Hay creek Berks 10.14.09

[mute]

Bleh. Would be the one word to sum the trip up. Although it was fun i wouldn't do it again. Arrived at the end of 82 at rustic park. Walked from the bridge up by the baseball field all the way down to the end of the bend where the commando line is. Ended up only seeing 4 fish. Not wanting to bother with them and to try to find a better stocked area for my friend to have a better chance at enticing a trout we went across the commando line and walked down the abandoned road checking out the stream with the paths leading down to them along the way. No fish spotted. After Reaching the end of the road with another washed out bridge we crossed that commando line. After this we didn't even bother fishing. We checked out the rock climbing cliffs and a big quarry. The quarry was awesome, definitely neat water, i can see some monster fish in there no problem. Upon looking into the crystal clear water i already spooked a 14-16 inch bass from the shallows.

After this we walked all the way back to the vehicle in the park displeased that there was no amount of fish in the stream. Which seems rather odd seeing it was supposedly stocked 7 days ago. I cant see all the fish being yanked out that quickly. I decided to give one last fate of hope and check the access point at the White Bear Rd/Hay Creek rd intersection. And of course not a single sight of fish activity spotted. All though there was a nice deep run i seen where there could of been some fish, i wasnt all in the mood to string up the rod when i had a feeling there wasnt. And after $25 in gas, $10 in food, and 5 hours in time we finally ended home.

If anyone has any idea why it seems they did not stock the creek id be interested to hear about it.

All in all if you have a couple of hours and like to go explore new water, its a great steam that goes deep into the woods secluded like with only a few feet across with deep runs.

 

[Fredrick]

Mute maybe the amish came in and cleared it out . I think thier the reason they stock over a class A stream nice pics though

 

[Bruno]

That last pic is killing me.

 

[Troy]

Mute,
I fished Hay a couple of times in the last month and saw a lot of fish. This was even before the stocking. I parked at the same place as you and fished up. I am surprised that you didn't see any fish. I can see not being able to see the wild ones, but the stockies stuck out like sore thumbs.

I fished Hay on Saturday near White Bear Road and saw a lot of fisherman, but I also seen a lot of stockies. The fish were definitely in there at one time.

Troy

 

[jayL]

:lol:

Thanks for the report. I am going to head over there saturday, and will follow up.

 

[mute]

Weird troy, i mean i did see some fish. just no where near enough to have any assumption the stream was stocked recently. I looked over every pool of water in rustik park like i said, and only seen a total of 5 fish. 3 of them at the commando line pool, the deepest of them all id say. This is very mnid boggling

 

[jayL]

I have never done much sight fishing there. The fish are present. Some big ones too. Most of the pools at the parking lot at the dead end are a few feet deep on the far bank.

 

[mute]

Yea, i bet i missed some too. But Jay, are you still planning on going this weekend? Looks like a major blow out from the weather as of now.

 

[jayL]

I have fished it when it was in the grass before. I did well too.

Not sure what I'm going to do. I might go to the tully for the first time in a long time.

 

[Troy]

Mute,
I guess I wasn't specific enough where I fished at the lower end of the closed road. I started right at the wire going across the water. I fished up on 2 different occasions and combining the 2 trips I covered water all the way up to the pump house (I think that is what it is). This was in mid September and I was surprised how many stockies I saw and caught.

I fished this past Saturday where rt 82 becomes a dead end near White Bear. I walked down a ways from where I parked and saw pretty many fish. I only caught one stockie, but I seen many more. I caught some wild browns though.

Troy

 

[jayL]

Yep, it's a pump house.

Those pond/canal things next to it have colossal bass, but I've never been able to catch one.

I pretty much spent every summer day out there as a kid. I've even camped out there a few times.

 

[bam]

I'm not sure exactly where the quarry is or anything, but I checked out the stream over the summer for the first time. I ended up driving a couple miles down an abandoned road (I think 82) where I pulled over.. probably the same spot Troy mentioned. I expected to see a lot of fishermen by the # of cars I saw, but everyone must have been out biking? Fished upstream along the road I drove down. There were quite a few stockers in the deeper pools I came across but I fished mostly the B water due to the wild browns the stream supposedly held. Managed a couple small ones on bushy dries w/ a wet ant dropper even though I was fishing well below the "Class A" water indicated by the state. Water temps seemed cool for the time of year I was out, I'd say mid/upper 60s on one of the few 90 degree afternoons we had this summer.

Very scenic stream and I'd like to get back sometime, though it's a little tougher now that archery season's in. Saturdays and evenings are out, maybe I can make it Sunday morning before the Steeler game. For those hitting the creek this weekend, I can't imagine this rain blowing it out. With all the small pocket water that stream has I'm guessing a small muddler could take those little guys in all but the worst water conditions. Probably a good weekend for the good ol' beaded san juan

 

[bam]

FYI, I recommended the muddlers due to the # of small sculpins I noticed in the creek. Also, most of the mayfly nymphs seemed to be on the large side (#12s)

 

[PSUFishMenace]

Mute I know you were after recently stocked trout which like the deep pools but don't pass up the really fast runs and pocket water, wild browns love those areas. I like the pics even though no fish. I have a pic thats almost identical to the second to last one of the quarry, but not with the nice fall colors.

 

[Chaz]

Browns are very shy critters and with the big change in weather the fish that were recently stocked were most likely in hiding. Not all of Hay Creek is Class A water so where it is stocked you may see some wild fish, but not many due to harvest. The only time I was there to fish was opening day last year, big mistake, I didn;t fish and would have anyway because of all the angler activity. IMHO it probably should not be stocked.

 

[troutbert]

"Commando line?" What does that mean?

 

[tomgamber]

troutbert wrote:
"Commando line?" What does that mean?

see first pic...