Oil Creek, Venango County, 5/08/2016

[Sylvaneous]

Flow at 400 cfs or less. Just a bit of murk. Fished below the ice dam by 8:30. Only saw a very few caddis. Switched to an 8 wt and a type of zonker-ish fly that is supposed to look like a darter and went for pre-spawn smallies. There were not anywhere near the number of fish migrating up against the dam as I have seen in years past and as I expected. Also used a Clouser type fly with a propeller on the nose in a color I call "Joker: Olive back, olive krystal flash, orange belly and a purple "head": a tuft of calf tail on the top front of the fly. I think Bob has a darter pattern like this. Anyway, this color scheme and ones like it work well in the Allegheny when it has even just a little murk, like 2-3 ft visibility or so. Tied these maybe 5 or 6 years ago and never fished them. Well, success. They ate the 'darter' zonker OK, but pounced on the Joker Prop. Clouser.

Went back around 5:00. Some fish were rising sporadically. A few more caddis, but very few.

I will welcome other observations, but what happened to the Mother's Day caddis? The grannoms are a brief shadow of themselves. I haven't seen anything I'd call a sulfur hatch in 5 years maybe? Hydropsyche (tan, olive, apple) are...meh....to use a slacker term.
Is there a pollution issue? Has it just been unfavorable weather or water conditions? I distinctly remember within 8 or 10 years fishing good sulfurs, grannoms, caddis and cahills AND grey foxes and isonychias. Heck, I did GREAT on big red isonychia dries at one point.
Natural things have natural cycles. I just wanted to put this out there and get some input from others.

 

[dryflyguy]

It's been quite a while since I've encountered a good hatch on oil creek.
I got so tired of going there, and not finding any surface activity - that I quit fishing it about 3-4 years ago now.
I know plenty of streams closer to me, where I can still find consistent top water action

 

[dano]

Sylvaneous wrote:
Natural things have natural cycles. I just wanted to put this out there and get some input from others.

Yes, I believe it's a natural cycle.
You missed the mother's day hatch by a day on the lower end. It started with the high water.

 

[vanorvis]

What day did you fish ? It say's you posted it on Sunday, The date say's you fished Monday.
I fished all day (till around 5 pm) on Saturday. Fished above Petroleum Center in the morning, saw a few caddis around and a few splashy rises. Saw a number of guys fishing to rising fish.
Fished below the island below the ice dam after lunch. Fished to rising fish for at least four hours. Fish were rising to caddis and blue wings, that I could see. I used various Blue Wing patterns and caught fish on all.
But I must agree that the hatches on Oil Creek don't seem to be what they were in years past. I don't know the reason, I just assumed I was missing a lot of it because I don't get up there as much as I use to. But everything seems to be running a little early this year.

 

[dano]

I took it as he fished Sunday.
Same experience as you on Saturday as the fish switched to taking the olives in the afternoon.
Seemed there were quite a few guys fishing a Trout Legend tournament on Saturday. I'll leave it at that.

 

[vanorvis]

Yea... Lots of people Saturday
I heard at least 40 were signed up for that tournament. I think they stayed mostly in Petroleum Center, I stayed away...there was also a TU chapter outing there, but there is lots of water to fish in Oil Creek. I had those rising fish all to myself for a few hours