M
Mking5
New member
Does anyone still fish the 'fly fishing only' section of Clarks creek anymore? It used to be my favorite trout stream. Seems like the past several years it's really gone down hill.
Same here (except it's a 2.5 hour drive for me.)I stopped about five years back because it's a 1.5 hour drive for me and with all the dead-fall hemlocks, I spent more time getting out of the creek to walk around obstructions than standing IN the creek fishing.
I'll have to try that.If you don't mind some tight quarters fishing, the section of the creek above the reservoir is a beautiful area to explore.
At the risk of being ostracized, I agree!!Given all of the negative comments about the CRFFO section over the past year or two it seems to me that the angling community could be better served by liberalizing the regs, allowing the use of other gear types that are more effective under the felled tree circumstances that now exist, and probably improving angler use.
Good numbers of wild trout sounds like a good thing.It was one of my favorites too.
Definitely my favorite place to go when it was stinking hot as the water temp was nice & cold AND the air temps around the creek were like air conditioning, not to mention the beauty of the Clark's Valley and the number of wild fish I was catching in latter years.
The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) sucks!!
That's pretty much it, except that it's not so much the casting, but just getting around. You can no longer just wade up and down the stream. You have to get out and get back in. In many places, the bank is vertical and five to ten feet high, which makes getting out and in too much work for "more experienced" anglers (read that as "old men") like myself.So are the wild trout doing well, and the problem is just that casting is difficult?
Don't know for sure, but it's typical of tail waters.What caused vertical banks 5 to 10 feet high? I realize that it can be hard to tell for sure, but does anyone have any theories ?
This is pretty much why I hike and fish from the bank. You can use the logs to your advantage. I tend to fish very small sparse streamers or buggers around the log jams and use a short stout fiberglass rod to flick roll casts across the stream. Come to think about it, I kind of reverted back to how I fished as a kid, often just walking along a stream in old boots, except now wwith a fly rod most of the time.That's pretty much it, except that it's not so much the casting, but just getting around. You can no longer just wade up and down the stream. You have to get out and get back in.
Keep in mind MY unscientific observations of wild fish caught were made BEFORE all the hemlocks started falling in and across the stream. However the stream is designated as a High Quality – Cold Water Fishery (HQ-CWF). You can read a 2012 study on Clark's Creek here.Good numbers of wild trout sounds like a good thing.
But many people are saying that it's ruined. That seems like a contradiction.
So are the wild trout doing well, and the problem is just that casting is difficult?