Fishing Creek, Clinton Co., 3/16/2020

[kobalt335]

Fished the narrows from 1 to 4. Got to the creek and the air temp was 47, partly sunny with some wind gusts. Nymped a couple patterns without any luck working my way upstream for about an hour. Started to see some pretty consistent rises to midges so I tied on a Griffiths gnat and caught 1 brown. BWOs starting coming off and a bunch of fish started to come up, so I switched to a cdc emerger and caught another brown and 3 brookies. The biggest brown was 13 inches and very hefty. All the brookies were 8-9 inches. When it was all said and done it was a good couple hours of dry fly fishing with plenty of targets.

 

[allthingsfishing]

kobalt, what size tippet do you use with the Gnat this early in the season?

 

[Wild_Trouter]

I was just up there as well. I didn't see any risers, but I fished black/olive Muddbuggers low and slow in the deep tailouts of pools. That worked for 5 browns in the 10-14" range. Had a lot of short hits and follows as well. Slick wading as usual.

 

[kobalt335]

allthingsfishing wrote:
kobalt, what size tippet do you use with the Gnat this early in the season?

I was using 6x. I dont really like to go lighter, and I really only do for tricos.

 

[kobalt335]

Wild_Trouter wrote:
Slick wading as usual.

I hate wading the narrows, so I stay on the edge as much as I can. I swear some of those holes can fit a small car.

 

[moon1284]

I agree, I hate wading the narrows as well.

 

[wbranch]

Two years ago when there was a good head of water in the Narrows I parked at one of the pull-offs and made my way to the edge of the stream. I swear it was no wider than 15' yet I had a heck of a time crossing. some huge boulders and little visibility and most of the time the water was well over my waist. I couldn't find my way back to where I had come in and finally just pressed forward. The water got to just inches below the top of my waders before I finally got into shallower water on the other side. To make matters worse I didn't touch a fish.

 

[kobalt335]

wbranch wrote:
To make matters worse I didn't touch a fish.

Unfortunately I think I've had more fishless days there than anywhere else. Yet I keep going back...

 

[wbranch]

kobalt wrote;

Unfortunately I think I've had more fishless days there than anywhere else. Yet I keep going back...

It's kind of funny you said that. I've not fished it very much as it isn't my kind of water. I prefer large rivers. But I've probably gone there half a dozen times over the past 4 or 5 years. I've found a few really nice runs with decent depth for such a small stream and nymphed it hard with various fly changes and have never seen or touched a fish.

Yet if I fish that hard on the bigger waters I know well I catch my share of nice wild trout. It's a nice ride from York and a nice way to spend the day if I can't go to the Delaware.

 

[SmoothOperator]

Like to fish the "Cabins "section during the week......Has an excellent sulphur hatch......Never really fished the "Narrows" section though....... Most memorable fish I hooked on a 18 Adams in front of a massive logjam.... Fish was over 20" came up out of the depths of the logjam and smashed the fly and made a beeline to go straight back under......I but the brakes on and after fighting about 20 seconds the fly popped out and.......... Yeah, you guessed it ...Shot straight up about 15' in the air and got tangled in a overhanging tree......... Also had a fish that would come out like clockwork during a hatch, from a tree root that was 18"..... Caught him 3 different times one spring......

 

[kobalt335]

Update: hit BFC again yesterday for about an hour. Water was up,cold and green. Landed two healthy browns about 15 inches each and lost a third on nymphs.

 

[Troy]

kobalt335 wrote:
Update: hit BFC again yesterday for about an hour. Water was up,cold and green. Landed two healthy browns about 15 inches each and lost a third on nymphs.

How have the crowds been? I hear Spring has been packed, but haven't heard much on other streams in the area.

 

[kobalt335]

Troy wrote:

How have the crowds been? I hear Spring has been packed, but haven't heard much on other streams in the area.

I've only seen one other vehicle each time. I haven't actually run into anybody. I'm sure it will change as this whole situation evolves and more people are forced home.

Almost forgot, I did see two people fishing the stocked section right the center of Mill Hall.

 

[drakeking412]

Excuse my ignorance but what is the narrows section of BFC? I've fished the cabins section once and that's it.

 

[kobalt335]

drakeking412 wrote:
Excuse my ignorance but what is the narrows section of BFC? I've fished the cabins section once and that's it.

Probably different answers to this but I always say the entire section from the bridge upstream of the Lamar fish hatchery to the next bridge.

 

[Troy]

Thanks for the info Kobalt!

 

[Swattie87]

kobalt335 wrote:

drakeking412 wrote:
Excuse my ignorance but what is the narrows section of BFC? I've fished the cabins section once and that's it.

Probably different answers to this but I always say the entire section from the bridge upstream of the Lamar fish hatchery to the next bridge.

+1. I think that’s the most frequent standard answer you’ll get.

 

[troutbert]

drakeking412 wrote:
Excuse my ignorance but what is the narrows section of BFC? I've fished the cabins section once and that's it.

Most flyfishers talk about the whole special regulations area generically as "The Narrows."

What the term narrows actually refers to is where a stream cuts through a ridge. That is a fairly short section. As you drive up from the Lamar hatchery, you'll cross a bridge, then a little further upstream you will see that the stream is cutting through a ridge. There are steep, rocky slopes on both sides.

Then people talk about tough wading, that's the section that is really tough. There are large, irregular sandstone rocks in there, which make it tough.

In much of the rest of the regs stretch, you are walking on cobbles, and in some places gravel.

 

[bigjohn58]

kobalt335 wrote:

Troy wrote:

How have the crowds been? I hear Spring has been packed, but haven't heard much on other streams in the area.

I've only seen one other vehicle each time. I haven't actually run into anybody. I'm sure it will change as this whole situation evolves and more people are forced home.

Almost forgot, I did see two people fishing the stocked section right the center of Mill Hall.

Sad...wish you would have reported them! There is no reason to be ignoring the laws right now. There is a lot of illegal stuff that goes on from below the narrows down.

 

[drakeking412]

Ok thanks for the clarification everyone. When I fished it I fished almost the entire special regs section so I may have run into some of it