Ridley Creek/Del. Co./4-12-2017

[Van_Cleaver]

Fished afternoon to about six. Water clear and below median flow; temp 60. Sunny with few bugs mostly tan caddis. Fished above Gradyville bridge and then down into the park all the way to where it was stocked recently. There were only a few good runs in between but they held some fish; best one produced four hook ups and landed three. Finally hit a deep hole where they had stocked and it was loaded. The trout were fairly easy to hook and the average size seemed bigger than usual. One nicely colored and shaped brown was 16" and feisty especially since I didn't bring a net. Highlights were landing three fat Brook trout and finding my favorite hemostats I had lost earlier. On my way down I stumbled into a tiny hole with about forty freshly stocked trout in it. The stringer slingers are relentless in this area so I hooked and moved 10 or so into faster water. I re rigged and apparently dropped the hemos but didn't realize it til I stopped to talk to some anglers on my way out. There they were loop ends stuck in the mud right in front of the log were I had sat earlier. Beautiful day to get out; got some serious exercise, and educated a bunch of fish.

 

[Fredrick]

I fished Chester Park the same day it was a mad house . Allot of the guys there were chumming with food pellets while they through their bait ball in the mix. It didn't look like the State spread the fish out at all . There must of been 300 fish right at the bridge. There was some shady characters there that made me feel uneasy and I work in a prison so what does that tell you .

 

[Van_Cleaver]

There were a few holes that had silly nos. of fish, but almost the whole stretch of water in the park (Below Gradyville ) was untouched by anglers and quite peaceful, though a lot less fish. Can't really blame the state; it's really hard to float stock without a lot of organization and volanteers and the stream is really low with several log jams. They are usually on as time schedule as well. Fresh stocking seems to attract some charachters for sure. The good thing is the high water on Opening Day semed to spead the trout out so most streams in the area are holding decent nos. Just have to hike a bit away from ther known stocking points if you want quiet.

 

[lestrout]

Yo Fred

I helped stock Ridley this week and there was a guy with a float stocking raft at Chester Park.