wgmiller
Well-known member
I had a few hours to kill yesterday so I decided to take advantage of the nice late-December day and take my new gear for a walk.
I parked at the horse barn on Donegal Creek Road and fished upstream for a 1/2 mile or so. Here are the stats:
Weather: 45 F, sunny, winds out of the W, 10 MPH (+/-)
Water temp: 48 F
Water conditions: Flow is really strong with all of the recent precipitation. It's the strongest flow I've seen yet this year and overall, the flow looks great. (Bushwacker, the level is a good solid foot above when you and I fished it) The color was a little off due to the strong flow, but not clouded. There was some debris scattered along the banks and evidence of the creek "blowing out" with the heavy precipitation.
Fish missed/fish landed: Here's the real kicker. I worked many pools and undercut banks in this stretch and had no takers. I had my polarized glasses on and didn't even see any fish. Perhaps they were laying low due to the strong flow, I don't know. This creek hasn't received a stocking since the spring and it's starting to show. The DFCA or PFBC didn't stock this fall, so what remains are holdovers and the few natives. I just haven't been having much luck on this stream. If it weren't so darn close to my house I'd be frequenting other waters.
Terminal tackle: I fished a tandem rig for the first time this trip. I started off with a #20 foam BWO emerger as an indicator with a #22 zebra midge beneath. No strikes. As I worked upstream, I switched over to a #16 sparkle worm with a #16 gray flashback scud with no takers either. There's always the second-guessing on tackle (should I have tied on a streamer, etc., etc.)
I'm working my way through Mike Heck's book and am learning a lot about limestone creeks. They are not the easiest to fish, but it also helps to have fish in it. As has been said before many times, I also fear that poaching has taken its toll on this stretch of the stream... :-? All things considered, all is not lost as it is time on the stream and you can't put a price on serenity!
I parked at the horse barn on Donegal Creek Road and fished upstream for a 1/2 mile or so. Here are the stats:
Weather: 45 F, sunny, winds out of the W, 10 MPH (+/-)
Water temp: 48 F
Water conditions: Flow is really strong with all of the recent precipitation. It's the strongest flow I've seen yet this year and overall, the flow looks great. (Bushwacker, the level is a good solid foot above when you and I fished it) The color was a little off due to the strong flow, but not clouded. There was some debris scattered along the banks and evidence of the creek "blowing out" with the heavy precipitation.
Fish missed/fish landed: Here's the real kicker. I worked many pools and undercut banks in this stretch and had no takers. I had my polarized glasses on and didn't even see any fish. Perhaps they were laying low due to the strong flow, I don't know. This creek hasn't received a stocking since the spring and it's starting to show. The DFCA or PFBC didn't stock this fall, so what remains are holdovers and the few natives. I just haven't been having much luck on this stream. If it weren't so darn close to my house I'd be frequenting other waters.
Terminal tackle: I fished a tandem rig for the first time this trip. I started off with a #20 foam BWO emerger as an indicator with a #22 zebra midge beneath. No strikes. As I worked upstream, I switched over to a #16 sparkle worm with a #16 gray flashback scud with no takers either. There's always the second-guessing on tackle (should I have tied on a streamer, etc., etc.)
I'm working my way through Mike Heck's book and am learning a lot about limestone creeks. They are not the easiest to fish, but it also helps to have fish in it. As has been said before many times, I also fear that poaching has taken its toll on this stretch of the stream... :-? All things considered, all is not lost as it is time on the stream and you can't put a price on serenity!
