Cross Fork, Potter County Sat March 24

[Twofly]

Took advantage of the unseasonable temps and fished Cross Fork Saturday with a friend of mine. Skys were overcast but warm and balmy in the high 60's with on and off light sprinkles. Saw Quill Gordons coming off. Fished the C-R section. Water was perfect and we couldnt keep the rainbows off the line. We both did very well with Beadhead nymphs and egg patterns. Caught all rainbows and a large sucker just spewing green eggs all over the place. The last fish of the day was the best a beautiful 17" Wild Brown.

On Sun we fished a Class A stream and didnt do nearly as well but did manage to hook a couple of nice fish. The first got off I think it was a brookie of about 12" under a log jam. The 2nd one was a 16" wild brown that gave me 4 nice leaps in real tight quarters, she tryed to hang me in a log jam but I managned to pull her out and land her.
After a quick pic we parted ways. Saw 3 seperate groups wild turkeys both days. Drove home very satisfied.

 

[csoult]

Sounds like a good couple days.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

QG!? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

 

[billm67]

Sounds like a couple of fantastic days.

 

[Twofly]

Im 90% positive they were QG's. They were definately mayfly size 14. In flight they looks light grey but if you held one in your hand they were a grayish/brown color. Also saw a black stones and the stick caddis were just littered all over the rocks.

 

[JackM]

I have nothing but pure speculation behind these comments, but I believe that some portion of the nymphs may be ready to emerge early and if the water temps reach the optimal range for them, they will. This will cause sparse hatches or sporadic sightings, but does not generally signal that the entire hatch will be early. The majority of the brood will hatch when they are supposed to, give or take two weeks at most.

Keep in mind, I have no idea what I am talking about.

 

[dryflyguy]

Twofly wrote:

Im 90% positive they were QG's. They were definately mayfly size 14. In flight they looks light grey but if you held one in your hand they were a grayish/brown color. Also saw a black stones and the stick caddis were just littered all over the rocks.

To really tell for sure, you need to check the bottom of the abdomen.
Quill gordons are a grayish brown color, with 2 tails
Male hendricksons are reddish brown color with 3 tails.
Female hendrickson is creamy tan colored with same tail

 

[troutbert]

If you want to see Quill Gordons, get out there this weekend. It is very unlikely they will still be around on April 20. Things are running way ahead of normal.

Jack, there are probably some streams in SW PA that have them. Do some "research" on the freestoners down there, then let us know.

The fishing may be really excellent the weekend of April 20, though. Maybe a lot better than in a "normal" year. But the hatches will very likely be further down the hatch chart than Quill Gordons.

 

[JackM]

tb, that would only make them even earlier.

I think the nymphs must mature a certain number of days before they can be expected to hatch. If it stayed in the 80s for the next 2 weeks, we aren't going to see a heavy Green Drake hatch. I just don't believe it. As I said, however, I know nothing.

 

[McSneek]

JackM wrote:
I think the nymphs must mature a certain number of days before they can be expected to hatch.

This seems to be a good point for someone who claims to know nothing and since I don't either, if adults laid eggs last season at generally the usual time and nymphs take a certain amount of time to reach maturity, why would warm weather speed up the process? Are nymphs mature enough to "hatch" much earlier in the year than they normally do and it just takes other factors like temperature to cause them to "hatch?" I guess I'm equating the process to other types of gestation.

BTW - based on the stream report it sounds like Cross Fork is still on the stocking list? 🙁

 

[GreenWeenie]

There is some truth to the fact that it takes a certain amount of time for the nymphs to mature and be ready to hatch but what ultimately causes them to hatch is when stream and ambient conditions are right for hatch, especial freestone streams which are very dynamic. Obviously they’re not going to hatch 3 months early but there’s probably up to a 4 week window on either side of the normal expected date of emergence when they will hatch and they ultimately hatch when conditions are right for hatch. But just because early season hatches begins earlier (or later) than expected doesn’t necessarily mean later hatches will also emerge earlier/later because river conditions can change between now and then and each hatch occurs when conditions are best suited for that particular species.