01/28/2017 - White Clay Creek, Chester Co. PA

geebee

geebee

Active member
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
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i fished for a coupla hours yesterday on a local stocked creek.

some 10-12' browns were stocked in late December but there were a dozen or so bows mixed in with the large numbers of suckers and browns.

air temp was 37F but for a while the bows rose like crazy, big splashy rises.

they weren't sipping but were nailing it in head and tail rises.

i tried midge and caddis emerger patterns but nada. then i tried midges and PTN's in #18, them #20.

i lost one brown on a #20 PTN.

7X is a pain to tye on and thread !

i guess it could of been a late winter stonefly hatch but i saw nothing in the air at all.

a confusing but very pleasant way to spend a late January afternoon.

cheers

GB
 
Gebee,

How's the pressure down there now that they made the dhalo section part of the keystone select program? I know that they had big issues with poaching but the park rangers and WCOs seemed to be pretty responsive.


I used to live closer to the area and fished white clay and big elk creek. I wish these streams were cooler in the headwaters and could sustain wild trout. Some really beautiful water as you get close to the Delaware and md boarders.
 
the DHALO where I was fishing, is quite pressured. I normally see 4-5 anglers each time I go out.

there are a few keystone fish - 20"+ still in the deeper pools along with some nice bows in the 16"+ (I'd guess...) range.

those fish were stocked in March, April and May. I find it incredible that they survived the low flows of summer and fall, but they did which is food for thought bearing in mind brown trout have higher thermal tolerance than bows.

it is a pretty creek, but needs narrowing in a number of places to keep the water cool and deeper.

I think an interesting experiment would be to put in fingerling browns in November and see how they fare with C&R for BT only.
 
dry ?

I tried zebra's in white, black and red.

I left my both of Griffiths Gnats at home sadly. 😳

 
No sorry zebra midges in #20s black and red. Had the most luck with the red
 
"the DHALO where I was fishing, is quite pressured. I normally see 4-5 anglers each time I go out."

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Thank uou for the report.

Going to guess the keystone select program is bringing this stream a lot of extra attention. More than before I am going to guess. I've heard remarks on this board that some guys don't go there now because of all the increased activity and the type of anglers this promotion has brought. It used to be a nice place. What say you?
Sincerely, foxtrapper the fly snob.
 
I live less than 2 miles from there so I fish there quite a bit and if it was up to me I would choose to have it not be a part of the program. Last year was a zoo!
 
Thanks Nate.

I find it just as busy as usual - there are very few trout streams nearby or trout ponds even - all are 40 minutes at least. U
 
I would find it to be a logical fallacy to think because one stream is a bad fit for the program, that it would mean all streams are a bad fit.

 
a zoo eh? hmmmmm.

Well I guess that about sums it up
 
Yeah last year I was down there on the second day where I normally park. There are usually 1 or 2 other cars that day there was no parking so I pulled up on the bank. As I was getting ready 2 cars pulled in with Jersey plates with 4 guys in each car asking if this was the big trout spot they saw on the TV. So 8 guys grabbed there spin gear a tromped off that pretty much sums it up. I'd say 75% were spin fishers the first month last year
 
ryansheehan wrote:
govtmule wrote:
dont use 7x!
Click to expand...

Ok, I will bite, why should he not use 7x with a size 20 midge?
Click to expand...

It's been awhile, but our forum community has gone round and round in the past over the need for 7X with many individuals feeling that 7X is unnecessary and perhaps unethical. The debate was rooted in some folks in the FF business who were telling newbies in their shop that 7X was the only way to catch trout on a particular stream. Anyway, whether 7X is good or bad is an academic debate and folks can disagree.

This is a stream report, let's stick to discussion of the report. Let's not knock it off topic with another debate over the merits (or sins) of 7X. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd care to discuss this matter further.
Thanks,
Dave
 
to be honest, I don't think I will anyway - its a bugger to tye on and kinks like mad when you are tying the knots.

the difference between 6x and 7x is huge - its much firmer and I think i'll stick to that.

 
Anglers were counted twice each day on the first Saturday following each stocking last spring. Counts were followed by interviews. Overall, spin fishermen represented 34 percent of the total. This compares quite favorably with the full spring survey of angler's in the DH area in 1993 when the spin fishermen represented 33 percent of the angler's. Of over 60 angler's interviewed, only one answered that he would not like to see the Keystone Select Program expanded to other streams. This suggests substantial angler satisfaction.
 
And the survey sez.......


See. As usual "it's all good!" ,(my FAVORITE SAYING!!!) Hooray for progress!
 
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