Since we had such excellent trout fishing over the "warm-water jam," and since mother nature keeps on throwing storms our way, the trout fishing remains the best choice as far as I'm concerned. For late summer, our streams have amazing flows, and the waters are cold. Yesterday, I had to travel in a certain direction, so after my morning business had concluded, I went to a somewhat nearby stream.
This stream is an interesting one. I, for the most part, adore it. That doesn't mean it has always treated me well, however. I love the environment of it. I love how secluded the rhodo makes you feel. I love how the rhodo also basically traps you in the stream, and once you're in there, your points of ingress and egress are fairly limited. It's not like on other streams where you are trapped in by a steep canyon that is difficult to climb or surmount; on this one, you have a dense, impenetrable wall of rhodo, one so thick that to climb through it is torturously impossible without a fly rod, and with one, well yeah, you just can't. This stream is pretty much always icy. There is one particular member here amongst us who has seen many, many miles of PA streams, and he has told me before that he always enjoyed this area and the stream; that, in some ways, it holds a fond place in his heart. Other members of PAFF have told me that they think this stream isn't worth fishing - that it's a dud, a loser! I'll admit - this stream section I was on is a Class D by PFBC survey standards. I think they've got it wrong, or the stream has improved tremendously since the last time they've shocked it.
The trout yesterday were picky. I have a certain love of the pink San Juan worm. It's a go-to fly for me on mountain creeks, and especially when I am targeting brookies. It was the only fly I could get fish to eat - the only one - and boy, did they eat it! What a great day it was catching fish on bobbers, ahem, indicators with a worm and a split shot. High tech, fancy, and technical fishing it was not, but damn, it was fun!
This stream is an interesting one. I, for the most part, adore it. That doesn't mean it has always treated me well, however. I love the environment of it. I love how secluded the rhodo makes you feel. I love how the rhodo also basically traps you in the stream, and once you're in there, your points of ingress and egress are fairly limited. It's not like on other streams where you are trapped in by a steep canyon that is difficult to climb or surmount; on this one, you have a dense, impenetrable wall of rhodo, one so thick that to climb through it is torturously impossible without a fly rod, and with one, well yeah, you just can't. This stream is pretty much always icy. There is one particular member here amongst us who has seen many, many miles of PA streams, and he has told me before that he always enjoyed this area and the stream; that, in some ways, it holds a fond place in his heart. Other members of PAFF have told me that they think this stream isn't worth fishing - that it's a dud, a loser! I'll admit - this stream section I was on is a Class D by PFBC survey standards. I think they've got it wrong, or the stream has improved tremendously since the last time they've shocked it.
The trout yesterday were picky. I have a certain love of the pink San Juan worm. It's a go-to fly for me on mountain creeks, and especially when I am targeting brookies. It was the only fly I could get fish to eat - the only one - and boy, did they eat it! What a great day it was catching fish on bobbers, ahem, indicators with a worm and a split shot. High tech, fancy, and technical fishing it was not, but damn, it was fun!
