Prospector
Well-known member
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-13-2024
Time Fished: 200pm - 500pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, Air Temp 69 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: March Browns, Black Caddis, midges, other small mayflies
I ran 3 wet flies down through a stretch that typically is very good after a rain. Despite that, action was slower today. Trout were rising to the insects on the water but it was a slow burn. The other side of the creek typically fishes a little better but I didn’t get across. I was 3/4 of the way across but I ran into a slightly deeper run and didn’t risk it.
I had 8 strikes and landed 5. Like always, most fish were caught on the point fly. Flies I used were a woolly bugger, a prince nymph, a royal coachman wet, a Caddis wet. After I was done wet fly fishing I tried a streamer and never had a strike which is mind boggling. Streamers usually work well in these high water conditions.
Saw a pair of wood ducks cruise over the far bank with the hen squealing as they boogied past.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-13-2024
Time Fished: 700pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, Air Temp 64 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: Caddis, Yellow Sallie, sz 10/12 spinners, sz 14 Gray Fox, sz 16/18 sulphurs
I was at one of the slowest holes on the creek and the water was truck’n. There were some rising trout and most rises appeared to be targeting emergers. Very splashy. The folks below me had been there for awhile and they were sharing that a yellow humpy was the ticket.
I tried a Caddis first, then a yellow emerger and finally the humpy. I caught 2 browns and had a total of 3 takes on dries. I was probably casting to 13 trout so 10 of them weren’t impressed with my fly.
I left the water once the fish around me quit. The folks at a neighboring camp said that, shortly after I left, a 350lb bear walked up the shoreline then went between a few of the unoccupied camps after it spotted people fishing.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 850am - 1045am
Weather Conditions: Mix of clouds and sun, Air Temp 50 rising to 60degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 500 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 49 rising to degrees
Insects: some March Browns
I fished streamers the whole time. The majority of the trout were out of the main current. I caught almost all of the trout on the outside thirds of the creek where there was a lighter current. The water temp probably also contributed to them orienting on the slower water. Had very few strikes in the middle of the creek. Related to that I had no strikes in the faster riffle at the top half of the pool.
I caught 2 on a yellow Maribou, 4 on a spruce fly and 4 on an olive matuka. Also Lost 2 and had about 12-14 misses.
Red breasted merganser hens traded back and forth and a pair of geese landed and ate the streamside grass for the couple hours I was there. They were calm each time I walked past them to fish the hole over again.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 1145am to 430pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 62 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: March Browns and sulphurs were hatching in good numbers, some Caddis, 1 green drake dun, lots of midges, many other insects but less volume.
I started out swinging wet flies and caught 3. Had about 10 strikes during the first 90 minutes. At that point the numbers of rising fish increased but not enough to really get excited. I worked on the pockets of risers and manage to land a few. Then about 230pm until about 4pm the fish were really active. We were trying to find the right fly and it looked like we had but I missed 6 trout in a row. Came to realize that in the breezy conditions the leader knotted up on the bend of my dry fly. So anytime I set the hook, the fly was exiting the trouts mouth backwards (bend first) and there was no chance to hook those fish. Luckily I figured out what was happening and I ended up catching 12 on that specific fly (of which I only had one of). Almost every fish took it. Then we were summoned to dinner. I landed 17 browns.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 600pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 62 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: March Brown spinners, sz16 Rusty spinners, there were also insects hatching
I stood around a lot because nothing was rising. Only a rise here or there. Probably saw 20 in over 2 hours. Managed to catch 1 brown blind casting.
A lot of mayflies over the riffles. Different sizes.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 1230pm - 145pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 61 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: not many, lime sallies, small mayflies
Rain lasted all night and all morning. Went to the stream at midday expecting it to be higher and muddier than it was. I made 2 streamer passes. Used a smaller streamer on the first pass and had 2 swipe and miss and 2 others grabbed it but I didn’t hook them. Second pass I switched to a larger streamer and I caught one, missed 2 and had 4 other strikes.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 430pm - 800pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 61 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: March Brown hatching, Yellow sallies hatching, sulphurs hatching, spinners: March Brown, Sulphurs
I tied 5 March Brown Duns in the morning while it rained. I broke one out this afternoon and I caught 5 browns in about 15 minutes. Then it was tore up and wasn’t floating right. So I went to #2,3,4,5 and none of them floated right. There were probably about 10 fish ready to be caught but there was something with the flies that was not right. It was an otherwise slow night in this hole. I’m sure the high water did not help our cause.
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Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 900am - 1015am
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 59 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 500 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 51 degrees
Insects: saw a few Caddis
I made a couple streamer passes in the hole behind the camp. I started with a whiter streamer and had 1 on, missed 5 and had another 6-7 swirls. Didn’t land any. Second pass I switched to a black matuka with a red throat and landed 1 brown, missed 3 and had 3-4 swirls.
We had 3 fishing although my dad had a bad foot and barely fished. We caught 59 trout (55 browns and 4 rainbows) over the 4 days.
Time Fished: 200pm - 500pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, Air Temp 69 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: March Browns, Black Caddis, midges, other small mayflies
I ran 3 wet flies down through a stretch that typically is very good after a rain. Despite that, action was slower today. Trout were rising to the insects on the water but it was a slow burn. The other side of the creek typically fishes a little better but I didn’t get across. I was 3/4 of the way across but I ran into a slightly deeper run and didn’t risk it.
I had 8 strikes and landed 5. Like always, most fish were caught on the point fly. Flies I used were a woolly bugger, a prince nymph, a royal coachman wet, a Caddis wet. After I was done wet fly fishing I tried a streamer and never had a strike which is mind boggling. Streamers usually work well in these high water conditions.
Saw a pair of wood ducks cruise over the far bank with the hen squealing as they boogied past.
===============
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-13-2024
Time Fished: 700pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, Air Temp 64 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: Caddis, Yellow Sallie, sz 10/12 spinners, sz 14 Gray Fox, sz 16/18 sulphurs
I was at one of the slowest holes on the creek and the water was truck’n. There were some rising trout and most rises appeared to be targeting emergers. Very splashy. The folks below me had been there for awhile and they were sharing that a yellow humpy was the ticket.
I tried a Caddis first, then a yellow emerger and finally the humpy. I caught 2 browns and had a total of 3 takes on dries. I was probably casting to 13 trout so 10 of them weren’t impressed with my fly.
I left the water once the fish around me quit. The folks at a neighboring camp said that, shortly after I left, a 350lb bear walked up the shoreline then went between a few of the unoccupied camps after it spotted people fishing.
===============
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 850am - 1045am
Weather Conditions: Mix of clouds and sun, Air Temp 50 rising to 60degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 500 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 49 rising to degrees
Insects: some March Browns
I fished streamers the whole time. The majority of the trout were out of the main current. I caught almost all of the trout on the outside thirds of the creek where there was a lighter current. The water temp probably also contributed to them orienting on the slower water. Had very few strikes in the middle of the creek. Related to that I had no strikes in the faster riffle at the top half of the pool.
I caught 2 on a yellow Maribou, 4 on a spruce fly and 4 on an olive matuka. Also Lost 2 and had about 12-14 misses.
Red breasted merganser hens traded back and forth and a pair of geese landed and ate the streamside grass for the couple hours I was there. They were calm each time I walked past them to fish the hole over again.
===============
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 1145am to 430pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 62 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 56 degrees
Insects: March Browns and sulphurs were hatching in good numbers, some Caddis, 1 green drake dun, lots of midges, many other insects but less volume.
I started out swinging wet flies and caught 3. Had about 10 strikes during the first 90 minutes. At that point the numbers of rising fish increased but not enough to really get excited. I worked on the pockets of risers and manage to land a few. Then about 230pm until about 4pm the fish were really active. We were trying to find the right fly and it looked like we had but I missed 6 trout in a row. Came to realize that in the breezy conditions the leader knotted up on the bend of my dry fly. So anytime I set the hook, the fly was exiting the trouts mouth backwards (bend first) and there was no chance to hook those fish. Luckily I figured out what was happening and I ended up catching 12 on that specific fly (of which I only had one of). Almost every fish took it. Then we were summoned to dinner. I landed 17 browns.
==============
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-14-2024
Time Fished: 600pm - 815pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 62 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: March Brown spinners, sz16 Rusty spinners, there were also insects hatching
I stood around a lot because nothing was rising. Only a rise here or there. Probably saw 20 in over 2 hours. Managed to catch 1 brown blind casting.
A lot of mayflies over the riffles. Different sizes.
================
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 1230pm - 145pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 61 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: not many, lime sallies, small mayflies
Rain lasted all night and all morning. Went to the stream at midday expecting it to be higher and muddier than it was. I made 2 streamer passes. Used a smaller streamer on the first pass and had 2 swipe and miss and 2 others grabbed it but I didn’t hook them. Second pass I switched to a larger streamer and I caught one, missed 2 and had 4 other strikes.
===============
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 430pm - 800pm
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 61 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 600 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 52 degrees
Insects: March Brown hatching, Yellow sallies hatching, sulphurs hatching, spinners: March Brown, Sulphurs
I tied 5 March Brown Duns in the morning while it rained. I broke one out this afternoon and I caught 5 browns in about 15 minutes. Then it was tore up and wasn’t floating right. So I went to #2,3,4,5 and none of them floated right. There were probably about 10 fish ready to be caught but there was something with the flies that was not right. It was an otherwise slow night in this hole. I’m sure the high water did not help our cause.
=================
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-15-2024
Time Fished: 900am - 1015am
Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Air Temp 59 degrees
Water Conditions: Very high, 500 cfs, just a little off color, water temp 51 degrees
Insects: saw a few Caddis
I made a couple streamer passes in the hole behind the camp. I started with a whiter streamer and had 1 on, missed 5 and had another 6-7 swirls. Didn’t land any. Second pass I switched to a black matuka with a red throat and landed 1 brown, missed 3 and had 3-4 swirls.
We had 3 fishing although my dad had a bad foot and barely fished. We caught 59 trout (55 browns and 4 rainbows) over the 4 days.
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