Disappearing Trout

Tucker733

Tucker733

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
130
Location
Western Maryland
I returned to one of my favorite Brookie streams today to fish it before deer season. I fished a 1/2 mile section of the stream that I caught over 20 fish last trip in the summer and today I fished the entire stretch without a hit. I could see in every holding spot and never even saw a fish. I'm trying to comprehend where all of the fish went. The steam has a very extreme gradient, dropping 600 feet in the 1/2 mile I fished. The fish would have a very hard time moving down stream and it would be almost impossible for them to move beyond a 50 foot water fall up stream that I've never caught fish above. Does anyone have any insight or experienced this this time of year?
 
here a lot drop down stream to larger water to over winter after spawning, might be the same there.
 
I don't have an explanation, but I can empathize with you. I fished some of my favorite spots for 5 hours yesterday with nary a take. I did see a couple of fish and I know they are in there, but I couldn't interest them in anything I was offering. C'est la vie, I guess...
 
Were you fishing dry flies? What was the water temperature? And what time of day were you fishing?

Maybe you were fishing dries, but the water was just too cold for that to be effective?

Don't assume that if you don't see trout that they are not there. Even on small shallow streams the trout are often there, but not visible.
 
Sorry I didn't explain further, but I started with dries and went to nymphs. I fished mid day with no luck. I am skeptical that anyone else fishes this stream and due the gradient I'm unsure of the moving down of the fish, though that was my first guess to where they were. If I could figure out how to post pictures I would post an impasse I don't think they could get over but have at some point but weren't today.
This stream is different than any other I've fished there are 10 to 100 foot long solid rock bottoms that lead to plunge pools and large drops where the water is not visible as it is under large boulders. The steam has made me respect brook trout so much more.
 
Recent Cold Front, full moon, bright sunny day, spawning fish equals poor fishing day. The fish could have moved because of spawning, no matter how impossible that sounds for some location, they find a way. What region of PA?
 
South Western Pa I did see at least 2 abandoned redds in the steam if that helps explain anything
 
In my experience it's pretty common for fishing for post-spawn brookies to be slow.

And when you do catch them they are often skinny. It's not the best that the world of fly fishing has to offer.

 
I was having this problem in Ligonier, I fish western PA a lot. I had no luck in Fisherman's Pardise on the Loyalhanna.. Fly fishing is supposed to be more than just the actual act of catching fish, but the idea that you might be just "standing in a stream waving a stick" is kind of defeating.
 
fishingn00b101 wrote:

I was having this problem in Ligonier, I fish western PA a lot. I had no luck in Fisherman's Pardise on the Loyalhanna..

Which part of Loyalhanna Creek is supposed to be "Fishermans Paradise?"

And how paradisical is it?

(Hmm, spell check doesn't like "paradisical.")
 
Yeah the conditions are against you, especially post-spawn. What you're experiencing is somewhat normal. I bet if you go back there in the Spring, you'll find the fish again.
 
Fall and Winter are the time of year that catching 1 trout in an outing is an accomplishment. And of course enjoying mother nature at her coolest.
 
Ah, my mistake. I for some reason thought the artificial only/delayed harvest section of the loyalhanna in Ligonier was called Fisherman's Paradise. I do admit, nothing about the Loyalhanna is like paradise...
 
I fished for Brookies yesterday around Ligoner and it was slow, only got 2 to hand, one on a dry, one on a nymph, my usual catch is around 10-15 fish, however this was my first November trip and it was much slower. Fish were there, just not as active with colder temps in the freestoners.
 
This time of year I typically brace myself to see fewer trout. This is especially true on certain freestone streams. The trout do indeed seem to vanish. In my experience, this effect is most noticeable following first frost and around the time when the majority of leaves have dropped and stream bottoms get that tannic, leaf filled aura so typical of late October and the following several weeks.

With warm water streams, the fish do indeed disappear - bass and sunfish migrate out of the small creeks that they inhabit during the summer....but trout are harder to predict. I have a theory that post spawn brookies and browns in some small mountain streams almost literally go to ground in the late autumn for a period that lasts until the first big push of winter high water that blows out the leaves. In other words, small wild trout seem to have a desire to get under rocks and cover and seem almost to vanish. They're still there, but much less visible and catchable. At a later date when water levels have risen and cleared the leafy debris, the fish seem to be back in their regular spots. In my experience, limestone streams are much less susceptible to this strange activity.

It's a head scratcher... but I'm convinced there is something to this process.
 
I've had mixed experiences with post spawn fish on small streams. I've had 2 or 3 outstanding days within about 2 weeks of the spawn, but the fish are very weak at that point and not much fun to catch, so I have since avoided fishing that situation. After that time frame they do really disappear. Occasionally you can find one or two in the very best pools. Foxgap and I fished a stream in winter once and saw one little brookie where usually you see a few dozen.
 
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