Another Valley Creek Beast 10-13-16

[Flyinglion]

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Fished Valley Creek Thursday evening. Got a late start... 5:45pm ,,, fished wet midges for a few pools with a few small browns to the net,,, decided to hit a shallow run where I had noticed a few risers right about dark. Switched over to a small marabou streamer for the "last" few casts and "BAM!", there he was, lurking in the skinny water!!!

A nice fat Valley Creek wild brown.

 

[Flyinglion]

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Another shot of the beast... Nice size for Valley Creek.

 

[Aducker]

Nice fish
Thanks for sharing.

 

[geebee]

Wow. Great fish. Very pale again.

 

[troutbert]

geebee wrote:
Wow. Great fish. Very pale again.

Do you see any significance to the paleness?

 

[geebee]

troutbert wrote:

geebee wrote:
Wow. Great fish. Very pale again.

Do you see any significance to the paleness?

Yes.

the colour reflects the background of where they have been living. Light typically means gravel bottomed shallowish water, dark means deep water, undercuts, weedy areas etc.

Also this time of year males tend to be darker with more pronounced spots, females can remain pale.

In streams freely connected to the sea, pale with few spots also mean they have recently fed in salty or brackish water . Though unlikely in this case due to the dam on valley and poor water quality on the lower Delaware.

 

[RCFetter]

Nice fish.

 

[Flyinglion]

Thanks! I am always amazed at where the bigger fish tend to lay.
This was a spot that I have walked right past many times and never would have thought to cast to. It made the ride home a good one.

 

[salmo]

Awesome fish. Great catch!

 

[sarce]

Nice job, very nice fish for that stream!!

One thing I've learned lately is if a pool has any sort of large overhead cover, there's probably a big brown there regardless of how shallow the spot is or how small the stream is overall. Don't know if that's true where you caught it or not, but I just assume that is always the case and I fish every spot with overhead cover as if it holds a beast.

 

[Flyinglion]

Thanks folks.

Sarce,

This one definitely had nice overhead coverage. He was holding in just inches of water but also had nice cover from the slightly faster water than where he probably hides out during the day.

I also think that the coloration is pretty typical of most fish in Valley over the past few years. I agree that it is likely due to the amount of tan silt that seems to have covered a lot of the stream. Nonetheless, there he was, surviving all of the trauma that has impacted that stream during his lifetime.

Think about it... Since this fish was born in the stream, this fish has likely weathered several pipeline breakages, countless storms, quite a few fisherman, and yet, here he is. Now, that is one resilient fish in an even more resilient little stream! I hope to be fortunate enough to catch a few of his younger cousins when they get to be this size sone day...

 

[sandfly]

GeeBee
poor water quality ?? have caught sea runs from the lower river. Kenny schwan had a slide show with 12 lb. browns sea run from the lower river.

 

[troutbert]

sandfly wrote:
GeeBee
poor water quality ?? have caught sea runs from the lower river. Kenny schwan had a slide show with 12 lb. browns sea run from the lower river.

Schuylkill or Delaware River?

 

[JohnPowers]

Lower where?

 

[franklin]

geebee wrote:

troutbert wrote:

geebee wrote:
Wow. Great fish. Very pale again.

Do you see any significance to the paleness?

Yes.

the colour reflects the background of where they have been living. Light typically means gravel bottomed shallowish water, dark means deep water, undercuts, weedy areas etc.

Also this time of year males tend to be darker with more pronounced spots, females can remain pale.

In streams freely connected to the sea, pale with few spots also mean they have recently fed in salty or brackish water . Though unlikely in this case due to the dam on valley and poor water quality on the lower Delaware.

Plus three more dams on the Schuylkill.
All that aside, very nice fish.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Nice fish!

 

[Maurice]

I think the flash washed out the color. I'd be willing to bet that the spots were very red as well as the lead edge line on the caudal fin.

 

[Flyinglion]

Thanks, Maurice!

I like your pic better! The red spots and fins pop much better in your version.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

There are plenty of fish that pale in Valley. Sacrilege, I know, but I target the big fish after significant rains with spinning tackle and plugs. Often, they are in sandy flats where there is some bank side cover where they spend most of their days, usually roots and undercuts even a foot deep. A couple shots of one from February of this year that looks similar to your great fish:

Pale brown Valley

Shot two pale brown Valley

 

[Flyinglion]

Nymph-wristed,

Those are some chunky fish for Valley. Thanks for posting.