June 2010 Report

2003-2010 Reports
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June 27, 2010 - Beltzville Release Temperatures

The Pohopoco which flows into and out of Beltzville Reservoir near Parryville has always been a very cold stream when it leaves the impoundment. A depth of 140' along with a selective withdrawl capability will do that (if only Francis E Walter had that!). Anyway, for whatever reason Beltzville as of late has been discharging warmer than normal water. The data for this release goes back many years and so far for the month of June the Po has been about 5-9F above what its historic temperature is.

June 21, 2010 - Summer Soltice SE PA Update

One of our more near and dear streams here in SE PA is Valley Creek. One thing we don't do is fish Valley in the heat of the summer season. It just is not worth it. We always tell our clients there is a time and place to fish for wild trout, and on streams like Valley it is just not worth putting a fishery through the added stress that can be created by us anglers.

Sure the fish manage to survive summer after summer in Valley, but we leave it alone during this time of year, and instead fish it when it is more comfortable for both us and the fish.

June 16, 2010 - Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts

It is safe to say that the fishing was off this year on the Vineyard. The group put in a lot of time on the sand, and came away with some fish, but not nearly the amount we've come to expect for this time on year on the spit of sand known as Cape Poge.

Some history...when we first started to hit the piece of water more than a decade ago, we really had no clue what we were doing, but yet always found fish. And sometimes a lot of them. Over the years we've come to expect the traditional night-time spots on Cape Poge to light up as the usually dependent sand eels move into the shallows, with the bass tight to their tails. However, the last handful of years this has not been the case. We have not found the hot night bite in the traditional spots, nor have we found the bait in the quantities we've come to expect. This year was no different, except for a couple of nights when we did find plentiful quantities of sand eels and squid. Overall though the presence was lacking and when the bait was there, so were the fish..

What was not lacking was the wind! It was all over the compass and it was strong!. One day it was SW. The next, hard NE. Schizophrenic to say the least.

But despite the derth of fish, the crew all landed a few with the biggest going a taped 39". A few mid-30s also rounded out the mix.There were some blues around, and some nice ones at that.

Let's hope this downward trend in the catch is just an anomaly, and not a decline in the overall population of striped bass. That said, there is no denying a downward trend though in numbers landed over the past five years for this group.

June 4, 2010 - West Branch Report

Well the Main Stem was untouchable over the holiday weekend, but the West Branch, at least upstream fished pretty well. You had to keep vigilant about checking for the algae that seems to be everywhere, but otherwise, the fish were eating well. On top, it was mainly sulphurs and a few drakes, but they were waning. Underneath it was the always hot flashback beadhead pheasant tail. The snowshoe sulphur emerger also moved a handful of fish. Hopefully we get some rain, and higher water to give the fish a break, otherwise, it could be a long summer for the D trout!

Big wild bow caught on a sulphur dry. A reel screamer!

We are off to the Vineyard for one week. So with that said, our site will be dormant for the foreseeable future. Catch ya mid-month!