wgmiller
Well-known member
In keeping with fishing trout streams in away towns where my daughter is playing field hockey, last evening found her in Bethlehem at Moravian University. Needless to say, there are plenty of fishing options in the Lehigh Valley, but I always had Monocacy Creek on my radar. With MU being right along the banks of Monocacy, I knew where I was headed. I fished from roughly 2 - 6 PM, which was the earliest I could make it to Bethlehem. I always try to catch the morning hours, but it wasn't possible yesterday. I fished two stretches of Monocacy: up through Illick's Mill park and up and downstream of Schoenersville Road.
Parking in the lot at Illick's Mill and working upstream I found low conditions and no fish. Being that this stretch is stocked, it wasn't surprising in late August to find tough fishing. I found one or two people fishing the dam and one fly angler downstream of the dam, so I headed above the dam. I fished this stretch up to the railroad bridge and threw in the towel, walking back to the car. As I came upon the dam, I saw one of the spin anglers in the water, apparently trying to free his rig from the bottom. As I neared, I could see had a fish on. A really big fish. He had no net, so I hopped in and waded to his aid. It turns out he was fishing the "shelf" below the dam and had a pig wild brown on. I netted the fish, he took some pics, he ripped the gut swallowed line off the nightcrawler hook, and returned the fish to the water. He knew the rules that browns couldn't be harvested and that the fish was a wild brown. I have no doubt there are some monsters in that hole, as spring seeps flow in and the hole has the depth.
A beautiful Monocacy wild brown.
Illick's Mill Dam in all its glory
I made it back to my car and then fished downstream a ways past the nature area. I didn't find any fish in this stretch, but it was some nice water. Upon returning to my car, I relocated to the Schoenersville Road area and fished downstream of St. Luke's/Moravian a bit, then fished back upstream. I was able to move several fish on streamer patterns, but had no takers. Whenever I fish new water the first time I'm less concerned about catching fish than I am with "seeing what's in there and where they are". Slinging a streamer seems to be the best way to get them to move and show themselves, even in low and clear water. It gives me an idea where they hold and provides a starting point upon returning to a stream.
Thriving in the shadows of industry
60 degree water in late August? I'll take it!
Thoughts on Monocacy:
It's yet another wild trout stream that the PFBC stocks fish over (in this case, rainbows over wild browns). It's a stream that sees a good bit of pressure, given its urban location and accessibility. Based on the number of nightcrawler containers I saw at various points along the banks, it also sees a good bit of harvest. Like so many other streams in urban areas, the threats this stream must endure are seemingly endless (thermal pollution, industrial pollution, angling pressure, etc.). It seemed to be in quite good shape yesterday, given so many threats. The flow was around 30 CFS, which was about half its seasonal average for this time of year.
On a related/unrelated note, I had my license checked by a WCO for only the second time in my angling life. As I was working my up the railroad tracks from Schoenersville Road, a WCO was walking down toward me. He checked my license and we chatted for a bit. It was WCO Rudd, who covers Northampton County. Super chill dude who was checking up on Monocacy after receiving reports of browns being harvested. He said they pay a lot of attention to boaters in the summer months, but he wanted to pay some attention to Monocacy during the slower months.
I know Monocacy has a lot of nice fish in it and it was fun to explore its waters for a few hours. I look forward to making it back someday to fish some new stretches and revisit known holding water. Maybe someday I'll be able to catch as many fish on Monocacy as Jun T Outdoors does! 😀
Parking in the lot at Illick's Mill and working upstream I found low conditions and no fish. Being that this stretch is stocked, it wasn't surprising in late August to find tough fishing. I found one or two people fishing the dam and one fly angler downstream of the dam, so I headed above the dam. I fished this stretch up to the railroad bridge and threw in the towel, walking back to the car. As I came upon the dam, I saw one of the spin anglers in the water, apparently trying to free his rig from the bottom. As I neared, I could see had a fish on. A really big fish. He had no net, so I hopped in and waded to his aid. It turns out he was fishing the "shelf" below the dam and had a pig wild brown on. I netted the fish, he took some pics, he ripped the gut swallowed line off the nightcrawler hook, and returned the fish to the water. He knew the rules that browns couldn't be harvested and that the fish was a wild brown. I have no doubt there are some monsters in that hole, as spring seeps flow in and the hole has the depth.
A beautiful Monocacy wild brown.
Illick's Mill Dam in all its glory
I made it back to my car and then fished downstream a ways past the nature area. I didn't find any fish in this stretch, but it was some nice water. Upon returning to my car, I relocated to the Schoenersville Road area and fished downstream of St. Luke's/Moravian a bit, then fished back upstream. I was able to move several fish on streamer patterns, but had no takers. Whenever I fish new water the first time I'm less concerned about catching fish than I am with "seeing what's in there and where they are". Slinging a streamer seems to be the best way to get them to move and show themselves, even in low and clear water. It gives me an idea where they hold and provides a starting point upon returning to a stream.
Thriving in the shadows of industry
60 degree water in late August? I'll take it!
Thoughts on Monocacy:
It's yet another wild trout stream that the PFBC stocks fish over (in this case, rainbows over wild browns). It's a stream that sees a good bit of pressure, given its urban location and accessibility. Based on the number of nightcrawler containers I saw at various points along the banks, it also sees a good bit of harvest. Like so many other streams in urban areas, the threats this stream must endure are seemingly endless (thermal pollution, industrial pollution, angling pressure, etc.). It seemed to be in quite good shape yesterday, given so many threats. The flow was around 30 CFS, which was about half its seasonal average for this time of year.
On a related/unrelated note, I had my license checked by a WCO for only the second time in my angling life. As I was working my up the railroad tracks from Schoenersville Road, a WCO was walking down toward me. He checked my license and we chatted for a bit. It was WCO Rudd, who covers Northampton County. Super chill dude who was checking up on Monocacy after receiving reports of browns being harvested. He said they pay a lot of attention to boaters in the summer months, but he wanted to pay some attention to Monocacy during the slower months.
I know Monocacy has a lot of nice fish in it and it was fun to explore its waters for a few hours. I look forward to making it back someday to fish some new stretches and revisit known holding water. Maybe someday I'll be able to catch as many fish on Monocacy as Jun T Outdoors does! 😀
