Small Stream Saturday

[FIN-ITE 34]

Headed over the border to PA to check out one of my favorite little creeks this morning, not knowing if there would be enough water to fish. I arrived at the parking area about 9:30 am with only one other vehicle in the lot and as that car was parked in the middle of the lot, I figured they were out for their morning hike.

I peeked over the bank to see what I had expected, very low water conditions. I knew that with the low, clear water, it would require that I wear my ghillie suit to aid in a stealthy approach.
Ok, that is BS, no ghillie suit. I wore shorts and my new pair of Simms Intruder felt boots that I picked up at Tight Lines last week. Yes I did buy them and I can say that after just one outing, I am extremely happy with the purchase. They fit like hiking boots, wade very nicely with the combination rubber/felt sole and were very comfortable on the long hike back to the car.

Today I fished my 7' 3wt with a size 16 olive parachute tied with grizzly hackle and tail with a white post. The first real bit of water I came to was the swimming hole and as many of you who fish the Little "T" Creek know, the swimming hole pool is usually quite deep with a good amount of water running between the old concrete "V" which was not the case today due to the low water. I began with drifts at the tail end of the pool, working my casts up to just below the "V" with no luck. My last casts were up inside the "V" right against the concrete and this extremely nice brown smashed the fly.

This little bugger must hide under the concrete when the hoards of people descend on that little creek for their summer swims.

I worked my way up the ravine casting to any bit of substantial water and was surprised as to the number of takes I had, even with the extremely skinny water.

Most of the fish were the usual hand sized fish, but I did manage to hook another that was about the size of the previous picture. He took me under the rocks a couple times and that was all the 6x tippet could stand, resulting in a lost fly.

Here are a few pictures of some of the fish from today.


I'm sure I hooked over a dozen fish today, landing about half, which was not too bad for killing some time on a hot summer day.

I returned to the car at about 1:30 pm and decided to take the temperature of the water, knowing that it felt pretty cold when I was wading. The temperature in the creek next to the parking area was a chilly 62°F, good for the trout and trout fishing.

There were also quite a few Yellow Sallys on the rocks that were about a size 16/18.

One last interesting note. The creek below Federal is non existent. It is completely dry, no water from bank to bank all the way to the D.

 

[BRK TRT]

Well done. I'm familiar with that stream, one of my better days on a small stream anywhere took place on that stream.
Love to see reports as yours.
Thanks

 

[cocopelao]

Since you're talking about small streams, I recently hiked to the Biscuit Brook in the Catskills after watching one of our friend's famous videos. As pointed out in the video, I went off the trail and "bushwhacked" down to the brook at the first opportunity and then fished my way upstream about a mile or so to where the trail crosses it.
The brook is absolutely beautiful with many runs that look like a scrubbed water slide carved into the stone and 1 fairly good sized waterfall, maybe about 15' high. The water was low but flowing pretty well in the narrow lower end and there were quite a few small pools to throw a line into. I caught 3 small brook trout (3"-4") that were hiding under the submerged ledges. The water was crystal clear and it was really cool to watch them stick their noses out to check out the wooly worm for a second or two before going on the attack and striking.
The middle area seemed more spread out with a lot of downed trees that I had to climb over and walk around and the stream branched in different directions. The water was very low in the branch I took and I didn't have any luck at the few small pools I came across. I resigned myself to the likelihood that the water ahead was to low to fish and to just make my way upstream to the trail and walk back to my car. I was very happy to see the creek bed narrow and form into a single run again as I got closer to the lean-to/trail junction. There were some really nice, relatively deep pools in this area and I caught 3 more brookies, 2 of which were around 6 inches.
I climbed out near the lean-to and after taking a few minutes to locate it, I followed the blue trail back to the parking area which was about a 45 minute hike. I would rate the hike to and from as a bit challenging with a couple steep and rocky areas but it's do-able if you're in half way decent shape. It was a nice day and I didn't see a soul the entire time I was there.
Anyway, it is a beautiful little brook and would recommend it to anyone looking to catch some trout on a stream all to your own. Pack a lunch!