Little J/Spruce Creek, Huntington Co., 04/27/2009

[3wt7X]

Myself and Fishidiot made the trip out to the Little J yesterday despite the dismal reports of surface activity. We arrived in Spruce Creek township at about 08:20 am and we immediately noticed a fairly strong hatch of Grannoms. There were a few fish rising, but not as many as one would expect with the bug activity. The water was at a good level, but it was a little stained and the temperature were climbing.

We both began above the bridge in Spruce Creek. I started by high stick nymphing a peeking caddis and pheasant tail tandem which produced a couple of early fish. Dave tried a wet fly swing, but he quickly switched over to a dry and took several fish on top. I also switched over to the dry and managed to break off a couple on 7X tippet. The rising seemed to slow down around 10:00 am and we both switched back to a dead drift nymphing presentation.

Between 10:00 and 12:30 the nymphing action was pretty good with each inviting run producing a couple of fish. Around 12:30, Dave noticed a large swirl in the tail end of a large pool. He tried a few different presentations and he finally was able to sneak up on the large fish. I continued fishing the run upstream until I heard him call out and I looked back to see his rod doubled over. I got there just in time to see a very health 20 plus inch brown come to his net. We took a couple photos and released that fish to fight again.

We only fished a couple minutes longer before we decided to get some lunch and give Spruce Creek a try. Dave showed me the open water on Spruce Creek and we both caught several beautifully colored wild browns and rainbows. The water was a little more off colored on Spruce and we only saw a few splashy rises, so we stuck to the nymphs. Dave led me to a beautiful run and I managed to catch a nicely colored rainbow that appeared to be wild. This fish was about 17 inches and it really gave me all that I could handle with my 3wt.

We finished the day back at the Little J and took a couple more fish on nymphs and dries in front of the ESPY Farm. We loaded up the truck and headed back before any significant evening hatches, but I think we were both glad to get into the air conditioning after that 90 degree day. What a great day and who needs to go out west to catch trophy trout.

 

[sunra]

Nice report, and what a brown! Nice pic.

I am up in State College for a few days. Fished the Little J on the 27th in Barrie and a couple of spots above Spruce Creek. Picked up a couple on nice, about 16 inch browns which were beautiful fish. Both on caddie pupae. Green/black

Fished Fishing Creek today, but it was slow, only landedone small brown and missed a few. What a beautiful creek, though!!!

 

[Squaretail]

That looked like a good time.
I might feel a bit of envy. 🙂

 

[Blackfly]

I have only fished the Little J. twice and never fished Spruce. I am actually coming up there on Sat. with a friend to fish both. Really appreciate the report and hope to come close to what you guys did. I know the weather will be cooler with possible showers. Any other suggestions or advice? That is if you are familiar with the 2 streams or fish them often? Thanks!

 

[Fishidiot]

Blackfly,
You're gonna be in for a good time. Even if the fishing isn't great it's just a beautiful area. As 3WT7X indicated, the surface feeding was sporadic at best and we did best fishing nymphs. 3WT just nailed 'em on a small PT nymph fished dead drift. The big brown I'm holding also fell for a nymph. It would be good to have some caddis dries as well as some craneflies and blue quills. I couldn't move a fish on streamers and all the fish we got on nymphs were taken dead drift (I think). Don't ignore faster water - many of the fish we took were laid up in riffles and some pretty heavy runs. Most of the fish we caught were taken upriver from the bridge in Spruce Creek however this is a popular section and you might try further up or downstream if it is crowded (as Sat is likely to be). Keep in mind, the water below the bridge in Spruce Creek (the Espy Farm) is the infamous section that used to blocked to public access so if you fish it, make sure you stay in the water or right at the water's edge.
Spruce Creek (the stream) is right up the road and will also likely be crowded but it is a very nice section as you can see in the bottom photo. Like the LJ, Spruce fished best with nymphs when we were there.
Good luck with your trip!

 

[Blackfly]

Thanks for the added advice. I love nymph fishing and my chops are ready to go. I don't mind walking and hitting plenty of water. Also, good to hear about fish in the faster water - love fishing that stuff; not a friend of deep slower water. I plan on getting there around 6ish. Thanks again.

 

[littlejuniata]

Nice thread, great fish and pics