My first time at French Creek. Parked right around the covered bridge on Hollow Rd, just down the gravel road there that is to the left when you go through the bridge (NOT a lot of spaces...two cars were already there and they took the two main "real" spaces that I saw. I'd be worried on a weekend about finding a safe place to park.)
Arrived around 2 pm and walked down at the bridge and headed upstream, which unless I completely screwed up, was the direction to go to stay in the FFO section. There was another guy or two fishing RIGHT at the bridge, so I hiked down about 100 yards and started there so I was out of their way.
Started with a black wooly bugger with no indicator and caught about 3 tiny chubs and one of the larger chubs that had me fooled into thinking he was a trout until I saw him up close. Still moving upstream, I got to some part where there are two cement pipes coming into the stream. Past there is a left hand bend of calmer, deeper water. I threw on an indicator and drifted the bugger there and a nice rainbow nailed it! (My first of the year after two skunkings!). He was probably 12" or so. Soon after I caught a sweet Oak Trout and lost that bugger so I tied on a smallish olive bead-head nymph. As soon as the thing would hit the water, the indicator would go crazy, but after flinging about 8 poor little 3" chubs into the air when setting the hook, I figured out it was just those little guys that were ravenous for the nymph.
I walked quite a ways down (not sure if I hit the end of the FFO section) and never got another trout, but I did catch a strange fish that I'm guessing was some kind of perch? It certainly wasn't a trout, but its pectoral fins were BRIGHT pink/red. Very cool looking and he put up a decent fight. I figured it was another rainbow, seeing the flashes of pink in the water when bringing him in. Anyone know if that was a perch or what?
I lost my olive bead head to another monster Oak Trout, and it was about dusk so I called it a day. This was the first time this year I stuck to submerged flies rather than dries. I DID see about 4 sulpher flies in the air, but none hitting the water, and NO trout rising for ANYTHING, so I figured it was best to just stick with the below-the-surface options.
Water was nice and clear and not really that high.
Arrived around 2 pm and walked down at the bridge and headed upstream, which unless I completely screwed up, was the direction to go to stay in the FFO section. There was another guy or two fishing RIGHT at the bridge, so I hiked down about 100 yards and started there so I was out of their way.
Started with a black wooly bugger with no indicator and caught about 3 tiny chubs and one of the larger chubs that had me fooled into thinking he was a trout until I saw him up close. Still moving upstream, I got to some part where there are two cement pipes coming into the stream. Past there is a left hand bend of calmer, deeper water. I threw on an indicator and drifted the bugger there and a nice rainbow nailed it! (My first of the year after two skunkings!). He was probably 12" or so. Soon after I caught a sweet Oak Trout and lost that bugger so I tied on a smallish olive bead-head nymph. As soon as the thing would hit the water, the indicator would go crazy, but after flinging about 8 poor little 3" chubs into the air when setting the hook, I figured out it was just those little guys that were ravenous for the nymph.
I walked quite a ways down (not sure if I hit the end of the FFO section) and never got another trout, but I did catch a strange fish that I'm guessing was some kind of perch? It certainly wasn't a trout, but its pectoral fins were BRIGHT pink/red. Very cool looking and he put up a decent fight. I figured it was another rainbow, seeing the flashes of pink in the water when bringing him in. Anyone know if that was a perch or what?
I lost my olive bead head to another monster Oak Trout, and it was about dusk so I called it a day. This was the first time this year I stuck to submerged flies rather than dries. I DID see about 4 sulpher flies in the air, but none hitting the water, and NO trout rising for ANYTHING, so I figured it was best to just stick with the below-the-surface options.
Water was nice and clear and not really that high.
