Oil Creek, Venango County, 10/01/2009

[SonofZ3]

Fished downstream from the Miller Farm Road bridge in Oil Creek State Park on 10/01/2009. Arrived at the stream around 9:30am to find a sporadic hatch of size 16 dark tan caddis hatching. No fish were rising to the caddis. There was also a very light and sporadic hatch of size 20 BWO's, we didn't see any fishing rising during the morning or afternoon. One fish was caught on a woven bodied stonefly nymph, and another two on a brown hackled, black bodied wooly bugger. Left the stream around 1, never saw any fish rising. Beautiful day on the water.

 

[jaybo41]

Sounds like a nice day on the water. That's a nice brown you've got there! Thanks for the report!

 

[SonofZ3]

Thanks!

Interesting sidenote: We went over to the fly fishing only section of Caldwell Creek downstream of the Selkirk Bridge, in Warren County, and saw something pretty neat- 100's (easily 500) brown trout spawning in the first 1/4 mile of the stream! We had seen this last year as well, and assumed that the high concentration of fish was from a PFBC stocking, and that they were just doing their spawning thing. Well, we saw the same thing this year, and it makes me wonder if they are freshly stocked fish that happen to trying to spawn, or if that section of stream really has that high a concentration of fish, and its just obvious now that they're out in the shallow gravel areas. Either way it was cool to see, and I bet when the spawn is over those fish will be HUNGRY. Maybe a good place to go drift a prince nymph on a warm December day? My father did catch one little, brightly colored brown, maybe 7 and a half inches, on a prince nymph swung under a cutbank.

 

[troutbert]

Do you have a close-up photo of that Oil Creek brown trout? It sure is nicely colored. Looks more like a "wildie" than a "stockie."

 

[SonofZ3]

Close up pics!
Brown from Caldwell Creek

Closeup of the brown from Oil Creek

Upper Allegheny River Brown

 

[Gone4Day]

SonofZ3 wrote:
Interesting sidenote: We went over to the fly fishing only section of Caldwell Creek downstream of the Selkirk Bridge, in Warren County, and saw something pretty neat- 100's (easily 500) brown trout spawning in the first 1/4 mile of the stream!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the PFBC stocked it Thursday. Doubt they were spawning either. They probably just haven’t shook off the hatchery mentality yet.

 

[SonofZ3]

Well, if they try to make redds and pair off in the hatchery then yes, but these fish were doing just that.

 

[JackM]

I don't think the hatchery breeds instinct out of the trout. If nature tells them it's time to spawn, they would try to do it even if you set them on the fifty yard line at Heinz field.

 

[SonofZ3]

I don't think it would either, but I wouldn't call spawning behavior the "hatchery mentality". I would call spawning just that-spawning, regardless of whether or not the fish are stocked or wild.

 

[troutslammer]

well they did just stock it an now is getting close to spawning time too , so either way its great ! did u see any big browns ...???

 

[SonofZ3]

There were a few browns that were pushing 15 inches, a good fish on that stream, but no fish over 15.