Honey Creek, Mifflin County 8/7/14

MKern

MKern

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Sep 11, 2006
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Fish honey from about 9:00 to 2:00.

Water temp was 62 in the morning and air temps were 67 at 9:00 and 81 at 2:00.

The water level was higher than the mean because of the down pores from the previous weekend.

Plenty of fish were brought to hand by my fishing partner and I. All caught on ants (close to the bank) or PT's (in the current).

Tons of grasshoppers and crickets along the banks too.
 
My fishing buddy stopped by before we met at Honey. He said it was fishable, but still pretty high.
 
I guess I should mention a few weird occurrences too:

My morning started off by stepping on the tail of a small muskrat, which was still alive and not happy.

We caught a couple very tiny rainbows that appeared to be wild. Checked the PFBC site and they didn't stock fingerling bows in the kish the year. Side note, we have caught a ton of big bows out of honey this year.

My friend also caught a brookie that was around 14". I didn't believe him at first, but clearly a brookie.

 
it may be worth noting this publicly on the forum so that others can share their experiences and comment.
I caught a 14 in brookie and hooked another about the same size at a different location on Honey yesterday. This is odd to me, although I fish this creek only ~4 times a year.
Anyone else catching brookies there?
Any rumors of private stocking?
 
Honey's headwater tribs, including the main stem of Honey (sometimes called New Lancaster Valley Run) are stocked with Brookies by the PFBC. Cool, wet Summer and they've survived and wandered downstream maybe?
 
Is Hobey creep the one that flies through Reeds Gap State Park? When I was there ( only once). It was only tiny wild browns... ? Am I thinking of the same stream?
 
It is the same stream. It also goes underground for quite a distance. Not that wild brookies couldn't go through the cave, but it is far.
 
Came out of Kish more likely?
 
Yeah, I forgot about those headwater streams sinking and reemerging as Honey. During periods of higher flows does some of the flow still run on the surface?
 
I'm wondering if the bookies came out of another trib. like lingle or laurel.

The tiny bows still puzzle me too.
 
I caught a brookie out of Honey in May of 2013. I also caught a small rainbow there, possibly the year before. I thought the 'bow may have been a club stocked fingerling, but I suppose it could have been wild too. I was puzzled by the presence of the brookie. I don't believe there is any above ground continuity between lower and upper Honey Creek. It's all underwater plumbing 🙂 My memory of the lower part of upper Honey Creek from a few years ago in late summer was that it was bone dry.
 
I've fished there a lot this year and have only caught browns. Are you more by the mouth catching these or more towards the cavern?
 
I don't fish Honey as often as Mike Kern and others but I've taken large and small bows two miles from the mouth. The small ones I've taken are beautiful, kinda look like stream bred, but I can't say that for sure.
 
We caught them near the cavern.

Both the browns and the bows.
 
I just read the latest PFBC magazine and one of the stories was a guy and his son who caught a 16 in her on honey this spring.

Do you think they are grown ups from a trib. or mistakenly stocked fish swimming up from the Kish or so one putting them in?
 
I wanna say they're from the kish. They did the gps survey on bows and they travel far. This is just my opinion of course but I couldn't see where else they'd be coming from.
 
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