Little J, Huntington Co, 4/4/2026

Cougarbaby

Cougarbaby

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Apr 29, 2024
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SW Pa
Little J today Saturday April 11th She was tough today everyone we talked to caught fish including us ,bugs were out in good numbers especially when the sun came out,saw a few rises not many not everywhere, funny that I couldn't get a bite till I used a small olive colored wooley bugger ,she was fickle IMO,no pics didn't want to drop a brand new phone in the water,
 
Cougarbaby said:
Little J today Saturday April 11th She was tough today everyone we talked to caught fish including us ,bugs were out in good numbers especially when the sun came out,saw a few rises not many not everywhere, funny that I couldn't get a bite till I used a small olive colored wooley bugger ,she was fickle IMO,no pics didn't want to drop a brand new phone in the water,
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that's because they really did not not emerge (strange). What I saw at the clean up on the middle river was "yesterday's caddis"- from the trees. I left at noon but I guy I know fished until 2. No emergence. combined with bright skies, few fish were targeting the bugs near the water's surface. I'm heading out now. Will report on today
 
I agree. I was there yesterday. Grannoms in the air, but no risers. I wanted to fish dries because I fish nymphs all of the time. Saw 2 risers, hooked both and broke both off. Not because they were huge my tippet broke in between the knots. I got rid of that leader and tied on another. Never got a chance to use it. My leader breaking twice in a row had me perplexed. I've broken off fish before but not 2 straight. I've tied bad knots before but these breaks, like I said, were between knots. At least I was fishing. Sorry for the long, boring story about a leader.
 
Same thing happened Friday in the gorge area. Saw tons of bugs walking up the trail to the second trestle and while I was on the water but saw relatively few rising fish. Fished from about 10:30am to 1:30pm. was able to catch two nice browns that rose but that was all.
 
Got back. they did not emerge on the middle river. Lots of grannoms flying upstream. I've seen this phenotype before. They were likely coming off in the gorge or a bit below. They are flying upstream in waves. I almost went to the lower river this AM, but decided against it because of the predictable crowds.
However, a few fish were rising tight to the bank and the vegetation. Fish were taking them like mayflies, not the aggressive takes. You had to look carefully and be patient to find them. Managed 5 on top this way- hunting heads and a few more nymphing earlier in the AM. I have to remind myself that grannoms typically hit the J April 10-15th. I seem to remember the earlier emergences. I was also misled by fishing them on Spring Creek in the last week of March in the region where they emerge the earliest. Feb was terribly cold and we had a couple of cold days/night in early April. The good news is that they will be coming off along the river soon.
 
I was in the Lehigh gorge yesterday not the Litte J but had the same experience. Lots of caddis and even some early hendricksons but we didn't see or hear any rises the entire day. Eventually we got tired of nothing taking our dries and we caught a few after switching up to nymphs and dragging them in deeper water but the complete lack of surface action was surprising. I guess it's just a tad too early.
 
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Had a similar experience on Spring recently. Another forum member picked up a couple on a soft hackle but very few risers and millions of grannoms. I wonder if they get so full on them that they just skip a day or so between gorging.
 
My son and I had the same experience on another Central PA stream this weekend. Nymphing was the way to go if you wanted to catch a lot of fish.

We mostly fished dries and I swung wets for a while. They were not interested in my swing. This surprised me a bit as there were plenty of Grannoms and Hendricksons hatching and not much surface activity at all. With a single exception, the only eats I got on wets were dead drifting them, both with weight and in the film. I swung down through one riffle with no success and then nymphed directly back up it and caught fish where I had just waded down.

Anyway, we found success with dries but it wasn't easy. The risers were in select spots that typically have fish willing to rise. At one point we were walking the creek from one section to another and saw a rise right next to us. There were good numbers of grannoms coming off and one fish rose steadily. Then another started just downstream. I got my son set up on the first and he caught it quickly. I slipped in downstream caught the other. They were the only two fish rising. Given what I know of this section of water, I'd wager there were dozens of trout within easy casting distance of us. Only two of them wanted to feed on top, though.

Last year, at this time in April, I had a phenomenal day fishing grannom dries. I was hopeful to hit it again over the weekend but I think things are a bit colder this year.
 
I had this experience at Penns two weeks ago. Wasn't expecting Grannoms that early, but my landed fish were all on nymphs and streamers. Some surface action but not alot, water was cold. I whiffed on a big rise right on the bank on a emerger but it happens. Going back up to Central PA this upcoming weekend.
 
Fished the Little J this morning. From 08:00 until 12:00, I only saw one riser. Many Grannoms in the air and on the water, but the fish were not interested. Tried swinging a leadwing coachman, but no takers. Tried my Davie McPhail pupae and had no takers.
 
Seriously anyone out there try red worms, during picky eating habits yet , anyone fish with a bait buddy and did he have success,just curious
 
FWIW fished another Centre county stream this AM until 11:30. Same report. The grannoms were not coming off, but just migrating upstream. Gees, are they coming off in isolated areas? Another guy I know fished it until 3-4 with no Grannom emergence.
definitely an unusual Grannom year so far.
 
nymphingmaniac said:
anyone out there hitting the egg layers with success?
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I caught a couple on egg laying grannoms yesterday. It wasn't because they were targeting egg layers, though. In each case I had missed the fish on my regular grannom pattern. I find my success goes way up if I give the fish a different pattern to look at.
 
nymphingmaniac said:
FWIW fished another Centre county stream this AM until 11:30. Same report. The grannoms were not coming off, but just migrating upstream. Gees, are they coming off in isolated areas? Another guy I know fished it until 3-4 with no Grannom emergence.
definitely an unusual Grannom year so far.
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Between Saturday and Sunday I saw Grannoms come off over approximately seven river miles. While I didn't see the middle four miles, the areas didn't seem to be isolated. The timing was. It was probably 11:00 before I saw any on Sunday. Saturday may have been a bit earlier. They came in bursts and mostly wrapped up by three-ish. Then the Hendricksons took over.
 
Fished the Little J again this morning from 08:00 until 12:00, I only saw one riser. Many Grannoms in the air and on the water, but the fish were not interested. I only caught one fish on a green mop fly.
 
I just caught my first fish on a dry today and I've been on 4 different creeks this week. They aren't looking up, I was on the kish on Sunday with tons of bug activity and only saw 1 consistent riser ( which i missed ) and a few splash 1 time takes.
 
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