French Cheek, Chester Co., 5/4/23

[DaveKile]

Stealing Frederick V. C. Format for the day:
Weather: mixed clouds and sun, air was ~56
Water: was clear and and looking good at 82CFS and 52 degrees
Hatches: Starting at about 3:00 there was a slow and steady yellow sulphur hatch (Ephemerella Invaria/three tail) happening.

I had not been to French Creek in probably 25 years. I was looking pretty good today after all the rain. I caught and missed several on some Zebra Midges while nymphs. The hatch sulphur hatch started and only saw the local stream chubs taking the duns. No trout rising to the hatch.

I have to say I was still pretty excited to see sulphurs coming up now. No trout on top, just some of those chubs. A nice afternoon and few other anglers out on the stream.

 

[jgish92]

I was at French yesterday too, fishing below the FFO area. Water volume was still up a bit and I did not find fish in the faster water. Landed 2 rainbows in flatter water, both on gasolina perdigons. Saw sulphurs coming off and switched over to dry fly. There were not very many rising fish. Landed a nice brown on a very aggressive strike.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Nice report, Dave! I have not been there in years either, but I thought about it the other day, wondering how it was doing since the general opinion of Ridley FFO has tanked....

 

[Frederick V. C.]

Learned (actually still learning) to fly fish on French over 40 years ago and still hit it a couple time a year. The Sulphur hatch used to be dependable and Cahills followed that. Gave up on the FFO years ago. Normally there are plenty of fish in the fast water but you have to work to get them. Tight ling with a long rod can be brutally effective. Glad to hear there are some Sulphurs; a dry dropper rig was usually best if you just wanted to catch fish during that hatch.

 

[DaveKile]

I was at French yesterday too, fishing below the FFO area. Water volume was still up a bit and I did not find fish in the faster water. Landed 2 rainbows in flatter water, both on gasolina perdigons. Saw sulphurs coming off and switched over to dry fly. There were not very many rising fish. Landed a nice brown on a very aggressive strike.

If you were there in the afternoon we prolly ran into each other. I think there was only five of us on the water.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Good report Dave! I pounded French in late March (FFO section) and early to mid April. Did pretty well each time and was able to get a few trout each time. The trout seem to fight hard in French. I usually fish a glass rod there to make it more interesting. On my last outing I used nylon tippet as I was unsure of where I'd be fishing that day (ponds or creeks) (the nylon is used in the event I want to run surface pond patterns) (I use fluorocarbon for nymphing but prep my rods the night before and was too lazy to cut off my tippet and put on some fluorocarbon). Combining the full flex feel of the glass rod and the added stretch of nylon I wasn't used to that much give and I had quite a few trout get off as a result of that. I need to lean in more on glass rods and put more stick to the fish. The ones I lost seemed decent sized, maybe 16 inches. The ones you lose always seem bigger but I am pretty well acclimated with that glass rod and know when I have a real big one on, unless I foul-hook the fish.

I suspect French should be fishing quite well with the added rain and decrease in temps. I need to get out there again as I love how that creek fishes, definitely my favorite stocked creek.

On a side note, I was fishing Pickering yesterday which is not too far from French. Managed a gorgeous 14 inch brookie that was stocked (obviously) but had very nice coloration. I also caught a nice brown of similar size later on in the evening that looked good in the failing light. Had a bow on right off the bat that I thought was an 18 incher because it just dove down and held its ground. I got the fish in only to learn that I hooked it through the top fin, which really p***** it off. I need to work on not foul-hooking fish, foul-hooked quite a few yesterday. I presume I am delaying my hook-set and setting the hook into the body of the fish when the fish spits the fly.

Point I am trying to make is that Pickering is a good option too for people close to French. Flows seem to be back to normal if not slightly elevated and it has a really nice tinge to it. Water is still pretty cold. I wet-waded it and my buddy thought I was nuts going into holes to retrieve snagged flies. Hey, I didn't get hypothermia. This is the time of the year I am usually wet-wading, but with the slight decrease in temps I would leave wader use up to the individual. Mine have too many holes in them from flies and I won't justify a new pair until late fall this year. I'll be on the B. today.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Gave up on the FFO years ago. Normally there are plenty of fish in the fast water but you have to work to get them.

I concur. It really gets pounded due to ease of accessibility and the fact it is the only area one can fish when the rest of French is closed due to stocking.