Interesting observation on my warm water creek

[BelAirSteve]

As you might know from my postings here, the Gunpowder is my home water. When I only have a little while to goof off in the evening and chase sunfish, fallfish and little smallmouth, I go to Deer Creek. It also happens to be one of the creek the state stocks with rainbows.

The wife was out for the evening, so I thought I would see what was going on at Deer Creek, even thought I usually don't fish it this early in the season. Ironically, I was talking to my brother about the sulphur hatch on Spring Creek and he asked if Deer Creek had any hatches to speak of.

I see mayflies there almost every time I am there, and I know it has the little black stones in the winter, and lots of olives throughout the year. There is also a prolific flying ant hatch in the summer, and caddis in the fall. Anyway, as I was fishing last night, there was a significant sulphur hatch - they were everywhere. Big ones, little ones - coming off like crazy. I tied on an emerger and was sight fishing to rising red breasted sunfish!

Many of the takes were subtle, and they were literally sipping the fly in - only once in a while was there a splashy rise. I had a blast.

 

[flatlander]

I caught my one and only catfish on a #14 sulfur about 5 years ago. Huge hatch had every type of fish rising. On the Tully by the way.

 

[henrydavid]

That sounds great, the panfish should be getting into spawning mode

 

[troutbert]

On the warm part of Bald Eagle Creek I've seen juvenile smallmouth bass taking sulphurs one after another.

Fallfish, too, feed a lot on sulphurs. One of the streams I fish has both trout and a lot of fallfish and it's hard to tell the difference in their rises.

The only thing is that the fallfish are usually in the slower water, out of the current.