East Branch Brandywine, Chester County, Oct 12 2014

[pcray1231]

Despite being a local, hadn't really tackled the stocked sections of this one. With kids and job I fish less than I used to, and when I get to go, it's usually full day or weekend trips to locations with wild trout.

Anyway, it's spawning season so avoiding wild trout streams, and I had 2-3 hrs to kill. I hit up the special reg section which had just recently been stocked. My own little Stoctoberfest!

Managed 8 fish pretty easily in a 2 hr period, from about 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Action evenly spaced, every 15 minutes or so I'd catch one. Creek was low and holding spots pretty obvious. Covered maybe 1/2 mile. All fish caught on glo-bugs, fished deep and slow, but from areas with some current. I did get 2 stocked browns, which surprised me, as per the PFBC they don't stock browns in the fall, but these were fresh stockies. Good to get out.

 

[Mike]

There is a shortage of RT in at least one hatchery this year.....thus the browns. Other streams received browns as well. May make the catching a bit tougher until the browns get out of spawning mode. this is often the case with fall stocked browns, which may lead those not in the know to give up the fall fishing just as the fishing starts to get good if browns are involved.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

Well I hope they put browns in the Little Lehigh,really can't understand stocking RT in a class A brown trout stream!

 

[geebee]

Pc, if you don't mind me asking - what size glo bugs ? 14/16 ? or something meatier ?

cheers

Mark

 

[pcray1231]

I believe they were 14's, but might have been 12's. Came from my steelhead collection. I tied them myself, so not neatly shaped nor appropriately sized for the hook, lol. I do tend to tie them rather big and fuzzy, but not very dense. That's by design, as when wet the outer edges are indistinct and a little translucent. I think that helps with steelhead. Doubt it matters much on stockies.

Tried two colors:

Cream with a blood dot
Salmon with a blood dot

Bout equal success on both. But immediate success on the switch. Same hole, caught 2, action died, casted over and over with nothing to show for it. Switched colors, immediately caught 2 more, then action died again.

This is typical with egg patterns and fish that are just reacting and not currently feeding on natural eggs. Have a range of colors and switch often. Another switch would have likely turned up another fish or two, but I was being a bit lazy and it was getting late.

With fish actively feeding, say, wild browns set up behind a pod of suckers in March, I tend to switch colors less. You aim for natural and play until you get it, then stick with it. It's more like matching a hatch in those cases. But here, you're just trying to trigger an instinctive response, and that seems to be a little different with each fish. Crazy colors like blue often work out too.

 

[geebee]

Thanks PC - i have a bunch tyed in 16 & 20 and a bunch in 8 (for steelhead too).

the 16's -20's i've used in the deep of winter for trouts ( the 20's were for winter tailwaters), but i wasn't sure what size to use this time of year on a freestone.

many thanks

Mark.

 

[outsider]

I understand it. Time and money constraints, and the PFBC is trying to "maximize" recreation potential of each fish. But I would point out that it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Most don't immediately know where exactly the fish were thrown in. Anglers are slow to adjust, and are stubborn creatures, preferring to go to somewhere they know. So if you throw some fish in a place and see if anglers show up, well, it'll be a few years before they figure it out. Over the years, they will gravitate to areas where they've had more success in the past, and avoid places where they've had little success. As such, stocking makes a spot popular over time, which makes it get stocked more, which makes it more popular. Meanwhile, not stocking a portion makes it less popular, which guarantees it won't get stocked, etc.

For me, anyway, the whole trend has really turned me off to stocked trout fishing. The situation was already artificial, but isolating fish to smaller and smaller areas makes it seem more artificial. It's called fishing. The idea is that you don't know where fish are, and you go find them. I just hate it when you fish a long stretch of good water and get nothing. Then you approach a bridge, or a place where the road comes close to the stream, and you start catching fish, but start combat fishing with other guys as well. You start seeking out spots where you can be successful away from crowds, and sometimes find them, and then a year or two down the road, since that area isn't "popular" enough they stop stocking it, too. Like you're being steered back to the crowds all the time.

Generally, when I do fish for stockies, I try to focus on large streams, and removed from fresh stockings, so that the fish are more spread out. But whenever possible, I simply turned to wild trout. If I weren't so obsessed with fishing, though, I can understand why many just hang it up and don't buy a license. It's not about catch rates. It's about the total experience. Most would rather catch 3 or 4 in relative solitude and natural "feeling" surroundings than 10 in a combat situation.

IMO, the goal of the PFBC should be to spread fish out as much as possible. Fish in less popular areas should be seen as a GOOD thing. # of times the average trout is caught should not be a metric. And the message to the public should be that they're selling a total experience, not "big fish" and "high catch rates".

Did any of this influence your decision to fish the East Branch Brandywine?

 

[pcray1231]

No. It was merely the rare chance to randomly take a few hours to fish. Most of my more "serious" outings involve a week or more of planning, both from a fishing perspective, as well as home and job responsibilities. It takes a lot for me to buy time. But when I do I usually buy a full day, and do something a little more adventurous.

This was more "hey, surprise, you got 3 hours if you want it".

It was close, there was no concern about spawning fish, and I had been feeling guilty living 10 minutes from the E. Br. for the last 3 years and never really fishing it. Seemed like the right time to change that.

 

[outsider]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. And welcome to the world of working around family and activities to buy an hour or two on the stream, even if it is fishing for stockies. Beats not fishing any day.

There are many of us who can't travel to fish the streams that we really want to fish, but make a compromise by taking advantage of local stocked streams. For me and many others, it's the Tully.

 

[geebee]

agreed. for me its the White Clay.

 

[Longbow]

I'm a fan of the WC myself.

 

[Fredrick]

troutwilleatflies wrote:
Well I hope they put browns in the Little Lehigh,really can't understand stocking RT in a class A brown trout stream!

You don't want stocked browns spawning with wild ones it will weaken the gene pool .

 

[Mike]

Outsider: The number of times a trout is caught is not the PFBC's primary metric with respect to stocked trout, although that variable would be considered during an actual creel survey as opposed to just angler count surveys. The primary metrics are the number of angler trips per trout stocked in a given stocked trout stream section or in a stocked trout lake. Additionally, the number of anglers per mile of stocked trout water is another metric used when, for instance, an opening day angler count is conducted at 8AM.