Looking for a coach on the Wissahickon (Philadelphia area)

[SleepySheep]

Hey y'all,

New fly fisherman here. Looking for a coach or guide to meet me at the mighty WIssahickon this spring and show me how to get on some fish, and how to fix my sloppy casting, especially with a nymph-indicator set up. I don't know what the going rate is for a professional guide, but I'm willing to pay for a session or two if that's what it takes to build up my confidence.

There is a caveat: I'm fairly hard of hearing, and often ask people to repeat themselves, and I usually have to be pretty close to hear what anyone is saying over the rushing creek waters. I guess any guide I'd get would have to have the patience to put up with it.

Generally speaking, I'd just love to meet some other fly fishermen in the area so I can observe how they do it and ask some questions.

Thanks!

 

[afishinado]

Suggest you check out the free fly-fishing classes (FF101 & FF201) at the Orvis stores in the Philly area at Plymouth Meeting or Haverford.

Fly Fishing 101

Enroll in Fly-Fishing 101 at Orvis and enjoy free basic fly-fishing instruction from our expert staff; browse classes at retail locations in 43 states.

www.orvis.com

Good luck.

 

[JerryC]

If I weren't hobbled right now and walking with a cane, I'd offer to show you the creek. afishinado made a good suggestion. Check out the Orvis classes, that would help with your casting. Next question. What do you plan to fish for? I don't normally fish for trout in the creek. I'll start fishing it after the last stocking. When most folks figure the state didn't stock enough trout or that they've all been caught. Not true. There are plenty of trout left in the creek. I normally fish it for bass and panfish, which is another reason I don't start fishing it till May. I mainly fish top water with sliders and poppers. I usually park at either Bells Mill or Valley Green, though there's also a path down to the creek where the baseball and soccer fields are. I walk up or downstream from the parking areas. You can access the creek from Forbidden Drive, though you might have to climb down a steep bank to get to the water. You can wade the creek in a lot of places, though I generally fish from the bank. Here's a couple of other fish you can catch in the creek.

The biggest smallmouth I've caught is 17 inches. There are also largemouth and some huge carp in the creek.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Send me a PM Sheep! I am in Flourtown, but I lived in Roxborough for over 15 years, and I still prefer to fish the beautiful water in the City when I fish it. I know that crick all too well. I would meet you down there. After the derby, there will be loads of monster fish left over too

 

[SleepySheep]

Suggest you check out the free fly-fishing classes (FF101 & FF201) at the Orvis stores in the Philly area at Plymouth Meeting or Haverford.

Fly Fishing 101

Enroll in Fly-Fishing 101 at Orvis and enjoy free basic fly-fishing instruction from our expert staff; browse classes at retail locations in 43 states.

www.orvis.com

Good luck.

Thanks for the info! Didn't realize there are two fly fishing shops in the area. Might go and check them out!

If I weren't hobbled right now and walking with a cane, I'd offer to show you the creek. afishinado made a good suggestion. Check out the Orvis classes, that would help with your casting. Next question. What do you plan to fish for? I don't normally fish for trout in the creek. I'll start fishing it after the last stocking. When most folks figure the state didn't stock enough trout or that they've all been caught. Not true. There are plenty of trout left in the creek. I normally fish it for bass and panfish, which is another reason I don't start fishing it till May. I mainly fish top water with sliders and poppers. I usually park at either Bells Mill or Valley Green, though there's also a path down to the creek where the baseball and soccer fields are. I walk up or downstream from the parking areas. You can access the creek from Forbidden Drive, though you might have to climb down a steep bank to get to the water. You can wade the creek in a lot of places, though I generally fish from the bank. Here's a couple of other fish you can catch in the creek.
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The biggest smallmouth I've caught is 17 inches. There are also largemouth and some huge carp in the creek.

Sounds like you really know the creek, Jerry Those are some beautiful fish. I'll fish for anything myself. I like variety, and I really like catching something new! I've been a dedicated ultralight fisherman for a few years now because a little jig or spoon will catch just about anything. I usually wait until May to fish the Wissahickon, to avoid the crowds. This year, I was way too excited to try out the fly rod on a PA stream for the first time, so I hit the water on opening day, and left my spinning rod at home. I feel like I know the creek pretty well now, at least from Germantown ave to Ridge ave, but I was completely unprepared for how swift and swollen the creek would be in the midst of our rainy season. It was a frustrating day, but man, I can't wait to get back out there and try again!

I will say, for all I've fished that creek, I haven't met a 17" smallie. Sounds like I'll have to give a fly popper a go, I'll bet its a blast!

Send me a PM Sheep! I am in Flourtown, but I lived in Roxborough for over 15 years, and I still prefer to fish the beautiful water in the City when I fish it. I know that crick all too well. I would meet you down there. After the derby, there will be loads of monster fish left over too

Thanks for the offer, Nymph, I might take you up that offer some time later in the spring! It's a gorgeous creek for sure. Almost makes me feel like I'm up in the mountains, and some points. We're lucky to have it right here in Philly!

 

[5alp]

If nymph-wristed is busy I'm available as well. I love the creek and would be happy to hit the water together. Feel free to reach out.

 

[Volksnurse]

PM me if you'd like. I'm in Abington.

 

[troutbert]

At first glance I thought it said "Looking for a COUCH on the Wissahickon."

 

[JerryC]

At first glance I thought it said "Looking for a COUCH on the Wissahickon."

You might find one in the Wissahickon

 

[Nymph-wristed]

You might find one in the Wissahickon

I was thinking the same thing 😁 though to be fair to Fairmount Park, you are far more like to find a couch on any number of Lehigh Valley cricks. You might find an entire living room along the Brodhead or Lehigh River in NEPA, maybe even bodies sleeping in them....

 

[SleepySheep]

Man, I really appreciate all the helpful offers and friendliness of the community. I will definitely accept some offers for help I did have another chance to hit the Wissahickon for a few hours, but it went about as well as the first time. I was at least able to put a first-timer-fisher friend of mine on a trout with a spinning rod, so it still feels like a productive day. But my fly rod enticed no trout, even in some very reliable pools we visited.

If I might ask a few general questions from the experienced audience:

-What is, would you say, the optimal length/wt for a creek the size the Wissahickon? I have an 8ft 5wt rod that I am determined to make the most of, but I did notice all the other flyfishermen on the creek using longer rods. I don't quite have a feel for how long a rod you want for a given size of water body.

-In the Wissahickon specifically: If you are fishing a nymph, how often do you add splitshot to get down to where you want to be? I guess my experience has taught me that trout are usually holding in relatively deeper runs, so those are my favorite places to target, but I feel like I really have trouble getting down deep with nymphs and streamers. They just sink *so slow* compared even the tiniest of my trout spoons. It feels like no matter how gently I strip them, they just come right up under the surface.

-I've seen some rigs where people stick an indicator near their fly line, and somewhere else I read you typically want your indicator some place 1.5-2x the depth that you're fishing. I don't do a lot of fishing with floats in the spinning world, but I would generally place the bobber at the depth I want to fish. How do you all generally choose where to put the indicator?

I'll take any wisdom you're willing to give up on a public forum

 

[KeviR]

If the water isn't moving, or moving very slowly, set the indicator at about the depth you want the fly. In moving water, the problem you have to overcome is that the water at the surface is moving faster than the water next to the bottom, where you usually want your flies to be. Most folks use a rule of thumb of setting the distance from bobber to fly as 1.5x the water depth. More important is how to cast and mend line to arrange it so that the bobber starts out upstream of the spot where the flies land. That way, as the flies drop into the slower water near the bottom, the bobber (in the faster surface water) slides over top of them just as they drop into the zone near the bottom. Of course, soon after that, the bobber races past them and starts to pull them up off the bottom. So you only get a moment of truly dead-drift. The 1.5x is a tradeoff between extending the dead drift and the bobber momentarily losing touch with the flies. And it's possible that the flies sink all the way to the bottom and hang up. If you use a bobber that can be slid along the leader, you can quickly adjust the distance to fit the spot you're fishing. If you're patient, focus in on a single slot that you want to cover. Start out with the bobbber at about 1x the depth of that slot. Present the flies 2-3 times that way, then lenghten slightly, to maybe 1.25x and repeat. One more time at 1.5x. You might even go past that to 1.75x if you haven't seen your flies hang up on the bottom yet. Then move to a new slot and repeat. (The "new" slot might be only 6-12 inches left or right of the prior slot. Or a few feet upstream or downstream of it.) In this way, methodically cover a run incrementally side-to-side and upstream or downtream.

 

[JerryC]

I have an 8 1/2 foot 5 wgt, a 8 1/2 foot and 9 foot 6 wgt that I've used on the creek. Generally, I'll grab the 5 wgt for all around fishing, trout, panfish and bass. If I'm just going to target bass I may take the 6 wgt most of my bass/panfish bugs I use on the creek are tied on size 6 hooks. Can't help you with the "bobber" fishing. I don't use them. I just cast the nymph upstream, let it drift with the current and swing it across the stream at the end of the drift. Rather than picking up the line at the end of the drift, I'll strip it back in.

 

[SleepySheep]

If the water isn't moving, or moving very slowly, set the indicator at about the depth you want the fly. In moving water, the problem you have to overcome is that the water at the surface is moving faster than the water next to the bottom, where you usually want your flies to be. Most folks use a rule of thumb of setting the distance from bobber to fly as 1.5x the water depth. More important is how to cast and mend line to arrange it so that the bobber starts out upstream of the spot where the flies land. That way, as the flies drop into the slower water near the bottom, the bobber (in the faster surface water) slides over top of them just as they drop into the zone near the bottom. Of course, soon after that, the bobber races past them and starts to pull them up off the bottom. So you only get a moment of truly dead-drift. The 1.5x is a tradeoff between extending the dead drift and the bobber momentarily losing touch with the flies. And it's possible that the flies sink all the way to the bottom and hang up. If you use a bobber that can be slid along the leader, you can quickly adjust the distance to fit the spot you're fishing. If you're patient, focus in on a single slot that you want to cover. Start out with the bobbber at about 1x the depth of that slot. Present the flies 2-3 times that way, then lenghten slightly, to maybe 1.25x and repeat. One more time at 1.5x. You might even go past that to 1.75x if you haven't seen your flies hang up on the bottom yet. Then move to a new slot and repeat. (The "new" slot might be only 6-12 inches left or right of the prior slot. Or a few feet upstream or downstream of it.) In this way, methodically cover a run incrementally side-to-side and upstream or downtream.

Thanks for the rundown. I'm still learning to properly mend, but it sounds like I want the indicator itself to be in the 'belly' of my mend, is that right? I guess I was worried that the act of bringing the indicator out of the water in a mend would be more likely to spook a fish.

How long would you say a typical drift is? I've been casting a bit upstream, and letting my rig drift quite a ways downstream before stripping it back in. It's pretty slow and time consuming to do it this way, but I guess I figure maximizing water coverage while minimizing number of casts would be the way to go. Hasn't been too productive so far, lol.

I have an 8 1/2 foot 5 wgt, a 8 1/2 foot and 9 foot 6 wgt that I've used on the creek. Generally, I'll grab the 5 wgt for all around fishing, trout, panfish and bass. If I'm just going to target bass I may take the 6 wgt most of my bass/panfish bugs I use on the creek are tied on size 6 hooks. Can't help you with the "bobber" fishing. I don't use them. I just cast the nymph upstream, let it drift with the current and swing it across the stream at the end of the drift. Rather than picking up the line at the end of the drift, I'll strip it back in.

It sounds like I can't blame my equipment then! It sounds like you a 'Swinging' your nymph rather than dead drifting or euronymphing? I'm still getting used to the various terms and techniques. When you swing your nymph, do you do any mending to keep the fly drifting with the current? Or do you keep your line tight?

 

[JerryC]

Casting up stream, I'm dead drifting the nymph to a certain degree. I mend the line to keep the nymph drifting at the speed of the current, rather than being dragged by the line. Once the nymph gets even with me, I let the current take the nymph and the line till it straightens and swings across the current.

 

[SleepySheep]

Casting up stream, I'm dead drifting the nymph to a certain degree. I mend the line to keep the nymph drifting at the speed of the current, rather than being dragged by the line. Once the nymph gets even with me, I let the current take the nymph and the line till it straightens and swings across the current.

If a strike happens while you've got slack in your line (before it straightens out), is it easier to miss strikes, given that you don't have an indicator on? I imagine you don't expect strikes too often until the fly has gotten down deep, but I know fish often love to hit a lure as soon as it hits the water.

 

[wildtrout2]

Ironically, the body of a roughly 25-30 year old male was found in the Wissy today. You never know what might turn up in that stream.

 

[moodyblues]

I don't know about couches, but probably a lot of couch potatos.

 

[moodyblues]

At first glance I thought it said "Looking for a COUCH on the Wissahickon."

It wouldn't surprise me to see some of these jokers dragging a couch out there on the stream.

 

[SleepySheep]

Ironically, the body of a roughly 25-30 year old male was found in the Wissy today. You never know what might turn up in that stream.

Geeze. Wonder what happened to the poor guy. The Wiss is a lot more dangerous than it looks from the bank, so I'm never surprised to hear that someone's drowned. Always wade slowly and cautiously!