Pocono Fall fly fishing - Nov 2011

Although I haven't posted much lately, I have been regularly fishing. I have been fishing small native streams the past 2 months. Devil's Hole has been the main stream I've been fishing along with some unnamed streams. At DH, I averaged 5 trout per 2 hour outing. The water temperature was 55 degrees in Oct but today DH was only 44 degrees. I didn't notice any insect activity while fishing DH the past 2 months but all trout were caught on dry flies. I used some rather ugly, size 16, flies that I didn't care if I lost in a high hanging tree. The quality didn't seem to matter nor did the presentation. The most important fact is that the trout don't see you first because the water is crystal clear. The size of trout weren't large but that is what you expect from a small native stream. Below is a pic of one of my catches today. I caught a couple others with even more color but my camera died after taking this pic. Outside air was in the high 30's but my fingers didn't stay cold once the fish started hitting!

Native Pocono Brook Trout - SEP 30 2011

I haven't done much trout fishing the past month due to recent traveling, family vacations, and the annoying high water we've been having. My core 3 Pocono streams have been running at much higher than normal levels since Hurricane Irene hammered us towards the end of August.


I did manage to do some trout fishing in the Black Hills of South Dakota on one of my recent vacations. I fished Castle Creek, near Deerfield Lake. August is prime time for hopper fishing Black Hills streams. The first fish I ever caught on a fly rod was in a Black Hills' stream with a regular hook and a live hopper I caught in the grass. Unfortunately, the eastern side of South Dakota, where I grew up, did not offer much for fly fishing so my fly rod pretty much lay untouched until my move to Pennsylvania. Fortunately for me, my few Black Hills’ hopper fishing experiences in my teenage years stayed with me and helped me look into fly fishing PA streams. I would describe Blacks Hills fly fishing as a mix between big western streams and rivers and small eastern streams. The Black Hills is a mountainous region with elevations up to 7,000 feet but it also has a lot of open prairies. I fished Castle Creek for a couple of hours and hooked into 2 Bows, both on hopper patterns. I "probably" would have landed one of the Bows but my line got caught around a sunken log and I ended up breaking the line. I missed a few other trout that rose to my fly. Castle Creek is very narrow (3-5 ft) with a lot of tall grass along its banks. I was unable to do much casting there other than flip upstream - drift - and then flip again.


Yesterday, I checked my trail camera for deer, bear, turkey's, etc.. Below are a couple of the pictures. No big bucks or bears caught on camera yet but I finally took the time to fish a stream that runs through the property I hunt. My father in law, who owns the property, told me 4-5 years ago that there were native brook trout on the stream but my obsession with fly fishing only started this year so I never bothered. I had seen some "fish" in the stream during previous surveys but I couldn't tell if they were trout or a "chub" like fish. The only rod I had in my trunk yesterday was a 9' 5 weight which is very large for this extremely wooded property. I think a small weight 7’ rod or maybe even a Tenkara rod would work great for this stream. I tied on a #18 royal wulf, snuck close to the stream, hid behind a tree, and started making a couple of casts. On my third cast, I saw a rise so I set the hook. Fish on! I had a smile on my face for at least the next 20 minutes. I didn’t take long to land the small brookie but for their size, they do fight well. As you can see, the colors on it are beautiful! I’m excited to fish this stream again. When the big streams are too high to fish, go find that little mountain stream and start exploring. Now that I know my father in law was right, I’ll be carrying both my bow and fly rod into the woods next time I go hunting.

Native Brook Trout Stream 

Brook Trout

Smaller Bear

2 more years and he'll be ready

Arctic Grayling - Alaska fly fishing on Delta Clearwater River

I just returned from my annual work/fishing trip to Alaska. I spent 3 days fly fishing the Delta Clearwater River outside of Delta Junction, AK.  This is a crystal clear, spring fed river in the Alaska Interior about 90 miles south of Fairbanks. The water temperaure is 34 degrees year round.  Silver Salmon make their run to the river at the beginning of October each year as the Delta is their spawning grounds.

The hatches were plentiful and consistent each day. The first set of sailboats started covering the water surface at around 2 pm and then the rises became consistent until dark. The 3-6 pm timeframe was the most exciting for me. The competition with naturals was strong but there were so many grayling. I took a charter boat up river one day with 2 co-workers. I caught fewer fish up river but the size of the catch was much larger. Each grayling up river measured at least 20 inches whereas I only caught one that close when I fished from shore the other 2 days. I don't know the fly species that hatched each day but they were size 16-18 with a light tan color. I used various dry flies such as a royal wulf, mosquito, adams, tan caddis, BWO, march brown, etc... Each of those flies caught fish with the royal wulf probably being the most successful. The last day I found a hand tied, no name fly, that looked identical to the naturals when I dead drifted it. It worked like a charm. I caught probably 8 grayling on the single fly before its condition became so deterioated that it was no longer usable.


All in all, I estimate that I landed 50-60 grayling from 11 inches to 22 inches. I missed atleast 3 times that many. I fished 3 days for a total of about 20 hours. The action was consistent and fun. Pound for pound, grayling are one of the best fighting fish out there and they take dry flies very well. I highly recommend this fish species to any fly angler that visits Alaska. Grayling can be found near most areas in Alaska.

Shore fishing location - Delta Clearwater River

Local Scenery

Fish On!

One of many Grayling

August 2011 - Trico's on Brodhead Creek

I fished before work on Friday, August 6th from 645-730 am. There were a good amount of trico's fluttering 5-10 feet above the water. I saw the first spinners fall at 711. There were a good amount of spinners drifting along the creek with ocassional trout rises. The spinners were size 20-22. I didn't have a trico fly pattern so I used my smallest BWO (20) and fished it. I had one miss in a little over an hour of fishing. I tied some trico's last night so I plan to go out tomorrow morning if the water clarity clears.

Plenty of trout still in Brodhead Creek - July 31 2011

I thought that the extreme heat we had the past couple of weeks may have killed off a lot of the local Brodhead trout. I had been fishing my trout waters and was only catching bass but last night showed me the trout are still alive and well. At 8:30 last night the trout went nuts! I saw white bellied trout performing acrobatic barrel rolls all around me in the shallows. Fish were jumping and rolling in water 1-2 feet deep. I don't know what they were eating but it didn't really matter because they were agressive. These trout were fat and nice sized. The activity I saw last night was hotter and faster than I've seen all year. It lasted until about 9 pm. I landed 3 trout and missed over a dozen more. I hooked into an additional 2 trout but they got off probably due to my aggressive retrieval. I landed the fish very fast and aggressively in order to have a successful catch and release. All trout took off well after being released. I used a high vizz parachute BWO and then a high vizz parachute light cahill, both size 16. The light cahill was much easier to see in the dim light. It didn't really matter what I presented because I even saw trout eat a duck feather floating. As long as the fly was drifting drag-free, they were hammering it. The insects that I saw were black/tan caddis, mosquitoes, stoneflies, moths, and small very small unknown to me type flies. All insects were small, 16 or smaller. I wasn't expecting much action last night but I was pleasantly surprised. I guess the trout were in survival mode the past few weeks. Hopefully this hot action will continue.

Dog Days of Summer on Pocono Creeks (July 2011)

I've been fishing 1-2 times per week for the past couple of weeks. The summer heat is extreme and it has to be taking a toll on the local trout. We've had record setting, 90 degrees plus, temperatures for a week. Last week I caught some nice Rainbows on a Royal Wulf at dawn. I also fished the following morning without luck. This past week, I fished the evening again on the BHC but only had one bite. Once it became dark, there were insects swarming all around, including some nice sized yellow stoneflies. The river rocks on the banks of the BHC are currently covered with thousands of small nymph shucks. See picture below. I'm not sure what kind of nymphs but there must have been a massive hatch that I missed within the past couple of weeks.

I fished the McMichaels this past Thurs for about an hour. The water levels are down but there are still some nice deep holes. I tried drifting a nymph but the current is almost non-existent in most locations. The "house flies" were so thick and annoying that I didn't fish long. They kept biting me no matter where I went.

Yesterday I took my dog out for a swim on the BHC from 630-800 pm. I took my spinning rod as well and landed a couple of bass, 1 smallmouth and 2 rock bass. That's the first time I caught rock bass on the BHC. Neither were large but they hit the spinner pretty hard. If I would have landed a trout this past week I would have kept it because I'm sure it would have died anyway due to the high creek temperatures.

I'm anxiously waiting for fall to arrive so the trout action can pick up and I can do some salmon fishing in NY.  I'll be in Alaska next month for my annual work/fishing trip and I'll have time to catch some Rainbows and Grayling while there and possibly some Silver Salmon depending on where I fish.

Thousands of these shucks currently cover the BHC rocky banks

July 17, 2011 Brodhead Creek fly fishing report

I fished the evening of July 16th from 815-945 pm and had good luck. I landed three trout, all on a Royal Wulf dry fly, and missed over half dozen more. Two trout were Rainbows in the 14-15 inch range and they were very fat. I was tempted to take one home and clean it to see what it had been eating but I seldom keep my trout and especially not when I get home at 10 o'clock at night. I dead drifted the Royal Wulf in medium paced current. The bites were light and sometimes not even visually noticeable. There wasn't much insect activity but fish still came to a rise when the fly was presented properly.

I fished the morning of July 17th from 7-9 am. Insects were plentiful this morning. I was able to snatch a small caddis, a few spinners, and a small (#18) yellow fly with big buggy eyes. I tried to match each of these flies with flies in my box but I only had one unsuccessful hit the whole morning. I fished dries again but wish I would have drifted some nymphs during my two hour skunking.

Water levels are normal. Fish are still plentiful. Fishermen are scarce. Water temperatures are high but not too critical. I'm not landing multiple fish like I did in March and June but the action is still consistent. The stocked trout are obviously getting smarter as well so an amateur fly fisher like me (2 years) has more difficulty in landing fish as the season extends but that only makes me become better.

July 2, 2011 evening hatch on Brodhead Creek (Trout and Fireworks)

I went back to my proven trout grounds tonight from 8:45-9:30 pm. The fishing wasn't hot but fish were rising and taking. I fished a sulphur with high vizz parachute tonight so I could see the fly in the low light. There weren't any sulphurs out but I feel presentation in the evening is more important than color. I can verify that I don't have any drag when I can see my fly and a high vizz white parachute at night is the easiest to see. I landed 3 browns and missed several others. The bites were light and when I was fishing solely by sound, I had a real hard time hearing the rise before I knew to set the hook. I learned one new trick tonight. Red lights allow enough light to tie on a fly but they don't attract the swarms of mosquitoes.


As the skies got darker tonight, neighborhood firework displays became plentiful. There were various firework displays all around me while I waded ankle deep in the BHC. Great temperature, no wind, clear skies, stars, hungry fish, and fireworks! That can only happen this time of the year and to make things better, no fisherman to compete with.

JUNE 30 on Brodhead Creek

I fished the evening hatch on BHC last evening. Actually there really wasn't an evening hatch. I spotted a couple of sulphurs at 9:05 pm but that was about it. There was not the normal "flies everywhere" scene I've come to expect after the sun goes down. I had one trout on for a few seconds and one miss but that's it! I was fishing next to a couple of experienced locals and they didn't do much better. I fished dries from 8-930 pm. I haven't fished the past 2 weeks but I expected better. I'll try to hit up some of my more traditional hot spots this holiday weekend in hopes that my success will be better.

Father's Day evening hatch on the Brodhead Creek (JUNE 19, 2011)

The fishing has slowed and the only times of the day that are worth spending time on the water are dusk and dawn. The water temperature is high, the flow is normal, and the trout are stressed when caught.  I've had to really take my time when taking the fly out in order to avoid killing them. I am using a 5X tippet so I can almost "horse" them in to avoid long fighting times. The morning's have slowed down for me with dries but the evening is still good. The sulphurs still are coming out at about 9 pm. I caught a nice bass below on a sulphur dry last night along with a few Browns.

Bass caught on sulphur at night

Mosquito breeding grounds

June 11 and 12 on Brodhead Creek, Monroe County, PA

11 JUN - Fished the AM from 630-930. Landed roughly 7 trout and missed several others. There was no BWO hatch but its dry still brought them to the top. There was very little bug activity this morning and most trout were caught in very shallow water (1-2 feet deep). Weather was light rain to a drizzle, overcast, and temperatures in the high 60's to low 70's.

12 JUN - Fished the AM again from 730-900. Fishing was slow. I landed 1 nice Bow and had another trout spit out the fly after being hooked for a few seconds. I caught both trout on a self-tied parachute BWO dry. I tried various other flies without luck since it was so slow. Very little bug activity again this morning. Weather was a drizzle, overcast, and temperatures in the high 60's to low 70's. Spoke with a very experienced fly angler this morning and he mentioned it was uncommonly slow for him too.

I won't be fishing locally for few days because I'll be in Colorado for work. I won't have a lot of time while I’m there but I'll probably bring my fly rod as a carry-on. Some of Colorado's famed rivers are within a 1/2 hour drive of where I'll be.

It's still HOT on the Brodhead Creek - June 6th and 9th

June 6 – The fishing wasn't as hot as the night before but a friend and me still caught several trout from roughly 8-9 pm on the BHC. Sulphurs, hendricksons, tan/black caddis were all out. We caught mostly browns.

June 9 - It has been hot the past couple days with temperatures ranging from mid 80's and higher. I fished before work on this day from 630-830 am. Actually I went to work late because the fish kept biting! There's nothing better than sitting at my desk after a morning fishing session and suddenly getting a whiff of my fishy fingers and remembering the fun I had before work. Best times to fish right now is dusk and dawn and extra care is needed when handling and releasing the trout. I had my first "slow return" this morning from a brown. Fishing this morning was excellent with all trout taken with dry flies. There was small BWO hatch and once I switch to a BWO dry, I started getting many more hits. I landed roughly 6-7 trout and missed over a dozen more this morning. Below are some pictures I took. Enjoy!

 BWO

Spent



Early June 2011 on the Brodhead Creek - Things are HOT HOT HOT!

3 JUN 2011 - Took my son fishing for the first time on Friday (he's 11 months). We fished the BHC for about 45 minutes before his attention turned and until he was no longer hungry for snacks! I didn't bring the fly rod because it was the first time with him. We caught 2 Bows on a rooster tail. He smiled at the fish but didn't seem too interested - YET. We fished in the mid afternoon.

5 JUN 2011 - I fished from 7-930 am on Sunday. Fished BHC. I started using nymphs for about 10 minutes but I kept seeing "risers" so I switched to a dry. There wasn't much bug activity so I'm guessing they were eating emergers but I still managed to catch a few on a tan caddis and PMD. I missed several. I also fished the evening this same day and it was AWSOME!!!! I caught my largest Brown trout ever with  light cahill dry fly at 9 pm. He measured 22 inches and took me about 7-8 minutes to get in. I had tried to rush in another large trout earlier and he broke me off so I was careful with this one. It was too dark to see my fly but I heard him surface so I set the hook and the fun began! I didn't know how big he was until I netted him because it was so dark out. I landed over a dozen other trout that night and missed over twenty. The sulphurs and caddis were out like mad at dawn. You could throw anything light in color out there and successfully catch trout as long as the fly didn’t have drag. I had this whole section to myself. I love to fish this time of year! Of course I didn't have my good camera with me to photo the big brown but I managed a "decent" shot with a cell phone and a flashlight. See below. I'm going out again tonight so hopefully my friend will still be hungry.Something that seemed odd this night was that I normally catch 95% Rainbows in this spot but I caught 95% Browns this night. I'd take a Brown over a Bow any day.

Brodhead Creek (June 1 & 2 2011)

I have fished the BHC the past 2 days. Yesterday I fished from 6-9 pm and today I fished from 2-330 pm. Last evening was much more productive than fishing in the middle of the day today. The BHC water level is near normal with temperatures lately in the 60's and 70's. One of the Rainbows I caught yesterday really took a long time to get going after I took the fly out of its mouth so I'm sure the water temperature was in the 70's. Today was a nice reprieve from the hot weather we've had the past week as it was only in the 70's (outside temperature) today. I don't need to type about my fishing today as it wasn't very productive but I did mountain bike around the State Gamelands where the Delayed Harvest area of Tobyhanna Creek is. I didn't fish it but I located some good spots.

Last night the bugs came alive as they did last year in the evening. Sulphurs, Hendricksons, and other bugs I don't know their names were in the plenty. I used a dry sulphur pattern and Lt. Cahill to hook into a few Bows from about 8-9 pm. I'm sure I could have caught more if I would have stayed into the night. I also caught a couple other Bows on a Hares Ear before the dusk madness took place.

 Yellow Stonefly Nymph?

Spent shuck

My sulphur killer

Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only - Tobyhanna Creek

Mountain Bike on State Gamelands singletrack

5-27-11 (BHC sunburn)

Fishing was fantastic today! I fished from 1030-2pm and I caught several fish and one very bright red sunburn. The water levels are perfect right now and the temperatures are prime. The USGS temperature chart for Tobyhanna Creek recorded a high of 70 degress today so I'm sure the BHC was the same or maybe even higher. I fished a march brown, pheasant tail, and hares ear nymphs today. The march brown was the hottest. I caught mostly Rainbows but I also caught 2 nice Browns. I didn't keep track but I landed roughly 6 trout on flies and about 12 on a rooster tail spinner. I found a section along a bank where I could just cast the rooster tail spinner out and let the current do the work. Trout after trout after trout. I wanted to fish the evening tonight as I'm certain there was some surface activity but I had yard work and Daddy chores to tend to. The weather is suppose to be near 90 for Memorial Day weekend so I'm not sure how much fishing I'll do but hopefully I'll make it out at least 1 evening. Normaly it seems that most anglers quit fishing after Memorial Day weekend. A lot of the local waters don't even have fisherman on the weekends come June which is fine with me. My best fishing memories come from June.

5-20-11 (Exploring by foot and on the Mt. Bike)

Rain. Rain. Rain. Go Away! Last week was gorgeous while this week was awful. It has rained every day this week and today was no different. I just read in the paper that so far this spring is the 4th wettest spring we've had since recordings were taken. We've had over 20 inches of rain this spring thus far in the Pocono's! The local streams are high, murky, and screaming like a little girl.

I helped the PFC stock the BHC yesterday in the rain. It's always useful to see where they stock the fish and see the sizes of the trout. There were some massive Browns that were released. Yesterday they couldn't float stock the whole BHC, due to high water, so they concentrated on "certain" areas for stocking.

I had all day to fish these fresh "stockies" today but I decided to explore and get some exercise rather than fight the current and more than likely end up getting skunked. I rode both sides of the Levee Loop Trail between Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. I give props to these local municipalities, Monroe County Open Space, etc on establishing these much used trails. They have provided a lot of easy access to a once hard to reach stream. I hadn’t explored these sections since the major flooding we had last year. Just like the rest of the BHC, these sections have changed a lot as well. There are some nice areas "off the beaten path" that I saw today that will more than likely hold fish. I tend to fish the same spots time and time again because I know I can catch fish there so I'm trying to expand my fishing grounds. This will also be useful if I decide to fish on a weekend when the angling pressure is higher.

It started to rain again at around noon today so I took a car ride to explore some new sections of the McMichael's Creek. I normally fish around the Stroudsburg (Glenbrook) area but I've always wanted to explore the McMichael's near Sciota. While exploring, I stopped at the Old Mill in Sciota and took a nice hike in the rain. This area of the McMichael's is heavily posted with private property but there are some open fishing spots.

 "A River Runs Through It"

(Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg)

 BHC tributaries are full

 USGS graph showing BHC discharge

 Old Mill Bridge

 Some type of spring flower

 The Old Mill

 McMichael's Creek near Sciota

5-15-11 (Overcast and rainy day on the BHC)

Fished the BHC this afternoon from 430-630. I fished Glen Park and the ball field sections. I popped a nice Bow at the Glen on my third cast with a BHPT and yellow stonefly nymph below it. The bow was caught on the BHPT. I tried the same combo for another hour in various locations. I missed one but that was the only other action. I moved over to the ball field section and tried a BHPT below a hares ear because I lost my last yellow stone nymph on a snag at the Glen. I didn't receive any hits so I tried swinging a wet without luck as well before I tied on a yellow stimulator. I caught a Bow near shore on my second cast and then never had another hit. There were a few tan caddis floating around but that was it. The weather was in the low 60's, overcast, light thunders, and constant drizzle. I thought this would be a perfect scenario to catch large quantities of trout but I was wrong but it was still a beatiful day on the stream, rain and all!

 Glen Park Fog

 More Fog

Local BHC Geese

5-11-11 (BHC Ballpark section)

I fished the BHC  from 3-445 pm. I hooked up with 5 trout and landed 2, both Rainbows. Both bows were caught on a yellow stonefly nymph. I fished it with a BHPT above it. Weather was beautiful again today, with a high of around 75 degrees. The water temperature was appoximately mid 60's today, I'm guessing. I couldn't believe there wasn't anybody else fishing today or yesterday. I hope to get out again this weekend but hopefully it's not too crowded. It's suppose to be overcast on Sunday, which could produce some nice hatches.

5-10-11 (McMichael's Creek) - The trout are finally looking towards the sky!

I fished the DHA of McMichael's Creek today from 4-8 pm. Caught all trout on BHPT's and all trout were Rainbows. There were "somewhat regular" surfaces from 4-7 but no consistencies and there were no visible flies floating or fluttering. I bought a new net so it is hard to catch any flies now because my net is rubber and not netting. At 7, there were small hatches of mayflies and a decent hatch of caddis. I could visibly see the caddis fluttering above the water while laying their eggs during each touch and go. I spent the last hour fishing trying various dry flies but nothing worked. I had two strikes, each on a tan caddis. I don't think I hooked up with any trout on the dries for several reasons. I don't think there were enough flies hatching, I wasn't using the correct flies, and it seemed most trout were concentrated on emergers. Almost every trout caught was hooked when the fly came to the end of its drift and began to "emerge" with a subsequent cast. The weather has been great. The last couple days have been sunny and in the 70’s and I’m guessing the water temperature was near 60 degrees today.

5-5-11 McMichaels Creek - Delayed Harvest Area

I fished the evening hours on the McMichaels Creek - Delayed Harvest Area today. I fished from 6-815 pm in hopes of catching some late evening hatches but unfortunately I didn't. There was a local guide with a client on the creek this evening. He mentioned that he hasn't been seen any surface activity on the McMichaels either due to the water temperature still being in the 50's. Today was sunny but only 60 degrees outside for a high. We received more rain yesterday but the stream's current wasn't too bad. I scouted a couple of new sections of the DHA and managed to land 4 Rainbows. I had one real nice trout on tonight but it got off after a few seconds. It's tough to say how big it was but I imagined it being atleast 17 inches. I tried casting a tan caddis from 8-815 because there was some bug activity and a couple of risers but I couldn't persuade anything to rise. I don't mind nymphing, especially when I can catch fish, but I want to start casting and drifting a dry. The most enjoyable moment for me with fly fishing is when the trout breaks surface and my rod bends and twitches from the trout's head moving immediately after setting the hook. Ahhhh, hopefully mother nature will warm up the streams to the 60's and my dreams can come reality!

Snapshots from tonight:

Rod tip and indicator

Sunlight on boots

Too dark to fish?

4-30-11 (McMichael's Creek)

Michael's Creek Delay Harvest Area

Rainbow Trout

BH Hares Ear & BH Pheasant Tail

Fished the delayed harvest area of McMichael's Creek this morning. I fished from 0800-1130. I landed 9 trout, all which were Rainbows. I hooked into roughly 14 trout. Two spin fisherman near me hooked into some nice 16+ inch Brookies but apparently they were not interested in my nymphs. I used a BH hares ear and BH phesant tail, both size 16 today. All Bows were caught on BHPT. The creek was running fast as we received more rain the past few days. The levels are much higher than normal this time of year. I had a trout surface to my indicator today but I never witnessed any surface to flies, most likely due to the lack of mayflies. I quit fishing right when a "probable hatch" should occur but I thought I'd see a few hatches in the morning hours. Most every riff produced fish today. I  would catch a couple and then move on as the action slowed immensely after taking one to two fish out of a hole. Above is the stream section where Imostly fished today, 1 nicely colored rainbow, and my dual nymph combo setup. Next time I go out fishing, I'm going to try to fish the afternoon or atleast the evening for a better chance of catching a hatch.

4-26-11 (Windy but the BHC current has slowed)

Fished BHC, ball park section, from about 3-6 pm today. I introduced JL to nymph fishing. I hooked 6 but landed only 2 Rainbows today. JL hooked into one right at the end but didn't land it. Not bad for his first time nymphing! We fished the same dual nymph combo as I have been fishing the past week. My normal spot did not produce much today. It was windy and the wind was blowing against the current, which caused some tough casting, drifting, etc...I saw only a couple of mayflies floating around and only 1-2 rises. I still haven't come across a very good hatch this year where I could regularly take fish from the surface. The last trout I took on top was on the McMichaels back in early March when the early stoneflies were fluttering around the water top. I'm hoping to hit up the McMichaels this week. I remember last year about this time, there were numerous rises towards the later part of the day.

Fishing after more rain (4-23-11)

I fished again today from roughly 330-600 pm. I fished the same section of the Brodhead as yesterday. It rained last night and into this morning and we probably received 1/2 inch to 1 inch of rain. The water was screaming even faster today and the clarity was worse. A bright note was that there was a nice BWO hatch going on this afternoon. The first picture below shows one of the several BWO's sitting on the rocks. There were numerous BWO sailboats floating atop the water as well. I saw some fish surface but not as many as you would think with the amount of sailboats floating. I'm guessing the water was a little dirty where they couldn't see the surface very well.

I tried some BWO dries with no avail but since I left my weighters in the car, I couldn't cast real smooth. I was planning on simply nymphing along the banks from shore as I did yesterday. After about 10 minutes of casting the dry BWO, I put on a hares ear and a BH pheasant tail below it. Because of the recent rain, I had to add extra weight and place my indicator higher so I could get my nymphs closer to the bottom. I had roughly 8 hook-ups from 430-6 pm. I landed 3 and lost the rest including a couple flies that a nice Brown broke off. I hooked all the Rainbows on the BH and the 2 Browns on the hares ear. The browns were very nice sized.

 



4-22-11 (Brodhead Creek)

I fished the Brodhead Creek (BHC) section by the new ball field today. This was the first time I've fished the BHC since the huge rains we received last fall and again this spring. The creek has changed immensely! The channels are different. The deep holes are in different locations. Alot of my previous fishing hot spots are washed away. This year will be a year of me re-discovering new fishing grounds. I surveyed the stream for about an hour today (0930-1030) until I finally found a good stretch prime for nymphing. This stretch had current but it wasn't screaming like the rest of the creek. Today was overcast and cold (40-45degrees) so I wasn't anticipating much dry fly action. I kicked some rocks over and found plenty of bugs hugging the bottoms. After examing the bugs, I tied on a hares ear ( maybe size 14) and a beadhead pheasant tail (18) under it. Once I properly placed my indicator at the correct depth, I started popping rainbows. The current was pretty strong so every bow took drag and felt like a monster! I landed 7 bows from 1030-1145, all on the bh pheasant tail. I plan to get out again on Saturday and next week's weather looks beautiful (70's) so my newly tied dry flies may get some action!