Recent News and Happenings at Four Season Fly Fishing Guide Service
***UPDATE FOR 1/24/12***
I watch the weather during the months of January and February for an extended warming period and then make plans to fish steelhead in the Erie area. I call or email one of my fishing buddies in that area to double check that fishing is a possibility with some open water available. The following is an overview of such a recent contact.
This information was provided by one of those fishing acquaintances that log a respectable number of winter hours fishing for steelhead on 20 Mile, Elk and Walnut Creeks. He notes that until yesterday (January 13, 2012) the tributaries were all open and running freely. They had some snow but it all melted and fishing has been good. That particular Thursday night the cold front came through and the temperature dropped from 43 to 17 degrees over night and it started snowing. It snowed all night and all the following day. He said the slush was so thick on Elk Creek that the water was the consistency of a Slushy. He decided to go to the mouth of Walnut Creek, which was a little better, and managed to catch one starving fish. This was no small miracle since both his egg and nymph dropper were little ice cubes. His line, leader and indicator were of course coated with ice. The temp was 21. He normally does not go fishing when it is 20 degrees or colder. Hey, 21 degrees, well that's doable. He did not have any digital photos to send me but his description of the recent fishing event is more than ample. It is supposed to reach 40 degrees this week in the Erie area and if it does the streams may open for a day or two and you can bet that he will be out there steelhead fishing.
Just a quick note on flies that he has been having success with recently on the steelhead tributaries. The purple fly, as noted in a previous update, is holding it's own and it now has a companion fly in blue. According to my fishing buddy, all this proves almost nothing except that steelhead do not have very discriminating taste. Another fishing buddy of mine notes that almost all trout that he has caught on blue eggs have been rainbows/steelhead. Thinking back to his spin fishing days, he used to do well with silver Fjord or Little Cleo spoons with a blue stripe along the margin. He doesn't remember any other trout species going wild over blue. He also points out that two theories are at work here:
1) Rainbow trout like blue. 2) Show the fish something they have not seen before.
Another fishing buddy, who lives in Virginia, says his steelhead fishing is pretty much over until the spring run begins. However, he was having success in December with a pattern found on one of the Erie websites. It is a simple tie and was successful. Basically it has a brown biot tail, Hare's Ear dubbing and a brass, gold, or pearlescent bead. He ties it on a TMC 2457 hook in sizes 12, 14 and 16. Oh, to tie the blue fly mentioned above, wrap purple chenille around a scud hook and tie in a collar of blue palmer chenille, usually one turn does it. Sometimes a glass bead (white or dark) is added, sometimes not. You can use dubbing instead of chenille.
There is definitely winter fishing to be had for the hearty individual. The weather in the Cumberland Valley area hasn't been overly prohibitive when it comes to fishing. However, if your winter fishing plans include a trip to the Erie tributaries for steelhead fishing, do your homework ahead of time because the weather in that area can be brutal.
***UPDATE FOR 12/29/11***
The combination deer hunting/steelhead fishing trip to the Erie area the second week of December was interesting. First, my fishing buddy from that area had an outstanding day of steelhead fishing using a nickel Cyclops style bead on a size 16 hook dubbed with purple Antron. Nothing fancy, but productive. He dropped a small Glo Bug, which is usually successful, off of the purple fly but it was the purple fly that received the action. However, all the action was the day prior to my arrival. The next day on 20 Mile Creek, after his better than average day (you know the saying, you should have been here yesterday!), I caught and released a few steelhead on the Royce Shiner. See Fly of the Week Number 64. My fishing buddy also caught steelhead on the Royce Shiner, but only one on the purple nymph. A weather front was moving into the area and that condition may have altered the steelhead activity. I wanted to end the day deer hunting during the regular season in New York. So after steelhead fishing from about 10:30 to 2:30, I returned to camp, as the clouds gathered. The drive from 20 Mile Creek to camp was a short one. The weather front hit about an hour later as I was in a tree stand overlooking the edge of a forested thicket with some scattered wet lands and watching two bucks approach. The snowflakes were quarter size, and even at the age of 68, I gazed nostalgiclly as the large flakes drifted down. It conjured up images of the upcoming Christmas season in my mind. The bucks moved slowly in my direction and separated well within shooting range with the smaller of the two (antler wise) stepping into a small clearing. Visibility was lessening and the larger buck seemed to be content foraging for crabapples on the forest floor. Besides, the under story between the canopy and forest floor was more or less a netting cover of various size limbs that presented a dicey shot. Decision time! I brought the rifle up, finding the heart and confidently pulled the trigger. The four point buck (NY has no point restriction system) dropped immediately in the little clearing. Now the work began as I field dressed the critter and hauled it to camp. Processing of the deer would take place after returning home. I now had two solid days to concentrate on steelhead fishing with a fellow worker who is also retired.
Bruce and I were PA State Park Managers for a total of 77combined years of service. I retired before Bruce and now that he has retired, fly fishing is steadily becoming a passion with him. Bruce was one of the lucky ones that took the fly fishing course offered by Penn State University and taught by none other than George Harvey. Harvesting the buck mentioned above now allowed more time to fish the next day when Bruce was scheduled to arrive. We met in the PFBC parking lot off of Route 5 at 20 Mile Creek at 10:00 AM. The lake front snow storm had dropped the morning temperature to 15 degrees F. with only a few inches of snow close to the lake. A few steelhead were in the stream from the Route 5 bridge down to the lake so we drove to the parking access on upper Middle Road. The snow mixed with ice on the trail leading into the gulf made footing treacherous and several times we slipped on our way to 20 Mile Creek. I mention the difficulty that can be encountered when steelhead fishing in December and later months because of the weather, so use good judgment when planning a trip because some of the access areas can be challenging. Bruce caught a good size steelhead while learning a section of 20 Mile Creek for future fishing trips and as I took several digital photos of the event, Bruce was looking proud. While on the job as a state park manager, Bruce has always been exceptionally willing to take on new assignments as an opportunity for growth and I could see that same approach/commitment as he broadened his fly fishing skills.
So let's fast forward to the end of the day and our climb out of the gulf to the access point where we left our vehicles. We were unprepared for the gut wrenching sight we were to encounter that does not promote harmony and teamwork toward anglers and landowners. It was after dark when we arrived at our vehicles and only one of the nine other vehicles that was present when we first arrived earlier in the day was still there. The other vehicle was a pickup truck parked about thirty yards or so from us. I paid no attention to the two individuals that moved about the vehicle because it was cold and I wanted to get my wading shoes off my feet before the laces froze. Those of you that have fished for steelhead in the winter know that upon leaving the water in subfreezing weather, wet wading shoelaces can freeze in a hurry. On occasion, I have spent time with my wading shoes on in front of the vehicle heater thawing out the laces. While removing my wading shoes and putting other fishing gear away, the pickup truck in front of my truck pulled away from the road berm parking. Bruce and I planned to meet here in the morning for fishing. I got into my pickup and as I put on my headlights, I noticed a pile of steelhead remains where the previous pickup truck had been parked. Unbelievable! The general regulations noted in the Pennsylvania Fishing Summary regarding field dressing and disposal of fish is specific and leaving fish remains on the side of the road, which happened to be at a farmer's field, is illegal. The next morning Bruce and I collected and properly disposed of the steelhead carcasses and parts thereof. I mention this because many good access areas are being closed to fisherman by landowners for this very reason. There are unfortunately those individuals out there who call themselves sportsmen but have no respect or regard for others.
***UPDATE FOR 12/13/11***
On the return trip home from a multiple day deer hunting adventure at our family cabin in the Moshannon State Forest near Snowshoe, PA, my plans were to fish the recently opened Spring Creek Canyon Cooperative Management Area near State College. Spring Creek is known as one of the best wild brown trout streams in Pennsylvania. Typical of other limestone waters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, limestone springs keep the water cool in the warmer months and warmer in the colder months. Big plus for those fly fishers that fish four seasons like I do. If you want to experience unique fly fishing in the winter, visit one of the many limestone streams that offer a special regulation catch and release section. For more information visit www.fishandboat.com. Spring Creek is listed as a Class A Wild Trout Water and, as expected, the trout caught (if you are knowledgeable and perhaps lucky) are WILD! The bend in the fly rod and reluctance of the critter on the end of the fly line to come to hand will attest to just how feisty these wild trout tend to be. Between the Catch and Release-Fly-Fishing Only, and Catch and Release-All Tackle Areas, one can fish approximately 17.3 miles of prime wild trout water on Spring Creek.
So, how did the Canyon area open to general public access? Visit www.SpringCreekCanyon.com for interesting reading and splendid photographs. Importantly, the end result of the acquisition and partnership of the ~1,827 acres is the protection of the land and water from development and the valuable access for public passive recreation such as hiking, biking, jogging, even cross country skiing when it snows. Somehow the fly fishing activity remains one of my favorite "passive" recreational activities. Although, at times I return to my vehicle a sweat ball or in the colder months frozen to the core. So much for passive recreation! Add the benefits of conservation and environmental education that the area offers and it is a huge win-win package for the public.
When I arrived at the parking lot and trail entrance to the Canyon area and was preparing for a morning of fishing, a fly fisher pulled in next to my vehicle. We exchanged the necessary pleasantries and I could tell he was not in a hurry to fish. He was retired and fished Spring Creek several days a week. Also, he was knowledgeable of the Canyon area. He felt the newly opened area spread out the anglers and that was a huge benefit. What surprised me was that he concentrated on fishing the water immediately downstream of the Benner Spring Fish Hatchery area and rarely ventured into the Canyon. His theory was the larger fish were nearer the hatchery thus reaping the benefit of nutrients that exited the hatchery. He was a trophy fly fisher and the catching and releasing of large trout was his game. The other hatchery on Spring Creek at Fisherman's Paradise provided similar opportunities for large fish. However, he stated that having the large fish nearer the hatcheries was short lived because the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) made major renovations in the past year or so to both hatcheries. According to PFBC information, micro-screen filtration systems and water re-circulation systems were installed to lessen or prevent effluent water from leaving the hatcheries and entering Spring Creek. This will result in improved water quality in Spring Creek, end welfare for a few big trout and support an even better wild trout population. The hatcheries are operating under restrictions in the poundage of trout they produce because of the pollution they were causing. These changes should allow the PFBC to produce more and larger trout for stocking. We parted company as I headed downstream to check out some of the water that I had not before fished. It was difficult passing some of my favorite spots that I had fished for many years but new territory was beckoning. The image of fishing water that was not open to the general public since about 1912, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania started purchasing land surrounding Spring Creek, was foremost in my mind. As the first cast lightly settled on the water, and the tandem offering of Mini Money Flies slowly descended into the milky colored water, I thought, "Good job all you cooperative management folks". Now it was time to catch a few Canyon Wild Trout!
***UPDATE FOR 11/2/11***
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) parking lot at Twenty Mile Creek near the Route 5 Bridge was near parking capacity when I arrived. A quick read told me that the steelhead were in the tributary from the mouth of Lake Erie to the Route 5 Bridge. Why? Because on my drive to the PFBC parking lot, no cars were parked along Middle Road that parallels portions of Twenty Mile Creek from Route 5 to Route 20. It looked like the same ol' same ol' as past years in early October…..too many anglers and not enough steelhead upstream to spread the fishing pressure. I left the area and went back to camp to prepare for the upcoming New York archery season. Fortunately, the drive was only eight miles to reach camp. The next day I met a fishing buddy that lives in the Erie area and he suggested we venture upstream from the parking lot at Twenty Mile Creek. It turned out that his game plan was a winner as several pods of steelhead had moved higher up stream that evening and night. We were below the I-90 Bridge and the fishing was exceptional. Now, let me make this clear that the area we were fishing required physical stamina to access the stream. Thousands of years of erosion created cliffs over 200 hundred feet high and access to the stream is limited due to the posting of property and, when not posted, swales that can tear the best quality waders while the angler is stumbling and hand picking his way to the stream. Waders intact, we reached the stream and were greeted with a pod of steelhead in the first pool. See Fly of the Week for the fly that provided the Catch and Release for a dozen or more steelhead. The Eyebrow Streamer #59 and Emerald Shiner #49 also contributed to the number of steelhead caught and released.
***UPDATE FOR 7/12/11***
A wetter than normal spring set records in April and May. The combined total of 14.8 inches of precipitation in April and May sent the majority of our trout streams into flood or bank top conditions. This unfortunate condition not only hit the Cumberland Valley but the many sections of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Needless to say, streams like Penns Creek, Pine Creek, Spring Creek and Yellow Creek ran high keeping anglers off the waters and raising havoc with the bugs that inhabit the creek bottoms. The Hendricksons and Grannoms that appeared in late March and early April did hit a brief window of opportunity to hatch as the big rain event in March was the 10th and 11th and the second big rain event in April was the 16th and 17th. The rain event in April deposited 5 inches of rain in a 24 hour period that resulted in the third highest water level (14.75 feet, registered at the USGS Camp Hill gage) in the Yellow Breeches since Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. The mid point between the two major flood events saw the Yellow Breeches at a tolerable wading level and the appearance of the Hendrickson and Grannom roll over hatches. Good stuff, since many fly fishers were eager to return to the waters. However, as mentioned above, the record precipitation and resulting near bank top water limited the opportunity to fish and, most importantly, may have had a drastic impact on follow up hatches such as the Caddis and Sulphurs and the upcoming Hexagenia and White Fly, due to severe stream bottom scouring. The spring of 2011 was not your normal break away from the winter blues to get outdoors fly fishing. The fly fishers were daunted and so were the macro-invertebrates that trout feed upon under normal spring conditions.
One hatch that appeared in good numbers after the devastating rain events was the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun. Some of the common names fly fishers apply to this bug are Blue Dun, Blue Quill (probably the most common), Summer Quill and Iron Blue Dun. The second hatch, the Cornuta, a species of the Blue-Winged Olive, also appeared in good numbers on Penns Creek and I was told the Little Juniata River. First, let's look at the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun, examine its positive values to the fly fishers and try to bump this bug up a notch or two on the fly fishing hatch charts. I'll cover the Cornuta in a follow-up website update.
The first question asked of me is what color is mahogany? The abdomen and thorax color of the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun resembles dark-colored hardwood. More specifically, check your house, a friend or a relative's house, for instance your grandparents, for mahogany furniture and you will grasp the color of the small, size 18-20 dun insect. As with genuine mahogany hardwood, the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun is a quality insect that is worth your effort to duplicate and fish with them. The Slate Winged Mahogany Dun is slightly larger than the Trico and can be found on many streams from May to September. However, unlike the Trico that appears at first light and vanishes about mid morning, the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun can be seen undulating in a near straight up and down line from about 10:30 AM to noon and then again toward evening. These spinners are the result of emergence that took place a few days prior. I have followed the Mahogany Dun action on streams like Yellow Creek and the Yellow Breeches and even on a medium size freestone stream high on a plateau many miles west of State College. I have been frustrated with the airborne critters as they lower to the water's surface and only a few trout seem to notice when they finally spin out. Another frustrating factor occurs with the spinners. Depending on the air temperature which varies from May to September, the spinners may spin out any time from about noon to early evening. May, June and early July the spinners can be seen just prior to noon and again in the evening. Hot Summer temperatures downgrade the spinner appearances to the evening, while the Fall temperatures bump up the appearances from late morning to late afternoon. The spinner fall usually occurs over riffles, pocket water and heads of pools. I now concentrate on subsurface fishing when the emergers are active from about 9:00 AM to about noon. I have observed that one section of a popular spot on Yellow Creek has a combo of vegetation cover and backwater which is particularly difficult to fish subsurface or surface because of the fast flowing currents that are jettisoned from a thirty foot narrow chute formed by a high ledge on one side and large boulders on the opposite side. No easy midstream, minimal current hatching for these bugs! Why is the spot popular? Because the water softens about half way through the 200 foot glide and fish tend to stack awaiting the arrival of food. Now let's look at the tough spot in this popular glide that the majority of fly fishers shun. A good portion of the food does not reach the stacked fish because of the recycling effect in the backwater, therefore those fish that work the backwater eat hearty and those fly fishers that are very good at casting a distance and mending fly lines over several current speeds do well. The rest of us watch our lines go sweeping by, dragging the fly in tow, counter-acting what any sane trout would recognize as potential food. Remember, fishing to the emerging duns is best done with a dead-drift slightly below or in the surface film. See Fly of the Week for the emerger pattern. Overall, these bugs tend to prefer fast water for hatching and then later, they lay their eggs over fast water. So tuck this information away for future reference and perhaps you will be successful fishing the Slate Winged Mahogany Dun hatch.
***UPDATE FOR 4/28/11***
The harbinger of spring hatches arrived on March 26 in the Cumberland Valley, specifically on the Yellow Breeches. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was completing a carpentry project in the house. On one of my trips out to the garage to get materials, I heard a fish splash the surface in the nearby Yellow Breeches Creek. I tried to ignore the surface disturbance because I wanted to complete the home improvement project. But, on the way back to the house, I heard another splash. This one got my attention and I ventured to the nearby water. After a few minutes another fish splashed the surface and I saw the reason for these water disturbances ……Hendricksons floating high on the water surface! I immediately placed the home improvement project on hold and slipped into my waders. One of the benefits of living close to the stream is the ability to drop what one is doing at the house and go fishing when it is warranted. I often think what a great fly fishing clubhouse location this property would make for a group of flyfishers that want to get away from the corporate world and have easy access to great fishing on the renowned Yellow Breeches.
Previously, I sorted my spring hatch flies into several fly boxes and knew exactly which fly box to put in the chest pack. The Hendrickson fly which is number 15 and the Red Quill, number 17, are on the Fly of the Week link of this website. Both caught fish when the appropriate Hendrickson (female) or Red Quill (male) flies were used. But it was the March Brown Flymph, number 42, that provided consistent results. The flymph was fished on the surface when a fish was observed taking duns and when the surface action was dormant the flymph pulled under the water produced good results. If you have been following my updates, you know the March Brown Flymph has been productive for me on Pine Creek in the Slate Run area for the last two years. Interesting that the flymph works well on large mayfly bugs in late March and early April. And like the Money Fly, number 54, the Flymph is another Cover it All (CIA) fly that catches fish whenever mayfly hatches are on. I called the local fly shop to pass on the good news of the appearance of the Hendricksons. However, the cold and then cool weather slowed the Hendrickson hatches and as a result, every three to four days, the hatch appeared in mid afternoon and lasted to about 5:00 PM. Then on April 2, the Grannoms appeared mid morning and increased in numbers with fish aggressively taking them off the surface. Mid afternoon the rollover hatch phenomenon of Hendricksons and Grannoms combined to drive the trout into a feeding frenzy. Gratefully I was in the middle of the rollover hatch activity and showed great poise under pressure, adjusting promptly and calmly to the change. I remained in solid control and caught fish. Talk about demonstrating coolness under stress! The rollover hatch continued to April 15th when a huge rain event blitzed the Cumberland Valley with five plus inches of rain in a short period of time sending the Yellow Breeches into the highest level that I have seen in the past seventeen years that Gayle and I have lived here. Results………another 21 inches of water in the lower level of our house. Fortunately, we had been through floods before and have a system of recovery in place that puts us back in control of our life style in a matter of days. The rains continued on and off for the next week and the Yellow Breeches remained in a condition of over the top or at the top of the bank hampering any fishing attempts. The Hendricksons and Grannoms simply made their departure for the season with out undue harassment.
Now, back to the fishing prior to the disruptive high water. The flymph and Hendrickson are well documented on the Fly of the Week link but the Grannom needs an update. I will not go into the life cycle of the Grannom caddis but will relate to you what Grannom fly patterns worked for me. The Grannom flies that I used with satisfying results were the Emerger, Adult and Egg Laying Versions. The adult Grannom, number 16, is straight forward, meaning see the splash and place the adult fly pattern nearby and the result is usually a hookup. The Emerger and Egg Layer fly patterns offer more of a challenge and thus get my vote for exciting spring fishing. See Fly of the Week for details. Looking forward to seeing you on the stream!
***UPDATE FOR 10/11/10***
The 10 day weather forecast called for several days of significant rain and then intermittent showers in the Erie area. The significant rain was received and showers were to follow on the days our CVTU Chapter members would be fishing for steelhead. The stage was set for some good fishing, so we thought. The significant rain permitted the steelhead that had been bumping at the shale barrier dams, formed at the mouth of the tributaries, from Lake Erie wave action, to move upstream into the tributaries. Anxious steelhead fishers look for a major rain event in early October to send sufficient water down the tributaries to break through the shale dam obstacles that prevent steelhead from entering the tributaries for their journey upstream for spawning purposes. That event was unfolding with help from a tropical storm off the east coast. We were on our way to Erie!
The plan was to arrive the Quality Inn located at 6467 Sterrettania Drive, Fairview, PA (814.838.7647) at 1:00 PM, check in, have lunch and go fishing. We would fish the nearby Elk Creek the remainder of the day and the following day, fish the Mile Creeks on the East side of Erie. Upon our arrival at the Quality Inn we learned that Elk Creek, the largest of the Lake Erie tributaries in the Erie area, was up and off-color. However, we learned (cell phones have improved the communication amongst fishers) that Twelve Mile Creek, Sixteen Mile Creek and Twenty Mile Creek were in better shape and decided to forgo fishing Elk Creek and fish the Mile Creeks on the East side of Erie. The showers forecast for that day turned into a steady rain, heavy at times, and the water levels at Sixteen Mile and Twenty Mile Creeks were on the rise. Our group of ten fishers split into two groups with Tony Dranzo directing one group and me directing the other group. Tony’s group fished Sixteen Mile Creek below the Freeport Restaurant near Route 5 and then moved on to Twenty Mile Creek. My group remained on the middle stretch of Sixteen Mile Creek between the Freeport Restaurant and the Three Falls area. The visibility into the water was becoming poorer as the afternoon unfolded. The rain continued to come down hard.
Jim Ritter of my group was the first to hook into a steelhead. Pictures were taken and the steelhead released. Phil Snyder then hooked in to a steelhead and during the maddening dash, the steelhead managed to free itself from the wooly bugger. Examination of the tippet material showed the pig tailed curl of a knot that failed. Sorry Phil, but we have all experienced that fate at one time or another while fishing. It happens to all of us! I eased into the water and was fishing between Phil and Jim when a steelhead took my wooly bugger with gusto and the fight was on! The steelhead tore downstream came up and thrashed the surface within reaching distance of Jim Ritter. Unfortunately during the foray in front of Jim, the hook released from the fish’s mouth. Jim with his raincoat hood up yelled to me through the falling rain that the steelhead was a dandy.
Later, Bob Thompson and I went upstream to fish a good pool near the falls. We waded a good distance before we could cross to the other side. Fishing this particular pool is best from that side. The crossing was difficult, and I mentioned to Bob that I would keep an eye on the rising water level because the walk back to the truck would be a couple of miles with a steep uphill climb to Route 5 if we were unable to re-cross the creek. Twenty minutes later with the on going late evening downpour, the creek level marker I was observing disappeared. I shouted to Bob that we need to go as the water level was becoming a serious issue. We attempted to cross the creek at the same spot we crossed earlier, but the rush of water over the shale bottom would have swept our feet out from under us if we ventured much further out into the creek. We decided to pick our way downstream on the left bank. About a hundred or so yards downstream I knew of a possible crossing that did not have the usual V bottom slate washout. Carefully we angled out into the water and with the aid of our wading staffs, slowly made our way across the roaring tabletop rush of water. Bob and I have been caught up in several dubious wading situations in the past and we pride ourselves on our ability to adjust promptly and calmly to unexpected potentially volatile situations. Remember, safety is paramount when on the water so do not over reach your wading self confidence.
Later that evening we watched the Weather Channel and saw the radar images of the storm event that had stalled over the area from Cleveland through Buffalo. Erie was about centered in the stalled storm and projections were for one to two more days of rain because of lack of winds to move the storm out of our fishing area. The consensus of the group was to go home since the creeks were unfishable, and to formulate plans for a return steelhead fishing trip in November. On the way home, I kept thinking about the excellent steelhead fishing that would be present when the tributaries returned to fishable levels. The steelhead would be higher in the tributaries and the anglers would have more fishable waters, thus lessening the fishing pressure. A win-win situation for the steelhead fishers. I have to add that in spite of the streams being in a nearly unfishable condition, our group still caught fish and large ones at that. Upon returning home, I was lamenting to Gayle just how good that trip should have been and she reminded me that, unfortunately, the weather is not something we can control. I guess we all need to remember this and realize, that no matter how carefully we plan, Mother Nature has the last say!
***UPDATE FOR 8/17/10***
I was asked by CVTU Program Coordinator, Tom Baltz, to put together a program for the monthly Membership meeting of our TU Chapter. The meeting month for the program was July, so naturally the program subject would be Tricorythodes or as commonly referred to as Tricos. I would prepare a Power Point program as an electronic "show and tell" and Ken Okorn, who has training in the field of aquatic biology, would assist in the program section regarding Trico hatch habits. Clark Hall and Jerry Kerstetter, both talented fly tiers, would then demonstrate the tying of Trico fly patterns that have proven effective for them, not only on the Yellow Breeches, but also on other waters that feature a good Trico hatch. I was excited about the upcoming Membership meeting and felt we were putting together a very interesting and informative program. Then two days before the event, my PC crashed along with my Power Point program! I thought the recently completed Trico Power Point program to be one of the better programs that I had assembled. Combined with the loss of other documents and pictures, the PC crash was akin to a shipwreck. The program went on as scheduled without the Trico Power Point. Ken and I presented the narrative portion and Clark and Jerry did the fly tying portion. Following are the highlights from the narrative portion of that program.
Trico on the Yellow Breeches appear in good numbers from late June through early November when the first heavy frost of the fall occurs. Tricos have appeared as early as May on the Yellow Breeches but trout do not seem interested in them at that time. The best fishing is usually from mid July to early September. That time frame may vary according to weather conditions. For example the blowtorch type weather that was experienced in the Cumberland Valley this summer has reduced the number of Tricos in August. The Yellow Breeches water temperatures have gone up a degree or two and might have contributed to the recent decline in Trico numbers. Tricos need cool streams and good but not great water quality to flourish. They seem to do best in cool, fertile streams with a slightly silty substrate. What other mayfly hatch offers 120 plus days of consistent dry fly fishing opportunity!
One of my points at the CVTU Members Meeting emphasized the advantage of being the first fly fisher on the water in the morning. If that was not possible, then definitely, be the second. Trico fishing is a morning event. In June and July, first light to mid morning are the action hours. Arrive well after first light and the best fishing spots are usually occupied, so get there early. Watching others catch trout after trout in the best feeding lanes is not a pleasant way to spend the morning. As the Trico season progresses into late July and early August, the trout become more active about 7:00 a.m. Remember first light gradually occurs later, hour wise, as late summer and fall approach.
The question is often asked if the size of Tricos vary during the summer? The naturals may not vary in size but the fly you present needs to do just that. Early on in late June and early July, a size 22 and size 24 hand tied Trico fly will be accepted by the trout. Why? Because trout are focused on the naturals and feed voraciously. Your oversized fly is readily accepted because the fishing pressure has not been overwhelming. Also, the slightly larger version of the natural bug is easier to see and this results in the fly fisher's increased confidence, thus more fish are caught and released. As the trout are caught and released (a good practice where ever you fish) and the fishing pressure mounts, they become aware of size, along with presentation and fly tying quality.Hopefully by now, the fly fisher has the confidence to downsize the fly, otherwise it is going to be a limited or fishless morning. Mid August is the time for the size 26 fly that better resembles the natural's size. However, presentation remains paramount. I remember the first trip Gayle and I took to Montana (September, 2003) and while fishing the Big Horn one early morning, we discovered a carpet of Tricos in the area we were fishing. Retrieving a few naturals from the water's surface, we realized that our Trico flies that we used back East were too small. The naturals were a size 20 and in some cases, a size 18. That evening at Fort Smith, MT we tied flies to match the naturals and were on the water the following morning at first light. Our success that morning reflected paying attention to the size of the naturals on the Big Horn and tying the appropriate size flies.
Why do Tricos provide 120 plus days of mayfly fishing? Are Tricos multi brooded? Ken Okorn covered these items in his part of the program to the CVTU Members. He cited the following. There is contradictory information from various sources on the specifics of the life cycle of Tricos. We compared that information with our own observations and the observations of other fly fishers and biologists. The staff of the Little Lehigh fly shop is particularly knowledgable, having done detailed observations on their Tricos. Some references state that Tricos are multi-brooded. This term is generally used to describe those insects that produce more than one generation in a 12 month period, such as some species of Baetis and Isonychia. We were unable to document that this occurs with Tricos. Those other species generally have a distinct interval between broods, while the Trico emerges continuously for three to four months. We must keep in perspective that none of this matters when it comes to actually catching trout.
There is general agreement on the basic life cycle of Tricos. Male Trico duns emerge overnight and do not provide much of an opportunity for fly fishers. They probably molt into spinners in streamside vegetation. Females emerge at, or shortly after, first light and fly to streamside vegetation to molt into spinners. Male spinners form swarms over the water, or sometimes over land near the stream bank, often in sheltered areas. They are then joined by the females. After mating, the male spinners fall spent on the water. It is believed that the females briefly return to the streamside vegetation to provide an opportunity for the fertilized eggs to "ripen". The females then return to the stream to deposit their greenish egg masses. After egglaying, the female spinners fall spent. All of this takes place relatively early in the day. Tricos are small, dark bodied, and spend a lot of time in the air. This combination would result in dehydration if the cycle extended into the heat of the day.
The daily Trico cycle can be broken down into four major fishable events:
1. Emergence of the female duns in the early morning. They have olive or green abdomens at this time. The emergence generally occurs later in the morning as the summer progresses.
2. The male spinners form a swarm, and, they are soon joined by the females. After mating, the male spinners drop to the water, and the females briefly return to streamside vegetation. The male spinner fall is often the major fishable event of the day.
3. The females return from streamside vegetation, lay eggs, then fall spent. Once the egglaying is complete, the abdomen is white in color.
4. The spinners float for a while then eventually sink. Once the fish have stopped rising, good fishing is often still available by fishing a subsurface Trico pattern. Charlie Meck has written extensively about this often overlooked opportunity.
It is important to note that the above fishable events often overlap. One of the challenges of fishing Tricos is determining which stage the fish are feeding on at the time. There is also contradictory information on how Tricos emerge. Some references state that they emerge in the manner of most mayflies, struggling from the shuck on the surface. Others say that they become duns under water, coming to the surface as fully formed duns like the Quill Gordon. We have not observed shucks on the water during a Trico emergence, nor have we seen Trico duns stuck in the shuck. However, Thomas Ames, Jr, in "A Hatch Guide for New England Streams", states that Tricos emerge both on and below the surface. We have tried various Trico emerger patterns on our local streams, including the CDC emerger suggested in the Ames, Jr. book, without much success.
In summary, the nymph and the male dun are not important to fly fishers. Fishing an emerger pattern during the female dun emergence is said to be effective, although we have not found this to be the case. The female dun, the male and female spinner, and the drowned spinners are the most important stages for fly fishers to match.
1. Be the first on the water, if you can't be the first fly fisher on the water, be the second!
2. Don't step on the biggest fish of the morning by rushing into the water. Good feed lanes are found near the stream banks and big fish target those areas so don't be in a rush to reach mid stream.
3. Match the naturals with the proper sized fly. Use hooks in sizes 26-24 with wide gaps. The wide gap enhances hook ups. Use the 24 size hook in the early part of the Trico season and then use the size 26 hook in mid summer and early fall.
4. Avoid micro drag by using shorter casts and hackled duns.
5. Target a single feeding fish and time the arrival of the fly as the fish resurfaces to sip a natural. Do not toss the fly into the feeding pod of fish and hope for a hookup.
6. At times, the double Trico hackled or spent wing fly pattern on a single hook works. If the hatch is heavy, trout will make the most of a surface effort by gulping two or more naturals.
7. Keep the fly floating by applying a generous amount of fumed silica better known as Frog's Fanny. A high floating fly also helps with visibility and results in increased hookups.
8. Use 7X or 8X fluorocarbon tippet material. 6X fluorocarbon will suffice in rippely water.
9. Trim the bottom hackles on hackled duns. Flush floating flies seem to be more effective.
10. 2, 3, and 4 weight rods in 8 to 8.5 foot lengths and medium action do a nice job when fishing the Trico hatches. The important thing is to use a rod that allows the user to present the fly as drag free as possible.
11. Cast downstream to feeding fish using a recoil, slack or other method that allows the fly line to land on the surface in a serpentine pattern. These types of casts eliminate micro drag and fish respond to the fly first approach.
12. Tapered leaders and tippet materials absorb water so treat occasionally with liquid floatant.
13. Unsure if a stream has Tricos, check nearby spider webs. Nature provides a batteryless natural gismo that is fool proof.
14. Do not leave the water after the surface activity stops. Rig a tandem of spent spinner male spinners and fish them as drowned Tricos. Another excellent tandem rig is a bead head green weenie with a spent spinner dropped off the bend of the hook. The nymph fly fishers should excel at this method.
***UPDATE FOR 7/6/10***
The rain was tolerable but the No-See-Ums were not! The minute critters with what seemed like auger jaws bored in the side of my neck, along the outline of my beard and under my sleeve cuffs. I said a few bad words, well, maybe more than a few, but was determined that this brand of torture would not deter me from some of the finest wild brown trout fishing on the east coast. The first of several wild brown trout caught under these trying conditions made the agony worthwhile!
On June 9, 2010, five members of the Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited (CVTU) Chapter returned to Penns Creek for several days of fishing. Our first trip to Penns Creek was noted in the 5/5/20 Recent News and Happenings update. Our lodging was the well-located and comfortable Camp Guttaluta (named after the famed Green Drake hatch on Penns Creek) owned by CVTU member Mark Campbell. It is located on the lower end of the Catch and Release project water near Cherry Run. Mark can be reached at cbimark@aol.com or 717.880.1604. We were not sure what the water level, stream temperature and hatches would offer up. Rain was the order of the day upon arrival and after unloading all the gear and food supplies we hit the stream. It was slightly after 3:30 PM and a size 18 Olive blanketed the waters. However, fish were up but not taking the olive duns. Close observation revealed that when a larger bug popped to the surface and caused any motion, the result was an instant take of that bug. I collected several bugs and then rummaged through my fly boxes for something that might duplicate the critter. The bug appeared to be a large Olive but later that evening we consulted an Entomology book and a book of hatches and keyed the critter. Interesting that after the natural matured several hours, the overall colors changed and the bug did resemble the Isonychia pictured in the Entomology book. Slate Drake, Leadwing Coachman, Dun Variant and Mahogany Dun are some of the common names applied to this bug. Indeed it was an Isonychia. The initial olive sheen and light wing color of the freshly emerged dun mislead me to believe it was an Olive that no one else has seen on Penns Creek. I was about ready to send the specimen to Greg Hoover, noted Entomologist at Penn State University, when Ken Okorn and Tom Houf burst my Hollywood bubble and brought my mind and ego back to earth when they both proclaimed that the fly I had was an Isonychia! Or more commonly known as the Slate Drake. No big discovery here. Another trait that threw me off on the identification of the Isonychia was past readings reported by many writers that Isonychia migrate toward the bank and crawl up on logs and sticks in the shallow water to hatch like stoneflies. Some Isonychia nymphs find the downstream side of large rocks favorable and crawl up to hatch. Further reading on my part uncovered that when the weather in June is unsettled and rain and cooler temperature set in, like this trip, the naturals will be forced to emerge on the surface. See why I was mislead?
Fishing to the Isonychia or Slate Drake was happenstance until one evening when I walked upstream to fish a long glide below the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission cabin. A gentleman from the Sunbury area was at the upper end of the glide and catching fish off the surface with a caddis emerger. Since I only had waist high waders and the glide was deep I asked him if he was fishing further into the glide and he replied no. The fish were rising too steadily for him to move. I moved downstream and entered the water at what turned out to be just the right depth for the waist waders. I checked my watch and it was 7:30 PM. Several fish began to rise in the foam line a good distance away. I tied on a caddis emerger and made numerous long distance casts but without success. I rummaged through my fly box and noted one fly that had been successful in the Adirondacks when the Isonychia were present. It was a personalized copy of the Money Fly made famous by the late Fran Betters of that area. Personalized means that the hackle that Fran used was omitted and the body dubbing was beaver dark tan dubbing, not the dark gray muskrat fur Fran normally used. This was a basic fly (my type of tying) with only calf hair protruding out over the eye of the hook and the beaver dark tan dubbing.
After several hookups and releases, the fisher above me asked what the H**L I was using. My reply was the Money Fly. Unfortunately I only had one Money Fly and related that to him. I felt badly that I could not have given Rod (I always try to get the names of the fishers I talk with when on stream) a Money Fly. However, I informed Rod that the personalized Money Fly would be a Fly of the Week on my website in the near future. So here it is Rod. Check out the Fly of the Week for general tying instructions for the Money Fly and perhaps next June we will meet up again on Penns Creek and catch some of the wild browns that bring fishers, like us, back year after year. Below is the meaningful email I received from Rod.
Greetings Gene,
I am the guy you schooled in the hole below the Conservation Cabin on Penns Creek last night. I enjoyed our conversation and took your advice about checking out your web site. Your Fly of the Week is a great resource. I found a few patterns that I am going to tie and test. I'll let you know how I do. Perhaps the next fly of the week will be the Money Fly.
Tight lines and best wishes for a great summer season.
Rod
Sunbury, PA
***UPDATE FOR 6/12/10***
It was big water with a background of big mountains and, framed between the water and mountains, was a big bird. It was a Bald Eagle being hurried upstream by an attacking crow. Usually it is the crow that harasses the discovered owl but this was the first time I witnessed a crow harassing an eagle. The eagle appeared only slightly agitated as the pair flew by about 100 feet above water level. I yelled to Clark who was 200 feet below me on Pine Creek and we both watched the airborne pair continue their flight upstream toward Slate Run and the entrance to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.
My attention returned to fishing because several good-sized fish were working the surface within casting distance of my four-weight fly rod. Clark had several fish working the surface near him and soon he was fast to one of those big fish. That fish turned out to be one of the large German Brown trout that is stocked in the stream. This is made possible by sponsor money and purchases of trout stocking Gold Member pins by anglers, the majority of which is fly fishers. These were available from Wolf's General Store and Orvis Fly Shop at Slate Run. Owner Tom Finkbiner has had the program in place for several years and the response from the fishing public has been positive. The Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only Section of Pine Creek at Slate Run was reminiscent of a western stream and has generated a western type fishing atmosphere with the combination of big fish, big water and big mountains. Sixteen of the fish purchased and stocked were in the four to eight pound range and lengths were 24 inches and longer. Steelhead size fish on Pine Creek? You bet! The majority of the fish bought and stocked were in the 16 to 19 inch range.
June 1, 2010 marked the third year that Gayle and I returned to the Slate Run area of the Pine Creek Valley with six or more couples from the Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter. On this trip we had eight couples plus six guys for a total of twenty-two and we believe all had an enjoyable time. Pine Creek is one of several Chapter fishing trips and has not disappointed us with the lodging, hatches, fishing and, most importantly, the water level and weather conditions. An added bonus, during the past years, we were entertained with different black bear sightings. During our stay we did not see as many bear as in the past but as will be noted on the next update home page photos, we saw a huge bear and two little guys or girls that we fondly referred to as little back bowling balls with ears.
Memorial Day was a week later this year and the hatches were a week or so earlier so the bugs were different than past years. For example, past years we could expect hatches of March Browns and Gray Foxes, Olives, Green and Brown Drakes and the failsafe Caddis bugs. This trip however, hatches of a size 22 little Blue Winged Olive in the morning and again at noon, supplemented with a size 16 Blue Winged Olive in the afternoon were the mainstay hatches. Random appearances of the Slate Drake, the Sulphur and the light Cahill rounded out the other offerings. A smattering of Gray Fox were also noted. The USGS gage at Cedar Run was reading 1.94 feet upon arrival, which is low by Pine Creek standards and continued to drop as the trip unfolded. Water temperatures in the Slate Run area ranged from a mid day high of 73 degrees F. to a morning low of 66 degrees F. Successful anglers from our group reported taking trout off the surface with the two sizes of Olives, the Slate Drake in parachute style, CDC Sulphur Cripple/Emergers, tied V Midge style (see CVTU's Favorite Flies book, page 52), Porcupine Quill (same book, page 55), and the ubiquitous Flymph. Those anglers fishing subsurface reported good results with the Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, in various sizes, as well as the Pheasant Tail, egg fly, pink worm and Woolly Bugger. All in all it was a very productive and enjoyable trip.
NOTE: I have so many good photos from this trip that I plan to include some of them in the next update.
***UPDATE FOR 5/5/10***
Planning a multiple night trip on Penns Creek in April and May can be dicey. During periods of heavy precipitation, the vast agricultural areas upstream can send a heavy flow of silt laden water into Penns Creek and can also raise the water level in a short period of time. Plowed farm fields with limited or no crop cover exposes the soil to serious erosion. This is certainly not scientific, but it is based on my many years of fishing Penns Creek in the Poe Paddy, Coburn and Weikert areas. However, when one hits the perfect conditions, which consist of USGS gage levels between 2.10 and 2.45 feet and no heavy precipitation forecast in the near future, then go fish Penns Creek.
A group of us did so the middle part of April and experienced a dream trip. We fished the stretch from Cherry Run up to Swift Run on the Catch and Release section. This stretch consisted of approximately 3.9 miles of remote territory and if we experienced overcrowding on the stream it was our own fault for not moving along. The tail end of a respectable hatch of Grannom Caddis, coupled with a light sprinkling of March Browns and Hendricksons made the trip a surface fly fishers paradise. See Fly of the Week offerings # 16, # 42 and # 17 for successful patterns that I used on this trip. Tan Caddis appeared a few days into the trip and the fish seemed to favor the little critters, at times by passing the heartier naturals like the size 14-12 Grannoms, the size 12-10 March Browns and the size 14 Hendricksons. Those of us that indulged the fish subsurface, when the surface activity was not favorable, did well on nymphs and emergers like the Illegal Nymph and Flash Caddis Emerger. See Fly of the Week # 52 and # 49 respectively.
The trip began to unfold at the Cumberland Valley TU Chapter Limestoner Banquet in late March when Mark Campbell, owner of Camp Guttulata on Penns Creek donated a four nights stay package. The bid process followed and several of us had a successful bid that generated nearly $700 to our TU Chapter coffers for cold water conservation measures. BIG thanks to Mark Campbell! Mark's cabin is located in a prime spot within walking distance of Penns Creek and many of our group did not have to venture far to experience western type fishing in Pennsylvania. Accommodations are first rate and six to eight persons can utilize the facility in comfort. Our group consisted of several cooks and each one prepared their specialty for dinner. Camp Guttulata has the equipped kitchen area to accommodate the beginner to the specialty cook. A day of fishing on Penns Creek can burn a few calories and at day's end, returning to a gourmet type meal is a winning experience! Mark Campbell can be reached at 717-880-1604 or CBIMark@aol.com should you be interested in contacting him for excellent accommodations on Penns Creek.
The photos on the home page attest to the wonders and enjoyment of fishing Penns Creek and having distinctive accommodations like Mark Campbell's Camp Guttulata to enhance the fishing trip. Incidentally, the name Camp Guttulata is based on the spectacular Green Drake (Ephemera guttulata) hatch on Penns Creek.
***UPDATE FOR 4/20/10***
The latter part of March and the early part of April provide plentiful opportunities to catch fish on wet flies. Here in the Cumberland Valley and later in the streams up north the early season hatches that are comprised of Grannom Caddis, Blue Winged Olives, Quill Gordons, Red Quill, and Hendricksons bring out the fly fishers in good numbers. Combine the timeliness of the key hatches with closed approved trout waters, and project waters like Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only (DHALO), Catch and Release Fly-Fishing Only, and Catch and Release (for example, the section on Yellow Breeches from Boiling Springs to the vicinity of Allenberry) become crowded. There are many advantages to the early opening of trout season in PA's Southeastern sector and one of them is spreading out the spring fly fishers and allowing the pressured project waters to return to some sense of normalcy. The period from March 1, to the opening day, April 3, this year did compress what seemed to be a larger number of fly fishers into the limited project waters open for fishing. I believe that periods of unseasonable high temperatures during that time frame provided the incentive for anglers to get out on the water and resulted in the unusual number of anglers on project waters.
Recently on the Catch and Release section of the Yellow Breeches the evening surface activity was a mystery. Mike Goyne was fishing below me and had gone through several subsurface flies and then switched over to surface flies. He yelled up to me asking what the trout were taking off the surface. I had a good view of the bugs that were flitting above the rippled water and answered that it was a combination of female Hendricksons with their lemon colored egg sacs, Craneflies and numerous Tan Caddis. However, I was not exactly sure which of the bugs or a combination of the bugs the fish were taking. I started the process of elimination by tying on a Hendrickson. I don't tie female Hendrickson with egg sacs because they usually jettison the eggs sacs above the water. I tried the dead drift and skittering methods but had no luck. Next I tied on the Tan Caddis and tried the dead drift and skittering methods with the same results I had using the Hendrickson. I then tied on the Cranefly and finally caught two trout. The Cranefly may seem ungainly and not as favorable as the sleek Mayflies to the fly fishers but it does produce results. As I further watched the bug activity in the waning light, I noted trout attempting to catch the bugs in mid air that were mere inches off the surface. This type of action has frustrated me for years. When the Black Caddis dance above the water's surface in the summer months and fish attempt to catch them by leaping out of the water they prove impossible to catch. This activity is fun to watch, but exasperating when trying to catch trout that are taking air borne bugs.
My conclusion was to tie a few more Craneflies for my fly box, which I did. But the more I thought about the bug activity that evening, the more I realized that a wet fly and not a dry fly may have been more productive. Could the Hendrickson and Caddis naturals be in the act of depositing eggs under the surface and the trout were feeding on the adults while subsurface? The showy above surface splashes tended to hold my attention and I missed out on what was really the important sequence of events. That is probably why I only caught two trout that evening! I have read where Caddis will swim underwater to deposit eggs but I am not sure if I ever read that the Hendrickson does the same. Regardless, the next evening I was back in the riffle and it was a repeat of the bug activity the previous evening. This time I tied on wet flies that have been kind to me in the past and, by swinging the slightly weighted tandem rig down and across, the fish responded. The point fly was a size 14 Illegal Nymph mayfly wet fly and the dropper was a size 16 Grannom Caddis wet fly. My lesson learned was that sometimes the obviously active bug is not necessarily the bug that the fish are taking. Therefore, don't get so caught up in the obvious that you overlook what is really happening. For more information on the wet flies mentioned above, see the Fly of the Week link.
***UPDATE FOR 3/30/10***
My first 2010 steelhead trip to Erie took place in mid March from a Tuesday through Friday time frame. The lower sections of the Mile creeks on the East side of Erie were occupied with more than sufficient anglers so I decided to walk upstream in the hope of finding steelhead occupied water without many anglers present. I selected 20 Mile Creek because I hold both a PA and a NY fishing licenses. The walk entailed several miles through some rugged areas with cliffs that towered approximately 60 yards high in some places. Fortunately when the creek meandered close to the base of the towering cliff on one side, the other side cliff was situated far enough away from the creek to allow me to cross over and continue my fishing journey upstream. I snapped forty or more digital photos and could have taken many more as the wind and water erosion processes over the eons of time have sculpted some impressive sights. For example, mature trees on the precipice held upright by what appeared to be just a few roots was astonishing. The creek side root system was fully exposed and the tree appeared to be hanging in mid air. Looking up and through the network of exposed roots makes one fully aware that at any time the tree could come plummeting down. One pool had a clump of birch trees that had done just that down the 60 yards or so cliff face and, at the bottom on the creek's edge, had landed upright with sufficient shale and dirt to continue growing. I wondered if the next high water event would sweep the oasis away. That pool held some steelhead trout and the Titan Minnow accounted for two hookups. However, I began to realize that when a new pool or likely holding spot was approached, I usually caught one steelhead. Repetitive casts with the Titan Minnow or replacement fly yielded no further hookups. So my approach upstream was to fish a likely holding area, catch a steelhead, make several more casts just in case and then move on. This approach allowed the covering of a lot of water.
Interesting that all of the steelhead caught were nicked in some way from what I perceived to be ice out damage. Looking at the huge cakes of glacial like ice that remained along the creek's edges one could see how a fish could be in harm's way when the ice up broke free due to warming temperatures and high water. I did not encounter any fresh fish that would indicate that the spring run was on. Furthermore, the spring run activity seems to be more concentrated from Route 20 and Route 5 bridges to the lake. Lake Erie did provide some fine sunset photo shooting opportunities. It was remarkable how fast the lake ice split and moved over the several days I was in the area. An area that appeared solid with ice would suddenly become blue depending on the direction the wind was blowing and the wind intensity.
March is a good time to fish steelhead in the Erie area. Past years' steelhead trout fishing experience has the month of November ranked at the top and the month of March ranked second. March 2009 was a good month for steelhead fishing and hopefully March 2010 will not be a disappointment so make your plans to fish steelhead trout soon.
***UPDATE FOR 3/2/10***
On February 16, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stock truck arrived at the designated meeting location in Boiling Springs. WCO David Hurst formulated the plans for the float stocking of the Run, a connector from Children's Lake to the main stem of the Yellow Breeches, and the upper Catch and Release section on the Yellow Breeches. Cumberland Valley TU Chapter (CVTU) members were on hand to float stock the approximately 700 robust trout allocated to the day's stocking effort. The effort by Cumberland Valley TU Chapter (CVTU) members to float stock trout has resulted in improved distribution of trout and angler satisfaction. If an area on the stream looked like it should hold fish it did! Those CVTU members knew where to place the trout for optimum food and cover and released trout accordingly. Special thanks to Jim Siedlarczyk, CVTU member, who shoveled a path of well over fifty yards from the Run to the main stem of the Yellow Breeches for those volunteers that were carrying buckets of fish. We seniors especially appreciated his work by not having to post hole through two feet of snow to stock the trout.
Just a reminder that we will soon be in the time frame when many streams, lakes, ponds and reservoirs in the Commonwealth will be closed to all fishing from March 1 to 8:00 a.m. on the opening day of the trout season. Pennsylvania has two trout openers, April 3 and April 17.
However, there are Special Project Waters that are open to fishing year round (no closed seasons) If in doubt about fishing a particular water area, consult your nearest Fish and Boat Commission office. Information for those offices is provided on page 40 of the 2010 Pennsylvania Fishing Summary booklet.
***UPDATE FOR 2/10/10***
My boss, in my working life, was very active in the outdoors and he was fond of saying that there was no such thing as bad weather only bad gear. He was right as usual because, with the advancement in breathable inner and outer wear including waders, there is no compelling reason to stay indoors during inclement weather unless you are unable to afford the sometimes high prices for good gear or cannot enjoy winter fishing due to health reasons. Read on and make the necessary purchases/adjustments and enjoy winter fly fishing.
I fish four seasons of the year and am often asked how I fare in the coldest winter months. My response is "quite well" and honestly, when fishing to the early morning Trico hatch in August when the weather is hot and humid I prefer the winter fishing. A high number of January winter days in the Cumberland Valley boast an average temperature of 37-38 degrees F. and coupled with sunshine and early afternoon midge activity and occasional Little Blue Winged Olive activity make for an exciting fly fishing experience. Besides, I have yet to experience crowded stream conditions in the winter! Sunshine on my shoulders in the winter is most enjoyable. Add that to fly fishing to trout sipping midges and LBWO and you have a perfect fly fishing experience.
This is how I dress for a winter day's fly fishing. Close to my body I like good quality hydrophobic briefs and undershirts that do not absorb moisture. Next a base layer of heavyweight wading underwear of polyester stretch fleece. Both of the above mentioned under garments provide excellent layering and wick off perspiration in cold water conditions (the secret to winter fishing comfort). Add a layer of heavyweight fleece, 200 or more weight. wading pants and equal fleece weight pull over shirt. Like the briefs and long underwear, both items assist in wicking away moisture from the skin. The walk-in to the stream may consist of a short distance or in the case of remote streams like Penns Creek, a half mile or more walk may be required. I then layer with a breathable quick drying fleece jacket. Often I fish in deep water so my final outer layer is a hooded angling jacket for waterproof protection. The important /vital part is the waterproof sleeves because one can only hold arms up so long when casting and fishing. Eventually the arms become fatigued and the elbows sag into the water and it is at that time a waterproof wading jacket is of value. Now that the body is well ventilated and insulated what about the head and hands? Windstopper type fleece gloves, with or without full finger coverage, is great for comfort and the resulting warmth fleece provides. A ball cap under a hooded wading jacket is sufficient especially if one relies on a flip down magnifying glass for ease of tying on tippet material or flies. However, for those that have sharp eyes, a fleece watch cap type of hat that is comfortable and warm is hard to beat. Now for the waders. I prefer breathable boot-foot waders, but they can be hard to find. Evidently the technology of securing the boot to the uppers has not been perfected and leakage is a possibility around the seams. Also, most breathable boot-foot waders contain less than the desired amount of insulation. The average insulation consists of about 200 grams of Thinsulate, which may be adequate for non-winter fishing trips. Neoprene waders are rugged and, with 600 grams or more of Thinsulate in the boot, is a good choice but the waders can be a bit bulky for us senior citizens. However, neoprene waders do not have the important breathable feature and moisture tends to build up, resulting in eventual cool, then cold clammy feeling that can mitigate time on the stream.
All of that information, if utilized, will make for a comfortable day of fly fishing regardless of the weather. Saturday, following weekend of the heavy snow, found two feet + of the white fluffy stuff in my backyard. I made my way out to the stream with the aide of snowshoes, which I removed at stream edge, and was able to enjoy several hours of top notch fly fishing. Even released two nice brown trout for my effort. Don't give in to cabin fever and the winter doldrums. Don the appropriate winter wear and go out to you favorite stream for a fantastic day of fishing. That puts Punxsutawney Phil in the proper prospective….six more weeks of winter……who cares?!
***UPDATE FOR 1/25/10***
The 2010 fishing season is starting to crank up with improvements in the weather and trout stocking in the Yellow Breeches Creek. The weather has been brutal the past two weeks with daytime highs well below normal and nighttime lows also several degrees below normal for this time of year, combined with 40 mile per hour winds. This is not a good recipe for wading into a stream and it is down right unappealing. This is farm show week and weather is traditionally ugly in the Harrisburg, PA area. However, the weatherman is predicting an upturn and daytime temperatures may hit the 40 degrees F. mark, something we have not seen in the past two weeks. Anglers are looking forward with anticipation to a weather pattern that will bring the Yellow Breeches watershed area to above freezing. We may finally reach normal day and night time temperatures before the farm show grand finale! Could this reprieve be the January thaw?
Now, to the fishing segment. I started the New Year off with my traditional day of fishing and did not catch a fish. I worked the surface with midge patterns that have proven effective during winter weather conditions and not one lean and hungry fish looking for a Happy Meal (pardon the commercial fast food endorsement) opted for my offerings. Oh well, Penn State was about to play in the Capital One Bowl against LSU so thumbs down to the fish as I headed for the warmth and wide screen of a football day during Bowl Season. However, those of us fortunate enough to live in the Cumberland Valley, and those anglers that live within a two hour driving window of the famed Yellow Breeches, have known for years about the highly anticipated, highly participated first weekend in January when the Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association stock trout, weather permitting. The Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association, Inc. performs its annual winter stocking of trout along an approximately 13-mile stretch of the Yellow Breeches. Traditionally, Children’s Lake, the Run, and the Yellow Breeches Catch and Release areas are stocked the day prior to float stocking other reaches of the creek. There just aren’t enough day light hours to complete the job in one day. This is the ultimate win-win situation for anglers and the best way to take the edge off of winter’s predictable cabin fever. Somehow, seeing the flashing amber light atop the green truck with the yellow aeration tanks and large YBAC stenciling moving through the Boiling Springs area, summons the urge to go fishing and provides fresh insight that winter should not mean the disappearance of the angling spirit. The YBAC is a significant driving force displaying a spirit of determination to maximize fishing opportunities for all anglers residing in and outside the Cumberland Valley. It’s members volunteer for extra work and demanding assignments that go beyond what is expected to operate a Nursery that annually raises and stocks over 36,000 trout. A 2010 membership, at a cost of $12 adult and $3 Junior (under 16), maximizes the four season fishing opportunity for all anglers!!
On Friday, January 15, the cooperative weather finally allowed the stocking of trout in Children’s Lake, the Run and the main stem of the Yellow Breeches Catch and Release section. On Saturday, January 16, the open water above and below the catch and release area was stocked. Some nice fish in the 15 to 20 inch range were strategically placed where those anglers that ventured from the cozy confines of the parking areas would be pleasantly rewarded.
Interesting, after the trout stocking, a few of us did some kick sampling of the Yellow Breeches’ bottom utilizing a D Ring net and were astounded at the number and variety of bugs collected. The bugs consisted of an inch and quarter size stonefly, Hendrickson nymphs, Sulphur nymphs, Blue Winged Olive nymphs, one Trico nymph, Scuds, and an impressive number of free-living caddis larvae. Ken Okorn took an interest in the free-living worm like caddis critters that really can’t swim but can move about by use of the front legs. These caddis larvae are found in and under riffle rocks where they move about searching for the food that the fast moving water pushes by. Ken noted that he was going to tie up a few of the worm like critters and fish them the next day. We then moved about 40 yards downstream, into quieter water, and retrieved a short piece of waterlogged tree branch. There we found numerous cased Grannom caddis attached. The rich combination of Hendrickson nymphs and cased Grannom caddis will provide some interesting and exciting roll over hatch activity in late March and early April.
Well, Ken made good on his promise to tie up a few free-living worm like caddis and was on the creek the following morning along with fishing buddy, Jim Ritter. Now, Ken had surgery on his right thumb and wrist in December and just recently had the cast removed. He is working on regaining the dexterity he once had so Ken’s fishing consisted of utilizing the Czech Nymph style of fishing by extending the fly rod with one hand and literally fishing a short line under the rod tip. The reason Ken was Czech nymphing was because he was not allowed (doctor’s orders) to use his right hand. The orders were to not lift more than eight ounces and not to push or pull anything. So he improvised by holding the rod in the left hand and tightening the drag all the way down. Thus he did not have to cast, which would have required reeling with the healing right hand. The positive was that Ken was out fishing but the negative was the occasional loss of a hefty trout because he could not allow the fish to run with the set drag. The normal Czech nymphing technique and flies used are expertly covered in the book entitled Czech Nymph by Karel Krivanec and Friends. Jim Ritter summed up the morning of fishing by saying that Ken out fished him with only one hand! See fly of the week for Ken’s version of the free-living worm like caddis critter.
***UPDATE FOR 12/16/09***
Early Wednesday morning of my five day hunting and fishing trip, the 30 to 40 mile per hour winds awoke me from a deep sleep at Camp Shanty which is located on a ridge in NY about eight miles from 20 Mile Creek. My plan was to hunt that morning for deer and then break camp and drive the 278 miles home to Boiling Springs, PA. Hunting time was limited, as I needed to be at a Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited Board meeting at 7:00 p.m. I turned on the battery-powered radio and learned that the winds would continue for the next twelve plus hours, with gusts reaching 65 mph. More importantly, a lake effect storm was approaching the area and I know from past experience that can mean sudden snow fall that is measured in, not inches, but feet. I decided against the hunting and soon after first light, headed for 16 Mile Creek for steelhead fishing. Access to the creek from the parked vehicle was optimal in the event I needed to leave the area quickly as a result of the building storm front. I was hopeful that I could fish for several hours and then leave for home on my terms. This plan has worked in the past because lake effect storms seem to die out after reaching inland 20 to 50 miles. I would simply outrun the approaching weather hazard. Gayle always cringes when I make such plans.
Sunday through Tuesday, when not deer hunting in the early morning and late afternoon hours, I had fly fished several of the east side of Erie tributaries with moderate success as the water was low and gin clear. The cooler temperatures seemed to be thinning out the number of fair weather fishers resulting in more open water to fish. The majority of anglers were taking steelhead using live Emerald and Golden Shiners. I suspect the main food item in Lake Erie for steelhead is the shiner minnow and that may have contributed to the angler's success. I had won a box of Muddler Minnows tied by well-know fly tier Andrew McNeillie of New Bloomfield, PA at the 2008 Fly Fisher's Club of Harrisburg banquet and caught several steelhead using the various sized minnows. However, I tucked away the thought that when home, I needed to do some research on flies that patterned the shiner minnow.
16 Mile Creek was off color and the water level was increasing from the borderline winter mix of sleet, some hail and some snow but the majority of precipitation was rain. I had the lower end of the creek to myself. Great!! I suspected that a fresh run of steelhead had entered the creek and set about to fish certain portions of 16 Mile Creek that normally hold resting steelhead. Unlike fishing the low and clear water of the past few days, the steelhead were not interested in the Muddler Minnow and a modified Pumpkin Picker, see Fly of the Week number 37, was well received. The modification consisted of the addition of florescent chartreuse lead barbell eyes to the fly. Perhaps the extra color zip was not necessary but the extra weight probably got the fly lower in the water to where the steelhead were holding. I lost my supply of standard tied Pumpkin Picker's earlier in the trip and only had four of the modified versions on hand. I caught and released four steelhead trout in rapid succession. The fresh run steelhead were strong fighters and rapid succession translated into about a total time of 40 minutes to catch and release those four zestful steelhead. Leaves, twigs, limbs, grapevines and large tree sections were floating downstream from the results of the menacing winds. As the morning fishing progressed, I lost several of the hooked steelhead when the fly line and tapered leader would tangle with the floating debris while the steelhead zig-zagged the creek. Soon all of the modified Pumpkin Pickers were gone. Coincidentally, I did not catch another steelhead and it was now 9:30 a.m. I tried several other patterns that had been productive in the past but with out success. Either the steelhead only wanted the modified Pumpkin Picker or the feeding frenzy was over for the morning. Interestingly I have found steelhead tend to enter short windows of feeding frenzy from daybreak (this time varies as fall and winter seasons unfold) to about 9:30 a.m., again from 11:30 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. and around 3:30 p.m. to dusk. Again, this time varies as we progress into the fall and winter seasons.
Next trip to the Erie area I will have an adequate supply of hand tied Pumpkin Pickers in regular and modified versions and a good supply of hand tied Emerald Shiners. Here is what my research uncovered. CVTU's Favorite Flies book contains a write-up and tying instructions (page 84) for the Emerald Shiner contributed by well known fly tier, fly fisher and fishing guide Tom Baltz. Also by coincidence Scott Douglas another well traveled fly fisher who ties great flies sent me an email…………well, just see the current Fly of the Week and then read Stream Tippets to see the results.
I made the CVTU Board meeting on time even though the 278 mile trip home covered the gamut of weather conditions but I did outrun the bulk of the storm.
***UPDATE FOR 12/1/09***
It was early November and the weather was perfect for steelhead fly fishing. However, the Lake Erie tributaries around Erie, PA, were experiencing low and clear water conditions. The steelhead were gathered in the small pools and hordes of anglers (mostly bait fishers) were hovering around the pools and yanking out the corralled steelhead. Now remember, these fishers with the bait do not practice catch and release and they reminded me of the Great Blue Heron that is found along almost all of our trout streams. If you watch them you will see them spearing fish after fish. What is the point you say? The Great Blue Heron does not practice catch and release but does utilize these fish for sustenance. The majority of bait fishers in the Great Erie Steelhead Alley may or may not use the fish they catch and keep. Overall, watching the glutinous taking of the steelhead from the shallow pools was disheartening!!
I left and headed back to my camp in nearby NY for the evening archery deer hunt. Later I received a call from a friend, Thom Livingston, who was bird hunting in the area west of Erie near the Ohio line, and he asked if I wanted to meet up and fish Chautauqua Creek in NY. Thom had a NY fishing license and, since my NY Super Sportsman hunting license included an annual fishing license, I was legal, so the plans were made. Thom had fished the Chautauqua Creek previously and was impressed with the volume of water flow that resembled 20 Mile Creek in PA. Also, he stated we would fish the Catch and Release section of the Chautauqua Creek. The thought of a Catch and Release steelhead and salmon section caught my interest. “You bet”, I said.
The next morning, about 11:00a.m, we meet near the PA/NY line and drove the approximately 11 miles to Chautauqua Creek. We parked in an area near the open water fishing along Chautauqua Creek and talked to several fishers that were coming off the water for a lunch break. We found out that enough steelhead trout were present to keep the attention of the fishers. Interesting that one of those fishers was the person that initiated the Blood Dot Egg Fly and Blood Dot Sucker Spawn craze. The last name of this individual was none-the-less Blood. He created the Blood Dot addition to the flies while living in the Pittsburgh area. Jeff Blood was generous in that he gave Thom and me several flies with the dot and we told him that we would not fish his hand tied flies but would use the gift flies as patterns for our tying at home. Amazing the quality fly fishers one meets on trout streams!
We fished the open water of Chautauqua Creek below the Route 5 Bridge and then decided to drive upstream to the town of Westfield and fish the Catch and Release section. The C&R section begins at the bridge (South Gale Street) in Westfield, NY. Then upstream 1.3 miles to the upper dam used by the Village of Westfield for water intake.
Accesses are limited along the C&R section but the NY DEC has a large parking lot with access to the C&R section about midway along the C&R. The trail from the large parking lot is steep and one should be in good shape to access the creek. At the base of the steep access the waters are inviting and that is where I met the young lad that had moved to the area from Oregon. He had a steelhead trout on when I saw him and after he released the fish I asked him what he was using. Astonishingly, he was catching steelhead on a subsurface size 20 elk hair caddis presentation! We talked and he related that the C&R section was the only section of steelhead water that he fished. The other tributaries were crowded and he had experienced some callous behavior from other anglers. I told him I understood his feelings and expounded on some of my unfortunate experiences on open water. We parted agreeing that more C&R sections were needed on PA and NY Lake Erie tributaries. I’ll close this update with a request that you contact the PA Fish and Boat Commission (www.fish.state.pa.us) and stress the importance of C&R steelhead sections on Lake Erie tributaries East and West of Erie. DO IT NOW! Remember, tomorrow may be too late!
***UPDATE FOR 11/4/09***
It is encouraging and refreshing to talk to younger fly fishers that are enthusiastic about the sport, especially when it comes to steelhead trout fishing. Such was the case on a recent Saturday when I entered the Yellow Breeches Outfitters to talk to Gary who was working at the time. I haven't seen Gary in a week to ten days and I wanted to update him on a recent archery hunting and steelhead fishing trip that Gayle and I enjoyed. I told Gary about the harsh weather we encountered on our way across Interstate 80 between the State College, Clearfield and Dubois areas. The snow was impressive and the driving required full attention on the road conditions. Needless to say, many drivers of vehicles passed us with one arm pasted to their ear engaged in cell phone conversations.
Anyway back to the fishing. A young lad by the name of Jason Bubb, from the Dover, Pa, area overheard our conversation and began to ask questions about what flies Gayle and I were using on the steelhead trout. I suggested he read the October 14, 2009 Recent News and Happenings and corresponding Fly of the Week postings on my website because the flies we used were the same type of flies that my son-in-law, Glenn Klinger, used on our October 1, 2, 3 and 4 steelhead trip. I informed Jason that I would be using that batch of flies for an upcoming early November steelhead fishing trip. Jason had just returned from the Erie area and fished Elk Creek while there. Ironically, Jason was on Elk Creek while Gayle and I were there but fishing the Mile Creeks on the East side of Erie. Jason said after the rain event the steelhead trout were higher upstream on Elk Creek. He took steelhead trout on a white egg fly with a blood dot and a bead head Prince nymph combination. More steelhead trout were caught on the Prince nymph, when used as a dropper, than on the egg fly. Since Jason wanted to expand his repertoire of flies for an upcoming return steelhead fishing trip to Elk Creek, I provided him with the tying ingredients to put him and a few friends in good stead for that upcoming trip to the Erie area.
***UPDATE FOR 10/14/09***
The daylight hours have noticeably decreased in recent weeks and the water temperature in most streams in PA has dipped to the cool, if not cold, category. Throw in the arrival of high school, college and professional football action and, as is common this time of year, most anglers have given up fly fishing for the season. But hold on. The steelhead, as well as the noticeable increase in big brown trout, in the Lake Erie tributaries east of the Erie area have sparked the excitement to fish for LARGE WILD TROUT!
I need to reemphasize that the combination of seasonal light variation and the cooler Lake Erie water temperatures along with recent rain events have triggered the annual migration of steelhead and a sprinkling of large brown trout into the East side tributaries. Lake run browns have been present for many years but not common. According to a fishing buddy, he has seen brown trout caught over the years. He speculates this increase is probably the result of stocking in the tributaries that are approved trout waters and further noted that the recommended PFBC trout strategy plan provides for the stocking of brown trout in Lake Erie in an attempt to add diversity to the tributary fishery, create a near shore springtime fishery and enhance the offshore summer boat fishery.
My early season steelhead fishing formula is simple………..in early October the migrating fish arrive at the mouth of the Lake Erie East side tributaries and stack up awaiting a significant rain event that will blow out those shale dams that lake waves have formed over the summer. These dams, when present, prohibit the upstream migration of fish. A check of the extended weather forecast, coupled with good onsite stream conditions from a reliable source and a flexible fishing schedule (I'm retired) and the stage is set. A significant rain event occurred at the end of September and another rain event was forecast to follow in a few days. I was on my way to the Erie area!
On October 2, I was on one of the tributary streams east of Erie, fishing during a steady rain that continued for the remainder of the day and well into the night. I fished for several hours and left the stream at noon. I returned at 3:30 p.m. and, in spite of the increased water flow, I was able to wade to my favorite spots. Three hours later, with an ever increasing water flow and discoloration of the water, I felt that crossing the stream to access my vehicle would be hazardous. I decided to make the circuitous two mile walk through the woods. This entailed climbing a few cliffs in route to the vehicle, thus negating the need to wade the stream. I was somewhat tired when reaching the vehicle but felt I had made the correct decision. Those of you that have felt the power of water while wading a torrent flowing stream will understand my reluctance and wisdom in not wading across at that time.
Returning the next morning after the rains had subsided, I found the water level had dropped significantly, a trademark of the tributaries in the Erie area, and I was able to wade and fish my favorite locations. Since I knew where the fish were holding prior to the rain event, the discolored water that resulted from the heavy rains was not a significant problem. Also, I knew that the fish from the previous day would have migrated upstream and that the traditional holding areas would be replenished by fresh fish from the lake. Numerous hookups and releases followed with the Wooly Bugger as the primary offering. See Fly of the Week for further information on fly selections.
My thoughts on early season steelhead fishing in the Erie area tributaries are as follows: The Lake Erie frontage in the Erie area is known as the Central Basin and averages 70 feet in depth and provides cool water, a good combination for lake living trout. The area east of Erie toward Buffalo is the Eastern Basin and has deeper and cooler water, some areas as deep as 200 feet. I had received reports of steelhead trout off the shore and in the Chautauqua Creek in New York seven to ten days before the fish were spotted at Twenty Mile Creek, a distance of only about twenty miles apart. It seems reasonable that the colder water holds the steelhead trout and when the spawning urges are triggered by light and water conditions the tributaries around Northeast, PA and Westfield, NY are some of the earliest to receive and hold fish.
Several of the fish caught had the raspy suction-cup like scars from the mouth of sea lampreys. Sea lamprey, an eel like fish, entered Lake Erie from Lake Ontario via the Welland Canal about 1921. This canal provides the fish a way of bypassing the Niagara Falls. Some tributaries in Lake Erie provide spawning and nursery waters for sea lamprey. The larval sea lamprey may remain in those tributaries for several years. This could explain why the Wooly Bugger is effective on steelhead trout and brown trout that migrate into Lake Erie tributaries for spawning purposes. While in the lake, the steelhead and other fish are susceptible to mature sea lamprey and their debilitating and even deadly parasitic ways. The host fish often is killed due to loss of blood and other body fluids or because of infection in the resulting wound. Control measures consist of mechanical weirs and electrical weirs, use of lampricide (costly approach) and sterilization of the male sea lamprey. Overall, the sea lamprey population has been greatly reduced.
Steelhead and brown trout, upon entering the tributaries in preparation for spawning, do not actively feed. The size of the fish indicates an adequate storage of life sustaining bio while they are in the tributaries. So why do we catch these critters on flies like the Wooly Bugger and egg fly? The egg issue may be the easiest to answer as steelhead trout eat the eggs of the November spawning brown trout and the brown trout eat the eggs of the later spawning steelhead trout. Basically a territorial issue. What about the Wooly Bugger fly? The easy answer is the larval sea lamprey in the Lake Erie tributaries are available to the spawning steelhead trout and brown trout and instinct overrules the biological non feeding necessity and the survival instinct unleashes the predator instinct embedded in the fish. However, I cannot locate research that states young sea lampreys are a significant food source for steelhead and other fish in the tributaries or in the lakes. The Wooly Bugger simply catches fish! Thus you have two good flies to present to the spawning fish…………….the Wooly Bugger and the egg fly. Pretty basic but effective fly pattern choices.
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