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.

Brodhead Creek - Pocono Mountains - 4-20-12

I fished the Brodhead by the ballpark this evening. Dark caddis were coming off in good numbers after 7 pm. I fished until about 8 pm, landed 5 and missed several others. All trout were browns and caught with dries or emergers. Water temperature was mid 60's and flow is obviously very low. Hopefully we get some rain this weekend. There are a ton of fish in the Brodhead right now.

Putah Creek, Northern California, April 16 2012

I fished Putah Creek today in Northern California. It was the closest trout stream where I am working for business currently. I contemplated the 3 hour drive to the Upper Sacramento but I wanted to try the local stream. I scouted the creek on Saturday and talked to one local fisherman. He informed me that Putah creek is  a "four star trout fishery", whatever that means. I do know that Putah is not stocked anymore and there are some incredibly large wild rainbows in there, 30+ inches.

I fished the morning from 1030-130 between pulloffs 2 and 3. I tried nymphing a BHPT, caddis pupa, zebra midge, and a caddis emerger. I didn't get any hits nor did I see many fish. I went back to my hotel room until around 6 and heading back out for the evening hatch and what a hatch it turned out to be! Slowly, yellow stoneflies began to fill the air. There were some other "non eastern flies" that I couldn't identify as well. Once the flies came out, the fish started to show themselves by rising to the stones. I missed roughly 6 and landed 5. None were even close to the monsters I was hoping for but it was fun to catch them and they are my first wild rainbows. Their colors are quite different than the stockies we catch in PA. I caught all the trout on a yellow colored sulphur parachute pattern.

I'm anxious to get back to the Pocono's since I missed yet another trout opener. I have never fished opening day in the 8 years I've lived in PA. Even once I do get the chance, I doubt I would contend with the crowds anyway.

Lake Berryessa Dam



 Lake Berryessa

 Putah Creek

Putah Bow

Putah Bow