Fished the Narrows section from 6PM to 8PM. Spent most of the time fishing a dry dropper rig in a riffle flowing into one of the classic deep long pools in that section of the stream. I've always heard that this stream has a small brookie population, but I wasn't able to confirm that until now. I found a small pod of brookies and was able to catch a few of them. They were lighter colored fish that were around keeper size. I was also able to catch one average sized brown on a green caddis larvae. The insect activity was pretty light with caddis, midges, and even a few early sulphurs hatching. I was hoping that a nice spinner fall of some sort would occur near dark, but that didn't happen.
Fishing Creek, Clinton County, 5/1/2013
- Thread starter TYoung
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jdkinney08853
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I caught a big Brookie in that stream last year, at least 12 inches. Real pretty male.
Squaretail
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Streams got a phenominal brookie population, just gotta find'em.
It was a wonderful search, with many rewards along the way.
JackM
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How can the brookie pops be phenomenal when you need to know where to find them, Dan? Some sections of the stream have nice numbers, but even there, at least in my limited experience the brown trout dominate. I have only caught a few and they were smallish. This stream, though, would be an interesting candidate for WBTEA or however you shorten that special reg designation.
Squaretail
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Brownies do dominate.
I've caught lots more than a few. For me very few were smallish.
Just about the worst place to catch brookies there is the most popular stretch.
I've caught lots more than a few. For me very few were smallish.
Just about the worst place to catch brookies there is the most popular stretch.
TimMurphy
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Dear Board,
Twenty five years ago the upper section of the Narrows was predominantly brook trout, and they grew to good sizes too. Ten or 11 inch fish were common and 13 to 15 inch were less common but nowhere near rare.
From the walking bridge upstream back then I'd say that 75 to 80% of the fish I caught from there up to the Tylersville Hatchery were brookies.
Nowadays the only brook trout I get in that stretch seem to look like they have washed out of the hatchery during a high water event. I've caught some larger ones up to about 17 inches but to me they clearly looked like hatchery fish with tattered rounded fins.
I do however catch some brook trout further downstream especially in the section above Uncle Tom's Cabin but they are generally small, like 7 or 8 inches tops. It's been quite a long time since I've caught any brook trout larger than that in the downstream area of the Narrows.
I wonder what happened to the brook trout? Given that Tylersville Hatchery has been expanded I think that common wisdom places at least some of the blame on the hatchery. I know I'm guilty of that.
Still, I think that there is more at work than the hatchery. Personally I think that fishing pressure plays a role. Twenty five years ago you'd be hard pressed to find 6 or 8 cars parked along the 5 mile stretch of the Narrows even during a "hatch" weekend in mid-May.
Nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find a place to park during mid-May. I think the pressure combined with the ability of brown trout to grow larger more quickly has had a greater effect on the brook trout than any other factor. Once thing is for certain, development hasn't contributed. I don't think that Valley has changed much at all since I started visiting.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
Twenty five years ago the upper section of the Narrows was predominantly brook trout, and they grew to good sizes too. Ten or 11 inch fish were common and 13 to 15 inch were less common but nowhere near rare.
From the walking bridge upstream back then I'd say that 75 to 80% of the fish I caught from there up to the Tylersville Hatchery were brookies.
Nowadays the only brook trout I get in that stretch seem to look like they have washed out of the hatchery during a high water event. I've caught some larger ones up to about 17 inches but to me they clearly looked like hatchery fish with tattered rounded fins.
I do however catch some brook trout further downstream especially in the section above Uncle Tom's Cabin but they are generally small, like 7 or 8 inches tops. It's been quite a long time since I've caught any brook trout larger than that in the downstream area of the Narrows.
I wonder what happened to the brook trout? Given that Tylersville Hatchery has been expanded I think that common wisdom places at least some of the blame on the hatchery. I know I'm guilty of that.
Still, I think that there is more at work than the hatchery. Personally I think that fishing pressure plays a role. Twenty five years ago you'd be hard pressed to find 6 or 8 cars parked along the 5 mile stretch of the Narrows even during a "hatch" weekend in mid-May.
Nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find a place to park during mid-May. I think the pressure combined with the ability of brown trout to grow larger more quickly has had a greater effect on the brook trout than any other factor. Once thing is for certain, development hasn't contributed. I don't think that Valley has changed much at all since I started visiting.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
Hook_Jaw
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It's a great trout stream the trout are hard to catch. Above Tylersville hatchery all the way up used to be great fishing has really seemed to go downhill as I think it did below the federal hatchery to where it is stocked. Alot of big trout have been caught in that stream both brook trout and brown trout.
