Wow, been awhile since I have been on PAFF! 2015 was an off year for me, and I lost fishing for a bit. Between becoming incredibly absorbed in woodworking and starting a successful side business, getting engaged(wedding planning, shoot me), and getting the big promo at the office, I drifted away from the sport. I fished once in 2015, and it was on the yough after proposing to my fiancé in the morning. Fishing after my grandmother's passing was the rouse to get her into position for the proposal, and well, I had my fly gear with me already so it would have been a shame not to wet a line...
Enough about my lame year! With it going up to 60ish on Sunday with a mild low on Saturday, I thought I might be in for some chance of success in January. I renewed my 3 year license and made the drive down to ohiopyle to fish meadow run above the cascades. Upon arrival, I immediately knew I was in for trouble. We received 8-9" in Pittsburgh and it melted in a day. Ohiopyle still had 14ish on the ground on sunday. Walking in 14" of snow really blows, but that was the least of my troubles. 80-90% of the stream is under 6" of ice. I expected some ice build up on the banks, but Ive never seen the stream iced over like this. Either southern PA has been a lot colder than Allegheny county, or their 2' of snowfall was heavy enough to form this much ice. No matter the cause, not much you can do with an iced over stream. Here and there were bathtub sized openings, but they were all in unlikely fish holding locations. Needless to say, the fishing was lousy. It was nice to be out and casting though. It really smacked me in the face with a "why did you ever stop doing this!?" kind of moment. Looking forward to dialing back work a bit, and getting back into the sport this year.
Patrick
Enough about my lame year! With it going up to 60ish on Sunday with a mild low on Saturday, I thought I might be in for some chance of success in January. I renewed my 3 year license and made the drive down to ohiopyle to fish meadow run above the cascades. Upon arrival, I immediately knew I was in for trouble. We received 8-9" in Pittsburgh and it melted in a day. Ohiopyle still had 14ish on the ground on sunday. Walking in 14" of snow really blows, but that was the least of my troubles. 80-90% of the stream is under 6" of ice. I expected some ice build up on the banks, but Ive never seen the stream iced over like this. Either southern PA has been a lot colder than Allegheny county, or their 2' of snowfall was heavy enough to form this much ice. No matter the cause, not much you can do with an iced over stream. Here and there were bathtub sized openings, but they were all in unlikely fish holding locations. Needless to say, the fishing was lousy. It was nice to be out and casting though. It really smacked me in the face with a "why did you ever stop doing this!?" kind of moment. Looking forward to dialing back work a bit, and getting back into the sport this year.
Patrick
