Quittie Creek - Lebanon County - 10/Nov/25

[wgmiller]

Wanting to give the wild browns a respite during their season of love and procreation, I opted to hit up the Quittie in search of stocked rainbows. The day started off chilly and only got colder as it went on, as the winds increased. I don't mind cold weather fishing, so it didn't bother me too much. For the stream being stocked in early October, you wouldn't know it. I moved very few fish. With the low and clear water and pressure they see, the deck is really stacked against an angler. I've had really good days on the Quittie and I've had days like yesterday. Both are good, as days like yesterday make me appreciate just being out in nature. They are also humbling because taking a good skunkin' every now-and-then is good for the soul! I parked at the footbridge, walked downstream, fished upstream to Spruce St. tightlining, then fished back downstream to S. White Oak St with a streamer. I just missed a small bump in the stream, when it went up to 80 CFS from some rain the night before.

Time fished: 09:00-2:00
Water temp: 52
Water flow/clarity: Low and clear (50 CFSish)
Weather: Low 40s, partly, most cloudy, windy
Hatches/bugs seen: Very few small midges
Flies fished: #16 Perdi Juan (creme), #16 Walt's Worm, Kreelex minnow
Fish caught: Skunkeroo
Rod fished: Orvis Clearwater 10' 2WT

Fall fishing can be tough, but it sure is hard to beat the scenery!

One of many spring seeps along the Quittie

As I was working my way back downstream I came across this beautiful wild brown (16"+), dead on stream bottom. I drug it to the shore to inspect it further, then left it bankside. Hopefully a critter could make a meal out of it instead of letting it decay in the stream.

When I flipped the fish over, it had some damage from a predator. Perhaps a heron or bird of prey. It's hard to say what ultimately caused the fish to expire, but I'm hopeful it wasn't due to poor angling practices.

 

[DaveKile]

Good stuff and enjoying your images as always.

 

[Mike]

That one mark posterior to the head looks as though it could be a heron peck. Given the location, it would be surprising to me if that was the cause of death unless it led to an internal infection. Sometimes one finds larger, trophy size browns dead or nearly dead post-spawning, but this fish doesn’t appear to be spawned out or spawned at all. Would have been interesting to see the lower portion of the caudal fin in that regard.

As an aside, it’s hard to convince anglers that during spawning brown trout are more vulnerable to predators than to anglers and that’s probably because the anglers haven’t tried it. A sarcastic “good luck!” to those that do.

As for the results in Quitty, those were typical of certain times following a fall stocking when stocked trout are still in spawning condition. Once that passes, catching often gets much better despite the then colder water.Such results are also common when a major cold front goes through or there has been a sudden, substantial downward swing in water temp.

 

[wgmiller]

That one mark posterior to the head looks as though it could be a heron peck. Given the location, it would be surprising to me if that was the cause of death unless it led to an internal infection. Sometimes one finds larger, trophy size browns dead or nearly dead post-spawning, but this fish doesn’t appear to be spawned out or spawned at all. Would have been interesting to see the lower portion of the caudal fin in that regard.

As an aside, it’s hard to convince anglers that during spawning brown trout are more vulnerable to predators than to anglers and that’s probably because the anglers haven’t tried it. A sarcastic “good luck!” if they do.

As for the results in Quitty, those were typical of certain times following a fall stocking when stocked trout are still in spawning condition. Such results are also common when a major cold front goes through or there has been a sudden, substantial downward swing in water temp.

Interesting you should mention the spawning... In looking through my other images of the fish, it appears to be a female (based on mouth shape, anal fin curvature, distended belly, etc.). There appears to be some eggs by the anal fin and the distended belly appears to be full of eggs, which indicates a gravid female, which makes the loss even more disappointing. In the end, it is nature and that's how life rolls.

I've heard of fish "turning off" after a front moves through/baromoteric pressure changes, but always kind of though it applied more to warmwater species than anything.

Good stuff. Admittedly I don't have a ton of experience with spawning brown trout, as I typically stay away from streams during November to let them "do their thing"!

 

[Streammagic237]

The pictures are stunning , looks like a very beautiful stream .

 

[McSneek]

Used to be my go to stocked stream. Doesn’t seem to hold fish like it used to. Not crazy about some of the stream “improvements” they put in a few years back. Made some of it too deep IMO. Your pictures make it look a lot nicer than it really is!

 

[wgmiller]

Your pictures make it look a lot nicer than it really is!

True story. Long live the "Quittie Garbage Museum" that used to exist near S. White Oak St. Sadly, the Quittie still sees an influx of trash from upstream (Lebanon City) during heavy rain events.

 

[rustbeltwilds]

Interesting you should mention the spawning... In looking through my other images of the fish, it appears to be a female (based on mouth shape, anal fin curvature, distended belly, etc.). There appears to be some eggs by the anal fin and the distended belly appears to be full of eggs, which indicates a gravid female, which makes the loss even more disappointing. In the end, it is nature and that's how life rolls.

I've heard of fish "turning off" after a front moves through/baromoteric pressure changes, but always kind of though it applied more to warmwater species than anything.

Good stuff. Admittedly I don't have a ton of experience with spawning brown trout, as I typically stay away from streams during November to let them "do their thing"!

View attachment 1641246180

View attachment 1641246179

Cmon its a heron poke 100pct quite common and its a female. Lol you guys think thiscis csi quittie