Alnitak
Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2014
- Messages
- 314
Yesterday my nephew and I headed out to fish since he didn't have school. With warmer air temps, optimism was high and we decided to go to Big Spring Run in Cumberland County. The stream was *packed* with people fly fishing. Between Nealy Road and and the old hatchery there were at least 20 other people.
Air temps were about 43F when we arrived at 11am, didn't get a water temp, but it was nice and warm like one would expect from a high flow-rate spring-fed stream like that. We saw a few flies hatching--mayflies of some kind--but weren't able to catch any to see what they were. We fished for a few hours, mostly with some scuds and cress bugs I had tied the day before. I had two bites, one a smaller fish I missed and one a big guy that took my fly and line in one chomp--the 5x tippet was a bit too thin for him. My nephew had one fish about 18" on the hook but it jumped and tossed it off--he was frustrated.
Lots of huge rainbows were seen hanging in the slower water between patches of weeds. You could see them occasionally snacking on scuds and cress bugs as they drifted by them. I managed to get a few to look at my scud but they would turn away right at the last moment. Smart old fish. I decided to try something different to tempt them, figuring that something unique might work, so I put on a hot pink San Juan I tied and that was the fly that got chomped and lost, so the idea worked, but after another 30 minutes of trying the only open section of stream we had available, I changed back to a scud.
Near 3pm the winds really started to pick up, making casting difficult, so we headed out but swore we'd be back. My nephew is very talented and very determined, and he left swearing he'd be back there until he lands a big one. It was great to see such huge colorful fish in that crystal-clear water. I've attached a photo of one guy that was in the 24" range based on what we could compare him to. Just hanging in the water.
On the way back to Lancaster we made a brief detour to Clarks Creek, but only managed to get in about 30 minutes of fishing--road work left us sitting in traffic for 15 minutes or more and reduced time on the stream. Clark's was of course much colder and the air temps there was 38F. I managed to have a few fish taste my Prince but none that held it long enough for me to set the hook.
Jeff
Air temps were about 43F when we arrived at 11am, didn't get a water temp, but it was nice and warm like one would expect from a high flow-rate spring-fed stream like that. We saw a few flies hatching--mayflies of some kind--but weren't able to catch any to see what they were. We fished for a few hours, mostly with some scuds and cress bugs I had tied the day before. I had two bites, one a smaller fish I missed and one a big guy that took my fly and line in one chomp--the 5x tippet was a bit too thin for him. My nephew had one fish about 18" on the hook but it jumped and tossed it off--he was frustrated.
Lots of huge rainbows were seen hanging in the slower water between patches of weeds. You could see them occasionally snacking on scuds and cress bugs as they drifted by them. I managed to get a few to look at my scud but they would turn away right at the last moment. Smart old fish. I decided to try something different to tempt them, figuring that something unique might work, so I put on a hot pink San Juan I tied and that was the fly that got chomped and lost, so the idea worked, but after another 30 minutes of trying the only open section of stream we had available, I changed back to a scud.
Near 3pm the winds really started to pick up, making casting difficult, so we headed out but swore we'd be back. My nephew is very talented and very determined, and he left swearing he'd be back there until he lands a big one. It was great to see such huge colorful fish in that crystal-clear water. I've attached a photo of one guy that was in the 24" range based on what we could compare him to. Just hanging in the water.
On the way back to Lancaster we made a brief detour to Clarks Creek, but only managed to get in about 30 minutes of fishing--road work left us sitting in traffic for 15 minutes or more and reduced time on the stream. Clark's was of course much colder and the air temps there was 38F. I managed to have a few fish taste my Prince but none that held it long enough for me to set the hook.
Jeff
