Prospector
Well-known member
8 DAY SUMMARY
Leading up to our trip we knew Kettle was going to be very low and that generally translates to poor fishing. By noon on Monday it became clear that the wild card was the massive amounts of caterpillars in the water. Windy days had double the number of these sick spinners. The fish around me were crushing them. The issue is the caterpillars are in constant motion on the water making Imitating them very difficult. I tied 4 variations and only one showed any promise. If we could have figured out the magic combination, we easily could have easily doubled our catch.
Besides caterpillars, the midges were the other pleasant surprise. Fish rising to midges are very catchable. It was nice to work towards those Rhythm risers . Overall our best flies were BWO duns (although they were done hatching), sz 18 Paraleptophlebia, and rusty spinners.
Two other positives. The fish seemed to be larger on average and the number of fisherman were way down. The internet is a great thing but it brings people to good situations and it also discourages them in bad situations. The lack of fly fishers opened up a ton of water. That was great for us to have a shot at more areas to fish.
A common theme on Kettle in my 3 trips was how the trout keyed in on emergers. More than any other year.
One of the biggest travesties was how poor the Upper FFO section has fished. It was only a few years ago that 30-40 fish days were doable. In my last 5-6 trips I probably never got more than four on any day.
I probably saw more stoneflies this year than any other year and Caddis seem to be in very low numbers. Kind of offsetting each other.
The small creeks all had the last wave of coffin flies hanging around (they are nice to see). Lastly I don’t remember a June week where bait was so productive. I didn’t see many bait fishers but they caught fish pretty regularly and let them go.
Overall, another good trip.
DETAILED REPORT BY DAY
============
Sunday June 5
Kettle Creek Potter Co
Time Fished: 8pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: 73 clear skies
Water Conditions: 50 cfs, clear, low
Insects: tons. 4 Mayfly spinners, 2 types of Caddis, 3 types of stoneflies
Decided to hit Kettle on the way back from Cedar Run. There are likely more wild fish in this area than stocked fish. I haven’t fished it for 2 years and like always the stream configuration has changed. Kettle needs a couple of slow soaking rains really bad.
The riffles were alive with mating mayflies, Caddis and stoneflies. There were so many flies gyrating they couldn’t help bumping into each other. There were at least 4 types of mayflies, 2 types of stoneflies and some Caddis.
I chose to fish a fast riffle that dumps into a slow pool. There were fishing rising on the far bank in amongst the streamside brush making them hard to target. There was a slow pool and that gave those fish lots of time to evaluate a fly but they became easier to catch the darker it got. There were many 1 year old brookies mixed in with the larger fish.
I ended up landing 1 rainbow and 4 brookies
==============
Monday June 6
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 640am - 725am
Weather Conditions: 40 degrees (not a typo), clear but shade on water
Water Conditions: 48 cfs, clear, very low
Insects: no visible insects, but some rises presumably to last nights dead spinners.
Made a streamer pass before breakfast. I usually have a very long stretch to work through but several places were too shallow to hold fish. Had 2 strikes but no hookups. This part of my morning routine needs to be put on hold until there is more water (probably until next year).
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 1015am - 145pm
Weather Conditions: clear Sunny
Water Conditions: 48 cfs Clear very low
Insects: ISO cases on shoreside rocks, occasional Caddis, midges, caterpillars
Went to a stretch that has been significantly impacted by snowmelt / rain event. With this being my third trip to Kettle I noticed it was not being fished about half the time while in past years it was rarely available. I didn’t know why until I saw how it changed. There were still fish but drifts were difficult and places to stand were limited.
When I arrived fish were rising and that continued the whole time I was there. Almost all rising fish were in the shade. The wind kicked up as the noon hour approached, lots of leaves were on the water and caterpillars were everywhere and were being annihilated. I had some caterpillars in my box and every trout gave my imitations intense scrutiny (presumably waiting for it to wiggle). The live version is in constant motion. I had to fish directly downstream and the drift was rarely perfect. I had a lot of refusals when my fly would vary from the normal course. If I could have been casting cross current I think I would have had a better drift and would have done quite well.
I ended up with 4 brown, a brook and a 17 1/2” fallfish that fought like a nice brown.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 430pm - 700pm
Weather Conditions: 75 sunny
Water Conditions: low clear
Insects: midges, para,
During my break, I spent some time tying 3 caterpillar variations so I decided to test them behind camp. A couple didn’t work at all and only one was moderately effective. As I worked from top to bottom I was alone. Then slowly guys were trickling in for the spinnerfall until there were 8 of us in the hole. I became boxed in with a guy above and below me 25 yds away so I called it quits and drove to find a less crowded spot. I managed to land only 4 browns but I got some nice ones.
Cross Fork Creek Catch and Release
Time Fished: 730pm - 845pm
Weather Conditions: 75 sunny
Water Conditions: 60 degrees low Clear
Insects:
Again the snowmelt / rain event (whatever happened) showed up on Cross Fork creek too. The predictable holes that had been enjoyed annually have been altered causing a rethink of approaches and how best to attack them. I did not do well as daylight was dwindling and I was caught off guard by the changes.
The lack of fish could be the result of someone else fishing through before me or low water made the fish more wary and caused them to hide, or maybe the rain event took many downstream.
As I released my second brookie I noticed a large trout barely alive tumbling through the hole top to bottom in a free fall. I walked out to see what happened and it appeared to have been caught by a bird of prey (heron or merganser) since it had markings that might have come from a bill. I wondered if this 13-14” rainbow was too big for the bird to swallow so it was released. The trout was near death but it would wiggle pretty hard every 20 seconds like it was trying to swim. It must have been both squeezed and lost some blood.
There were lots of insects in the most intense riffles. Swarms of yellow sallies and spinners (both large and small) appeared to be clashing to control this turf. I had to just stand and watch for awhile. This riffle is too shallow to hold fish but it sure is the epicenter of egg laying and courting activities. The hole above this riffle would be my last stop. I missed a few small fish but the nice brown that usually controls this hole did not show himself.
I caught 4 brook and a rainbow on attractor dries.
==============
Tuesday June 7
Kettle Creek FFO
Time Fished: 10am - Noon
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, light rain
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, low, clear, 46 cfs
Insects: large dark Caddis were around a little.
The stream needs a steady rain for a couple days straight. Today is a start but the rain was light. 4 cars at the bridge and 3 cars on the upper end. There appears to be very few fish on the upper end. I worked the pools and riffles and brought up very few fish. It’s a repeat of last year at the FFO section and my 2 earlier trips this spring. A real disappointment for at least 4-5 straights trips.
The fish I saw were near cover usually with some type of leafy overhead protection. I caught one, a rainbow, after it checked out my fly and 2 subsequent fly changes. When I quit and drove back to camp there were only a few people still fishing due to the light rain.
I left this stretch to check out the dam area where I have run into a great ISO Hatch on a rainy day at 2pm. As I approached the creek to watch for rises a hen wood duck pulled the old “broken wing trick” to lure me away from her ducklings. Little did she know I was walking that direction regardless of her antics. It amazes me that a wood duck can fake a broken wing when the bird has no comprehension what a broken bone even is. I waited a 1/2 hour. No rises, no insects.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 3-5
Weather Conditions: light rain 60
Water Conditions: clear low
Insects: para, small BWO, midges, Caddis
Since it was raining it may have been wise to swing 3 wets but I didn’t want to change my leader to 2 droppers. Nothing was hatching but some fish were midging. I chose to keep my dry fly leader on and throw beetles and caterpillars under overhanging limbs. Only a few trout were interested, landed one. A key component of terrestrial fishing is the “plop” of the bug hitting the water. This attracts a trout attention especially the ones that live under tree limbs. However with the “soaking all day rain” there were water droplets hitting the stream everywhere. I think that impacted my takes.
Eventually I switched to a 2 wet fly combo and caught 3.
I caught 2 brook, 1 brown, 1 rainbow and I used Beetle, caterpillars , BWO , iso nymph, dark wet gold tag, large woolly bugger
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 7pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 60 degrees, with occasional sprinkles
Water Conditions: 58 cfs, low and clear
Insects: saw ISO and brown drakes but smaller bugs were present
I’ve only fished this location a few times but there is always someone parked here. When I got on the creek the trout were rising in the fast water. I thought the fast current would improve my odds but the trout were very capable of recognizing my imitation. They were both aggressive and careful at the same time. Lots of aggressive strikes. I just methodically worked the heavy riffle up and back with different flies, picking up a fish here and there throughout the evening.
I caught 6 rainbow, 4 browns, 1 brook
==============
Wednesday June 8
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 9am - 330pm
Weather Conditions: 56 sunny rising to 70 degrees
Water Conditions: 64 degrees, low, clear, 55 cfs
Insects: iso, brown Drake, Caddis, midges
Fished wets for about a mile of stream (skipping past shallow areas). Very few strikes. I caught just 3 trout in that mile. As I walked back upstream I changed to a dry fly setup and blind casted to locations that likely held trout. I caught 11 on dries on the way back upstream. Trout seemed to have vacated the slow holes and moved up into the riffles. Best fly was a Para or a BWO.
Caught 7 browns, 6 rainbows, 1 brook
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 7pm - 910pm
Weather Conditions: 77 degrees, clear
Water Conditions:
Insects: iso spinners, midges, caterpillars
Went to a nice little hole that accommodates two people at most so it hasn’t had that many people fishing there this year. When I arrived about a dozen trout were midging. I used the #18 Paraleptophlebia since they were around and it was easier to see. I caught 8 on that fly and switched to a rusty spinner after dark and land one more. The fish really got to working at dark but I couldn’t see my fly. Got 5 browns, 3 rainbows, and 1 brook
==============
Thursday June 9
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished:1015am - 100pm
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, cloudy, occasional light drizzle
Water Conditions: 54 degrees, cloudy
Insects: a few mayflies hatching of different types, not many
I had heard rain on our cabin’s metal roof during the night. but I thought Kettle was so low that any rain would have very little impact. In the morning I never even checked the creek until 10am and found it to be quite cloudy (perfect streamer water). I had been waiting all week for these conditions. I got out my 6 wgt rod and made 3 streamer passes which yielded 5 fish on about 30 strikes. I was curious if nymphing would have been a better choice. I’m not a good nympher but I’m capable. I worked a short run and never had a strike after trying 2 nymphs. I put a streamer back on and missed a few more before calling it quits
I got 4 browns and a rainbow.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 515pm - 900pm
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, mixed
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, off color, 90 cfs
Insects: midges galore, BWO, white mayflies, lime sallies, other spinners.
I wanted to fish longer during the spinnerfall but I knew of an overlooked pool in an odd part of the creek where I could catch a half dozen fairly quickly and still have time to find a productive riffle. So I made a 1 hour stop and caught 7 in the overlooked location then headed to a good spinner fall area. I got back to a popular pool at 615pm and my buddy was the only one there. He was sitting and watching for more rises (he had already caught 2 on caterpillars). So I headed upstream and ran into sporadic rises. I had tied 3 types of flies after breakfast. A sz 18 paraleptaphebia, sz 16 BWO and a sz 14 rusty spinner with an upright white wing that worked well in the waning light. I caught 15 on those 3 flies (8 browns, 7 rainbow). I think the higher water levels improved the fishing dramatically.
==============
Friday June 10
Kettle Creek
Time Fished: 730am - 815am
Weather Conditions: 50 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: clear, a lot lower than yesterday
Insects: a few mayflies around
I made a streamer pass before breakfast. Used a white zonker and had about 10 strikes and caught a small wild brown. Broke two trout off on back to back strikes despite the heavy line I keep on my streamer rod. Must have been frayed or leader was too old. Saw very few rises.
Later as I travelled to the Fly Shop, a bear crossed the road near Hammersley Fork
Time Fished: 725pm to 915pm
Weather Conditions: 63, Sunny but valley was in shade
Water Conditions: low, clear
Insects: Big dark caddis, ISO spinners, lime sallies hatching, smaller spinners, BWO hatching
When I arrived at the stream I thought I was late but I stood for a long time waiting for a rise. I finally started blind casting just to get in the game and caught a brown before ever seeing a rise. Within 10 minutes fish started to work. The sledding was tough. I usually do very well in this location but tonight I was working for every single fish. I caught 7 trout on these 6 flies: #18 paraleptaphebia, #16 BWO (style 1), #16 BWO (style 2), rusty spinner, dark Caddis, rusty spinner (upright). 4 Rainbow. 3 Brown
As light was waning I noticed a few animals traveling together along the far bank. As I struggled to identify the profile, the last one in line stood up to check me out more closely. It was clearly the profile of a raccoon. He must have watched me make 6-7 false casts and he didn’t seem impressed as he walked away.
=============
Saturday June 11
Kettle Creek Open water
Time Fished: 900am - 1030am
Weather Conditions: overcast
Water Conditions: 62cfs clear
Insects: very few
There were some rises in the area I fished. A family of bait fishers were targeting the area that coincidently had the most rises. That was probably was a good thing because it forced me into the riffle. I worked a BWO upstream very carefully and had some fish investigate but I didn’t hook any. I was working on a theory about using a Royal Wulff to imitate the ISO spinners that were around and likely in the riffle last night. So I tried one on the way back downstream and many trout were interested. I only caught a rainbow and a brook but I easily had double the amount of fish move towards the fly.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: Noon - 400pm
Weather Conditions: 65, Cloudy rainy
Water Conditions: Clear and low
Insects: small stuff
There were a series of smaller pools leading to the big pool. In the smaller pools I put fish down when my 5wt fly line hit the water. Those fish did not appear to be fished over too much. But as I got to the large pool they had seen many fishers and went about their business. I did manage to catch 3 rainbows in this pool on a size 18, but I tried everything (BWO, spinnners, caterpillars, midges, a dry/dropper combo). They amazingly selective and that would continue in the next hole upstream during the spinner fall.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 515pm - 700pm
Weather Conditions: mixed of sun and clouds.
Water Conditions: no temp taken
Insects: none
I fished a stretch that has changed from year to year. I walked by most of the water without fishing because it was so shallow. I did have a very nice brown on but it got off. I saw another hen turkey streamside and a Bald Eagle heading upstream. I caught none.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 730pm - 920pm
Weather Conditions: 70 degrees, Overcast
Water Conditions: 60 degrees, very clear
Insects: ISO spinners, lime sallies, large black Caddis , Sulphur spinners,
Trout were rising when I arrived although many of the rises were splashy and they seemed to be taking emergers. This same thing happened at other places on the creek on this day and also last night to some other anglers I talked to. I had decided to make quick fly changes so I could more quickly find the hot fly.
Despite my best efforts, I could not find the magic fly. I used 10 different dry flies including these variations; Sparkle Dun, thorax, midges, emergers, spent wing spinners, upright wing spinners. I could not unlock the secret. It was a frustrating night on one of my favorite spinner fall locations on Kettle. There was no shortage of fish but the angler execution needed to be better. I landed 4 rainbows
Leading up to our trip we knew Kettle was going to be very low and that generally translates to poor fishing. By noon on Monday it became clear that the wild card was the massive amounts of caterpillars in the water. Windy days had double the number of these sick spinners. The fish around me were crushing them. The issue is the caterpillars are in constant motion on the water making Imitating them very difficult. I tied 4 variations and only one showed any promise. If we could have figured out the magic combination, we easily could have easily doubled our catch.
Besides caterpillars, the midges were the other pleasant surprise. Fish rising to midges are very catchable. It was nice to work towards those Rhythm risers . Overall our best flies were BWO duns (although they were done hatching), sz 18 Paraleptophlebia, and rusty spinners.
Two other positives. The fish seemed to be larger on average and the number of fisherman were way down. The internet is a great thing but it brings people to good situations and it also discourages them in bad situations. The lack of fly fishers opened up a ton of water. That was great for us to have a shot at more areas to fish.
A common theme on Kettle in my 3 trips was how the trout keyed in on emergers. More than any other year.
One of the biggest travesties was how poor the Upper FFO section has fished. It was only a few years ago that 30-40 fish days were doable. In my last 5-6 trips I probably never got more than four on any day.
I probably saw more stoneflies this year than any other year and Caddis seem to be in very low numbers. Kind of offsetting each other.
The small creeks all had the last wave of coffin flies hanging around (they are nice to see). Lastly I don’t remember a June week where bait was so productive. I didn’t see many bait fishers but they caught fish pretty regularly and let them go.
Overall, another good trip.
DETAILED REPORT BY DAY
============
Sunday June 5
Kettle Creek Potter Co
Time Fished: 8pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: 73 clear skies
Water Conditions: 50 cfs, clear, low
Insects: tons. 4 Mayfly spinners, 2 types of Caddis, 3 types of stoneflies
Decided to hit Kettle on the way back from Cedar Run. There are likely more wild fish in this area than stocked fish. I haven’t fished it for 2 years and like always the stream configuration has changed. Kettle needs a couple of slow soaking rains really bad.
The riffles were alive with mating mayflies, Caddis and stoneflies. There were so many flies gyrating they couldn’t help bumping into each other. There were at least 4 types of mayflies, 2 types of stoneflies and some Caddis.
I chose to fish a fast riffle that dumps into a slow pool. There were fishing rising on the far bank in amongst the streamside brush making them hard to target. There was a slow pool and that gave those fish lots of time to evaluate a fly but they became easier to catch the darker it got. There were many 1 year old brookies mixed in with the larger fish.
I ended up landing 1 rainbow and 4 brookies
==============
Monday June 6
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 640am - 725am
Weather Conditions: 40 degrees (not a typo), clear but shade on water
Water Conditions: 48 cfs, clear, very low
Insects: no visible insects, but some rises presumably to last nights dead spinners.
Made a streamer pass before breakfast. I usually have a very long stretch to work through but several places were too shallow to hold fish. Had 2 strikes but no hookups. This part of my morning routine needs to be put on hold until there is more water (probably until next year).
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 1015am - 145pm
Weather Conditions: clear Sunny
Water Conditions: 48 cfs Clear very low
Insects: ISO cases on shoreside rocks, occasional Caddis, midges, caterpillars
Went to a stretch that has been significantly impacted by snowmelt / rain event. With this being my third trip to Kettle I noticed it was not being fished about half the time while in past years it was rarely available. I didn’t know why until I saw how it changed. There were still fish but drifts were difficult and places to stand were limited.
When I arrived fish were rising and that continued the whole time I was there. Almost all rising fish were in the shade. The wind kicked up as the noon hour approached, lots of leaves were on the water and caterpillars were everywhere and were being annihilated. I had some caterpillars in my box and every trout gave my imitations intense scrutiny (presumably waiting for it to wiggle). The live version is in constant motion. I had to fish directly downstream and the drift was rarely perfect. I had a lot of refusals when my fly would vary from the normal course. If I could have been casting cross current I think I would have had a better drift and would have done quite well.
I ended up with 4 brown, a brook and a 17 1/2” fallfish that fought like a nice brown.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 430pm - 700pm
Weather Conditions: 75 sunny
Water Conditions: low clear
Insects: midges, para,
During my break, I spent some time tying 3 caterpillar variations so I decided to test them behind camp. A couple didn’t work at all and only one was moderately effective. As I worked from top to bottom I was alone. Then slowly guys were trickling in for the spinnerfall until there were 8 of us in the hole. I became boxed in with a guy above and below me 25 yds away so I called it quits and drove to find a less crowded spot. I managed to land only 4 browns but I got some nice ones.
Cross Fork Creek Catch and Release
Time Fished: 730pm - 845pm
Weather Conditions: 75 sunny
Water Conditions: 60 degrees low Clear
Insects:
Again the snowmelt / rain event (whatever happened) showed up on Cross Fork creek too. The predictable holes that had been enjoyed annually have been altered causing a rethink of approaches and how best to attack them. I did not do well as daylight was dwindling and I was caught off guard by the changes.
The lack of fish could be the result of someone else fishing through before me or low water made the fish more wary and caused them to hide, or maybe the rain event took many downstream.
As I released my second brookie I noticed a large trout barely alive tumbling through the hole top to bottom in a free fall. I walked out to see what happened and it appeared to have been caught by a bird of prey (heron or merganser) since it had markings that might have come from a bill. I wondered if this 13-14” rainbow was too big for the bird to swallow so it was released. The trout was near death but it would wiggle pretty hard every 20 seconds like it was trying to swim. It must have been both squeezed and lost some blood.
There were lots of insects in the most intense riffles. Swarms of yellow sallies and spinners (both large and small) appeared to be clashing to control this turf. I had to just stand and watch for awhile. This riffle is too shallow to hold fish but it sure is the epicenter of egg laying and courting activities. The hole above this riffle would be my last stop. I missed a few small fish but the nice brown that usually controls this hole did not show himself.
I caught 4 brook and a rainbow on attractor dries.
==============
Tuesday June 7
Kettle Creek FFO
Time Fished: 10am - Noon
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, light rain
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, low, clear, 46 cfs
Insects: large dark Caddis were around a little.
The stream needs a steady rain for a couple days straight. Today is a start but the rain was light. 4 cars at the bridge and 3 cars on the upper end. There appears to be very few fish on the upper end. I worked the pools and riffles and brought up very few fish. It’s a repeat of last year at the FFO section and my 2 earlier trips this spring. A real disappointment for at least 4-5 straights trips.
The fish I saw were near cover usually with some type of leafy overhead protection. I caught one, a rainbow, after it checked out my fly and 2 subsequent fly changes. When I quit and drove back to camp there were only a few people still fishing due to the light rain.
I left this stretch to check out the dam area where I have run into a great ISO Hatch on a rainy day at 2pm. As I approached the creek to watch for rises a hen wood duck pulled the old “broken wing trick” to lure me away from her ducklings. Little did she know I was walking that direction regardless of her antics. It amazes me that a wood duck can fake a broken wing when the bird has no comprehension what a broken bone even is. I waited a 1/2 hour. No rises, no insects.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 3-5
Weather Conditions: light rain 60
Water Conditions: clear low
Insects: para, small BWO, midges, Caddis
Since it was raining it may have been wise to swing 3 wets but I didn’t want to change my leader to 2 droppers. Nothing was hatching but some fish were midging. I chose to keep my dry fly leader on and throw beetles and caterpillars under overhanging limbs. Only a few trout were interested, landed one. A key component of terrestrial fishing is the “plop” of the bug hitting the water. This attracts a trout attention especially the ones that live under tree limbs. However with the “soaking all day rain” there were water droplets hitting the stream everywhere. I think that impacted my takes.
Eventually I switched to a 2 wet fly combo and caught 3.
I caught 2 brook, 1 brown, 1 rainbow and I used Beetle, caterpillars , BWO , iso nymph, dark wet gold tag, large woolly bugger
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 7pm - 9pm
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy 60 degrees, with occasional sprinkles
Water Conditions: 58 cfs, low and clear
Insects: saw ISO and brown drakes but smaller bugs were present
I’ve only fished this location a few times but there is always someone parked here. When I got on the creek the trout were rising in the fast water. I thought the fast current would improve my odds but the trout were very capable of recognizing my imitation. They were both aggressive and careful at the same time. Lots of aggressive strikes. I just methodically worked the heavy riffle up and back with different flies, picking up a fish here and there throughout the evening.
I caught 6 rainbow, 4 browns, 1 brook
==============
Wednesday June 8
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 9am - 330pm
Weather Conditions: 56 sunny rising to 70 degrees
Water Conditions: 64 degrees, low, clear, 55 cfs
Insects: iso, brown Drake, Caddis, midges
Fished wets for about a mile of stream (skipping past shallow areas). Very few strikes. I caught just 3 trout in that mile. As I walked back upstream I changed to a dry fly setup and blind casted to locations that likely held trout. I caught 11 on dries on the way back upstream. Trout seemed to have vacated the slow holes and moved up into the riffles. Best fly was a Para or a BWO.
Caught 7 browns, 6 rainbows, 1 brook
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 7pm - 910pm
Weather Conditions: 77 degrees, clear
Water Conditions:
Insects: iso spinners, midges, caterpillars
Went to a nice little hole that accommodates two people at most so it hasn’t had that many people fishing there this year. When I arrived about a dozen trout were midging. I used the #18 Paraleptophlebia since they were around and it was easier to see. I caught 8 on that fly and switched to a rusty spinner after dark and land one more. The fish really got to working at dark but I couldn’t see my fly. Got 5 browns, 3 rainbows, and 1 brook
==============
Thursday June 9
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished:1015am - 100pm
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, cloudy, occasional light drizzle
Water Conditions: 54 degrees, cloudy
Insects: a few mayflies hatching of different types, not many
I had heard rain on our cabin’s metal roof during the night. but I thought Kettle was so low that any rain would have very little impact. In the morning I never even checked the creek until 10am and found it to be quite cloudy (perfect streamer water). I had been waiting all week for these conditions. I got out my 6 wgt rod and made 3 streamer passes which yielded 5 fish on about 30 strikes. I was curious if nymphing would have been a better choice. I’m not a good nympher but I’m capable. I worked a short run and never had a strike after trying 2 nymphs. I put a streamer back on and missed a few more before calling it quits
I got 4 browns and a rainbow.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 515pm - 900pm
Weather Conditions: 60 degrees, mixed
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, off color, 90 cfs
Insects: midges galore, BWO, white mayflies, lime sallies, other spinners.
I wanted to fish longer during the spinnerfall but I knew of an overlooked pool in an odd part of the creek where I could catch a half dozen fairly quickly and still have time to find a productive riffle. So I made a 1 hour stop and caught 7 in the overlooked location then headed to a good spinner fall area. I got back to a popular pool at 615pm and my buddy was the only one there. He was sitting and watching for more rises (he had already caught 2 on caterpillars). So I headed upstream and ran into sporadic rises. I had tied 3 types of flies after breakfast. A sz 18 paraleptaphebia, sz 16 BWO and a sz 14 rusty spinner with an upright white wing that worked well in the waning light. I caught 15 on those 3 flies (8 browns, 7 rainbow). I think the higher water levels improved the fishing dramatically.
==============
Friday June 10
Kettle Creek
Time Fished: 730am - 815am
Weather Conditions: 50 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: clear, a lot lower than yesterday
Insects: a few mayflies around
I made a streamer pass before breakfast. Used a white zonker and had about 10 strikes and caught a small wild brown. Broke two trout off on back to back strikes despite the heavy line I keep on my streamer rod. Must have been frayed or leader was too old. Saw very few rises.
Later as I travelled to the Fly Shop, a bear crossed the road near Hammersley Fork
Time Fished: 725pm to 915pm
Weather Conditions: 63, Sunny but valley was in shade
Water Conditions: low, clear
Insects: Big dark caddis, ISO spinners, lime sallies hatching, smaller spinners, BWO hatching
When I arrived at the stream I thought I was late but I stood for a long time waiting for a rise. I finally started blind casting just to get in the game and caught a brown before ever seeing a rise. Within 10 minutes fish started to work. The sledding was tough. I usually do very well in this location but tonight I was working for every single fish. I caught 7 trout on these 6 flies: #18 paraleptaphebia, #16 BWO (style 1), #16 BWO (style 2), rusty spinner, dark Caddis, rusty spinner (upright). 4 Rainbow. 3 Brown
As light was waning I noticed a few animals traveling together along the far bank. As I struggled to identify the profile, the last one in line stood up to check me out more closely. It was clearly the profile of a raccoon. He must have watched me make 6-7 false casts and he didn’t seem impressed as he walked away.
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Saturday June 11
Kettle Creek Open water
Time Fished: 900am - 1030am
Weather Conditions: overcast
Water Conditions: 62cfs clear
Insects: very few
There were some rises in the area I fished. A family of bait fishers were targeting the area that coincidently had the most rises. That was probably was a good thing because it forced me into the riffle. I worked a BWO upstream very carefully and had some fish investigate but I didn’t hook any. I was working on a theory about using a Royal Wulff to imitate the ISO spinners that were around and likely in the riffle last night. So I tried one on the way back downstream and many trout were interested. I only caught a rainbow and a brook but I easily had double the amount of fish move towards the fly.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: Noon - 400pm
Weather Conditions: 65, Cloudy rainy
Water Conditions: Clear and low
Insects: small stuff
There were a series of smaller pools leading to the big pool. In the smaller pools I put fish down when my 5wt fly line hit the water. Those fish did not appear to be fished over too much. But as I got to the large pool they had seen many fishers and went about their business. I did manage to catch 3 rainbows in this pool on a size 18, but I tried everything (BWO, spinnners, caterpillars, midges, a dry/dropper combo). They amazingly selective and that would continue in the next hole upstream during the spinner fall.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 515pm - 700pm
Weather Conditions: mixed of sun and clouds.
Water Conditions: no temp taken
Insects: none
I fished a stretch that has changed from year to year. I walked by most of the water without fishing because it was so shallow. I did have a very nice brown on but it got off. I saw another hen turkey streamside and a Bald Eagle heading upstream. I caught none.
Kettle Creek Open Water
Time Fished: 730pm - 920pm
Weather Conditions: 70 degrees, Overcast
Water Conditions: 60 degrees, very clear
Insects: ISO spinners, lime sallies, large black Caddis , Sulphur spinners,
Trout were rising when I arrived although many of the rises were splashy and they seemed to be taking emergers. This same thing happened at other places on the creek on this day and also last night to some other anglers I talked to. I had decided to make quick fly changes so I could more quickly find the hot fly.
Despite my best efforts, I could not find the magic fly. I used 10 different dry flies including these variations; Sparkle Dun, thorax, midges, emergers, spent wing spinners, upright wing spinners. I could not unlock the secret. It was a frustrating night on one of my favorite spinner fall locations on Kettle. There was no shortage of fish but the angler execution needed to be better. I landed 4 rainbows
