DoctorWater15
Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2016
- Messages
- 50
I had a few days off of work, so made a trek up north to fish, and certainly lucked out with the weather and conditions. I fished Slate Run, Cedar Run, and Pine Creek from 4/19 through 4/21. On 4/19, I fished Slate Run.
I started fishing about 0.75mi up the stream from the confluence with Pine Creek. I fished from 8:45AM to 2:30PM, and slowly worked my way fishing upstream, and hopscotching up the road here and there. I ended up fishing a total of about 2 miles of the stream, broken into a few sections. The areas I fished most heavily were the lower section from where I started for about a mile upstream, and then about another mile upstream from just below where Manor Fork dumps in (this is where the Slate Run Rd. and Francis Branch Rd. meet). I lucked out with the weather for this trip. On this day, it started a little chilly (low 40s) but warmed up to the low 60s with clouds in the AM that cleared throughout the day.
The water temperature was 45F, so a little on the chillier side, but heading in the right direction for the season. The water was crystal clear (could see straight through to the stream bottom even in the deepest holes), and flows were a little on the reported lower side. I hadn't fished Slate Run before this, so don't have a comparison as far as flows, but it did seem a little low for this early in the season.
There were sporadic hatches throughout the day, starting with a few blue wing olives, then some tan caddis, and then later in the afternoon a few red quills, and some small cream midges. I did see some small fish feeding on top in some shallow riffles, but couldn't identify any obvious bugs, so I'm guessing they were picking off either some emergers, or some midges.
I caught a handful of fish, ranging in the 6-12in range. All very pretty fish (although I am a total sucker for beautiful and hard-earned wild trout). All fish were found in the slightly deeper/slower pools just down from the faster water or riffles above. None were caught (although a few seen) in the super slow tailouts or pools with no broken water for cover. They were all nymphed up, caught on general attractor patterns with the most popular being a duracell jig or a pheasant tail frenchie with red accents I tie. None were interested in the small streamers I tried. I did ironically spook one pretty large fish (maybe 14-15in?) hiding in about 5 inches of water who then flopped down across the shallow pebbles about 10 feet to the larger pool below. If I'd been quicker on the draw and not awestruck by the size of the fish hiding in shallow water, I probably could have netted him, which would have made for an interesting story!
Again, it was my first time fishing this stream, and I loved it! It was gorgeous, had beautiful fish and crystal clear water, and I really enjoyed the solitude of some of these sections. Certainly you have to put in some work to hike to some of the sections, and the hike out was no joke, but a place I'll definitely return to fish, maybe later in the season when the water is a little warmer.
I started fishing about 0.75mi up the stream from the confluence with Pine Creek. I fished from 8:45AM to 2:30PM, and slowly worked my way fishing upstream, and hopscotching up the road here and there. I ended up fishing a total of about 2 miles of the stream, broken into a few sections. The areas I fished most heavily were the lower section from where I started for about a mile upstream, and then about another mile upstream from just below where Manor Fork dumps in (this is where the Slate Run Rd. and Francis Branch Rd. meet). I lucked out with the weather for this trip. On this day, it started a little chilly (low 40s) but warmed up to the low 60s with clouds in the AM that cleared throughout the day.
The water temperature was 45F, so a little on the chillier side, but heading in the right direction for the season. The water was crystal clear (could see straight through to the stream bottom even in the deepest holes), and flows were a little on the reported lower side. I hadn't fished Slate Run before this, so don't have a comparison as far as flows, but it did seem a little low for this early in the season.
There were sporadic hatches throughout the day, starting with a few blue wing olives, then some tan caddis, and then later in the afternoon a few red quills, and some small cream midges. I did see some small fish feeding on top in some shallow riffles, but couldn't identify any obvious bugs, so I'm guessing they were picking off either some emergers, or some midges.
I caught a handful of fish, ranging in the 6-12in range. All very pretty fish (although I am a total sucker for beautiful and hard-earned wild trout). All fish were found in the slightly deeper/slower pools just down from the faster water or riffles above. None were caught (although a few seen) in the super slow tailouts or pools with no broken water for cover. They were all nymphed up, caught on general attractor patterns with the most popular being a duracell jig or a pheasant tail frenchie with red accents I tie. None were interested in the small streamers I tried. I did ironically spook one pretty large fish (maybe 14-15in?) hiding in about 5 inches of water who then flopped down across the shallow pebbles about 10 feet to the larger pool below. If I'd been quicker on the draw and not awestruck by the size of the fish hiding in shallow water, I probably could have netted him, which would have made for an interesting story!
Again, it was my first time fishing this stream, and I loved it! It was gorgeous, had beautiful fish and crystal clear water, and I really enjoyed the solitude of some of these sections. Certainly you have to put in some work to hike to some of the sections, and the hike out was no joke, but a place I'll definitely return to fish, maybe later in the season when the water is a little warmer.
