire for 2015 is to update my blog more as I do enjoy writing about my experiences. This blog has primarily been used as a platform to journal my fishing experiences along with pictures but I'd like to start writing more of my experiences in creative detail from the drive to the stream to the sound of the water....We'll see!

 Love winter fishing except frozen line and guides

 Pohopoco Creek

 New secret stream with gorgeous waterfall and brookies

 Castle Creek in South Dakota

 Alaska grayling

 Limit of red's

 Wild  Brodhead brown

 Another Brodhead brown

 Tom's Creek

  Tom's Creek

 Verdigre Creek, NE

Letort brown

Appenzell Creek, Monroe County - 29 DEC 2013

Unfortunately I couldn't fish yesterday when it was sunny and in the high 40's so I decided to fish today in the rain when it was in the low 30's (as was the water temp). I did some scouting on local Class A's and ended up knocking on some doors. 2nd house was the winner. Nice gentleman granted me permission to access Appenzell Creek from his residence. I fished upstream  for 2 hours and fished the same olive/black wooly bugger the whole time. Landed 2 browns and missed another all by dead drifting the bugger along deep and slower moving banks. I skipped over 80% of the water and strictly fished the prime winter holding spots mostly because I was wet and cold but I also didn't want to waste my time. Appenzell is much bigger than I expected and I'm guessing it's flowing about average for this time of the year. The section I fished had a medium gradient which provided some nice plunge pools which I'll explore next spring.

Summer Pocono and Colorado Fly Fishing - July 2013

The weather is currently beautiful and the stream temperatures are lower (less than 70*). I've been fishing at least once a week for the past few weeks. Here are some highlights.

South Platte River below 11 Mile Canyon, Colorado - My work brought me to Colorado Springs so I researched good streams less than 2 hr drive and it brought me to 11 Mile Canyon. The guys at Angler's Covey Fly Shop also recommended this river. This tailwater river (I would call a stream) is gorgeous. There are huge rock croppings, consistent flows/temperatures, and a variety of trout species. The 1 lane tunnels along the stream road were very unique as well. I wish I would have taken more pictures but I was primarily focused on catching trout. I got to the stream at around 3 pm and drove all the way up to the dam and talked to a guy fishing a good looking spot. He gave me some good information and I noticed some subtle rises near where he was fishing. He moved downstream so I got the waders on and started fishing where I saw the rises. I fished the same 50 yard stretch of stream until pitch dark. My primary goal was to catch a cutthroat since I never have but I caught all browns and rainbows. The size on the bows were 14-17" while the browns were a little smaller. I missed 2 trout that were around the 20" mark. I landed over a dozen trout with most being on dries. Most people informed me that I would have to nymph if I wanted to catch trout but the trout were taking emergers all day and especially the last hour of fishing. At one point, I had 2 nymphs below an emerger which produced results. The most common hatch I saw was caddis so obviously, a tan cdc caddis emerger was the best fly of the day but it was hard to see after sunset so I switch to a 16 light cahill and still caught fish. The strange thing of the day was how many fish hit my fly and I missed. I'd estimate I missed around 30 takes. Why? Sometimes I set the hook too soon and others I think the trout actually missed their mark but for the majority of the times I have no clue why I missed so many as I normally have a good hookup rate %.

Pohopoco Creek - I fished the last 2 hours of daylight on the Po last week. Stream temp was low 60's and the fish were active. I caught over a dozen browns but nothing of size. CDC caddis emerger was the ticket here as well. All fish were caught in "slower riffles". I also caught a couple of fall fish that fought well.

Brodhead Creek - There are still trout in the BHC that survived our hot July. I've fished the creek 2 times in the past week and I have had several hits and a couple of hookups but I can't land them. Again, no clue why I'm missing so many trout but at least I'm getting action. Yesterday there was a small (18) BWO hatch as it was drizzly and overcast. I missed roughly a dozen "fish" in a 1 1/2 hour span (3-430 pm). I know some of the hits were smallmouth bass but I positively id'd some trout as well. I had to keep changing flies to regain the fish interest. It seemed the larger (14-16) Iso and March brown catskill style patters worked best as long as they were drifted properly. Last Sunday, a black slumpbuster also got into some nice fish that I think were bass but I didn't land them. Frustrating! Hopefully this doesn't continue but it could be worse. Misses are better than nothing at all.

Below are some pictures I dumped from my camera.

Pocono Creek near Martz Road - Bartonsville

Pocono Creek - Wayyyy headwaters

11 Mile Canyon Dam - South Platte River, CO

Same

South Platte River

Summer Slowdown Fly Fishing in the Pocono's - June/July 2013

I had been fishing weekly prior to this heat wave. Streams I fished were Brodhead, Pocono, and Pohopoco Creeks.

The Brodhead slowed once the water started getting warm. Fish were active in the morning/evening but now I'm guess the low water and high temps are killing off some of the remaining stockers. I didn't witness any slate drakes the past 2-3 weeks but I'm guessing they are still around. I came across a very small BWO (18-20) a couple weeks ago. They were coming off in a fast riffle right below a Brodhead style plunge pool. I didn't land many fish. I missed a few as well. I haven't caught any bass yet this year on the BHC but based on previous years, I'm guessing there are some nice smallies in there now.

Pocono - I landed some large wild browns in June in the Pocono headwaters in a place I'd wanted to try for years. First cast produced a gorgeous 15 inch wild brown. I caught 3-4 other nice browns all on a wooly bugger. The place I fished sees very little activity as there was no trash or trails next to the stream. I also caught some nice sized brookies that were all over 12". If there is a local stream that would have a tiger trout, it would be this section of the Pocono. Funny thing, I fished the same stretch with the same fly 5 days later and got skunked. I fished longer (duration) and further downstream even but the fish weren't hitting it. If I didn't catch those larger browns/brookies 5 days earlier, I wouldn't even think they got that big in that section of Pocono.

Pohopoco - I fished one evening on the Po headwaters. I caught several fallfish and then a small evening hatch came off before dark. I landed a couple of smaller browns on a light cahill. I noticed this section of the PO has grasshoppers and the tall grass is right over top of the stream bank. It reminds me of what a  Montana stream would look like. I think I could do well fishing a hopper/dropper especially on a windy day. Also, I don't know why the PO headwaters don't get above 70 degrees even in this recent heat wave. Tobyhanna creek is almost 80 degrees while the PO is 64-68 in the heat of the day. Spring influence up above along Rt. 115? Something is going on there. Whatever it is, it helps create a good Class A wild brown trout fishery.

I surveyed the Lehigh headwaters this week in the Gouldsboro area. The stream is very tanic and looks like it should hold brookies. It was so hot and I was paranoid of snakes so I didn't venture too far. I'll wait to fall and take the 3 weight with me. I'll be fishing Colorado streams next week and then to Alaska in the beginning of August so I'll get some colder water fly fishing in soon again!

Upper Lehigh

Upper Lehigh

Upper Lehigh

There were hundreds of these blue and black butterfly looking guys fluttering around

Brodhead super hatch - June 6 2013

Rain and drizzle started today at around 230 pm. My wife knew I had that look in my eye so she let me head out fishing! I can't say enough how good fishing is on overcast rainy days. I saw the birds hovering over the stream as I put the Honda in park.  Fish were actively feeding although I didn't know for sure what they were targeting the whole time I fished. Fortunately, that doesn't generally equal a skunking. I expected BWO's like other rainy days. I noticed small BWO's right away (size 18-20). Small BWO's don't normally come out until the early fall or so I thought. Nonetheless, there were caddis of course and as my time on the stream lengthened, a larger mayfly began to emerge and the fish went nuts. I caught a couple of the mayflies and I'm pretty sure they were slate drakes, roughly size 12. I remember slate drakes being pretty active last year on the Brodhead as well.

I brought 6-7 to hand with the below bow being the largest. I didn't take the time to measure it since it was already stressed. The stream is getting warmer and it took me a while to land it. I caught it on a size 18 bh pheasant tail under an adams parachute size 14. I believe that was the first trout I've caught on a dropper and the big bow actually "surfaced" to take my bhpt as it was only 12 inches below the adams. I hooked into an even bigger brown right before I left at 6 pm. I would estimate it went 20 inches while the bow was high teens. The brown got off as I was getting him close to the  net. I was fishing the opposite bank of the stream so I had to deal with current as I landed him. That combined with my drag not seeming to function smoothly prevented me from getting him to the net. Yes, no blame on me! haha. Today consisted of lots of bugs and I saw lots of fish with some real big ones exposing themselves. I wish I could fish every day because I'll be thinking about it tomorrow when I'm work. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for light rain again! Early quits?

Almost looks like a steelhead

Pocono Creek - May 24 2013

Fished the Pocono Creek yesterday in the early afternoon. It was overcast and drizzly with moderate rain at times (perfect for fly fishing). I chose the PC because we received additional rain throughout the night and I thought some of the larger streams may be to dirty (brown water) to effectively catch fish. The PC was slightly off color and it was runner much faster than when I fished it earlier in the month. On the upside is that these conditions produced more and bigger fish. Stealth played little role in catching as well since the water was slightly off color. I fished a smaller olive WB the whole time I fished the creek. I landed around 5 browns but missed several others (10 +). Not sure why I missed so many as typically fishing with a WB has a good catch percentage. The hook was sharp and the fish were big enough to eat it. Hmmmm... Not sure. One of my misses appeared to be a larger brown possibly in the 15-16" range which is a dandy for a wild brown on the stream the size of PC.

I hit up the Brodhead for an hour or so before I went home. There were birds hovering the whole creek and fish were practically jumping. This could only mean one thing.....BWO's........! Yup sure enough, they were everywhere and the fish were taking them. I caught and missed a few more on the BHC and then finally went home. Once again, you've got to love rainy days in the Pocono's for fly fishing!

Pocono Brown

Wild trout under I-80

20 inch Brown Trout Brodhead Creek, May 23rd, 2013

Today was overcast, humid, and had scattered thunderstorms. I took 2 hours off work early hoping to catch a rainy day hatch. I fished from 3-515 pm. I stopped at McMichael's Creek first but it was blown out with coffee stained water and much debris. I thought the Brodhead may be running clearer since it doesn't have the "dirt banks" like on MCC. The BHC was night and day difference from the MCC. The water was clear and running normal. I didn't notice any hatches and I had luck on big streamers a few weeks earlier so I tied on a #6 hares ear slumpbuster. I had a LARGE fish roll out of the water when the streamer hit the water once and I missed a couple of others. I caught a rainbow and smaller brown with a BH olive wooly bugger with a split shot on top of it to get it down. I tried the slumpbuster again before I left hoping that the "Big One" would strike again but it didn't. I started to see a couple of rises so I figured I'd try a dry for a few casts before I left. I decided on a big march brown as I figured they have been hatching the past week or so and the trout were probably keying in on them when they were out. I spotted a recent riser less than a foot from the opposite bank over 2-3 different currents. My first 2 casts failed with drag but my third cast had a nice drift and the riser sucked the MB in. After I set the hook, I could feel the weight but didn't think it was a biggun until it started taking drag. The "Big One" that rolled my streamer looked bigger than this one but who knows. I was lucky to get my hands on him and take a picture as you can see from the excessively bent hook below. No net again today. If I start taking my net, I won't catch any more big trout.....! I've never caught a 20 inch brown in daylight hours before. This took place about 1-2  hours after a thunderstorm rolled through. Maybe the big browns are more confident to rise during daylight (overcast) hours after a storm. I know I'll keep that in the back of my mind during the next Tstorm.

1st 20 incher of the year

Won't be using this fly again!