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?