Oil Creek, Venango Co, 5-26-19

[Prospector]

Time Fished: 915am - 1150am

Weather Conditions: 70 degrees, Mostly cloudy with a 20 minute thunderstorm starting at 1150am

Water Conditions: 61 degrees, about a 320 cfs which is about normal for this day; slight stain;

Insects: I didn’t catch any to confirm but here is what I saw. No real volume of insects just the occasional sighting. Orange body mayflies (Cahill or Sulphur?) were hatching for about the first half hour. Yellow bodied mayflies (sulphurs) were hatching from 1030-1150. Some cream cahills, some small mayflies (small BWO?), Caddis showed up around 1130 just about when the rains came.

We had hoped to fish another area stream but it was muddy. The Oil Creek gauge showed it got a good shot of rain yesterday but levels had already returned to normal. When we arrived it was clear and in good shape.

I started through the riffle with a wet, had a few strikes, saw a few fish rise, overheard a couple of guys who had been fishing talking about the rising yesterday being decent. So when I neared the end of the riffle I tied on a dry.

No fish were rising consistently (probably saw 25 rises on the day) but many fish appeared to be looking up. I landed 8 rainbows. 5 on Caddis, 3 on mayflies

The rains that came around noon turned a really nice stream to a muddy, soupy mess. Watch the gauge to see when it comes back down.

We were on the Drake Well DHALO and there were probably 8-10 guys fishing. Pretty crowded. Not much room to move around.

 

[Prospector]

These were collected on 5/27/19 on the same stretch of Oil creek that was covered in this report. A sz 16 mayfly dun and spinner and a sz 14 caddis. The Caddis were interesting. I noted many in the surface film coming past with the shuck still attached. They were really in motion trying to get the shuck free. The pictures show the trailing shuck. Both of the ones I captured (within minutes of each other) had been unable to rid themselves of the shuck.

 

[troutbert]

I think the caddis are probably Dark Blue Sedges:

http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/770

I've seen them on other large freestone streams in northern PA around the last week of May, first week of June. I saw quite a few on the First Fork Sinnemahoning.

 

[Prospector]

Yes that looks like a match. I didn’t measure them like I usually do and that would have helped. Too hard to chase Caddis all around. They aren’t good at posing.

Do you know if that type of Sedge is known for having a higher than normal rate of not being able to discard the shuck?

 

[troutbert]

Here's a better link, which provides access to more info than the first link I posted.

http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/2933/Caddisfly-Psilotreta-Dark-Blue-Sedges

I don't know if the Blue Sedges generally have trouble emerging from their shucks.