bwospinner
New member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2013
- Messages
- 5
this is my first stream report - so please indulge me any reporting faux pas:
time 6PM-7:50+ (dusk)
weather - temp was around 70-71* and clear skies and light wind
Location - Lehigh River - about a 1/2 mile below the turnpike bridge at a spot called The Powderhole by locals. it's a well known spot that is already fished pretty heavy by fly, spin and bait anglers so I don't mind sharing the info.
Water temps: approx 68-69*
Gear - Sage XP 9' 5#, trout hunter flourocarbon tippet 5x
Bugs: tons of small olives and micro-caddis (22-24 or smaller), a few Iso's were seen coming off the water in the riffles and run above the hole (about a size 14, less of a mahogany and more light brownish in color). also there were a number of sulfur spinners dancing above the water (about a size 16) and as dusk approached their # easily tripled or quadrupled.
There were also a number of stonefly shucks on the rocks, tho i didn't see any flying around - nor did I bother nymphing as the action was productive enough on the surface.... though I did manager to bring a stonefly home with me in my truck (he's probably pretty lonely in my back yard now) 🙂
The Fishing:
Arrive around 6PM. kept an eye on the water as I geared up and saw only a few sporadic rolling and sipping rises along a seam on the far side in the powderhole itself. Wanted to start upstream and work my way down to be in the hole around dusk so I threw on a 14 slate drake CDC parachute to fish through the pocket water and riffles upstream. Caught 3 smallmouth (about 5-8 inch range - tho all were typically feisty) and 2 small browns (about 8 inches each). They had some decent color starting but were certainly stocked fish.
Worked my way down to the powderhole itself and threw on a 16 rusty spinner and had a blast fishing to the sipping fish in the seam through the center of the hole and along the seam against the far bank where I saw the rises earlier. Caught 2 more brown and 2 rainbow... again all in the 8-10 inch range. and also failed to hook up on about 3-4 more fish to boot (was chatting with another angler who was sharing the hole).... also caught a few chubs-but they don't count unless I can't fool a salmonid or bass, hehe 🙂
Overall it was worth the trip. again, a heavily fished spot but ridiculously easy access from vehicle to streamside. I was impressed with the # of bugs on the water for this time of year and the # of fish that were still susceptible to falling for a chicken feather (OK, a duck feather - I'm a CDC guy afterall) especially in such a heavily fished location.
Think this fall holds the promise for some excellent fishing on the Lehigh!
time 6PM-7:50+ (dusk)
weather - temp was around 70-71* and clear skies and light wind
Location - Lehigh River - about a 1/2 mile below the turnpike bridge at a spot called The Powderhole by locals. it's a well known spot that is already fished pretty heavy by fly, spin and bait anglers so I don't mind sharing the info.
Water temps: approx 68-69*
Gear - Sage XP 9' 5#, trout hunter flourocarbon tippet 5x
Bugs: tons of small olives and micro-caddis (22-24 or smaller), a few Iso's were seen coming off the water in the riffles and run above the hole (about a size 14, less of a mahogany and more light brownish in color). also there were a number of sulfur spinners dancing above the water (about a size 16) and as dusk approached their # easily tripled or quadrupled.
There were also a number of stonefly shucks on the rocks, tho i didn't see any flying around - nor did I bother nymphing as the action was productive enough on the surface.... though I did manager to bring a stonefly home with me in my truck (he's probably pretty lonely in my back yard now) 🙂
The Fishing:
Arrive around 6PM. kept an eye on the water as I geared up and saw only a few sporadic rolling and sipping rises along a seam on the far side in the powderhole itself. Wanted to start upstream and work my way down to be in the hole around dusk so I threw on a 14 slate drake CDC parachute to fish through the pocket water and riffles upstream. Caught 3 smallmouth (about 5-8 inch range - tho all were typically feisty) and 2 small browns (about 8 inches each). They had some decent color starting but were certainly stocked fish.
Worked my way down to the powderhole itself and threw on a 16 rusty spinner and had a blast fishing to the sipping fish in the seam through the center of the hole and along the seam against the far bank where I saw the rises earlier. Caught 2 more brown and 2 rainbow... again all in the 8-10 inch range. and also failed to hook up on about 3-4 more fish to boot (was chatting with another angler who was sharing the hole).... also caught a few chubs-but they don't count unless I can't fool a salmonid or bass, hehe 🙂
Overall it was worth the trip. again, a heavily fished spot but ridiculously easy access from vehicle to streamside. I was impressed with the # of bugs on the water for this time of year and the # of fish that were still susceptible to falling for a chicken feather (OK, a duck feather - I'm a CDC guy afterall) especially in such a heavily fished location.
Think this fall holds the promise for some excellent fishing on the Lehigh!
