Tionesta Creek, Forest Co, 5-25-18

[Prospector]

Weather Conditions: Sunny, 73 degrees
Time Fished: 645pm - 840pm
Water Conditions: water temp was 67 degrees, flow was near 465 cfs, water was off color
Insects: Thousands of Tan Caddis were charging upstream from the time I arrived until I left. They were not as heavy as grannoms but not far off. I did not see a mayfly

A few fish were rising sporadically but not enough to start with a dry. I wanted a larger offering hoping it would draw some interest, so I chose to swing a Wooly bugger and surprisingly never had a strike. I switched to Gold Ribbed Hares Ear wet since it matched the tan caddis fairly well and had 2 strikes. When I got to the bottom of the hole a few fish rose so I fished back up with a tan caddis dry with no luck. At this point it was approaching 8pm so I need to change things up.

I put on 3 wets (prince, grizzly king and hares ear wet) and made another pass. This time three wets were definitely better than one. I caught 2 rainbows, lost one and had 2 other strikes in about 8 minutes time. I waited too long to switch and the fish shut down after 808pm. Never had another strike. Even tried a streamer toward dark hoping the browns might feed a little in lower light but it wasn’t to be.

 

[Prospector]

I went back to Tionesta this morning (May 26)
Weather Conditions: Sunny, 58 degrees climbing to 73
Time Fished: 7am - 11am
Water Conditions: water temp was 59 when I started and 62 when I quit, flow was near 360cfs, water was off color
Insects: Tan Caddis began hatching about 9am. At that time I also saw 2 lime sallies (those were the only 2 I saw). Some caddis came back to lay eggs. There were caddis around constantly but there were very few when compared to last night. I did not see a mayfly

There were some rising fish but it would be 1 rise in 10 minutes. Probably saw 20 different fish come up. I stayed underwater and caught 3 Browns, 2 Rainbows and a SM Bass on caddis pupa, Royal Coachman wet, and a few different streamers.

The fish were not active at all in the first hour. Neither I nor a fellow fishing minnows had a strike in the first hour. Action was at its best around 930 and a few new arrivals using bait caught quite a few.

The first kayak showed up at 940am but there were only a few today. Usually about 10am on Memorial Weekend it’s pretty constant.