- Joined
- May 3, 2011
- Messages
- 7,470
I fished the Swatara after work on Friday and found water temps of 86 in the main current channel, and as high as 92 in the slower, shallow and sun exposed eddies. I was wet wading, and 92 degrees is warm, very warm...too warm to wet wade comfortably even. I had plans to fish the Swatara today, but after Friday, and no relief from the temperatures yesterday, that just wasn't happening.
I was pretty much resigned to not fishing at all this weekend...the only stream reasonably close that I figured may be cool enough to fish is my arch nemesis the Quittie. In four years fishing that stream I had never caught a trout in it. I stopped by yesterday at around 2:00 pm just to get a temperature and get a look at the stream. Water temp was 64 in the DHALO stretch with plenty of flow...and there also was the occasional rising fish...not too bad. It's amazing how cool that stream stays and despite no real rain in the area for weeks, its base flow is enough to make it nearly impossible to safely wade without having to get out and negotiate it's steep banks every 50 yards. I figured to come back armed with the fly rod this morning and give it another shot.
Fished the DHALO section in the park from 6:20 until 8:00 am. Took the same 64 degree water temp this morning. Air temp was 80, and humid. Skies were mostly cloudy. The Quittie always seems to have a slight stain to the water, as was the case this morning. I found a 50 yard stretch or so with some nice current lanes that had some consistently rising trout. I couldn't see what they were rising to, but didn't really want to try to fish midges in the low light conditions so I started with a tan EHC, which got no looks and no takes. Considered switching to the midge, but decided to try a terrestrial pattern first and tied on a size 14 black flying ant...that ended up being the ticket today. Caught two Browns and one Bow, and missed a second Bow. There was a fish at the head of this stretch rising more consistently than any other as I worked upstream. I worked through the brush on the bank to where I thought I needed to be to make the cast. As I peered over the brush I saw the fish rise again...it was a nice 14-16" range Bow. I greedily decided to take just one more step to open up a casting lane a little more and saw him bolt. Oh well. I also caught a two inch Fallfish on the way back to the truck that had a Rainbow chase it almost all the way onto the bank as I pulled it in...pretty cool to watch.
I guess the Quittie felt I finally put in enough time to let me catch (and release) a few of her trout. The Browns were average looking stockies, but the Bow was a really good looking fish. Once again, it seems the Bow and Brook stockers color up better (or at least quicker) than the Browns. As is usually the case, the Rainbow was able to successfully evade the camera. I've noticed a direct positive correlation between a fish's beauty and its innate ability to avoid having its picture taken. Fallfish on the other hand love to have their picture taken! A good day out before the heat, and definitely a good learning day too. Don't underestimate the terrestrials!
A couple pics of the Browns:
I was pretty much resigned to not fishing at all this weekend...the only stream reasonably close that I figured may be cool enough to fish is my arch nemesis the Quittie. In four years fishing that stream I had never caught a trout in it. I stopped by yesterday at around 2:00 pm just to get a temperature and get a look at the stream. Water temp was 64 in the DHALO stretch with plenty of flow...and there also was the occasional rising fish...not too bad. It's amazing how cool that stream stays and despite no real rain in the area for weeks, its base flow is enough to make it nearly impossible to safely wade without having to get out and negotiate it's steep banks every 50 yards. I figured to come back armed with the fly rod this morning and give it another shot.
Fished the DHALO section in the park from 6:20 until 8:00 am. Took the same 64 degree water temp this morning. Air temp was 80, and humid. Skies were mostly cloudy. The Quittie always seems to have a slight stain to the water, as was the case this morning. I found a 50 yard stretch or so with some nice current lanes that had some consistently rising trout. I couldn't see what they were rising to, but didn't really want to try to fish midges in the low light conditions so I started with a tan EHC, which got no looks and no takes. Considered switching to the midge, but decided to try a terrestrial pattern first and tied on a size 14 black flying ant...that ended up being the ticket today. Caught two Browns and one Bow, and missed a second Bow. There was a fish at the head of this stretch rising more consistently than any other as I worked upstream. I worked through the brush on the bank to where I thought I needed to be to make the cast. As I peered over the brush I saw the fish rise again...it was a nice 14-16" range Bow. I greedily decided to take just one more step to open up a casting lane a little more and saw him bolt. Oh well. I also caught a two inch Fallfish on the way back to the truck that had a Rainbow chase it almost all the way onto the bank as I pulled it in...pretty cool to watch.
I guess the Quittie felt I finally put in enough time to let me catch (and release) a few of her trout. The Browns were average looking stockies, but the Bow was a really good looking fish. Once again, it seems the Bow and Brook stockers color up better (or at least quicker) than the Browns. As is usually the case, the Rainbow was able to successfully evade the camera. I've noticed a direct positive correlation between a fish's beauty and its innate ability to avoid having its picture taken. Fallfish on the other hand love to have their picture taken! A good day out before the heat, and definitely a good learning day too. Don't underestimate the terrestrials!
A couple pics of the Browns:
