2012 Pocono Fly Fishing - Year In Review

2012 was a great year for fly fishing. It will be remembered by me for the fact that I was catching trout on dry flies in early spring (2-3 months sooner than a "normal" year). The early season dry fly fishing was the best I've experienced in my few years of fly fishing. The abnormal warm winter combined with the warm spring accelerated local hatches by a month in some streams. Fishing was great until about July when the warm stream temperatures likely killed off most of the trout in approved waters. Class A and other wild trout streams likely had some kill but I'm sure fared much better than streams such as the Brodhead and lower McMichael's Creeks.

I fished the Lehigh for the first time in 2012. It's a big river that easily intimidated me at first but I loved it and the fact that it is extremely difficult to access numerous areas of the river. Angler presence is minimal due to those factors. A sack lunch, mountain bike, and your fly gear can lead to an amazing day on the Lehigh!

I began to scout new trout streams that I either read about on the internet or heard from somebody else. Small mountain streams that naturally produce brown and brook trout have become a favorite of mine. The size of the trout is generally smaller, but the scenery, the solitude, and the required "stealthiness" far outweigh the fact that I seldom have my drag run on me.

I caught more trout this year than the previous year, likely due to the fact that my techniques are improving. If I had to estimate, I'd say that I fished approximately 75-100 times in 2012 and easily landed more than that many fish. I had days that I got skunked and days that I caught more than a dozen. Fishing is always hit or miss. The great thing about living in the Pocono's is that I don't have to dedicate a full day to fish. I can leave the house and fish the sulfur hatch for 30 minutes each evening and be home in time to help put my son to sleep. I experience many more fishing days when I spend less than 2 hours on the water.

I made my annual trips to Alaska and the Salmon River in NY. Alaska produced some nice grayling again and a couple of pink salmon while the SR produced some hookups with some large king's but no landings. The SR still frustrates me mostly because I haven't found that "technique" yet. It baffles me how some of the local FF'ers there can catch the kings in the mouth time after time.

I want to try steelhead fishing in either the SR or Eerie PA region in the future but I think that 2013 will mostly consist of fishing/scouting more wild streams in the Pocono's. I'm planning a central PA fishing weekend and at least one trip to the WB of the Delaware. I am still many years away, if ever,  from being bored with PA trout fishing.

June fly fishing in and around the Poconos

I haven't posted any fishing reports in over a month but I've still been fishing plenty. Streams I've been hitting the past month are Brodhead, McMichaels, Devils Hole, and Pohocopo.

Early June - The sulphur hatch was decent this year but I think it ended earlier than normal. The temperatures in most of June were great. I don't think the stream temperatures reached over 70 degrees all month long. I timed some good Slate Drake hatches on the BHC in the early-mid June timeframe. Nothing beats watching a big brown gulp a size 12 Slate Drake dun. Light cahills, small BWO's, and dark caddis were also hot flies on the Pocono creeks. I have nymphed some the past month but only maybe around 10% because the dry fly action has been great this year. I fished DHC and landed several nice wild browns, all on dry flies. I was amazed at how much insect activity was on a small mountain stream like that. I don't think fly selection is all that important on small streams that hold small wild/native trout but anything yellow on DHC was dynamite! I saw more bugs up on that stream than I do on the BHC or MCC. Large stoneflies, midges, small mayflies, etc...I even saw trout rise to the naturals. I thought most small mountain streams did not have a good insect population but I was wrong about this creek. I'm surprised that I've never pulled a trout over 10" from there with all that food around.

Late June - Current. - HEAT HEAT HEAT!!! Local freestone streams like the Tobyhanna, BHC, and MCC have had temperatures well over the 70's EVERY day the past 2 weeks. I'm sure a lot of trout have died as a result. It's suppose to cool off finally tomorrow with temperatures in the low 80's for the next week but it will probably be too little too late. We haven't received any rainfall as well during this hot stretch. I fished the BHC one morning about a week ago and the trico's were out. They began falling at around 730 am. Water temperature at 7 am was 65 degrees and by 9 am it was over 70. I fished the tailwater of the Pohocopo Creek on July 4th. Interesting to say the least as I fished in trout water that was in the 50 degree range while the outside air was in the 90's. The tailwater of the PO receives its water from Beltzville Lake and the depth by the dam is over 100 feet deep so the water stays cool. There were tons of fish in this section on the PO and they were surfacing regularly. Unfortunately for me, they were taking tiny midges (26-28) and I didn't have anything small than a 22 but still a great scouting and fishing experience. I'll no doubt be back there again this summer.

Brodhead Creek - May 19 2012

I fished the Brodhead this morning from 7-9. I missed 3 and landed 1 brown on a BH yellow stonefly nymph. The water clarity is pretty normal now and flows are just a little above normal. There wasn't much insect activity other than some caddis and midges. I didn't see any trout surface. The water temperature was only mid 50's though due to last night's low temperatures so the trout will probably start surfacing around mid day today. Below is a pic of the numerous shucks on the bank. They are very large in size (10?) so I'm guessing the are yellow stones. Hope to make it out again tonight!

Sulphurs and March Browns on Brodhead Creek

I caught my first Sulphur and March Brown hatches this year. It seems to be a little early from previous years.

May 8 - It rained most of the day but it wasn't a heavy rain. I fished the BHC from 415-530. As soon as I hit the creek, I saw birds hovering over the water so I knew I timed a hatch. I expected BWO's due to the overcast and rainy day but there were large (10-12) March Browns hatching. I matched the hatch with a dry and caught 5 browns.

May 9 - I fished the evening hatch from 7-840. There were sulphurs regularly coming off at 8. There weren't as many rises based on the number of insects out. This was most likely due to the cloudy water from yesterdays day long rain. I landed 2 browns and missed a couple of others. The water level is up but it will probably be clear again by tomorrow.

Match the Hatch - Brodhead Creek

I fished Saturday morning, May 5th on the BHC with “JL”. I got to the creek at 6 am and fished until 10 am. The fish started actively feeding at 7 and then a very large and long BWO hatch began. BWO's were 16's. The trout were taking duns off the water surface regularly until the hatch died down at around 930. I felt fortunate to time this hatch well but it was one of the most frustrating 4 hours of my life. I never landed a single fish and only had about 3 hits. I tried multiple colors, sizes, and stages of BWO's without luck. I've heard that when trout have a large amount of naturals to choose from, they can be very picky. I think that was the case on Sat morning. Fun but very frustrating morning on the creek.

Big browns on Brodhead Creek, Stroudsburg, PA

Fished BHC again this morning. Great action with big browns! Biggest browns were 19 1/2" and 16". Both are shown below. I caught them both on a beadhead yellow stonefly. I landed roughly 8 trout from 9-1130 with 9-1030 being the hottest. Most were browns but I did catch 2 brook trout as well. The PA fish commission website doesn't show that they stock brook trout. There was a decent BWO hatch. They were larger in size than what I've been seeing. They were roughly 16-18's. Successful flies used were bh yellow stonefly, bh hares ear, parachute BWO, and black caddis emerger.

Brodhead Creek, Stroudsburg, PA - May 3 2012

Fished the Brodhead today from 3-6 pm. Did well from 3-430 and then the fish shut down. Landed 6 browns and 1 bow. I used the same fly (black X-caddis) for every trout. I spotted a few mayflies but there weren't enough for me to snag a sample. I caught most of the fish in shallow riffles. Water temp was 60 degrees. There are still tons of fish in the BHC.