Fall Is Coming…

Swattie87

Swattie87

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Had probably my best day out of 2026 today, measured in terms of fun anyway. Definitely saw some very early signs of Fall. The mountaintop I parked on was covered in ripe wild blueberry, and the mile or so gated SGL road that descended about 500 feet to the valley floor had just the beginning signs of some ferns starting to brown, and a random tree every once in a while with a little color.

When I hiked back up and out, and got back to my vehicle at about 2:00, the air temp was 68F when I started it. Good stuff. This was at about 2200 feet in the general “Allegheny Front” part of the state, FWIW. It read 79F when I turned it off when I got home (general Harrisburg area). Anyone else fish this weekend? See any early signs of Fall?

Edit: I did a lot of “Hey Bear” calls today. 😜 I found 3 piles on the hike in (one pictured was the biggest), none of which had flies on them yet.

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Yo, Swattzilla, nice brookies, brother! Always got to love a good picture of some bear scat, too. Were they munching on dries?
 
Fished a size 12(ish) foam mini hopper thing all day. Can kinda see it in the bear scat pic, hooked to the reel. Somebody on the board tied me up a dozen or so a good while back. Think it was Hopback or Klingy maybe? Down to my last couple, and I’m half scared to fish them and lose them they work so good. Tend to save them for days like today when flows are up and you can get away with pretty heavy tippet (was using 3x today) for retrieving them from tree excursions. If one of you guys recognizes them as yours I’ll gladly pay for another dozen.
 
jifigz said:
HopBack tied those up for you I do believe. We tied a bunch of those for CO a few years back, and the fish ended up munching on wulffs so much better. Go figure.
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Hahaha. Figures. I think it was Hopback too.
 
hooker-of-men said:
I fished through the morning on the Battenkill. The air temp was in the 50s when I left the house, and I almost wanted a jacket. The temp stayed cool all day, the water was cold, and the fishing, as it always seems to for me there, sucked terribly.

Happy to be rid of summer, though.
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You're really selling the Battenkill to me. I'm a sucker for a good arse-kicking once a year; that's why I go to Penns one time each year. 🤪 It sounds like the Battenkill could provide that experience for me.
 
jifigz said:
You're really selling the Battenkill to me. I'm a sucker for a good arse-kicking once a year; that's why I go to Penns one time each year. 🤪 It sounds like the Battenkill could provide that experience for me.
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It certainly has some appeal - history, good access, wild fish - and every so often I pop a few. Most trips, though, were like today: in 4 hours of fishing 2 stretches in NY and VT, I saw few bugs, zero rises, and 1 fish that I spooked out of slow water where it wasn't actively feeding (which I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten to eat even if I had seen it in time).

People seem to do well ripping streamers out of boats early in spring / during high water (though the more floatable sections are also the NY stocked stretches). There's also actual substantial dry fly opportunities during the Hendricksons, if you time it right. Most of the time, it's just tough to the point of not even being an enjoyable challenge.
 
Beautiful stuff there! Thanks for sharing! I so wanted to fish while I was back in PA this weekend, but with so much stuff going on, it was mission impossible. Jone'sing big time to wet a line as I drove up a ridge, and down a valley: a maple here and there showing a little skin, as my Uhaul trailer careened behind the Frontier! At least, I can live vicariously through this thread!

Well done!

Joe
 
CinnamonJoe said:
Beautiful stuff there! Thanks for sharing! I so wanted to fish while I was back in PA this weekend, but with so much stuff going on, it was mission impossible. Jone'sing big time to wet a line as I drove up a ridge, and down a valley: a maple here and there showing a little skin, as my Uhaul trailer careened behind the Frontier! At least, I can live vicariously through this thread!

Well done!

Joe
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I'd imagine those Driftless streams would be fishing well right now with terrestrial dry flies. You just need to carve some time to drive there once you're back in Iowa.
 
Fantastic conditions on some cricks over Labor Day Weekend. I resisted the temptation to fish and concentrated on putting up tree stands.. Kinda regret not going out but fall is coming and meat is expensive
 
Roofin' Trouter said:
Fantastic conditions on some cricks over Labor Day Weekend. I resisted the temptation to fish and concentrated on putting up tree stands.. Kinda regret not going out but fall is coming and meat is expensive
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Its a busy time, isn't it?

Some of my best times in Aug/Sept are helping my bow hunter friends prune shooting lanes, hang cameras, stands. We'd do all that, then go find a bar with cold brew and cheeseburgers when we got tired. LOL

Almost too many options for the outdoorsman right now. I won't even get into the early teal duck season out here in September.

Joe
 
jifigz said:
I'd imagine those Driftless streams would be fishing well right now with terrestrial dry flies. You just need to carve some time to drive there once you're back in Iowa.
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I actually was out a week ago Friday. My best friend told me his 20 yr old daughter wanted to learn to fly fish. So, we 'went derelict' from work as I like to say, and went to one of our favorite limestoners to teach her. Interestingly, we could do nothing with the terrestrials. It was a classic, blue-bird, high-pressure day. After an hour's skunking, I tried swinging wets in the tailouts and was able to get us on a few fish. 'Partridge and Orange' saved the day.

That said, its only the 1st week of September. Still plenty of time to carve!

Joe
 
@Swattie87 those are some nice fish. Glad you had a good outing. I too am ready for the fall weather!

Looks like the fly was a hippie stomper (Andrew Grillos pattern) minus the tail. A great small stream bug. I should have tied one on today - fish are looking for the beetle “plop” in my neck of the woods.
 
CinnamonJoe said:
Its a busy time, isn't it?

Some of my best times in Aug/Sept are helping my bow hunter friends prune shooting lanes, hang cameras, stands. We'd do all that, then go find a bar with cold brew and cheeseburgers when we got tired. LOL

Almost too many options for the outdoorsman right now. I won't even get into the early teal duck season out here in September.

Joe
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Yes, it is a busy time of the year. We got 3 up yesterday and then going to put 5 or so more up in two weeks on public and public cooperation land we harvest meat. All the same time still have to go to work,pick garden,put cover crops in But in a few months ice fishing may be the only outdoor option that I'm in to so I just need to enjoy the nice weather.
I enjoy sitting by an outdoor fire after a busy late summer, early fall day.
 
nd1001 said:
@Swattie87 those are some nice fish. Glad you had a good outing. I too am ready for the fall weather!

Looks like the fly was a hippie stomper (Andrew Grillos pattern) minus the tail. A great small stream bug. I should have tied one on today - fish are looking for the beetle “plop” in my neck of the woods.
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I did notice that…the sloppy splashy casts were often obliterated. When pretty looking casts through the same or similar water would go untouched. I didn’t really put that together til now. Just wanted to fish something I didn’t have to put in the shake n bake after every other cast.
 
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