Mikey2006
Well-known member
Me and a friend spent the afternoon/evening fishing Big Spring Creek and then Falling Spring Branch. Good day on the water overall.
The day started at Big Spring in the afternoon. When we pulled into one of the FFO parking lots it was windy with some rain coming down, but by the time we finished stringing up our rods and started fishing the sun had begun to poke through. The wind remained a problem for the rest of the day into the evening. Temps in the mid 60s felt a little chilly as well.
I had previously fished Big Spring three times and never landed a fish. My friend had been one time and also took the skunk. So when the sun came out and we realized just how low the water was we were discouraged. Nothing was hatching and we saw a total of two rises all day. But in the second riffle we fished my friend landed a tiny rainbow on a caddis nymph. We fished for about and hour, and he had a nice one (12-13 inches) take his nymph but it didn’t hook up. We then headed further downstream and he landed a small brookie. I also got a tiny rainbow. So at least we avoided the skunk on Big Spring. We did spook several nice ones including a 15-16 inch bow that I almost walked past, I would never have known it was there if it had stayed put. All three fish took caddis nymphs on a dry dropper rig. Frustrating creek, but I’m sure I’d do much better in the evening or under cloudy skies.
With a few hours until dark we decided to hit the Falling Spring in an attempt to fish the sulphur hatch. It turned out to be pretty amazing. When we got to the stream in the FFO section the wind was still blowing but we could already see sulphurs flying over the water from the parking lot.
We both fished dry droppers with a pheasant tail nymph and immediately my friend landed a small rainbow. We then spotted a large rainbow that was rising but it spooked before we got a good chance at it. For a short 30 minute stretch, the fish were going crazy rising for sulphurs. I missed several fish over 10 inches but unfortunately we didn’t have any flies small enough to accurately imitate the naturals. These fish were rising to naturals inches from my fly yet completely ignoring my offering. I only landed one small bow on the dry. But after the hatch winded down and the fish quit looking up we landed 6 more fish, all on pheasant tails. Three of them were in the 8-9 inch range. My friend had a nice fish bump a streamer right before dark, but it didn’t hook up. We got some really cool footage of fish rising/fish catches as well
Great day overall, but it was sad to see the water so low, especially at falling spring. Upstream from garman drive and especially into the meadow and up to briar lane is genuinely unfishable right now. Barely any weed growth and super shallow water.
The day started at Big Spring in the afternoon. When we pulled into one of the FFO parking lots it was windy with some rain coming down, but by the time we finished stringing up our rods and started fishing the sun had begun to poke through. The wind remained a problem for the rest of the day into the evening. Temps in the mid 60s felt a little chilly as well.
I had previously fished Big Spring three times and never landed a fish. My friend had been one time and also took the skunk. So when the sun came out and we realized just how low the water was we were discouraged. Nothing was hatching and we saw a total of two rises all day. But in the second riffle we fished my friend landed a tiny rainbow on a caddis nymph. We fished for about and hour, and he had a nice one (12-13 inches) take his nymph but it didn’t hook up. We then headed further downstream and he landed a small brookie. I also got a tiny rainbow. So at least we avoided the skunk on Big Spring. We did spook several nice ones including a 15-16 inch bow that I almost walked past, I would never have known it was there if it had stayed put. All three fish took caddis nymphs on a dry dropper rig. Frustrating creek, but I’m sure I’d do much better in the evening or under cloudy skies.
With a few hours until dark we decided to hit the Falling Spring in an attempt to fish the sulphur hatch. It turned out to be pretty amazing. When we got to the stream in the FFO section the wind was still blowing but we could already see sulphurs flying over the water from the parking lot.
We both fished dry droppers with a pheasant tail nymph and immediately my friend landed a small rainbow. We then spotted a large rainbow that was rising but it spooked before we got a good chance at it. For a short 30 minute stretch, the fish were going crazy rising for sulphurs. I missed several fish over 10 inches but unfortunately we didn’t have any flies small enough to accurately imitate the naturals. These fish were rising to naturals inches from my fly yet completely ignoring my offering. I only landed one small bow on the dry. But after the hatch winded down and the fish quit looking up we landed 6 more fish, all on pheasant tails. Three of them were in the 8-9 inch range. My friend had a nice fish bump a streamer right before dark, but it didn’t hook up. We got some really cool footage of fish rising/fish catches as well
Great day overall, but it was sad to see the water so low, especially at falling spring. Upstream from garman drive and especially into the meadow and up to briar lane is genuinely unfishable right now. Barely any weed growth and super shallow water.
