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