Prospector
Well-known member
For those that prefer a summary version for the 3 day report.
There was virtually no insect activity during these days. Some Caddis and some Mayflies but very few. The cold weather preceding this trip meant there would be no spinnerfall on any of the nights. However we did catch a decent number of fish on dries or emergers. There were probably about a normal number of people for this weekend but definitely less than last year when stained water in the surrounding valleys pushed many people to Kettle.
Over the 3 1/2 days this year, we caught a combined 81 trout, mostly browns. Water levels were in the vicinity of 230 cfs. Last year we combined for 65 trout in the extremely high water which ranged from 800 cfs down to 400 cfs.
Due to a conflict at work I didn’t arrive until Friday evening. The other 2 guys arrived at 10am on Thursday (others chose to stay home).
For maybe the first time ever I didn’t fish the FFO stretch. I stayed on the main stem of Kettle both above and below the FFO. So I can’t speak to how the FFO is fishing.
The Detailed Version is...
==========
FRIDAY
==========
Kettle Creek Potter Co, 5-15-20
Time Fished: 600pm - 820pm
Weather Conditions: 68 degrees, Cloudy occasional drizzle ending in a downpour
Water Conditions: 59 degrees, 200 cfs, normal is about 220, Clear
Insects: Virtually non-existent, only saw 2 caddis and one mayfly
As mentioned above I stayed away from the FFO area only because I wanted to experience places I’ve never fished before or locations I haven’t fished in over 25 years.
I settled on a stretch and it seemed like it had not been stocked this year. The creek has split into multiple channels that stay apart for a decent length. The pleasant surprise was it had a decent brookie population. With no insects around I decided to swing a small woolly bugger and a wet fly. I had 10-12 strikes and landed 2. Both of the ones I landed were nice. I assume all were wild. In the last 30 minutes of daylight it began to rain. Intensity grew every 5 minutes with the peak occurring when I got to the truck. It slowed but continued into the night.
After fishing as I headed back to camp, a doe and a newborn fawn were in the middle of the road. The doe continued across but I think my headlights blinded the fawn and it set off walking directly away from me right down the middle of the road. It had to be born that day. It was getting poured on and was soaked to the core. Rough first night. Eventually it made it under the guardrail and traffic could flow again.
==========
SATURDAY
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-16-20
Time Fished: 645am - 11am
Weather Conditions: 44 degrees rising to 58, Foggy Morning turning to sunny
Water Conditions: 52 degrees and rising, Murky to start but continual clearing, flow was up due to rain last night. 270cfs
Insects: not much but by 10am some Caddis and BWO began to hatch in small numbers. The trout also began to rise a little.
I went to a familiar place thinking that I would spend an hour before breakfast but the action was tremendous so I stayed a lot longer.
Early mornings I tend to fish a streamer and that fit right in with the murky conditions. I found a fly given to me by a deceased member of our crew. I fish one of his flies every trip to Kettle. He would be happy to know his fly caught 14 browns, 1 rainbow and a brook. I also took a rainbow on a woolly Bugger in a heavy riffle and 2 browns on a Caddis dry to end the morning. While I fished the streamer, I counted strikes vs landed until I got to 30 strikes and the ratio was 6:1 so I estimate I had 96 strikes to catch 16 on streamers. It was a great morning.
==========
Kettle Creek, Potter Co, 5-16-20
Time Fished: 245pm - 7pm
Weather Conditions: 68 degrees, Sunny
Water Conditions: 60 degrees and Clear; 240cfs
Insects: Saw a half dozen March Browns, some Caddis
In the evening I chose to fish a stretch I had not been on the top quarter for 35 years and I’ve never fished the lower three-quarters. This is another area where Kettle has multiple channels.
I worked downstream for maybe a mile and walked the road back to the truck. This stretch had a mix of stocked vs wild. I ended up with 10 rainbow and 6 brook. The upper section was mostly wild fish. I had 6 brook and 1 rainbow in the upper section and as streamside trails got more heavily worn I caught the final 9 rainbows.
I was running a March Brown Nymph with a Leadwing Coachman Wet (w/gold tag) as a dropper about 15 inches above the nymph. Interestingly half took the nymph and half took the wet regardless of type of trout.
I also found out later that despite catching 16, I actually had unknowingly followed 2 other guys down creek. As they walked the creek back upstream they expressed catching a lot of fish too. They remarked about “definitely will do that again”...those were my thoughts too.
I talked to another angler who had been on Upper Kettle earlier in the day and saw what he described as a huge amount of Caddis. It was his first time on Kettle so take that into consideration, but he seemed to know what Caddis are. I definitely saw very few all weekend so if you are going to the headwaters you might see more bugs.
On the way back to camp I saw where a mama bear had sent a cub up a tree. I heard from others who had passed by earlier, there were 2 cubs but I saw only one cub and barely saw the mama in the brush.
==========
SUNDAY
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-17-20
Time Fished: 615am - 745am
Weather Conditions: 40 degrees, Cloudy
Water Conditions: 52 degrees and Clear, 235 cfs
Insects: observed none although there were sporadic rises so something was there
Fished same location as previous morning and got 6 browns on a different streamer and got another brown on a March Brown nymph. Caught several browns that resembled the tiger trout color pattern but they were definitely browns. I’ve heard a lot comments about tigers up here. Some people may be regarding these oddball browns as tiger. Although there definitely are legit tigers based on the picture I have from last June at Kettle.
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-17-20
Below Dam
Time Fished: 1030am - 1205pm
Weather Conditions: 58 degrees, Cloudy, light drizzle.
Water Conditions: 58 degrees and Clear, 370 cfs
Insects: Caddis, Paraleptophlebia
I fished below the dam on the way home and caught 2 rainbows on an olive Woolly Bugger and a brown on the Leadwing Coachman with a gold tag. There were more caddis here than up above and there also were small Mayflies that looked like Para’s but I haven’t photographed them yet to confirm. I’ll attach the pictures later.
Also I bring up the location here just to point out the 6 degree difference in temperature between what I took upstream vs below the dam. If you have unfavorable conditions at either location, might be worth checking the other. There were a lot of people fishing the dam tailrace....8 vehicles plus people that walked from camps.
General Comments to close....
= On Saturday I drove through Cross Fork just to see what was going on. People were going into Kinneys Store and Debs Place was open to takeout.
= There were 33 cars parked in cross Fork between Kinneys and Debs parking areas
= I saw no one wearing a mask all weekend near Cross Fork.
= Everyone going in the store at Weedville on Friday had a mask on but that is a different county
= seems to be lots of fish in the streams
= there appears to be odd places where fish might be. Saw a ton of people (7cars) where Cross fork creek empties in Kettle Creek. We didn’t fish there but it looked like they may have a bunch of trout there. People fishing elbow to elbow
= saw 19 elk between Benezette and Sinnemahoning in 4 different groups. Saw only 1 deer in same stretch.
= on way home on Sunday afternoon the First Fork was clear and normal level while the Driftwood Branch appeared to be muddy and high
= I tried 3 new locations on this trip and enjoyed all of them. Don't be afraid to explore new water.
There was virtually no insect activity during these days. Some Caddis and some Mayflies but very few. The cold weather preceding this trip meant there would be no spinnerfall on any of the nights. However we did catch a decent number of fish on dries or emergers. There were probably about a normal number of people for this weekend but definitely less than last year when stained water in the surrounding valleys pushed many people to Kettle.
Over the 3 1/2 days this year, we caught a combined 81 trout, mostly browns. Water levels were in the vicinity of 230 cfs. Last year we combined for 65 trout in the extremely high water which ranged from 800 cfs down to 400 cfs.
Due to a conflict at work I didn’t arrive until Friday evening. The other 2 guys arrived at 10am on Thursday (others chose to stay home).
For maybe the first time ever I didn’t fish the FFO stretch. I stayed on the main stem of Kettle both above and below the FFO. So I can’t speak to how the FFO is fishing.
The Detailed Version is...
==========
FRIDAY
==========
Kettle Creek Potter Co, 5-15-20
Time Fished: 600pm - 820pm
Weather Conditions: 68 degrees, Cloudy occasional drizzle ending in a downpour
Water Conditions: 59 degrees, 200 cfs, normal is about 220, Clear
Insects: Virtually non-existent, only saw 2 caddis and one mayfly
As mentioned above I stayed away from the FFO area only because I wanted to experience places I’ve never fished before or locations I haven’t fished in over 25 years.
I settled on a stretch and it seemed like it had not been stocked this year. The creek has split into multiple channels that stay apart for a decent length. The pleasant surprise was it had a decent brookie population. With no insects around I decided to swing a small woolly bugger and a wet fly. I had 10-12 strikes and landed 2. Both of the ones I landed were nice. I assume all were wild. In the last 30 minutes of daylight it began to rain. Intensity grew every 5 minutes with the peak occurring when I got to the truck. It slowed but continued into the night.
After fishing as I headed back to camp, a doe and a newborn fawn were in the middle of the road. The doe continued across but I think my headlights blinded the fawn and it set off walking directly away from me right down the middle of the road. It had to be born that day. It was getting poured on and was soaked to the core. Rough first night. Eventually it made it under the guardrail and traffic could flow again.
==========
SATURDAY
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-16-20
Time Fished: 645am - 11am
Weather Conditions: 44 degrees rising to 58, Foggy Morning turning to sunny
Water Conditions: 52 degrees and rising, Murky to start but continual clearing, flow was up due to rain last night. 270cfs
Insects: not much but by 10am some Caddis and BWO began to hatch in small numbers. The trout also began to rise a little.
I went to a familiar place thinking that I would spend an hour before breakfast but the action was tremendous so I stayed a lot longer.
Early mornings I tend to fish a streamer and that fit right in with the murky conditions. I found a fly given to me by a deceased member of our crew. I fish one of his flies every trip to Kettle. He would be happy to know his fly caught 14 browns, 1 rainbow and a brook. I also took a rainbow on a woolly Bugger in a heavy riffle and 2 browns on a Caddis dry to end the morning. While I fished the streamer, I counted strikes vs landed until I got to 30 strikes and the ratio was 6:1 so I estimate I had 96 strikes to catch 16 on streamers. It was a great morning.
==========
Kettle Creek, Potter Co, 5-16-20
Time Fished: 245pm - 7pm
Weather Conditions: 68 degrees, Sunny
Water Conditions: 60 degrees and Clear; 240cfs
Insects: Saw a half dozen March Browns, some Caddis
In the evening I chose to fish a stretch I had not been on the top quarter for 35 years and I’ve never fished the lower three-quarters. This is another area where Kettle has multiple channels.
I worked downstream for maybe a mile and walked the road back to the truck. This stretch had a mix of stocked vs wild. I ended up with 10 rainbow and 6 brook. The upper section was mostly wild fish. I had 6 brook and 1 rainbow in the upper section and as streamside trails got more heavily worn I caught the final 9 rainbows.
I was running a March Brown Nymph with a Leadwing Coachman Wet (w/gold tag) as a dropper about 15 inches above the nymph. Interestingly half took the nymph and half took the wet regardless of type of trout.
I also found out later that despite catching 16, I actually had unknowingly followed 2 other guys down creek. As they walked the creek back upstream they expressed catching a lot of fish too. They remarked about “definitely will do that again”...those were my thoughts too.
I talked to another angler who had been on Upper Kettle earlier in the day and saw what he described as a huge amount of Caddis. It was his first time on Kettle so take that into consideration, but he seemed to know what Caddis are. I definitely saw very few all weekend so if you are going to the headwaters you might see more bugs.
On the way back to camp I saw where a mama bear had sent a cub up a tree. I heard from others who had passed by earlier, there were 2 cubs but I saw only one cub and barely saw the mama in the brush.
==========
SUNDAY
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-17-20
Time Fished: 615am - 745am
Weather Conditions: 40 degrees, Cloudy
Water Conditions: 52 degrees and Clear, 235 cfs
Insects: observed none although there were sporadic rises so something was there
Fished same location as previous morning and got 6 browns on a different streamer and got another brown on a March Brown nymph. Caught several browns that resembled the tiger trout color pattern but they were definitely browns. I’ve heard a lot comments about tigers up here. Some people may be regarding these oddball browns as tiger. Although there definitely are legit tigers based on the picture I have from last June at Kettle.
==========
Kettle Creek, Clinton Co, 5-17-20
Below Dam
Time Fished: 1030am - 1205pm
Weather Conditions: 58 degrees, Cloudy, light drizzle.
Water Conditions: 58 degrees and Clear, 370 cfs
Insects: Caddis, Paraleptophlebia
I fished below the dam on the way home and caught 2 rainbows on an olive Woolly Bugger and a brown on the Leadwing Coachman with a gold tag. There were more caddis here than up above and there also were small Mayflies that looked like Para’s but I haven’t photographed them yet to confirm. I’ll attach the pictures later.
Also I bring up the location here just to point out the 6 degree difference in temperature between what I took upstream vs below the dam. If you have unfavorable conditions at either location, might be worth checking the other. There were a lot of people fishing the dam tailrace....8 vehicles plus people that walked from camps.
General Comments to close....
= On Saturday I drove through Cross Fork just to see what was going on. People were going into Kinneys Store and Debs Place was open to takeout.
= There were 33 cars parked in cross Fork between Kinneys and Debs parking areas
= I saw no one wearing a mask all weekend near Cross Fork.
= Everyone going in the store at Weedville on Friday had a mask on but that is a different county
= seems to be lots of fish in the streams
= there appears to be odd places where fish might be. Saw a ton of people (7cars) where Cross fork creek empties in Kettle Creek. We didn’t fish there but it looked like they may have a bunch of trout there. People fishing elbow to elbow
= saw 19 elk between Benezette and Sinnemahoning in 4 different groups. Saw only 1 deer in same stretch.
= on way home on Sunday afternoon the First Fork was clear and normal level while the Driftwood Branch appeared to be muddy and high
= I tried 3 new locations on this trip and enjoyed all of them. Don't be afraid to explore new water.
