Pocono Streams. Is it just me?

[CLSports]

I have fished many of the streams in the Pocono area over the years including Hickory Run, Mud Run, Hayes Creek, Lehigh River and this weekend I went to the Tobyhanna off of Rte 940. I never have much luck in any of these places and never really see that many fish . . .

Is it just me or are these streams really not all that great? I usually leave these stream wondering why I even bothered fishing them. They are all very beautiful and scenic streams, but it seems that these tannic stained waters are just too acidic to support any significant wild trout populations. I would love to hear more opinions on these streams.

Rob

 

[afishinado]

CLS,

While the Lehigh River is very moody, all the other streams (Hickory Run, Mud Run, Hayes Creek, the Toby) have been very productive for me (I've done "well" there Mo!). Admittedly, I fished them a lot more when I lived in the area, but overall they are good streams that hold more than a decent amount of wild trout.

 

[pcray1231]

I've not fished the Pocono's much, but I have fished Hickory Run once. I did pretty good there that day, not great, but enough to see there were significant numbers of fish. A few nice brownies and a few brookies.

Brown trout are typically less tolerable of acid than brook trout. If there's significant numbers of wild browns, then the pH is plenty good for brookies. Water temp works the opposite, browns are more tolerant. If there's significant numbers of brookies, then there's absolutely no water temp problem for browns. The fact that Hickory had significant numbers of both, well, that means the acidity and temperature are just fine.

 

[vcregular]

There was a whitewater release on the Lehigh this weekend. They run water from about midnight to noon on Sat and Sun, and this will definitely screw up the fishing. If you hit hte Lehigh in the afternoon either Sat or Sun, post ww release, then this might explain the reason for the lack-luster fishing.

As for Hayes Creek...it definitely runs acidic. I've never done well in Hayes, especially downstream of Fourth Run.

Hickory definitely has a lot of fish, but they are not easy. It does get hit hard, and if you fished it after someone else, you might not do well. Mud Run has quite a few fish too, but mostly stockies.

Don't know much about the Toby, but it looks like it might be starting to run a little warm.

 

[wildtrout2]

I fished Hayes Creek (Black Creek) about four weeks ago and didn't catch a single trout or even get a strike. In fact, I only saw one trout for quite a ways upstream from Rt 534. The strange thing is this one wild brown was about 18"-20"! When I saw him the game was already over. This really is an "awesome looking" stream. Maybe I didn't fish far enough upstream.

 

[salvelinus]

I fished Hayes several years ago by walking in from the game lands across from the golf course on 534. Beautiful stream but I only caught a couple fish. I also went up Fourth Run a bit and did nothing there. The game lands is a good place for huckleberries though. But it is the game lands so I guess you can't pick them. There is a pretty good size falls downstream of Fourth Run that is worth the walk. I remember many years ago my buddy and I fished up from Rt. 534 and didn't do anything there either. Mud Run I has been OK to me. I never fished Hickory, always seems to be fishermen there so I don't bother.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear CLS,

Most of those streams you mentioned can fish pretty well.

I started doing much better at Hayes when I learned to stay the heck out of the water courtesy of a local kid who used to go out with my brother and I. 100 fish days were pretty easy on Hayes once we got it dialed in. We usually took one rod and three guys took turns fishing handing the rod off after they caught a fish or hooked and lost a fish. We had contant consistent action.

It would easily take us 4 or 5 hours to fish from the lower Gamelands parking lot across from the golf course up to I-80. Just use a size 14 or 16 Sulphur or Cahill or an Elk hair Caddis and you will move a lot of fish if you are patient. Stay out of the water and cast from the bank, you only need to cast about 20 feet if you aren't spooking the fish.

I talked to a buddy and he caught a couple of nice fish in the Lehigh on Sunday evening on a big soft hackle he tied to imitiate an emerging stone fly. I can say from his reports that for the past couple of years the hatches on the Lehigh up around White Haven have not been as good as they used to be in the past.

I remember blizzard Hendrickson, Caddis, March Brown, and Sulphur hatches that had literally hundreds of fish working within casting range but my buddy says those days seem to be long gone? He usually fishes the river 2 to 3 times a week, sometimes more, once the season starts so he knows what he's talking about.

The Toby gets warm by this time of year in a normal year but it may not be too warm yet with all the rain we had. It is mostly stocked fish though and it gets hit pretty hard especially on the open water sections. We used to do well there for the Hendrickson hatch though, the fish would rise even when it was snowing.

I've never done squat on Hickory Run but I always seemed to be fishing it right behind someone else and like VC Regular said it's no place to fishing second in line.

I haven't fished Mud Run for years since they started stocking it again. It just never appealed to me all that much.

Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[trout48]

I have fished all the streams you mention this year and done well on all of them. The last time on toby I caught 8 just at the bridge at the end of the fly section although I usually walk in to the start of it I didnt have much time. Mud run in the park section is what I usually fish and I like that section much better and caught fish. I have found that a lot of these small streams and I would consider all but the Lehigh small you have to be quite stealthy and very slow moving if you are wading. The fish are there you just have to be slow and careful. I have also found that a size 16 or 18 caddis works on all these streams. Nick

 

[fly_flinger]

Sounds like you just suck at fly fishing Rob. Might want to go back to dunking worms.

 

[CLSports]

Thanks for the replies. I guess it seems like it is just me. I am taking fly_flinger's advice and reverting back to worm chucking; maybe then I can at least catch a chub or two!!

But seriously, I must not have hit these streams at the right times. The Toby was definitley very warm this past Saturday and just didn't produce for me. I know the few times I have hit the Lehigh River below the dam there was high water. As for Hickory, Mud and Hayes, I have no logical answers except I suck. They all look like they should have decent numbers of fish, but I guess I have never been there at the prime time for hatches in the early morning/late evening hours.

 

[afishinado]

Tim,

Perhaps we are both guilty of having fond fishing memories of “back in the day” on Hayes Creek. Back when Bob had his shop near there, I too caught a bunch of fish on Hayes in the gamelands stretch. From reading the above posts from really good FFers that fished it recently, maybe the fish are no longer there. I hate to think that’s the case though. I haven’t fished it for a while; I may have to take a trip up there just to check it out.

Hickory Run has a ton of wild fish, but as other have said, they are pressured quite a bit and are spooky. I’ve mostly fished it in the “off” season, or in “poor” weather when there are few other fishermen, and have done rather well most of the time. I remember Chaz posting about a lot of fish caught during a late fall snow squall.

I agree that the Toby is stocked and warms in the summer. It’s best fished in the spring.

Mud Run is stocked in the upper stretches of the park, and has some holdovers and wild fish. The stream remains cool throughout the summer and usually fishes fairly well. The lower section in the park has more wild fish since the stocking trucks can’t reach it, and usually fishes well for most of the season. There always was a decent amount of fish in Mud Run combined with the scenery during the hike through the woods always made the trip rewarding for me.

 

[HOBUT]

afishinado
I will quote Bob
"Thanks for the help"

 

[afishinado]

Oh no! Two Murphy's to contend with... :lol:

 

[govtmule]

Rob,
are you still jealous of my Mud Run Tiger?

 

[CLSports]

You would not even have that picture if it was not for my excellent photography!