Tulpehocken, Berks Co., 4/24/2016

[ROVERT]

I fished a super secret section on the Tully from 9 am to 1 pm.

All the action was nymphing. I found a number of risers that seemed to be taking emerging (tan) caddis but I couldn't make anything happen on top. I did get a couple on a caddis emerger dropper, weighted and suspended, not in the film. Pink flies seemed to drive the rainbows nuts... SJW's and Frenchies for the most part. We caught a few browns but mostly bows. It was pretty good action the entire time.

I've been fishing for wild browns almost exclusively lately. It was fun to mix things up with some feisty bows.

 

[geebee]

nice photos, that first one almost looks like a lightening trout.

was the water very skinny down there ? - I thought that stretch may be a little shallow to hold fish in this low water ?

cheers

mark.

 

[ROVERT]

I've only fished the Tully once before and never that section so I don't have a lot to compare it to. There was a lot of shallow water. The fish were stacked up in the deeper riffles and tops of runs. There were some fish in the shallower riffles as well. I didn't wade through any of it but I'd guess that most of the fish were in 3-4 feet of water.

 

[mikepafly123]

That section is pretty shallow. I few deeper holes but for the most part shallow. I also found that less rising fish in this section versus upper section.

 

[dc410]

I fished a small section toward the upper end of the special regs area late this afternoon. There was a lot of surface activity with all different kinds of riseforms. Decent amount of tan caddis in the air and on the surface. I started out with a dry/dropper rig. CDC & elk with a tan caddis pupa as the dropper. I couldn't buy a take for the first half hour. I switched out the caddis pupa with a size 14 hares ear nymph as the dropper and immediately started catching fish on the nymph. I ended up catching quite a few fish over the next hour with only one being taken on the CDC & elk, all others taking the HE nymph. All rainbows of various sizes. They were fiesty and very acrobatic fighters. Overall, a real nice hour and a half of fishing over a bunch of feeding fish, just couldn't figure out the caddis thing today. Some days are like that on the Tully.

 

[acesedgley]

john, you inspired me to take a trip to the Tully yesterday, my second outing of the year and first on moving water. We had just had to put down our son's Corgie on Tuesday, and I just could not concentrate at work any longer.
Went to the water works area. Loaded with fish, and only one other fisherman who immediately expressed his frustration with the uncooperative nature of the fish rising all over the place!
I had NO caddis drys or emergers with me (lazy tier). Turned a trico into a midge by cutting off the tail and got some looks but no takes.
Then the magic fly appeared. Yellow parachute Adams. Fun ensued with several rainbows and even a couple smaller brownies brought to hand, until the inevitable breakoff!
I had one green plastic bead head caddis pupa (all that I could see hatching were tan). Tied that one on and had it broken off in short order!
Next up...catskill adams (no wings just hackle). Good for a couple more.
This went on til like 7pm. Even managed to catch a couple on an Iso comparadun.
There were so many fish gulping when I left ... it was so hard to leave them like that!
The ones that I caught ...I don't recall any that did not have their mouth beat up.
Here's hoping they spread out a bit, and that I get a chance to give them a try again during Trico time....maybe I'll even try to catch them with a Trico imitation then!!

 

[dc410]

That's great, Darby. The Tully is loaded with fish right now and they are pounding the surface. Mostly tan caddis coming off right now, the green ones haven't started yet (at least I haven't seen any). You nailed it. A lot of guys continue to throw the same fly over fish having convinced themselves that it is the bug they are taking. When fishing the Tully over a lot of rising fish and you haven't had a take in the past 15 minutes, change flies until you find something that works. When I am done fishing for a few hours on the Tully my drying patch on my pack is usually jammed with flies. Glad to hear you had a nice evening!

 

[Mike]

Are any anglers complaining that there are TOO MANY trout that have been stocked in the Tully? Yes, I have heard that comment in the past; that's why I am asking.

 

[wbranch]

Fished the Tully yesterday from noon to 6:30. Fished around Rebers Bridge. Never went more than a minute or two without seeing a couple of rises. There were many periods when there were at least a dozen rising fish within 30'.

The action slowed a bit around 2:30 but picked up strong again at 3:00 and never stopped until around 6:15. I shared the entire stretch with another older gentleman all afternoon. We both caught many fish and were very satisfied.

I rose more than two dozen trout and brought many to hand. Most 9" - 12" good mix of browns and rainbows. The rainbows appeared to be about an inch bigger than the browns. Used 6X all day and never less than a 11' leader. While 95% of the rise forms were boils and fish taking the pupa in the film I was stubborn and just kept force feeding them a #18 LaFontaine emergent pupa from above and usually after a few perfect drifts I was rewarded with a nice take.

Would enjoy going back but the weather looks just too cold for me at this time.

 

[outsider]

Mike wrote:
Are any anglers complaining that there are TOO MANY trout that have been stocked in the Tully? Yes, I have heard that comment in the past; that's why I am asking.

Mike,

IMHO, if there were too many trout in the Tully, they wouldn't be fat and sassy like they are. Apparently there is sufficient food source to support the fish and promote growth. Perhaps the perception of too many fish may be a matter of how fish tend to congregate at stocking points. If all the trout in the DH area were dispersed equally over the entire DH area, that perception may not be the same.

 

[Opie610]

I agree with outsider? More float stocking needs to be done. 25 buckets of fish in on hole is waste. Reber's bridge is a joke. All those fish stacked up and not going anywhere. Yet 50 yards upstream above the riffle its void of fish.

 

[swany50]

Fished the Stillwater section on Fri. 4/29 and fish rising just about everywhere to brown caddis and a spent grayish type bug drifting downstream. Took a little while to find a fly they would take and ended up catching a 12" Brown. Funny thing was I snagged him in the butt and reeled him in tail first and they pull pretty hard when their head is pointed downstream. When I tried to remove the hook my line got caught on my pack and broke off leaving the hook in him and trailing about 2ft of tippet. So if anyone catches a Brownie with a fly and tippet still attached could you remove it for me? Started fishing again after retying and had to quick grab my rod from slipping downstream and broke the rod tip. Had to call it a day.

 

[swany50]

Sorry meant the Palisades section

 

[pcray1231]

Have not fished the Tully this year, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

But historically, I agree with Opie and outsider. # of fish is fine. Concentration is not. At some points the Tully would be stacked with fish near stocking points and rather lean in other areas. I'm always the type that likes to walk a bit and get away from stocking points and other guys. But the distribution almost forces you to do the whole combat fishing thing in order to have much of a shot.

And yeah, I understand that part of the problem is the stream itself, with large stretches that lack any decent holding water punctuated by rather short stretches with decent habitat. But I still think a better job could be done at spreading the fish out, as the stacks of fish are sometimes in poor habitat areas while some better habitat is leaner. Again, historically speaking, since I have no frame of reference for this particular season.

I fished a super secret section on the Tully from 9 am to 1 pm.

That made me laugh, considering the picture of the bridge in the background of the pic to follow. That's an interesting bow. Very light colored. Thanks for the report.

 

[outsider]

A friend and I fished the Tully for a while this morning . I told him not to have great expectations as the water was up a bit and no sun. I always found that caddis like the sun. As expected, there were very few caddis. I did manage to catch 8-9 fish, all on a caddis dry fly with coastal deer hair wing. Missed/stuck several more. And I tied into a fish that I caught a week ago that measured 20". This time he went into a submerged branch and that was that.