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.