Medix Run Watershed

dasofas

dasofas

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Joined
May 11, 2009
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Allright, my plans for the weekend have totaly changed. Thought I was heading to Fayette Co. to hit a wild stream I have been wanting to fish for some time now, but I have a friend who is heading up to his camp for archery and got an invite.

The camp is just up Little Medix from the confluence with Medix. I surely have read a lot about the area from Harvey's writings, but I have never fished this watershed. Any thoughts on where to spend the bulk of my limited time, Medix, Little Medix, Jack Dent Branch? I plan to explore all 3, but seeing that the wife is only gving me a limited pass this weekend, I wanted to cut down on the search time. A nice holdover or two would be fine, but I really would like to get into some wild fish. A PM is fine if you prefer. Thanks.
 
I would avoid lower Medix run if you aren't looking to spend time searching. It has several places where AMD is a major problem. The higher up you stay the more consistent water (if there is any) you will find of the ones you mentioned. The first fork and the Driftwood branch of the Sinnemahoning have water right now and should be at decent levels by the weekend if you aren't finding what you are looking for in the hills.
 
Medix might be running a bit high and stained. We have gotten a lot of rain in the last couple of days.
 
The part he wants to fish will run off first and should be fine by the weekend if not already.
 
Thanks for the input, I'll let you know what I find.
 
BTW, along Medix Run Road, there is a camp with a sign out front that says "The Harvey Camp." I stopped and talked to the owner several years ago. The camp is no longer in the Harvey family, but the owner said the camp was formed in the 1920s, and a Harvey older than George, either George’s dad or uncle, was one of the founding members.

In the George Harvey book he talks about staying at a camp with his uncles when he was a boy and catching lots of trout. I think that is probably the place.

Medix Run and Jack Dent Branch are both brookie streams that shouldn't be stocked, but are. The PFBC Area Fisheries Manager suggested taking Jack Dent Branch off the stocking list some years ago, but he got over-ruled.

Where have all the brookie streams gone? Gone for hatchery outlets every one. Oh when will they ever learn...
 
Miller Run, Bell Draft, and Dents Run are all nearby class A streams. The really tiny streams around there mostly have wild brookies, though they tend to the small side. The West Branch of Hicks Run is rumored to have a few wild browns, though not in large numbers.
 
Thanks for the info, me and a bud landed 30 on Saturday. A couple pics of the better fish. Unfortunately the photo of the larger brook didn't give his color justice, damn cell phones. The photo almost makes him look like a holdover, but his color was much better in person, and there were the shadowy remains of par marks.
 

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Glad you had a nice outting. That Jack Dent fish is a dandy for a native!
 
Thx Alby, that photo has caused a bit of discussion between me and a couple fishin buds. I was convinced at the stream that it was in fact a native. It is very difficult to see the remains of the par marks in the photo, and like I said, a good deal of the coloring did not turn out that well in the photo. The one characteristic that is making me second guess myself is the pectoral fins, they were not as defined as the others we caught that day. With that said, the anal and pelvic fins were very well defined, very well colored, and somewhat translucent. I am sticking to my story, but I wouldn't mind hearing some opinions of the others on the board.
 
dasofas wrote:
Thx Alby, that photo has caused a bit of discussion between me and a couple fishin buds. I was convinced at the stream that it was in fact a native. It is very difficult to see the remains of the par marks in the photo, and like I said, a good deal of the coloring did not turn out that well in the photo. The one characteristic that is making me second guess myself is the pectoral fins, they were not as defined as the others we caught that day. With that said, the anal and pelvic fins were very well defined, very well colored, and somewhat translucent. I am sticking to my story, but I wouldn't mind hearing some opinions of the others on the board.
Click to expand...

How big was that brookie?
 
Awesome fish, looks like a native. Even in the photo, it has a very dark color overall.
 
Stayed at a buddies cabin up here Monday night. Beautiful area. Jack Dent runs 50 ft behind his place. Believe it or not...I actually fished for natives OMG. They were gems. Just glad I caught brown trout too.
 
Shane...did that brown have a brookie tail sticking out of its gullet?
 
Thats a tweener for sure. I could go either way with it. If forced to guess I would say holdover.

Long slender body is that of a fish that grew fast, and then got starved. The size is right for that too. And its certainly a stream where that is likely to happen. And the black/white transition on the anal fin isn't perfectly straight, and there's some darker coloration in the white area.

But the fin edges do look pretty good, the overall color is good, the black/white line on the pelvic fins look good, and the same on those anal fins are really not that bad. Worse than most wilds and better than most stockers.

Just my opinion for what its worth, and I'm not at all sure. Still a nice fish and if its 29 wilds and a holdover its still a great day. Congrats.
 
Lol read the date Pat.
 
Went ol' school.
 
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