Letort Spring Run 11/3/07

salvelinusfontinalis

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Sep 9, 2006
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i never fished as far up as bonnybrook before and decided to start there today. the water in the upper letort is absolutely beautiful. good clean gravel and of course all the right aquatic weeds. i managed to spook a lot of fish through the upper section and landed on small wild brown.
i slowly worked my way downstream to 81 and below. i was playing cat and mouse with a larger brown maybe in the 16-18 inch range. the trout in this stream are so fussy and spooky. he would dance around my olive scud pattern but wouldnt take it. till old sal got stuck in the mud next to the stream. LOL! the more i struggled the deeper i went. it was like quick sand i eventually did get out of the mud and when i looked up that brown was long gone :-D
i also did see two browns paired up doing thier dance in a nice hole. they had a spawning bed made and looked like they were going to do the deed. the one was a 20+ inch brown who was chasing all the smaller browns out of the hole. im sure if i tied on a large streamer i would of caught that fish but it didnt seem right. so i just watched in amazement of that stunning large brown and his smaller counterpart. (which was still about 16 inches).
finally in the meadow section i had a really nice brown hooked. everytime the wind would blow and knock some leaves and debris in the water that fish would come up and inspect all the pieces. i tied on a rubber legged yellow stimulator and waited. the next time the wind bloew and knocked stuff in the water i made a cast and WHAMMY! but after a long release the fish was off. he was probably 15-16 inches.
all in all i managed to land 2 small browns and had moments with bigger fish. i always look at this stream as a right of passage into the gateway of flyfishing. all its history and all that took place on this stream for the betterment of our sport still amazes me. the look of the stream always takes my breath away and the skill level required to fish this great limestone spring creek is unparalleled. Letort Spring Run is a wonder, it truly is. i never feel like im expecting to catch a fish or even see one when iam there. in fact most times i see the fish is because its tearing a$$ away from me :-D in fact i expect not to catch any fish and not to see any (cause they are so elusive) but i always feel like fishing this stream is a test and a privledge. thank you for the great citizens of carlise that have stuck up for this stream when it needed it. ill post up some pics later.
so according to vince then...i had a good day on the letort and it feels it too :-D :-D 😛
 
Sal-
PM me if you want to unlock the secrets of the LeTort. I live ten minutes from the stream and have fished all of it. The best water is NOT in the heritage area, but like you, once in a while I feel the need to be humbled. The Bonnybrook area is tough indeed... Don't forget to bring your binoculars and camo next time you go there.

There are of course, less pressured areas that hold more fish. In one particular area, I have witnessed some very large rainbows- even hooking and landing one, as well as several smaller juveniles. I later found out that there were Trout Derbies held on the stream and this is where they originated from. Whether this practice still goes on, I do not know, but I can tell you that some of them have taken quite nicely to their new environment. Hit me up if you want to know more and please keep the pictures coming! :-D
 
Sal, I'm proud of you for resisting the temptation to disturb that spawning fish. They do deserve the chance for some undisturbed whoopie to make more browns. I always enjoy your reports. Interesting to hear about the big bows. I'm finding little wild bows in some of the most unlikely places these days. It seems some strain of the PFBC's stocked fish are taking to our waters. I don't know if they are spawning in the Letort, but they are other places for sure.
 
It seems some strain of the PFBC's stocked fish are taking to our waters. I don't know if they are spawning in the Letort...

Martin,
I assure you that there is some natural reproduction of rainbows in the LeTort. I caught several this summer < 8" in the quarry area and one at the southern end of the heritage area just up from LeTort park that wasn't more than 5". In '06, I spotted several rainbows over 18" in one particular area and after several weeks of observation and attempt, I caught one that was just scant of 20". Given this information, I doubt that the LeTort will turn into another Falling Springs anytime soon. Still, it is nice once in a while to be surprised... :lol:
 
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