Big Spring, Newville, 11/14/09

[jmh159]

So I made it out to Big Spring today for the first time ever. HOLY BROOK TROUT BATMAN!!! I started at the Ditch and all I can say is wow! This stream definitely lived up to my expectations. I've heard people talk about BS alot but I just never went...until today. Although I didn't land any fish I still had an enjoyable time trying to fool 'em. I "moved" alot of fish but none of my flies passed their inspections. The brook trout that I saw just blew my mind. There were a few rising trout, but most were feeding subsurface. I tried fishing with numerous nymphs. The main purpose of the day for me was just to learn the stream a little and try a few new methods. I worked alot on getting the nymphs to the correct depth because most of the fish were holding mid current, and got the hang of it after a while. I've been fishing for years, but this has been my first year with a fly rod. So fishing these kind of streams has been a bit hard for me, but I love the challenge. I figure if I learn on streams like this I can fish almost anywhere. Big thanks to GreenWeenie for the informative PM he sent to get me started.

J.

 

[Fishidiot]

jmh,
Glad to hear you had a good time. Many first time visitors to Big Spring - and Big Hunting Creek in MD too - are often disappointed at the small size of the stream and what they think are few trout.

 

[jmh159]

I guess I kinda knew what to expect from lurking around this sight. But I didn't expect to see that many trout in the ditch. I heard it was loaded, but man, I saw maybe 100 trout it seemed like. And I thought I had a few of them, then at the last second, they turned their nose and decided they didn't want my presentation. So now my new goal is to be able to catch those buggers! Once I'm able to catch some at the ditch I will move downstream. I took a quick drive downstream and got my rod out once to hit some weedbeds, but for the most part, yesterday was a learning day for me. I have a huge jones for technical fishing like this...although I feel like I'm setting myself up for disappointment sometimes. I don't really mind not catching any though, I know it will come in due time. I've heard someone describe these kind of waters the "major League" of fly fishing and I'm just a beginner, so I have lots of practice to do.

 

[bam]

jmh. Next time you go tie on a mickey finn and cast upstream, letting it sink as you strip it back. I was passing through once and only had a couple hours to fish. After several rainbow and brook trout inspecting and turning down my nymphs, I tied on a mickey finn in the ditch and the brookies tore it up. Also did well on a bushy dry fly in what little broken water I found on BS.

It might not be the classic way to fish a streams like BS, but it got me fish and I'll be sure to tie up some small weighted scuds next time I'm passing though

 

[jmh159]

bam, I will try that. I did use a scud/nymph combo. That seemed to move the fish the most, it seemed that the scud got them excited. But not quite excited enough.

On another note, I told my dad about the ditch and that he should try it out. He went today and apparently landed a fat 19" rainbow. He was all excited.

 

[afishinado]

This past summer, I made some masterful drifts at the ditch with a small HE nymph / scud rig. The fish were very rude and completely ignored it. To change it up, I let the flies drift downstream and let them sit for a bit, and began a slow hand twist retrieve along the weed line. I caught a decent sized bow and a few small but beautiful brookies doing this. Experiment with different flies/techniques you never know.