Can't catch 'em...Always get 'em

afishinado

afishinado

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I read through "Stream Locations" and whenever I see posts about the Lehigh River below the FEW dam, I cringe. It’s one of the streams I never seem to do well on, and I used to live near the area and fished it a lot. I’ve done well above the dam, but don’t recall ever having a banner day fishing below the FEW dam. Most, but not all of my fishing was done on the weekends (WW releases) so that may be a factor. I do confess, haven’t fished it much lately.

Also, there are streams that can be tough where I do well consistently. One that comes to mind is Fishing Creek in Clinton County. I always seem catch a lot of nice fish there on nearly every trip.

My two can’t catch’em and always get’em are:


Can’t catch ‘em – Lehigh River (below the FEW dam)

Always get ‘em – Fishing Creek, Clinton County


What are your nemesis and glory streams?
 
Catch'em.... Kettle creek

Can't get them ....... Slate Run


Below the FEW I have had bad luck. the feeders into the lehigh, I have done great. I have only fished once above the FEW, any suggestions would be helpful I'll be up next week for 4 days. I truely beleive I can't fish large streams I never have any luck. I grew up fishing creeks and find it much easier for me. Others feel the oposite. I am always intimidated when fishing large streams. And find myself second guessing my flies and area I am fishing. Guess I just need to force myself to hit the large streams more.
 
Before my accident, I was seeing a big turnaround on a few streams.

Penns had driven me to distraction for years. That year, I started doing fairly well on it.

The Connodoguinett in Camp Hill was a "can't miss" stream for me years ago. But the population crash on the Susquehanna turned this smallmouth mecca into a desert.

But I guess my real "can't miss" was Clarks. I fished that so much, I could name the trout.

My nemisis would be mountain streams. I caught fish in them, but compared to what people "claim" about them (50+ fish days, etc) my catch rates were pitiful.
 
Allmyne wrote:
Catch'em.... Kettle creek

Can't get them ....... Slate Run


Below the FEW I have had bad luck. the feeders into the lehigh, I have done great. I have only fished once above the FEW, any suggestions would be helpful I'll be up next week for 4 days. I truely beleive I can't fish large streams I never have any luck. I grew up fishing creeks and find it much easier for me. Others feel the oposite. I am always intimidated when fishing large streams. And find myself second guessing my flies and area I am fishing. Guess I just need to force myself to hit the large streams more.

I'm the other way. Do well on Slate and not well on Kettle.
I have the same problem on large streams. The section just out of reach always seems to look better or has someone catching fish after fish while I don't. Small stream forces you to focus on the immediate section. From a mental perspective the fish in a small stream can't get away.
 
Almyne wrote: "Below the FEW I have had bad luck. the feeders into the lehigh, I have done great. I have only fished once above the FEW, any suggestions would be helpful I'll be up next week for 4 days. I truely beleive I can't fish large streams I never have any luck. I grew up fishing creeks and find it much easier for me. Others feel the oposite. I am always intimidated when fishing large streams. And find myself second guessing my flies and area I am fishing. Guess I just need to force myself to hit the large streams more."





Almyne,

The Lehigh River just above the dam is mostly private. I fish the Lehigh further above, from Rt 115 north Stoddardsville – Thornhurst – Clifton. Right now I’m sure there’s little water there to fish. The area is better in the spring and early summer.

Actually the Lehigh below the FEW would be the best place to fish right now since the dam controls the flow. But don’t count on me for advice on how/where to catch them.

As far as fishing big water in general, finding fish is an added factor to fishing. On small streams it’s not much of an issue since you can cover all areas of the stream in a few casts. I fish the Delaware quite a bit, and that’s as big as a trout river that you will find in PA. The advice written in a lot of FF books about breaking the river down into smaller sections, and fishing it like a smaller stream is good advice. Also, on big water sometimes you must move around a lot and fish different water types – riffles, runs, pools, etc. until you find feeding fish. It is tougher since you have to find the right combination of fly pattern, presentation, and water type, and find the actual fish themselves to be successful. Often times several things will work, so you really don’t have to find perfect pattern, fished perfectly, in the perfect spot. Try proven flies like the wooly bugger, GRHE, PT, etc. – they will work anywhere. Also, to up your odds, find out from the local fly shop what’s hatching that day and what flies to use on the river. The more you fish big water, or one particular river, the more of a feel you will have from experience, as to where to start and how to fish…………….…except the Lehigh River below the FEW dam!
 
Can't catch? that would be mountain freestones of NWPA in the winter through early spring.

Can't miss? That would be mountain freestones of NWPA from mid spring through summer.

Can't fish? That would be mountain freestones of NWPA in the fall. I choose not to fish for them in the fall during the spawn. Just a personal choice. Besides, it's hunting season!!! :-D
 
"I fish the Delaware quite a bit, and that’s as big as a trout river that you will find in PA. The advice written in a lot of FF books about breaking the river down into smaller sections, and fishing it like a smaller stream is good advice. Also, on big water sometimes you must move around a lot and fish different water types – riffles, runs, pools, etc. until you find feeding fish."

This is just what I found on Penns and Spring Creek. When I first started fishing them, I wanted to throw a long line and cover the whole stream.

I found that fishing the stream with short casts was the way to go. It controls drag, if nothing else.

The biggest challenge for me is fly selection. On larger streams you can see multiple hatches and far more flies on the water. Trout can key in on a particular fly in a particular life stage. And the next trout may be keyed in on something totally different. I still keep thinking that the trout will be taking the biggest fly on the water, or the most numerous. But it's definately not a guarantee. It seems to me trout will chase the fly they see most often, both that day and day to day. Which often means midges or caddis, and generally subsurface. I'm a dryfly addict so I get a little frustrated sometimes. :-o But I get by.
 
Long casts ARE tough. As Pad advised, keep your fishing in-close with both nymphs and dries and you will have more success overall. Sometimes on big water you can only wade out so far, and you have to boom out a long cast out to a rising fish. Seldom do you connect on the fish because of drag. Sometimes the fish have you “measured”, that’s when they only rise 5 feet further than you can cast – those devils!

One interesting thing, on bigger rivers and streams, but in particular on the Delaware River, most FF (at least the experienced ones) fish their dry flies quartering downstream instead of upstream. I can’t explain why, but it usually works better than the upstream approach there and on some other big water. I don’t know if the fish are spooked by the line when presenting upstream (since they see the fly before the tippet, leader, and line when fishing downstream) or the fly doesn’t drag as much with the downstream drift. Cast quartering downstream and keep mending and feeding your line out to get a good drift. Let your fly swing well away from the rising fish at the end of the drift before you pull up your line to recast. Also, when a fish takes on a downstream drift, you must pause a second before setting the hook to allow the fish to turn down, or you will pull the fly out of the fishes mouth.
 
can't catch em: small mountain freestones in summer.

always get em: the tully in winter.


I would probably say Valley for can't catch em a few months ago, but my last few trips I've at least hooked up a few times. The tully in winter is where I've had multiple instances of 20+ fish days. And I was only there a few hours since it was so cold.

For the smalls streams, I do OK in winter and spring. Never really connected more with more than a few good trips in the summer.
 
>>One interesting thing, on bigger rivers and streams, but in particular on the Delaware River, most FF (at least the experienced ones) fish their dry flies quartering downstream instead of upstream. I can’t explain why, but it usually works better than the upstream approach there and on some other big water.>>

This is an interesting thing that in my limited experience over trout on really big water, I've found to be true.

And I have no clear idea why it is so.

On the section of the Allegheny from say Buckaloons all the way down almost to Oil City, there was some really interesting dry fly fishing over browns the size of those pressed sawdust, fake fireplace logs. It didn't happen every year. It seemed to depend upon how soon the river got regularly into the 70's in a given season and how closely this coincided with some pretty significant Grey Fox, Isonychia and (IIRC) brown drake hatches on this section of the river. In cooler Springs, if the river was stiil in the 60's when these bugs started, some big fish could be moved on top. But in warmer years, you might as well sit on the bank and scratch your butt.

Anyway, the first time I hit this halfway right, I was running up and down the bank with my eyes bugging out making upstream casts over risers that couldn't have cared less. But when I tried casting quartering down, there was a noticeable difference and my success picked up.

Who knows why? It's a mystery. That's OK, some things should be..
 
Ditto for the Yough. I believe it is a combination of drag control and fly-first presentations. One thing I learned to do with the Yough's sporadic hatches is to cast behind a natural and pay out line so the imitation drifts 6-10 feet or so immediately behind the natural. If the natural gets taken, your fly will be next.
 
To address the thread header, I think some of the streams that baffled and frustrated me most regularly in PA were (at least in terms of places where almost everybody else I talked to did OK or better):

Hunt's Run, Oswayo Creek and the Logan Br.

Places where I seemed to almost preternaturally be able to catch fish even when the majority of guys would report not doing so well included:

WB Caldwell Creek.

There are a lot more in both categories, but I don't want to rile anybody's feathers by airing the names here..
 
can't catch em:
Valley (esp in Winter)

always get em:
Penn's (at least in the past year)

A few years ago, this was the opposite.
I think Penn's is a case of "I'd rather be lucky than good." but this year, it's been very good to me.

Both streams have been places where I get "dialed in"; if I'm fishing there regularly, I do well. Otherwise, it's a toss-up.
 
always catch 'em - Yellow Breeches

catch catch 'em (well a lot fewer) - Letort

That being said, I catch fish at Letort, just not as many, but they seem more satisfying.
 
You guys will chuckle at this one...

Cant catch 'em - Yellow Breeches (meaning catch rates are int he single digits)

Always catch them - Muddy Creek watershed.

For the most part, my nemesis is slow flat water with educated trout.

My strength is nymphing, streamers and drys in riffles. Midges and emerger to subemerger patterns I never had much confidence.
 
Ditto on Scotto post.
 
Can't catch em- Penns
Always catch em- Little Lehigh

Although, with the very low water level, I've only managed 1 fish per trip to the LL the last 2 times there. I did do a lot more walking and scouting than usual but it's definitely a lot tougher now. Can't wait till we get some real rain.
 
Cant catch 'em = Falling Spring

Always = Codorus

The interesting combination is the LeTort where I am virtually never skunked and hardly ever get more than one fish. More often than not it is one good (but not really big) fish per trip. Then again, I don't fish it alot.
 
Can= can't say

Can't = The Yough still a mystery to me. Flows and temps up and down everyday!

Nice topic. Paul
 
I realize this is a stretch[about 2000 miles] but the Yellowstone River from the top of Paradise Valley down to Columbus,Mt.,about 80 miles gets my vote as the toughest trout fisheries going.Usually tough but when the wind blows upstream,nobody catches trout.Those in the know don't go.
Always-no where-I have been skunked my fair share.However the Letort,Paradise,Yellow Breeches were my go to Pa. streams.Some sections of Penns seemed easy,others barren.
However that was back in the dark ages before Internet let everybody know the hot spots and flies.
 
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