Laurel Hill DHALO, Somerset, 03Apr2007

[albatross]

I bolted for the stream after work this evening to beat the comming freeze. I was able to fish for about an hour before dark. Hooked and lost 2 on a BH Prince nymph. Landed a nice 15 inch brown on a BH Green Weenie just before dark. A lovely end to the nice weather. Glad I got out...

 

[tomgamber]

You see many stoneflies? I was on the Loyalhanna and they were everywhere...Got no rises on anything resembling a stonefly. Got all 4 of my fish on a 16 adams...the stones were much bigger than that.
Also tried to help a guy get a pic of a Brownie he had hooked that was probably a good 28 inches and over 5lbs...Total hog. He struggled with this fish while I rooted thru his vest pockets for his camera phone. He was overwhelmed and was completely without confidence that his 4wt could handle this fish. I knew otherwise but his excitement got the best of him. He was doing well until he let it get under a log...he got it out but the fish came up and shook his head a couple times and cut him right off. He must have had that fish on for more than 5 minutes. It was cool to see someone that excited. He kept thanking me for helping him and he didn't even land it...funny. I talked to another guy who said he was at laurel hill also and didn't do very well.

 

[albatross]

Tom,

I didn't see any stoneflys. I was hopeful I would see them given the warm temps. I saw about 6 rises in the hour I was fishing, so I think there were a few here and there. Maybe I should have tried a dry?

There was one other guy fishing in sight of me. He did about as well as me landing one. He actually handed his rod to his roughly 10 year old son to land the fish. I thought that was cute...

 

[Bruno]

Albatross:

Upper or lower section ? I fished the lower section yesterday morning. Did not do too well. Meadow in the afternoon made up for it.

 

[JackM]

Meazdow is the shiznit! 😎

 

[albatross]

Bruno,

I was on the upper section on the Boy scout grounds. Since I was rushed for time, I parked right where the road is adjacent to the creek.

I can get to the loyalhanna, indian, and upper laurel hill DHALO sections in 30-40 minutes from my house. Lower laurel hill, meadow, and the yough are more in the 50-70 minute range, so I don't get to those as often.

JackM had me down to Meadow Run Sunday March 25th. It was my first time on Meadow. The water was still high then, but I managed to pick up a brook and a brown both around 14 inches. It seems like a nice stretch of stream.

Bruno,

Which part of the DHALO section on Meadow were you fishing, upper, lower, or middle?

 

[ryanh]

Lower through Middle Medow.
I went w/ him. the water was still high and green (off color water helps there). Some bugs comming off but few risers. I'll let Bruno tell you about his riser.

Caught nearly all fish on the swing. I am now a disciple of the bugger.

 

[JackM]

Matt and Ryan, you should have tried Indiana Dave's Zoo Cougar from the swap when you were at Meadow. I ran out of wooly buggers Saturday and tied on that big yellow monstrocity. I'll tell you, I had trout charging half way across the stream for that thing. I landed about 6 fish on it in 20 minutes or so and left it in the jaw of the seventh. That's when I was forced to rip the foam head off a bluegill popper. Caught a couple with that, too.

 

[tomgamber]

Does it keep you up nights now, Ryan, thinking about all those fishless days before you and the bugger became one.

 

[albatross]

Ryan,

We'll have to get together sometime and you can show me your bugger tricks.

Jack,

I was looking at that zoo couger on your swap page. Reminds me a little of a yellow maribou muddler. Did you happen to try one of those Saturday?

 

[JackM]

I think I lost my muddler last week. The Zoo Cougar is similar to a muddler, but eye to tail, this thing was 3-4 inches in length. I was planning to use it for smallmouth fishing later this year, but when I ran out of wooly buggers, I decide to give it a try. I had brookies out in fast current snapping at the thing when it was trailing at the end of the drift.

 

[tomgamber]

There was an article in one of the flyfishing magazines, last issue... and that Zoo Cougar was one of the flies they were talking about.

Found it..may issue of Fly Fisherman magazine...article called Trigger Flies...about flies that elicit vicious strikes when fish are not feeding. Looks like Jack's anecdotal evidence has been validated. :-D

 

[ryanh]

Albatros,
I had a birds eye view, and it was probably one of those things that sped up the learning curve. Because of the nature of Medow I periodically would crawl ontop of one of those car sized boulders and fish the deep part in the middle. The water was off color and I noticed that on the swing more often than not I would see a fish flash near it. So I started jigging the thing around rocks and logs because I was a couple feet above the water I could really watch it. I never knew fish to be that agressive. They would dart out of their cover and smack it.

Tom,
I try not to think about what my life would have been like if I united with the bugger sooner. I still think however that the green weenie is an inside joke.