East Hickory Creek DHALO, Forest Co, 4-25-2024

Prospector

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Butler Co home, Forest Co camp
Time Fished: 600pm - 820pm

Weather Conditions: Sunny, Air Temp 60 degrees falling to 48 at Sunset

Water Conditions: Clear with hint of green, water temp was 47 degrees, flow was about right for this time of year

Insects: A few Caddis, Also some smaller flies fluttering around

This DHALO is 1.7 miles long and there was only 1 truck parked (2 guys) and it was at the hole I hoped to fish. I found another parking area, tied on a streamer and began to work it downstream. I moved at a pretty good clip through a nice riffle that contained some holding water. I had no strikes until I reached the first hole. The trout were staged in the bottom third of this pool. They apparently were saving their energy in the 47 degree water. A few fish were rising but I stayed with the streamer and I caught 4 rainbows and 2 browns. Probably had about 15 strikes.

Although I couldn’t see the road I had heard a vehicle drive past while I was fishing. I checked and the truck was gone. So I made a beeline to my favorite hole which is also the favorite hole of many others.

When I got to this hole there were more risers but I stayed the course and worked it from top to bottom with the streamer. I had a lot of strikes but only caught 4 browns and 3 rainbows. The trout in this hole had more experience with streamers than the fish prior. Many would swipe but not take.

When I first saw the rising trout in this nice hole, I decided I would not stray from streamers. In prior years I had encountered difficulty with rising fish due to the strange currents in this pool and the educated trout. However after the trout would no longer take my streamer I rolled the dice and tied on a Caddis. That was the ticket and, at first, every trout I casted to took the fly. I missed many but wound up catching 6 more on the dry fly (4 rainbow, 2 browns).

I rarely do well on this creek. Today was an exception catching 19. Despite all of the stocked trout, I did see what appeared to be a brook trout. It chased my streamer into very clear and low water but I missed him. Maybe I’ll see him next time.
 
East Hickory Creek DHALO, Forest Co, 4-26-2024

Time Fished: 1230pm - 715pm

Weather Conditions: Sunny, Air Temp 55 to 60 degrees

Water Conditions: Clear with hint of green, water temp stayed between 47-48 degrees

Insects: a fairly diverse group of insects but I didn’t spend much time collecting bugs. The one insect I caught seemed to be a Red Quill but didn’t bring my books to confirm. It had what appeared to be yellow eggs sacks. Unfortunately the egg sacks dislodged when I caught it.

I went back to East Hickory Creek since the fish were cooperative yesterday. I started with a streamer and only caught 2 (both were browns). Many fish were rising so I soon switched to a dry fly. The trout were finicky. With the diversity of bugs, I had to work through the various insects and sizes. I started big and worked my way down. I tried mayflies, Caddis and a midge. The trout wanted sz 18 and sz 20. Interestingly the rainbows were rising more consistently than the browns.

The 3 best flies were a sz 18 red quill, sz 18 Caddis with peacock body and a black midge. They roughly caught the same amount of fish for a total of 23 trout. Before I left this hole I decided to use a new streamer I just tied early this morning. I made 2 passes with that streamer and I caught 10 more with the majority being browns.

I fished the streamer through some riffles without any takes. Then I came upon a big hole and I had a very nice brown (16+) show itself 3 times before he decided to hunker down. Soon after I caught another brown. All told I caught 36. To reiterate what I said yesterday, I rarely have big days here.

I’ve included a few insect photos and a photo of the owner of this hole.

IMG_8850.jpeg
 

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Glad to see you did well! I always enjoy your early season reports and bug pics from an area I'm not familiar with.
 
East Hickory Creek DHALO, Forest Co, 4-28-2024

Time Fished: 630pm - 815pm

Weather Conditions: Sunny, Air Temp 65 degrees

Water Conditions: Clear with hint of green, I forgot to get the temp

Insects: Red Quill, Caddis, midges were observed

Two of us fished the hole and it still had a bunch of trout, but the trout were so much harder to catch. Four days is all these stocked trout needed to become wary. They mostly sipped small flies in a slow moving pool. I was committed to dry fly fishing. I must have missed 7 trout on a small red quill. I caught 1 on a dry fly and 2 on a streamer. My friend also caught 3 on a terrestrial.

The trout won today.
 
Thanks for these great reports. I am in the same vicinity currently. If u see a grey outback with a rod topper say hey.
 
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