Manada Creek - Dauphin County - 26.May.12

wgmiller

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I fished Manada today from the 443 bridge up to top of the open water from about 1-7 PM. Some particulars on the stream:

Water temp: [color=FF0033]68[/color]
Flow: getting low
Clarity: off-color, slighty stained
Ambient temp: mid 80's

Insect activity: saw what appeared to be some light cahills or sulphurs. Roughly #16/18 size. Also saw what appeared to be yellow stoneflies (Yellow sallies?). Numerous other insects were in the air and I wasn't able to put my finger on all of them.

I was able to get into a dozen fish or so with a pretty good cross-section from chubs to streambred browns to stocked browns/bows and even a small rock bass.

The pools that typically hold fish are devoid of them. I spoke with the only other angler I saw on the stream and he commented on the fact that he believed the pools were "cleaned out". He was a fly angler and made note of the fact that he doesn't typically see guys fly fishing Manada and was glad to see another fly guy.

Later in the afternoon a thunderstorm rolled through and that put me under the 443 bridge for an hour or so. I toyed with rising fish under the bridge the whole time and they refused all my offerings. They were "sipping" midges and I had a couple follows with no takings; they were being selective!

Most fish were taken on a tandem nymph rig with a #16 copper John doing the most damage. They also liked an olive bugger as well.

Overall the stream is fishing well, but as noted, the temperature is getting warm already.

100_3845.jpg

Manada streambred brown

100_3853.jpg

Stocker brown who enjoyed an olive bugger
 
wg,
Way to go! Beautiful fish. Chubs and rockbass are always welcome with me? If you are only catchin' small fish........ then downsize your fly rod a bit? I just might get a 000 for this shallow water?

68 is getting up there for May. Fritz said the same about Muddy a couple days ago.
 
Fished the manada on Thursday. A little back country action. Got into some real nice holdover bows. Turned a big brown but he busted me off. The fish are still there. You just have to get away to find um.
 
1wt... I'm tossing a 9' 5wt on that stream. The length is nice for high sticking and nymphing in general. I should have clarified that I caught a few smaller fish (wild browns, chubs, etc.), but also got into my fair share of larger fish. The 5wt certainly was nice for the stocked browns I got into because they hit with aggression and gave me a decent fight. I could probably scale back to a 9' 3wt and still be fine.

I have no doubt the fish are still there. My comment was in reference to the other fisherman talking about the more accessible pools. Manada always impresses me with its ability to hold fish over with the low flow and warmer temps it sees.

Oh, there was also a "redneck festival" at the camp across the "bridge" that was wiped out. Should've seen that!
 
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