Fisherman's Paradise section of Spring Creek (not my first choice, but I had the Mrs. with me and she likes the benches and nearby restroom access...) Noon to approx. 3:30 PM. Partly cloudy with air temps mid to upper 60's and water temp of 53F at about 1PM. Creek at about normal level and "limestone clear" (very slight murk..). A few trike spinners around 12:30 to which the fish paid little if any attention.
I don’t normally post stream reports, but I thought the following might be of interest in the sense that it sort of illustrates that there is more than one way to skin a c.., er, successfully approach a heavily pressured piece of water. It also reinforces what I believe to be one of the cardinal rules of fishing water that gets pounded pretty hard: Doing something unorthodox that the fish have not seen very often can be heap powerful medicine in situations like this.
To stop philosophizing and cut to the chase, I landed about 20 browns between 9 and 14 inches in the 3.5 or so hours I was on the water and probably missed or rolled close to that many more. All the fish took a poorly tied #10 deerhair ant fished on 6X. I did not fish the pools or slower water, but instead concentrated on the very shallow water tight to the bank and on small bankside pockets adjacent to these places in the broken water sections of the lower Paradise. I don’t think I ever bothered casting more than 10 feet away from the bank and the vast majority of the takes were within 3-5 feet of the bank in water that was seldom more than 18 inches deep. I just plopped the ant down in what looks like a good spot and as often not, I’d see a wake headed for the fly and away we’d go…. I think the longest cast I made all afternoon was about 25-30 feet. This was mostly pretty close work. Over the years, unless there were enough bugs to get the fish’s attention, this is pretty much the way I’ve always fished most PA limestones once the water temps got up to reliable surface fishing levels. From about mid-May to the first hard frost in the Fall, it has always worked pretty well for me whether I was on Spring Creek or Fishing Creek or Honey Creek or down in the Cumberland Valley. I’d be the first guy to admit this probably isn’t the best way to move the biggest fish in the creek. But as a technique to keep the rod bent and the interest level high, it sure is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. And I virtually never see anybody else doing this, which I’ve never really understood..
I don’t normally post stream reports, but I thought the following might be of interest in the sense that it sort of illustrates that there is more than one way to skin a c.., er, successfully approach a heavily pressured piece of water. It also reinforces what I believe to be one of the cardinal rules of fishing water that gets pounded pretty hard: Doing something unorthodox that the fish have not seen very often can be heap powerful medicine in situations like this.
To stop philosophizing and cut to the chase, I landed about 20 browns between 9 and 14 inches in the 3.5 or so hours I was on the water and probably missed or rolled close to that many more. All the fish took a poorly tied #10 deerhair ant fished on 6X. I did not fish the pools or slower water, but instead concentrated on the very shallow water tight to the bank and on small bankside pockets adjacent to these places in the broken water sections of the lower Paradise. I don’t think I ever bothered casting more than 10 feet away from the bank and the vast majority of the takes were within 3-5 feet of the bank in water that was seldom more than 18 inches deep. I just plopped the ant down in what looks like a good spot and as often not, I’d see a wake headed for the fly and away we’d go…. I think the longest cast I made all afternoon was about 25-30 feet. This was mostly pretty close work. Over the years, unless there were enough bugs to get the fish’s attention, this is pretty much the way I’ve always fished most PA limestones once the water temps got up to reliable surface fishing levels. From about mid-May to the first hard frost in the Fall, it has always worked pretty well for me whether I was on Spring Creek or Fishing Creek or Honey Creek or down in the Cumberland Valley. I’d be the first guy to admit this probably isn’t the best way to move the biggest fish in the creek. But as a technique to keep the rod bent and the interest level high, it sure is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. And I virtually never see anybody else doing this, which I’ve never really understood..
