I ended up having the day off around, so I checked the gauges because I've been anticipating finally getting some bass fishing in. I saw we got some rain overnight, but foolishly assumed it wasn't much because it didn't wake me, and the parking lot was already drying up. The gauge read 500cfs, and instead of playing it safe and seeking trout in higher elevation, I deciced to try the Connie.
I checked some areas in Camp Hill and Hampden Twp to get a feel for clarity and depth, and while a little off color, it didn't look too bad. I decided to go further upstream, and accessed it in Silver Spring Twp. It was a fairly bright day, with only intermittent clouds. No risers were seen, and few bugs were in the air, which is to be expected at this time of day, year, and given the water conditions.
I managed 3 fish, all in the 14"-16" range, but really had to work for them, constantly changing patterns, depth, color, and retrieve. Two fell to a black sex dungeon, one to a black wooly bugger (so much for bright day/bright fly lol). While the fish I landed were of decent size, I was definitely not seeing the numbers of smaller fish compared to years prior to 2018. I decided to can it after about two hours, since the water kept rising, and the sun would only get worse.
I really hope they just had a serious case of lockjaw today, because it's a disappointing start the this year's warmwater fishing, which for the couple times I got out pre-spawn, looked promising. Not seeing the previous numbers of small fish does have me somewhat worried, because they used to be in every little pocket of soft water, almost to the extent of being a nuisance.
I checked some areas in Camp Hill and Hampden Twp to get a feel for clarity and depth, and while a little off color, it didn't look too bad. I decided to go further upstream, and accessed it in Silver Spring Twp. It was a fairly bright day, with only intermittent clouds. No risers were seen, and few bugs were in the air, which is to be expected at this time of day, year, and given the water conditions.
I managed 3 fish, all in the 14"-16" range, but really had to work for them, constantly changing patterns, depth, color, and retrieve. Two fell to a black sex dungeon, one to a black wooly bugger (so much for bright day/bright fly lol). While the fish I landed were of decent size, I was definitely not seeing the numbers of smaller fish compared to years prior to 2018. I decided to can it after about two hours, since the water kept rising, and the sun would only get worse.
I really hope they just had a serious case of lockjaw today, because it's a disappointing start the this year's warmwater fishing, which for the couple times I got out pre-spawn, looked promising. Not seeing the previous numbers of small fish does have me somewhat worried, because they used to be in every little pocket of soft water, almost to the extent of being a nuisance.
