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Update - June 27, 2003
Well I guess the rain we received last weekend was a blessing
indisguise. The heat wave we have received this week should not
really affect the water temps too much due to all this water that
is currently flowing in our streams. Our recommendations for this
weekend would be to hit the central PA streams, limestoners or
the small mountain freestoners. The bigger rivers in eastern PA
should settle down by next week and make for some good 4th of
July weekend fishing. This of course is dependent on any major
rain events but it looks like we have finally settled into a normal
summer time weather pattern.
With July rolling around we look forward to hitting the Susquehanna
River for some great smallmouth action on the fly. Don't forget
about the July trout fishing too, it should be great this year
due to all the water. Hopefully we have the best of both worlds
as soon as the water recedes a bit.
If you're interested in floating for trout
or smallies, we are running a discount for the month of July on
our drift boat trips. $20 will be deducted from your trip that
is booked in July. Feel free to drop us an email if this interests
you.
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Update - June 22, 2003
Another weekend washout for the PA stream fly fisher. Here
is to brighter skies in July. The last time we were on the Lehigh
River was May 24. Since then it has risen dramatically. For
a frame of reference when using the Lehighton gage - 2,000cfs
is the upper limit for floating. You can float at higher flows,
but conditions are tough. Normally we float from Lehighton,
down. For wading - wait till the flow is under 1,000. And even
at this level the Lehigh is a powerful river. Big water in every
sense - use korkers, a wading staff and good judgement. The
rocks are slippery and big. Give us a shout if you have any
questions regarding access.
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Isonychia - Slate Drake
Iso emerger |
Iso nymph |
Iso dun |
When it comes to fishing a sumertime hatch - the slate drake definitely
comes to mind. Be it a small brookie stream or a larger tailwater and
even some limestoners - Isos are usually present and supply a continuous
food source. Not usually a really heavy hatch, the Isonychia comes off
in enough numbers that the fish are always looking up for them. Take
for instance the Delaware River system - when during the heat of the
summer you can usually drum-up a couple of fish from an otherwise barren
riff usually with either a dry or an emerger. Hanging a nymph off the
back-end as a dropper can also be productive.
Pictured above are three really effective patterns
for imitating Iso - pattern directions soon to follow.
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Report June 17, 2003
Once again a tough weekend for the PA bound fly fisher. Most streams big
and small were just too high to effectively fish for trout. Our scheduled
trip on the Lehigh was blown out along with an outing to some smaller
Pocono freestoners. Streams right now though are rounding into fine shape
- both flow and temp wise for this time of year, but we are riding a fine
line between fishable and unfishable - especially with more rain in the
forcast.
For you SE PA folks Valley Creek is looking really nice with a flow in
the lower 30cfs range, which is fantastic for this time of year. The fish
that inhabit this stream are absolutely amazing and everyone you land
is truly a treasure. They could very well be some of the hardiest trout
in the state. |
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Report June 12, 2003
Well another weekend is approaching and water levels on our bigger streams
and rivers are way over the average flows for this time of year. This
is not entirely a bad thing, just means we need to take a break or fish
some smaller streams that have fishable flows. If ya need to wet a line
this weekend we recommend hitting the small mountain freestoners located
in the mountainous regions in PA. These streams are full of water and
should fish quite well. We have a trip planned for Saturday to a secret
stream in the Pocono area to try to catch native brookies. Most of the
time a handful of dries will do the trick - caddis, wulffs or other
hi-floating dry flies. You will be amazed at how aggressive brook trout
can be and sometimes even better is the setting they call home. You
never know what is around the next bend! If you are interested in fishing
for these tiny gems, feel free to give us a shout.
Sometimes a stealthy approach is needed to catch
these beauties |
PA's state fish
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June 10, 2003 - MV Report
Just returned from MV - pretty decent fishing, but no where near the
numbers of fish as in years past. Things are getting off to a little
slower start this year due to the coolish spring...in fact this year
we spent more time with our winter hats on than any other trip up that
way. If you put in your time you got into fish. Poge had numerous blues
around on Friday - you had to wade out as far as you could and then
hawk metal as far as you could, but you were rewarded with a 5-8# blue
on every cast for a few hours. Even managed a few on the fly by teasing
them in or by casting to the fish following the hooked ones.
By Sat/Su we figured out where some stripers were setting up and we
managed some nice fish. Actually most fish hooked into were big - over
30". With some going much bigger that were never beached - one
of which broke the hook-shank.
The beachfront for bass action was slow on Poge. In years past this
was always the place to be, but not this year do to the lack of bait.
We focused our efforts towards the inlets - swinging streamers and sand
eel patterns with extremely erratic stripping techniques.
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Here are just a couple of the fish landed over
the weekend.
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June 4, 2003 - General Report
Off to Martha's Vineyard for 4 days of hardcore flyfishing - Chasing
big bass and bluefish. The word is from fisherman up on the island that
big fish are really starting to show in decent numbers. Hopefully they
will be in big time by Thursday. We will post a report and pictures
when we return.
As for the PA fishing, it is not looking too good at the moment. Most
of the larger streams - Penns, Lehigh, Delaware are up over fishable
levels, with more wet weather on the way. Maybe, by the weekend things
will round into shape. In the long run all this wet weather should make
for a good latter part of June into the middle-part of summer.
Till next week...tight lines,
Jake & Dean
Hope to have many of these while on MV.
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