Prospector
Well-known member
Here’s the report for our Annual weeklong June trip to Kettle
=======
June 3
Location: Kettle FFO
Time Fished: 2pm - 730pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy with rain most of the time, sometimes heavy. 62 degrees
Water Conditions: 55 degrees and clear; 215 CFS
Insects:
Hatching....BWO, Green Drakes, large sulphurs, paraleptophebia, March Brown, another rusty body mayfly, a caddis with a rusty appearance while flying, cream midges.
Laying Eggs....coffin flies, March Brown, 3 different kinds of caddis (one was the dark caddis with the awesome antennaes), rusty spinners
When I arrived there was no insect activity so I put on a streamer. Shortly after I started fishing, it began to rain. I fished through the rain for a couple hours. During the rain insects were hatching and the fish were rising. It was raining too hard to float a dry so I tried to match the subsurface activity. I caught fish on a BWO emerger, a Large GRHE nymph that I was using to imitate a swimming Green Drake nymph took several including the biggest fish of the week a 17 1/2 hook jaw brown.
Finally I decided to try a large foam body green drake during the rain since it might be able to withstand the heavy rain. I did not taper down. Just left on my 4lb tippet because I fully expected to switch back to wets or nymphs. To my surprise I caught 4 on the mammoth fly. Finally the rain stopped and almost every rising fish were interested in a BWO dry.
I left before the spinner fall hoping to fish it with my cabin mates but the hole they were in was already full. But there wasn’t much rising anyway.
I ended up with 15 browns, 5 rainbows and 2 brook
Only 5 other cars on FFO project
I saw a snapping turtle digging a hole to lay eggs and I saw 2 other places where turtle nests had been dug up and scavenged.
================
June 4
Location: Kettle FFO
Time Fished: 1230pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: mid 60s, Cloudy thru 5pm then turning mostly sunny
Water Conditions: 54 degrees and clear, 180 cfs
Insects:
Hatching....BWO, Green Drakes, Slate Drakes, lime sallies, dark caddis
Laying Eggs....huge number of dark caddis, coffin flies, Slate drakes, lime sallies
I chipped away throughout the day and got 6 rainbows, 3 browns and 2 brook. Fish didn’t take flies very well. Looked like good take but I’d feel nothing. Had that happen countless time throughout the day. A couple guys I talked to caught about 35 each mostly on March Brown duns.
Lots of insects at night but very little rising
===============
June 5. Afternoon
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 1115am - 345pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54-56 degrees, 158 cfs
Insects: Hatching...BWO, Cahill, caddis, paraleptaphebia, a couple fish fly stoneflies
There was no rising when I started through the long hole so I swung a wooly bugger and got 12 but I missed a lot of fish (5times what I caught). I noticed the trout were on the smaller side so on the second pass I used a soft hackle wet, something that would fit easily into a small mouth.
On pass #2 I caught 7 and missed only one. So mission accomplished on improving the hookup rate but I caught 5 less fish, so was it better?
I made a few more passes using a prince, Walt’s worm and March Brown nymph and caught a few more on each.
Then fish began to rise and I did well on BWO dry. I ended this portion of the day with 19 rainbows, 12 browns and 2 Palominos
===============
June 5. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 6pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, 151 cfs
Insects: Hatching....Big Sulphur, Yellow Sulphur, green drake
Laying eggs.....large dark caddis, coffin flies, Slate Drakes, March Brown
I tried to fish a few different places but I don’t like to crowd other people so as I ran into other fisherman I just went elsewhere. Spot #3 worked out well. I fished a dry the whole time. Brought fish up early in evening and had a tremendous spinner fall where it seemed every fish in the creek was rising. I ended with 11 brook, 3 brown.
For the day this was the first time I caught all 4 types of trout from the same stream on the same day.
===============
June 6. Early Afternoon
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: Noon - 2pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 58 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, 135 cfs
Insects: BWO, Slate Drake
Headed to fish Hammersley Fork but at the Ford there were 3 cars (NY, Alabama, last one was too far to tell) so I went to a hole on Kettle. I was fishing 2 wets and caught a couple when fish began to rise. It didn’t take long for a few rises to turn into the entire hole. I saw BWO and Slate Drakes. I put on a BWO and the fish were so keyed in that almost every fish took my fly. The hatch lasted a 40 minutes, I landed 11 and had the usual amount of misses/lost fish.
At hatches end, to no avail I burned some time trying to find a fly to pickup the remaining sporadic risers. The trout got a lot more selective when the hatch ended.
At this stop I got 10 rainbow and 3 browns. Two on wets, 11 on dries.
===============
June 6. Late Afternoon
Location: Cross Fork Creek C&R
Time Fished: 230pm - 630pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 58 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 52 degrees, seems to be a normal flow
Insects: Anything and Everything.
Hatching.... Green Drakes, Slate Drakes, BWO, Sulphurs, several types of Caddis, sz18 small grey mayfly, yellow stonefly, Cahill,
Laying Eggs....coffin flies, isonychia spinners, Sulphur spinners, several different types of caddis
I began fishing a dry fly upstream and just noticed the variety of insects as I moved along. The fish were feeding freely and I saw more rises today than I’ve seen in past years. The fish have always been willing but today the sheer number of insects had them turned on.
Today with the dark cloudy conditions the spinnerfall started early in the dimly lit valley. So while duns were still appearing, the spinners and caddis were coming back to do their thing. The volume of insects was quite impressive.
If you haven’t fished a small stream the size of Cross Fork during the spinner fall, you should. With tight quarters and low canopy, you become part of the spinnerfall. The bugs aren’t up there 30 feet or are out away from you. You will get a whole new appreciation with bugs at eye level or below passing by within a rod length or two.
The state has stocked rainbows at the lower snowmobile bridge for many years but I don’t remember any rainbows being stocked in the upper reaches of Cross Fork Creek. However, on this day I caught so many rainbows, they had to stock them above. I’m not sure why. Those little holes that used to hold 5-8 natives, now sometimes have just a single rainbow. It’s pushed the brookies to less desirable locations and probably has caused some to be eaten. You do get a great fight with a hefty rainbow but I’d rather see the brook trout.
I ended up with 13 brookies, 11 rainbows and 8 browns all on dries.
===============
June 6. Evening
Location: Hammersley Fork
Time Fished: 715Pm - 845pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 60 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 50 degrees,
Insects: Coffin Flies, Isonychia Spinners, Caddis, Sulphur Spinners
I decided to spend the last couple of hours of light in the watershed I wanted to hit earlier in the day. So I got to a section, tied on a dry and quickly fished upstream. Hammersley had about 1/4 of the insects on Cross Fork Creek, but it still had a decent amount of bugs. I came upon a few really nice holes but pocket water was far more available and consistently held fish.
I caught 12 brookies and 1 brown. The biggest fish was a 10” brookie.
Overall the experience was a great way to end the day.
===============
June 7. Late Morning
Location: Upper Cross Fork Creek
Time Fished: 1130am - 1230pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 65 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 52 degrees, normal flow
Insects: None
I needed to be at camp at 1pm to meet my son so that meant I had an hour to check out some new water far up Cross Fork Creek. I accidentally tied on a size 14 dry and proceeded to miss fish on the first 8 consecutive strikes. I realized what I had done and switched to a Sz 16 and got some hookups before calling it quits. One was a dandy measuring 8 1/2”.
There was no insect activity. I did see a set of boot tracks a few days old. You can pretty much fish anywhere on this creek and be pleased with the results.
===============
June 7 Afternoon
Location: Cross Fork Creek C&R
Time Fished: 230pm - 5pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, normal flow
Insects: None
After my son’s arrival at camp, we set out for a spot on Kettle but another fisherman was there so I opted to take him to the area on Cross Fork where I had fished the previous day. What a difference a day makes.... The sunny sky on this day kept insect activity very low especially when considering how alive this place had been 24 hours ago.
My son had to bring up everything with an attractor pattern. He ended with 5 brookies and 3 rainbows, but he figures he had 35-40 strikes. He was pleased and we fished in the shade during the sunny part of the day.
I landed only 1 brookie
Interesting side note.. we saw 7 common merganser chicks fending for themselves with no mother.
===============
June 7. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 630pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 65 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 59 degrees, 115 cfs
Insects: Hatching....sulphurs, BWO, Slate Drakes, caddis
When we arrived, nothing was happening so we swung wets for over an hour. We had several strikes but only landed 1 fish.
Caddis started to show up in small numbers at 710pm, but it wasn’t until about 830pm that it was clear a decent spinner fall would occur. Not large numbers but enough to keep fish rising consistently. Caddis dominated with Isonychia a distant second based on what was visible. I suspect there were a number of smaller spinners in the mix and that was the size we matched. Interestingly this was the first night that I didn’t notice any coffin flies.
My son caught 7 (6 on dries) and I got 11 (all on dries).
===============
June 8. Morning
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 10am - 215pm
Weather Conditions: Mix of Clouds and Sun, 70 degrees
Water Conditions: Very Clear, 62 degrees, 105 cfs
Insects: Nothing hatching
Fish rose from the time we arrived until we left. Not boiling but just consistent enough to stand in one spot for awhile and then move onto another batch of fish either above or below. They seemed to be cleaning up last nights spinner fall which was heavy with caddis, Iso’s other small spinners. As 2pm approached the rising had slowed considerably and seemed to switch over to midges.
My son started with a dry but I made half a pass with a wet then switched to a dry when rising picked up.
We caught fish on caddis, BWO, yellow humpy and midges. My son caught 9 on dries, most on a BWO. I got 4 on a wet and another 12 on dries, most on a black caddis.
For the second time this week I got a brown, rainbow, brook and palomino but this time it was all from the same hole.
===============
June 8. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 630pm - 910pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 73 degrees
Water Conditions: very clear, 64 degrees, 104 cfs
Insects: Hatching.... Slate Drakes Gray Fox, sulphurs, yellow sallies, Green Drakes, nothing in large quantities
Laying eggs... a few types of caddis with the dark caddis being the most numerous, coffin flies, various sizes of rusty spinners, Isonychia spinners, and probably many I missed.
As we arrived we noticed fish rising. The pace was slow but there were enough to make it interesting. My son opted to start with a dry and set up shop in the best dry fly location. I started with a wet so I could assess the deepest runs and where the most fish were holding. I got 2 browns by the time I reached my son. He also had caught 2.
At this point (730pm) it was looking pretty bleak. The light hatching had stopped and there was no sign of spinnerfall developing. We just stayed the course and the insects came all at one time. It was about 840pm when the swarm was just massive. The coffin flies hit the water first and afterward the rest of it unfolded. It seemed like caddis were next just based on what fly was working best. Then the small spinners moved in, but much of this occurred after dark.
The night ended with my son landing 8 (5 browns, 2 rainbow and a brook) while I got 16 (10 brookies, 5 browns, 1 rainbow). The riffle I was fishing was just loaded with brook trout. In hindsight, I should have checked the temperature because it probably was a few degrees colder there.
Kettle is getting pretty low. A shot of rain would be very beneficial.
===============
June 9
Location: Kettle Creek FFO
Time Fished: 11am - 4pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Water Conditions: Very Clear, 62 degrees, 98 cfs
Insects: Only a few caddis and a mayfly here or there; a decent number of spent wing spinners floating down from previous night.
There were not many rises but my son and I used only dries. He started in a good pool with a mayfly and I worked the riffles with a caddis. Fish came up readily to take a fly. We just continued that approach fishing 5 different hole/riffle combinations.
My son caught 9 (4 brown, 4 rainbow, 1 brook). I caught 12 (9 Brn, 1 Rbw, 2 brook). Fish were taken on BWO, Dark Caddis, Yellow bodied Adams, Standard Adams, and March Brown Spinner.
The lack of insects and low clear water made for a challenging portion of the day.
When we arrived there were 8 vehicles on FFO section.
===============
June 9
Location: Little Kettle
Time Fished: 6pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 73
Water Conditions: Low Clear, 58 degrees
Insects: Hatching.... yellow sallies, caddis, a few mayflies
Laying eggs...coffin flies, Isonychia spinners, March brown spinners, Sulphur spinners, probably others
My son fished, I was the guide. We had 1 rod between us.
The number of brookies is really down from 2 years ago when the ratio was 5 brookies for every brown. Last year it was 1 brookie to every 1.4 browns this year it 1 brookie for every 1.25 browns. So if you want to catch brookies, there are some here but not nearly as many as there were prior to the hot, low water summer of 2016. Many of the pockets that held fish in years past yielded no strikes.
On a brighter note, my son caught 5 browns and 4 brookies and he left with a very positive experience.
The cloudy day brought the spinner fall a little early. There were many different mayflies coming back to lay eggs along with caddis.
We did see a Merganser in one of the holes.
===============
June 9
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 825-9pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 72
Water Conditions: Clear 57 degrees
Insects: Many spinners and caddis
We quickly transitioned from Little Kettle to big kettle primarily so I could fish the spinner fall. There were loads of fish rising, many were small.
My son caught 3 brookies and I got 4. We both had 1 decent fish and the rest were small.
===============
Overall week was very good. Our group had 3 anglers for the full week and my son for 3 days and we caught a combined 393 trout (our second highest total ever). We benefited from some high water earlier in the year keeping water temps down and pushing the hatches back. When we have BWOs and Green Drakes in June it is good fishing.
The good fishing was enjoyed by many. During the week we saw vehicles from Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey
=======
June 3
Location: Kettle FFO
Time Fished: 2pm - 730pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy with rain most of the time, sometimes heavy. 62 degrees
Water Conditions: 55 degrees and clear; 215 CFS
Insects:
Hatching....BWO, Green Drakes, large sulphurs, paraleptophebia, March Brown, another rusty body mayfly, a caddis with a rusty appearance while flying, cream midges.
Laying Eggs....coffin flies, March Brown, 3 different kinds of caddis (one was the dark caddis with the awesome antennaes), rusty spinners
When I arrived there was no insect activity so I put on a streamer. Shortly after I started fishing, it began to rain. I fished through the rain for a couple hours. During the rain insects were hatching and the fish were rising. It was raining too hard to float a dry so I tried to match the subsurface activity. I caught fish on a BWO emerger, a Large GRHE nymph that I was using to imitate a swimming Green Drake nymph took several including the biggest fish of the week a 17 1/2 hook jaw brown.
Finally I decided to try a large foam body green drake during the rain since it might be able to withstand the heavy rain. I did not taper down. Just left on my 4lb tippet because I fully expected to switch back to wets or nymphs. To my surprise I caught 4 on the mammoth fly. Finally the rain stopped and almost every rising fish were interested in a BWO dry.
I left before the spinner fall hoping to fish it with my cabin mates but the hole they were in was already full. But there wasn’t much rising anyway.
I ended up with 15 browns, 5 rainbows and 2 brook
Only 5 other cars on FFO project
I saw a snapping turtle digging a hole to lay eggs and I saw 2 other places where turtle nests had been dug up and scavenged.
================
June 4
Location: Kettle FFO
Time Fished: 1230pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: mid 60s, Cloudy thru 5pm then turning mostly sunny
Water Conditions: 54 degrees and clear, 180 cfs
Insects:
Hatching....BWO, Green Drakes, Slate Drakes, lime sallies, dark caddis
Laying Eggs....huge number of dark caddis, coffin flies, Slate drakes, lime sallies
I chipped away throughout the day and got 6 rainbows, 3 browns and 2 brook. Fish didn’t take flies very well. Looked like good take but I’d feel nothing. Had that happen countless time throughout the day. A couple guys I talked to caught about 35 each mostly on March Brown duns.
Lots of insects at night but very little rising
===============
June 5. Afternoon
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 1115am - 345pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54-56 degrees, 158 cfs
Insects: Hatching...BWO, Cahill, caddis, paraleptaphebia, a couple fish fly stoneflies
There was no rising when I started through the long hole so I swung a wooly bugger and got 12 but I missed a lot of fish (5times what I caught). I noticed the trout were on the smaller side so on the second pass I used a soft hackle wet, something that would fit easily into a small mouth.
On pass #2 I caught 7 and missed only one. So mission accomplished on improving the hookup rate but I caught 5 less fish, so was it better?
I made a few more passes using a prince, Walt’s worm and March Brown nymph and caught a few more on each.
Then fish began to rise and I did well on BWO dry. I ended this portion of the day with 19 rainbows, 12 browns and 2 Palominos
===============
June 5. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 6pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, 151 cfs
Insects: Hatching....Big Sulphur, Yellow Sulphur, green drake
Laying eggs.....large dark caddis, coffin flies, Slate Drakes, March Brown
I tried to fish a few different places but I don’t like to crowd other people so as I ran into other fisherman I just went elsewhere. Spot #3 worked out well. I fished a dry the whole time. Brought fish up early in evening and had a tremendous spinner fall where it seemed every fish in the creek was rising. I ended with 11 brook, 3 brown.
For the day this was the first time I caught all 4 types of trout from the same stream on the same day.
===============
June 6. Early Afternoon
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: Noon - 2pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 58 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, 135 cfs
Insects: BWO, Slate Drake
Headed to fish Hammersley Fork but at the Ford there were 3 cars (NY, Alabama, last one was too far to tell) so I went to a hole on Kettle. I was fishing 2 wets and caught a couple when fish began to rise. It didn’t take long for a few rises to turn into the entire hole. I saw BWO and Slate Drakes. I put on a BWO and the fish were so keyed in that almost every fish took my fly. The hatch lasted a 40 minutes, I landed 11 and had the usual amount of misses/lost fish.
At hatches end, to no avail I burned some time trying to find a fly to pickup the remaining sporadic risers. The trout got a lot more selective when the hatch ended.
At this stop I got 10 rainbow and 3 browns. Two on wets, 11 on dries.
===============
June 6. Late Afternoon
Location: Cross Fork Creek C&R
Time Fished: 230pm - 630pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 58 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 52 degrees, seems to be a normal flow
Insects: Anything and Everything.
Hatching.... Green Drakes, Slate Drakes, BWO, Sulphurs, several types of Caddis, sz18 small grey mayfly, yellow stonefly, Cahill,
Laying Eggs....coffin flies, isonychia spinners, Sulphur spinners, several different types of caddis
I began fishing a dry fly upstream and just noticed the variety of insects as I moved along. The fish were feeding freely and I saw more rises today than I’ve seen in past years. The fish have always been willing but today the sheer number of insects had them turned on.
Today with the dark cloudy conditions the spinnerfall started early in the dimly lit valley. So while duns were still appearing, the spinners and caddis were coming back to do their thing. The volume of insects was quite impressive.
If you haven’t fished a small stream the size of Cross Fork during the spinner fall, you should. With tight quarters and low canopy, you become part of the spinnerfall. The bugs aren’t up there 30 feet or are out away from you. You will get a whole new appreciation with bugs at eye level or below passing by within a rod length or two.
The state has stocked rainbows at the lower snowmobile bridge for many years but I don’t remember any rainbows being stocked in the upper reaches of Cross Fork Creek. However, on this day I caught so many rainbows, they had to stock them above. I’m not sure why. Those little holes that used to hold 5-8 natives, now sometimes have just a single rainbow. It’s pushed the brookies to less desirable locations and probably has caused some to be eaten. You do get a great fight with a hefty rainbow but I’d rather see the brook trout.
I ended up with 13 brookies, 11 rainbows and 8 browns all on dries.
===============
June 6. Evening
Location: Hammersley Fork
Time Fished: 715Pm - 845pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 60 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 50 degrees,
Insects: Coffin Flies, Isonychia Spinners, Caddis, Sulphur Spinners
I decided to spend the last couple of hours of light in the watershed I wanted to hit earlier in the day. So I got to a section, tied on a dry and quickly fished upstream. Hammersley had about 1/4 of the insects on Cross Fork Creek, but it still had a decent amount of bugs. I came upon a few really nice holes but pocket water was far more available and consistently held fish.
I caught 12 brookies and 1 brown. The biggest fish was a 10” brookie.
Overall the experience was a great way to end the day.
===============
June 7. Late Morning
Location: Upper Cross Fork Creek
Time Fished: 1130am - 1230pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 65 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 52 degrees, normal flow
Insects: None
I needed to be at camp at 1pm to meet my son so that meant I had an hour to check out some new water far up Cross Fork Creek. I accidentally tied on a size 14 dry and proceeded to miss fish on the first 8 consecutive strikes. I realized what I had done and switched to a Sz 16 and got some hookups before calling it quits. One was a dandy measuring 8 1/2”.
There was no insect activity. I did see a set of boot tracks a few days old. You can pretty much fish anywhere on this creek and be pleased with the results.
===============
June 7 Afternoon
Location: Cross Fork Creek C&R
Time Fished: 230pm - 5pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 68 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 54 degrees, normal flow
Insects: None
After my son’s arrival at camp, we set out for a spot on Kettle but another fisherman was there so I opted to take him to the area on Cross Fork where I had fished the previous day. What a difference a day makes.... The sunny sky on this day kept insect activity very low especially when considering how alive this place had been 24 hours ago.
My son had to bring up everything with an attractor pattern. He ended with 5 brookies and 3 rainbows, but he figures he had 35-40 strikes. He was pleased and we fished in the shade during the sunny part of the day.
I landed only 1 brookie
Interesting side note.. we saw 7 common merganser chicks fending for themselves with no mother.
===============
June 7. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 630pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 65 degrees
Water Conditions: Clear, 59 degrees, 115 cfs
Insects: Hatching....sulphurs, BWO, Slate Drakes, caddis
When we arrived, nothing was happening so we swung wets for over an hour. We had several strikes but only landed 1 fish.
Caddis started to show up in small numbers at 710pm, but it wasn’t until about 830pm that it was clear a decent spinner fall would occur. Not large numbers but enough to keep fish rising consistently. Caddis dominated with Isonychia a distant second based on what was visible. I suspect there were a number of smaller spinners in the mix and that was the size we matched. Interestingly this was the first night that I didn’t notice any coffin flies.
My son caught 7 (6 on dries) and I got 11 (all on dries).
===============
June 8. Morning
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 10am - 215pm
Weather Conditions: Mix of Clouds and Sun, 70 degrees
Water Conditions: Very Clear, 62 degrees, 105 cfs
Insects: Nothing hatching
Fish rose from the time we arrived until we left. Not boiling but just consistent enough to stand in one spot for awhile and then move onto another batch of fish either above or below. They seemed to be cleaning up last nights spinner fall which was heavy with caddis, Iso’s other small spinners. As 2pm approached the rising had slowed considerably and seemed to switch over to midges.
My son started with a dry but I made half a pass with a wet then switched to a dry when rising picked up.
We caught fish on caddis, BWO, yellow humpy and midges. My son caught 9 on dries, most on a BWO. I got 4 on a wet and another 12 on dries, most on a black caddis.
For the second time this week I got a brown, rainbow, brook and palomino but this time it was all from the same hole.
===============
June 8. Evening
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 630pm - 910pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny 73 degrees
Water Conditions: very clear, 64 degrees, 104 cfs
Insects: Hatching.... Slate Drakes Gray Fox, sulphurs, yellow sallies, Green Drakes, nothing in large quantities
Laying eggs... a few types of caddis with the dark caddis being the most numerous, coffin flies, various sizes of rusty spinners, Isonychia spinners, and probably many I missed.
As we arrived we noticed fish rising. The pace was slow but there were enough to make it interesting. My son opted to start with a dry and set up shop in the best dry fly location. I started with a wet so I could assess the deepest runs and where the most fish were holding. I got 2 browns by the time I reached my son. He also had caught 2.
At this point (730pm) it was looking pretty bleak. The light hatching had stopped and there was no sign of spinnerfall developing. We just stayed the course and the insects came all at one time. It was about 840pm when the swarm was just massive. The coffin flies hit the water first and afterward the rest of it unfolded. It seemed like caddis were next just based on what fly was working best. Then the small spinners moved in, but much of this occurred after dark.
The night ended with my son landing 8 (5 browns, 2 rainbow and a brook) while I got 16 (10 brookies, 5 browns, 1 rainbow). The riffle I was fishing was just loaded with brook trout. In hindsight, I should have checked the temperature because it probably was a few degrees colder there.
Kettle is getting pretty low. A shot of rain would be very beneficial.
===============
June 9
Location: Kettle Creek FFO
Time Fished: 11am - 4pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Water Conditions: Very Clear, 62 degrees, 98 cfs
Insects: Only a few caddis and a mayfly here or there; a decent number of spent wing spinners floating down from previous night.
There were not many rises but my son and I used only dries. He started in a good pool with a mayfly and I worked the riffles with a caddis. Fish came up readily to take a fly. We just continued that approach fishing 5 different hole/riffle combinations.
My son caught 9 (4 brown, 4 rainbow, 1 brook). I caught 12 (9 Brn, 1 Rbw, 2 brook). Fish were taken on BWO, Dark Caddis, Yellow bodied Adams, Standard Adams, and March Brown Spinner.
The lack of insects and low clear water made for a challenging portion of the day.
When we arrived there were 8 vehicles on FFO section.
===============
June 9
Location: Little Kettle
Time Fished: 6pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 73
Water Conditions: Low Clear, 58 degrees
Insects: Hatching.... yellow sallies, caddis, a few mayflies
Laying eggs...coffin flies, Isonychia spinners, March brown spinners, Sulphur spinners, probably others
My son fished, I was the guide. We had 1 rod between us.
The number of brookies is really down from 2 years ago when the ratio was 5 brookies for every brown. Last year it was 1 brookie to every 1.4 browns this year it 1 brookie for every 1.25 browns. So if you want to catch brookies, there are some here but not nearly as many as there were prior to the hot, low water summer of 2016. Many of the pockets that held fish in years past yielded no strikes.
On a brighter note, my son caught 5 browns and 4 brookies and he left with a very positive experience.
The cloudy day brought the spinner fall a little early. There were many different mayflies coming back to lay eggs along with caddis.
We did see a Merganser in one of the holes.
===============
June 9
Location: Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 825-9pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy 72
Water Conditions: Clear 57 degrees
Insects: Many spinners and caddis
We quickly transitioned from Little Kettle to big kettle primarily so I could fish the spinner fall. There were loads of fish rising, many were small.
My son caught 3 brookies and I got 4. We both had 1 decent fish and the rest were small.
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Overall week was very good. Our group had 3 anglers for the full week and my son for 3 days and we caught a combined 393 trout (our second highest total ever). We benefited from some high water earlier in the year keeping water temps down and pushing the hatches back. When we have BWOs and Green Drakes in June it is good fishing.
The good fishing was enjoyed by many. During the week we saw vehicles from Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey
