Bear Creek, Schuylkill Co. - upper limit of DH Area and above - 3/18/10

[Mike]

Bear Creek stream survey today (electrofishing), 3/18/10 re: stocked trout residency. Time:10 AM- 1:30 PM. Water clear, 8 deg C, and on the the high end of normal with respect to flow. pH 6.3, total alkalinity 3-5 ppm. Hatches: moderate number of black stoneflies sz 14-18; low number of black or very dark brown caddisflies. Eight anglers counted fishing the DH Area. No need to fight for space.

 

[spectorfly]

I was on Manada today from 10:30 till 3:00. Fished from Mountain Road to Fogarty Road (almost the whole DH section) and was the only person going down and coming out. Whole stream to myself and caught 15 or so bows. No browns. 8 guys on Bear. Where are all the so called fishermen?
Oh, I know virtually fishing on the forum.

 

[PaulG]

Spector

Any stoneflies?

PaulG

 

[spectorfly]

Paul,
Tons of black stoneflies coming off all day.

 

[Fishidiot]

Cool report Mike - you're cheating using that electric fly rod however. :-D

So didja catch any resident stockies?

 

[Mike]

This was the second year for the preseason stocked trout residency work in the section above the DH Area. Brooks and Browns showed low residency last year...about 33 % so we switched to 100% RT this year. Residency nearly doubled, even with this year's high water and reduced pH.

 

[spectorfly]

Well, I went to Bear Creek today. Caught 1 stocked Brookie, 1 wild brookie, 1 holdover brown on the larger side, about 10 or so holdover bows and 3 fresh stocked bows. Fished the whole DHALO section top to bottom. Only saw 4 fishermen all day.

The 3rd hole downstream of the start of the DHALO section (about 300 yards into the reg section) was a disaster. 2 bobbers hanging from the tree. 9 worm containers, 3 powerbait containers and a can of 1/2 used corn with a Y stick stuck at the waters edge. Did you see that Mike? God I want to kick bait chuckers who don't stay within the rules and litter like it's a public dump in the balls.

 

[pcray1231]

Did not know the brown residency was that bad. The last time I fished the stocked section of Bear, I did fairly well, but all browns (and no, not wild). I believe it was in June.

But, when I fish that stream, I usually go pretty far upstream of the DHALO area. 8 guys is actually quite a few for a weekday on that stream.

 

[fritz]

I used to fish this creek a few times/year. I haven't been up there in several years. My last trip there, I did see a number of bait containers in the "well hidden" areas and at one really nice holding spot in particular. Didn't catch as many fish as I ususally
do either.

I agree--eight fisherman on a weekday would be a high number for me to see in there.