Spring Creek Centre County 5/11/19

[albud1962]

Rolled into Benner Springs at 1 pm. The Rte 322 construction is a bear. Sunny skies, not what was hoped for. But later in the day the clouds returned and things picked up. Sporadic rises, but dun sulfurs largely ignored. There were midges hatching but using a size 22 yielded no results. Fish began to increase surface activity. Snowshoe emerger went untouched. finally landed my first fish with a sulfur version of the missing link. The flies seemed smaller than the normal size 14 I usually use. I looked in my sling pack for the arsenal of sulfurs I had been accumulating but couldn’t find them. Panic set in. I watch trout in a run rising but too what? I could see them rise to the duns, only to reject them at the last minute. I rummaged in my pack and found some light Hendricksons Compraduns that I purchased from Mike Heck. I dusted them with powder hoping to make them a little lighter. I missed several but soon the fish didn’t want anything to do with my fly. I made the tough decision to leave the rising fish for the next pool upstream. As I waded up I noticed flies coming off the faster water and trout voraciously grabbing them. I ended up catching quite a few including a fat 15” brown. I wanted to be closer to my car at dusk so I headed back to the parking lot. Unfortunately 6 others had a similar idea so the pool next to the parking lot was full. To add to further insult I found my sulfur box was in my pants pocket all along. I decided to head to Rock Road for the spinner fall. Two gents were in the pool at the rock but they were heading out when I arrived. We had a nice conversation about the day and I slipped in where they had previously been. I saw a swarm of flies hovering high above the pool.no risers, so I waited. The flies got lower and lower then on the water. Some fish rose to the spinner fall and I managed two more, but it was over quickly. I packed it up and savored the fun of fishing the sulfur hatch. If it ever stops raining maybe I can fish the local hatch at the Breeches.

 

[pcray1231]

smaller flies were the dorothea's. Typically a 16 and lighter in color.

Early on in that run, the trout probably taking floating nymphs. Very common. I often tie a unweighted nymph on a dry fly hook, put floatant on, and trail it behind a dun. In certain situations it slaughters them. That sounds like such a situation. In the faster water they were taking duns and you got them there.

 

[albud1962]

I guess I should have used the sulfur with folded cdc wingcase. I still haven't figured out the subsurface emerger game.

 

[pcray1231]

sulphers are famous for it.

They are swimming nymphs. Look like schools of small minnows at times when active and approaching emergence! Before emergence, they swim to the surface, and hang there just under the surface film floating in the current. At this point they are very vulnerable to trout. Then they break the shuck, and emerge onto the surface. Ride it a while, and fly away.

Often the places they hatch is rather small. Will be a smooth current run in one or two areas per pool rather than all over. Follow duns upstream, just above where they are numerous is where this is going on. If fish are feeding in those areas, often with a porpoise type rise in current or a "slurp" in slower water, they're often taking the floating nymphs. Any fly where the body is below water often works, or just trying to float a nymph.

Farther down, or around riffles and stuff where any duns that didn't fly away in time get caught in a heavier current, duns are more important I think.

 

[outsider]

At times I think sulfur duns must taste like sulfur to trout. Hundreds of times I would see them floating down a stream by the dozens and fish ignore them. Yet they are easy prey. Other times I see trout gorge on them. What is in the fishes eye.