August 2003 Report
|
Fly Pattern - August 29, 2003 NITRO - This is a really good pattern to use as a dropper off a dry or when trying to nymph shallow water. Just tie an 18-24" piece of mono off a dry and then tie on the nitro. It imitates caddis pupa, olive nymphs and other sub-surface aquatic life.
|
|||
|
Labor Day Weekend Update - August 28, 2003 Lehigh River - Decent water temps and flows have made
for some sulphur activity in the evenings. Look for this action to begin
an hour or so before dark and possibly earlier if skies are overcast
and cooler. This time of year also produces isonychias. Flows,
great for wading and floating. Penns - Excellent flows all summer, trout not stressed
at all, should shape up for a great fall. On the
link check how the stream has been way above for the last month
and in all actuality, allsummer. Go subsurface - bh hare's ear is a
good bet, or to match-up with what is coming off - go with an iso nymph.
Could be some nice fall fly fishing on Penns! Now you can't get much
more beautiful than that! 'hanna - Water levels have finally come down, west side
of river is gin clear but the east is still stained but clearing. Fall
fishing should be GREAT! Conditions can change quick though, so keep
an eye on the Harrisburg
gage - 4' or less is what you are looking for. First time in the
last month this has been wadeable. Upper D - Erratic flows continue to plague parts of
the system. And just recently the Beaverkill has hit close to the 70
degree mark - on the gage. Still a phenomenal water and temps year for
this stream. Curious to see how the main stem of the Upper D fishes
this fall, since this summer it has been terrible. Lots of bait along the jersey shore - got the pelagics in close up north and usual suspects all along the coast. We can point you in the right direction. Enjoy the holiday weekend...catch ya on the flip side. |
|||
|
Update/Report - August 25, 2003 Well, over the past week we have been doing more salt
fly fishing then freshwater. The area Ocean City waters have been giving
up some blues, weaks and bass in the nighttime hours. With so much boat
traffic it is tough during the day, but at night the fish are there.
Bait seen seems to be mostly spearing in the inlets and beaches, but
the word is more and more mullet are getting ready to make the move
outta the back bay waters. The other area targeted over the weekend was Island
Beach State Park. Here little pods of blues were tearing through the
bait on the incoming tide in the inlet. These fish were moving pretty
erratically – back and forth up and down the rocks – so chasing
them was not worth it, but rather just standing your ground and waiting
proved to be the ticket. Nothing huge, but a fun time none-the-less
when hooking up on the fly. Once again spearing was the bait of choice.
If you venture out on jetties – make sure you have korkers!!! I
saw too many people on the rocks yesterday without them and even saw
a couple near tragedies. Area streams/rivers are perfect! Get out there… |
|||
|
Update - August 18, 2003 Just a couple of quick words - it was not the PFBC who was out doing the electro-shocking at Valley, but rather a National Park Service biologist. Hopefully soon we will have some info about the results, but from what I hear they did pull up a few nice size trout. This is not a surprise at all. And it looks like the Upper D will get some relief from the inconsistent flows that have plagued them all year...at least according to this article. Since the PA fishing was a little slow over the weekend with more rain and high waters and the cancellation of two trips I decided to hit up the Jersey shore for some salt action. Definitely not the prime time of the year, but still fun none-the-less. One weakie about 16" or so and a handful of hickories were it for the evening/night. A fly similar to a Tabory Snakefly was the ticket - all black. For anyone out there thinking of giving this a try - give us a shout if you have any questions about gear or locations. We would be glad to help you get started. And now is the time to get ready since the peak of the fall migration is just a few months away. |
|||
|
SE PA Report/Update - August 14, 2003 Word is the PFBC was out shocking Valley Creek in Valley Forge National Historical Park today (as of writing). Definitely gonna be curious as to the result and the purpose of the exercise...for anyone residing near this gem, you ought to give it a try. Pretty amazing place, due to the location and all it has endured. Examples can be scene here - the definition of urban run-off. Take a look at the spikes. Thanks to TU though, we still have a quality stream. Try a dry and a dropper - caddis as a dry and a bead-head hares ear or ptail - size 18 or so. Run these through the riff or holes. The Tully has been seeing decent caddis hatches in the evening. Look for these in size 18-22 - tan and green. Sometimes the evening can produce a decent number of fish due to the lo-light conditions. Trout can't discern colors so well, so we anglers have a tad-bit of advantage, but by no means is it easy. Also, try a nitro as a dropper. Plans are to get one of these up here on the web with tying instructions. These work really well imitating caddis pupa and even olive nymphs prior to hatching. And as with most summer fishing go with light tippets and long leaders. Of course we also have the trikes here on the Tully as well as the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton limestoners. Look for the larger streams to continue the downward trend. We got a Schuylkill outing this weekend, so hopefully this trend continues. Tight lines folks.. |
|||
|
Report - August 11, 2003 Tough weekend for sure on the Upper D river system.
It was not until Sunday once some coldwater releases had an effect on
the West Branch that we finally encountered some ok fishing. Definitely
one of the worst experiences in all our years of frequenting this river
system. All trout that came to net were small in the 10-12" range,
with a couple bigger ones, but not by much, smacking our flies as well.
If I did not know, it felt like someone backed up the stocking truck,
but actually all these fish were really beautiful. Flies of choice were
nitros, isonychia dries and cdc emerger caddis. In the early morning
on Sunday we saw a lot of trikes with quite a few fish sipping these
off the surface in pod formations. These fish were extremely tough though
and it was not until the next riff did we fool some fish on a nitro.
If you have questions about this system feel free to
send us an email...we know the system quite well, but we currently do
not guide up there. As it stands now there is an absolute ton of water
up there in the NYC reservoir system, so hopefully if TPTB see to it,
we should have good flows/releases come fall. Bugs seen were isos, olives,
tricos, small caddis, some cahills and stenonema/stenocron. No white
flies were witnessed on the section of the main stem we floated. We
also saw numerous bald eagles on both days. Each year we seem to see
more and more...now they are cool! On to some other rivers - look for these to begin the downward trend, once this weather pattern breaks. Depending on the source region for these larger waters clarity might be ok toward the end of the week. Flows though will continue to run higher than average due to all the water in the ground.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Report - August 3, 2003 Floated the Sckuylkill in the Royersford area…water clarity was pretty good - about 3-4' or so. Right away there were lots of small fish popping on the surface. However, subsurface was the way to go. Even though it took us a while to get our first fish, we managed to land upwards of a couple dozen. A few were in the 12-13" range and one really nice threw the hook as it leaped into the air. Easily pushing 18". Flies of choice were cone-head buggers and white/grey clousers. Size 6-8. The riffs and slower water produced equally. Pretty sweet day overall. The 'hanna is blown again….enjoy. |
|||
|
Update/Report - August 1, 2003 Fortunately, over the past few days we have managed to get a break in the weather. This enabled some of the larger waters to become fishable. But you still need to take precautions - it wasn't only until today that the 'Hanna dropped below the 5ft level in Harrisburg. This however is still above the desirable 4ft mark. We have plans to hit it over the weekend…we shall wait and see. Also, word is the white fly (ephoron leukon) in on in the Harrisburg area. Look for these right before dark and even after dark. They are pretty big - about a size #12. A white wulff is a good pattern. Make sure to also have plenty of spent spinners. The duns don't linger much on the water before they take flight. Therefore lots of what you see is spent spinners. Small stream brookies and browns have also been the name of the game
the last few days. Just about all of them are running nice and cold.
Break out the topo map and do some exploring. You will be amazed. Obviously
practice catch and release, carry out what you carry in, and leave no
trace. Feel free to shoot us an email if you have any questions. Get
out there…more wet weather is on the horizon.
|
|||
