Muddy Creek, York County, 02/08/2009

Maurice

Maurice

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Fritz and I cruised wround the watershed trying to pick a spot to fish. Spotted three cars that were proabbly fishermen and decided to move to water under general regs where there was less ice on the stream. Saw a few stoneflys and some smaller no-see-ums in the afternoon sun. Fished from about 1pm to 4:30pm. I picked up one wild trout about 8" and Fred caught 1 wildie anout 10" and another MCTU holdover about 13". Nice day to be out on the water. The water was a perfect color and level. Water temp was 44 degrees. Surprising we didn't catch more fish. They still might be a little lethargic because we fished some awefully fishy water. Pics below.
 
Nice for this time of year. you know, I've never caught a winter trout, and yes I have gone. MC gives me a fit. I must have caught 100 trout this past September in western Montana fishing rock creek. But I have the hardest time finding fish on MC. Next time your taking pics of fish, can you take a sholder shot of the fisherman so I can eyeball the landscape ???



Nice fish, thsnks for posting.
 
Bob,

Thats just Fred. He is either very weak or doesn't like to hold the fish out of the water very long.

the trick to Muddy Creek is to fish every area that looks lfishy with the same enthusiasm even though 8 out of ten will not produe a fish if it hasn't been stocked recently.
 
some nice fish MO. Looked like a nice trip. I cant wait to get exploring York and its wild trout streams again this spring. I never made it back to that stream with the huge wild browns. Gotta wonder if they will be there this summer 😛 anyways Muddy is a stream in FFO section i havent really hit yet. Looks like maybe i should. These dang esd gloves i wear at work make it hard to type ;-)
 
Sal,

I wasn't in the FFO section.
 
oh really? well either way its an area i havent toucheed yet.
 
Were you 1/2 mile downstream of the forks?
 
ding, ding, ding....we have a winner!
 
Maurice,

I know that exact pool. Actually, I know every rock in that pool!
That section is a lot deeper with better pools than the "Special Regs" section that you stock.
Would it be possible to move the Special Regs area to there, and let the public bait fish in the old SR creek?
Maybe with your TU influence you could change the signs before April 4th. If folks get confused, just put a sign saying "only two miles this way to catch and keep trout stream..... bait and treble hooks allowed"
 
Wooly....the SR area has habitat areas rivaling other parts of the stream. And keep in mind that you can fish the water under general regs with a fly rod but the Bait & treble crowd cannot fish the fly area. So you have the best of both worlds.

I would predict that if the fly area were moved to this location you and others would complain that it
A. isn't long enough
B. Doesn't have the deep holes and habitat that the previous fly area had.

I would agree that the habitat ratio int he fly area is less than some other areas but talk to the bait/non-fly guys and they believe the fly area gets all the fish, and is better water than the other 4 miles open and under general regs.

Its tough to please everyone...

And for the record, of the 6-7,000 fish we raise, less than 20% go into the fly area. Our allocations are proportionally distributed to the streams in the watershed under general and special regs. And no MCTU trout are stocked in Tribs with high biomass (Class A-B and possibly C) of wild trout.
 
Pool spooker,
I don't think you can compare your catching fish on Rock Creek with catching fish in PA. I mean, it's Montana afterall and those fish in Rock Creek aren't that particular and plus there are tons of them. I believe PA fishing is much harder than Montana so don't be too hard on yourself for not getting into many on MC.

Thanks for the Rock Creek reference. Reminds me that I really need to get back out there soon.
 
Would it be possible to move the Special Regs area to there, and let the public bait fish in the old SR creek?
The worm dunkers would just rip the SR signs off the trees and do as they please like they do in the current SR water.
 
Maurice,

They are both wonderful trout streams, I was just kidding! I didn't think that you would move the signs. LOL
It's so good to see that wild trout can make it through the summer in any part of Muddy Creek.
I simply love Muddy Creek. I've fished both sides and downstream of the fork...... and last year the SR area.
I always have a great time wherever I fish on MC. It may not be Montana, but good enough for me.
 
bushwacker wrote:
Would it be possible to move the Special Regs area to there, and let the public bait fish in the old SR creek?
The worm dunkers would just rip the SR signs off the trees and do as they please like they do in the current SR water.
Click to expand...

What? I'm not aware of any of this going on.
 
And for the record, of the 6-7,000 fish we raise, less than 20% go into the fly area. Our allocations are proportionally distributed to the streams in the watershed under general and special regs. And no MCTU trout are stocked in Tribs with high biomass (Class A-B and possibly C) of wild trout.
Click to expand...

I think that is the way to do it. Remember when i was there Maurice I had reported to you that a lot of Muddy Creek stockers went up the tribs in the summer to seek refuge. On top of all the wild trout, the fishing was great. No need to stock over them wild fish....the stockers come anyways. You guys in the Muddy Creek Chapter have done an amazing job and continue to do so. Thank You for making York County a good destination for all of us.🙂
 
yes I know you can't compare the creek to out west. but for the record I want to thank Maurice and people who keep MC in great shape. I live close and am ver appreciative of the area and the work put into it even though I sit on my butt and never volunteer. I am very appreciative of the effort, it is a great area and very beautiful. Thanks Maurice. I do understand the effort involved and I am glad there are people like you.
It's a wonderful run and a nice place to be. and I have caught some nice summer trout there. I just need to figure the place out and fish it more often, not to mention volunteer. thanks for all your hard work.
 
Maurice, the reason for the comment about the signs is that one day, a couple of years ago I noticed that many of the sr signs had been torn off and left on the ground. I assumed the culprit s were dilinquints and the notion has stuck with me. For all I know it could have been time to place new signs but they weren't up yet. Regardless, I love your stream and its tribs, it's by far my favorite local watershed, and I deeply respect all the effort you and your organization has put into it.
 
pool_spooker wrote:
\I just need to figure the place out and fish it more often.....
Click to expand...

Reverse that sentence and it will take care of itself. 🙂

Thanks for the kind words guys...There are a great bunch of guys down there, bait , lure and otherwise. And yes there are scofflaws but by and large....having an active network of stewards to watch over the watershed as their own keeps the landowners who provide access happy and gracious enough to allow us to fish there.

Hey, we only caught three fish.....

This weekend we are working Sunday nad Monday gathering lives takes and getting our plant nursery ready for the coming year. We also plan to plant some livestakes and clean up/maintain some existing planting sites. You are welcome to participate.
 
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