Release in the 130cfs range, good clarity, temp 62-64. Fished early morning until 1pm. Started out overcast with drizzle but the sun popped out around 10. Caddis, caddis, caddis. Multiple sizes and colors. Hooked many and landed 15 or so. I could hear the guys below me yelling back and forth "they aren't on the tan caddis" and then yelling up to me "what the hell do you have on?". Lol.....tan caddis. Plenty of fish rising to keep you entertained in addition to the pit bull that was swimming around me while the owner yelled "heel" to no avail. I did enjoy the older man walking with his grandson that stopped by me and told the kid "look at the bald eagle standing in the water behind the fisherman". Evidently, the older man is blind, has never seen a book, movie, us currency and has no internet as he was pointing to a heron. Lmao. Overall, it was a nice morning. The fish are pretty decent size this year and the bows are exceptionally feisty.
Tulpehocken (below Blue Marsh), Berks Co., 5/30/16
- Thread starter krayfish2
- Start date
Great to hear the continued positive buzz about the Tully lately. Very encouraging.
I will also add that the fish came on #16 flies with 5x tippet which is opposite of the Tully mentality that you need #38 flies on 16x tippet to have success. Drag free drift and observation of the target BEFORE casting will go a long way toward hooking up
+1 to everything Andy has said. I've gone up at least half a dozen times to the Tully in May and every time have found dozens of rising fish. I've arrived as early as 6:00 and found rising fish and there are a few quiet periods during the day but the fish start rising again and continue right to dark.
McSneek
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I was "entertained" on the Tully one recent evening by someone who insisted on blasting about 4 - 5 country music songs at a very high volume somewhere off Palisades Drive. Just when I got my casting timing down to the redneck beat they shut it down thank God. lol
95% of the fish I caught in the Tully this spring came on a #16 tan cdc caddis fished with 5x tippet. Might try it later this week but the water is warming. Didn't pay attention to what last night's storms may have done to it either.
95% of the fish I caught in the Tully this spring came on a #16 tan cdc caddis fished with 5x tippet. Might try it later this week but the water is warming. Didn't pay attention to what last night's storms may have done to it either.
McSneek
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Fished it Thursday evening for maybe the last time this year. Temp 63.5 according to USGS site. 130 cfs. Only getting warmer now.
Still tons of caddis coming off. Some big waves migrating upstream. Got a couple right away and thought it would be easy pickins' once again. After that couldn't buy a fish. Lots and lots of splashy refusals and inspections in the low clear water. Think the fish have finally become educated to the difference between a natural and #16 cdc caddis. 6x didn't help. Salvaged the evening with a few more right at a dusk on a biot bodied sulphur sparkle dun when I found another pod of risers just above Reber's bridge, some of which were actually eating those yellow cahills or whatever that mayfly is that hatches around this time on the Tully.
If temps stay decent and flows are OK it should continue to fish but more warm weather will put an end to it IMO.
No country music heard or swimming pit bulls to contend with.
Still tons of caddis coming off. Some big waves migrating upstream. Got a couple right away and thought it would be easy pickins' once again. After that couldn't buy a fish. Lots and lots of splashy refusals and inspections in the low clear water. Think the fish have finally become educated to the difference between a natural and #16 cdc caddis. 6x didn't help. Salvaged the evening with a few more right at a dusk on a biot bodied sulphur sparkle dun when I found another pod of risers just above Reber's bridge, some of which were actually eating those yellow cahills or whatever that mayfly is that hatches around this time on the Tully.
If temps stay decent and flows are OK it should continue to fish but more warm weather will put an end to it IMO.
No country music heard or swimming pit bulls to contend with.
Thursday around noon I measured a water temp of 68 deg F farther downstream. It probably did not last long because a couple of hours later the temp at the gauge started to go down, so most likely the temp below also declined. Sixty-eight is the starting point of temperature stress.
JackM
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Trout get stressed now and again. But, they survive by oxygen more so than temperature. And they move around to find their comfort zone. When a comfort zone cannot be found, temperature stress will be a greater danger. Importantly, the amount of time they are under temperature or oxygen stress is crucial. Peak temperatures at 68-70 are not a significant stressor to worry about; sustained temperatures above that range are definitely harmful, as you will learn from the first fish you catch.
Fished it again on 6-4-16. Early morning til 2-ish. Took Fishwagen for his Tully baptism. Explained how critical of drag they can be and how paranoid they can be. The fish held up their end of the deal.
Overcast skies, clear 145-ish cfs with a temp around 64-65. All the caddis you can eat and then some. Wet waded and my legs were crawling with caddis. Some fish fed on the adults but most were feeding just under the surface on emerging caddis. I did pretty well (thinking i had 20+ fish) and many more hooked / lost or broke me off due to bass master fighting techniques I use. Watched fish follow a bouncing adult caddis for 12'-15'. He false rose to it three times! Paranoia. They have gotten a good bit tougher than just a few weeks ago....... typical Tully BS. Lol. Still used 5x and 6x a few times and if you got a good drift over a fish looking up, the fly received attention. Guy in lot asked if I was using 7x or 8x to fool them. I told him there's never a reason to go below 6 and I typically use 5. Fly shape and drift is the key down there.
If Mike reads this......when do they run the cold pool? Late June and it lasts for 3-4weeks?
Overcast skies, clear 145-ish cfs with a temp around 64-65. All the caddis you can eat and then some. Wet waded and my legs were crawling with caddis. Some fish fed on the adults but most were feeding just under the surface on emerging caddis. I did pretty well (thinking i had 20+ fish) and many more hooked / lost or broke me off due to bass master fighting techniques I use. Watched fish follow a bouncing adult caddis for 12'-15'. He false rose to it three times! Paranoia. They have gotten a good bit tougher than just a few weeks ago....... typical Tully BS. Lol. Still used 5x and 6x a few times and if you got a good drift over a fish looking up, the fly received attention. Guy in lot asked if I was using 7x or 8x to fool them. I told him there's never a reason to go below 6 and I typically use 5. Fly shape and drift is the key down there.
If Mike reads this......when do they run the cold pool? Late June and it lasts for 3-4weeks?
DrNymph
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I agree with observation of the target is key. I've found that the fish up there rise in bursts of three. THrowing a fly before or after that burst will likely result in no fish and you changing the fly a thousand times, when in reality, you have the right pattern, and just the wrong timing.
I fished the Tully today from 8:00 to 12:00. Last week I was there and there were nine other guys, and a gal, above Rebers Bridge. Today other than one other fellow who didn't stay very long I had the entire section to myself.
Great rising action from 8:00 - 10:00. Caddis, caddis, caddis! I like using 6X and a pair of #18 Lafontaine emergent pupa. One with a tan body and the other a olive body. I fish them dry, from above on an angle, so they see the fly before they see anything else.
It was funny that I missed the first nine fish I rose! I was ticked when I missed the first two but then it became funny and I was able to laugh about it. I finally got my timing on track and was hooking, and landing fish consistently.
I lost track of my count after 18 rises. Probably more like 20-22. Landed 14. Most 11" - 12", a couple 13"-14". Had on a really nice brown of about 15" - 16". I saw the size when it jumped and cavorted on the surface. As it happened a big blue heron also saw the commotion and flew right over to where the fish was splashing and dove in the water to try and swallow my big trout! It really ticked me off. I don't catch 15" browns everyday on the Tully. I yelled at the bird to no avail so I had to purposely break off the fish otherwise it would of been eaten by the heron.
The action slowed down dramatically a bit after 10:00 but I kept at it and found a few more rising fish. Then it got hot and humid and pretty much totally shut down. I had a very enjoyable four hours.
Great rising action from 8:00 - 10:00. Caddis, caddis, caddis! I like using 6X and a pair of #18 Lafontaine emergent pupa. One with a tan body and the other a olive body. I fish them dry, from above on an angle, so they see the fly before they see anything else.
It was funny that I missed the first nine fish I rose! I was ticked when I missed the first two but then it became funny and I was able to laugh about it. I finally got my timing on track and was hooking, and landing fish consistently.
I lost track of my count after 18 rises. Probably more like 20-22. Landed 14. Most 11" - 12", a couple 13"-14". Had on a really nice brown of about 15" - 16". I saw the size when it jumped and cavorted on the surface. As it happened a big blue heron also saw the commotion and flew right over to where the fish was splashing and dove in the water to try and swallow my big trout! It really ticked me off. I don't catch 15" browns everyday on the Tully. I yelled at the bird to no avail so I had to purposely break off the fish otherwise it would of been eaten by the heron.
The action slowed down dramatically a bit after 10:00 but I kept at it and found a few more rising fish. Then it got hot and humid and pretty much totally shut down. I had a very enjoyable four hours.
Matt, picking up a rock and firing it at the herons head usually gets them to leave. I would never do such a thing but I've seen it done 😉 They become amazingly bold and are not bothered by humans in the slightest. Good to hear you redeemed yourself from the last trip
