Valley Creek, Chester Co. 01/12/2014

[geebee]

Air Temp 43F, Water Temp 42F, slightly tinted and falling at 60CFS, wind W10, broken cloud and sun.

Fished 1.30-3.30pm above the park, picked up two fish (8" and 6")on a #18 zebra nymph under an indicator along an undercut bank and at the head of a pool. Also picked up a dink on a #18 cream buzzer along another bank.

saw the odd midge come off and a couple of real nice fish move on the top in the middle of a deep pool. it looked a good spot to drift a pair of soft hackles but i ran out of time...

plenty of size #16 bugs scooting across the silt at my feet - any idea what they were ? long slim and black.

Cheers

Mark.

 

[pcray1231]

SNJchef and I also fished it yesterday. 8:30-1:00 or so. I got 8, he got 5. Had a bad hooking day as we both missed plenty more. No size to speak of. Pretty average day for VC, but I'll take it in the heart of January.

Both using standard nymphs in the size 14-18 range. I used Hare's Ears, PT's, Prince Nymphs, and Copper John's, all with and without beads (I lost some flies yesterday, and was thin on each pattern).

I'd have liked a little more flow and color but it wasn't terrible conditions. Got away with 4x tippets most of the day.

Saw a handful of risers. Nothing steady and we never switched to dries.

 

[geebee]

i was using 5x.

given that it was 1F on Tuesday, i'll take it too.

 

[bean]

Been reading the site for a while now, and after all the great information I've gotten from you guys I finally decided it was time to start posting and contributing.

Also fished Valley yesterday for a short time in the morning with a friend. Little to no wind, no risers I could see, and the water was a bit off-color. but wasn't too high. Air was a little chilly in the morning before the sun came out. Fished up to and a little ways past Little Valley.

Nymphed most of the day with size 16-20 HEs and PTs and missed a few, but ran into a nice gentleman with his daughter who tipped us off to them hitting streamers. Got a great looking one on a sculpin and decided to end it on a high note. Pic should show up but if not, forgive me, I'm working on it.

 

[sroach]

Bean,

That's a nice looking fish. Congrats.

 

[Foxgap239]

Streamers were the ticket Sunday. I picked up quite a few on WB-ers as well including a nice 11" bad boy on Little. I also got two on pink SJ's. I've seen them more aggressive to streamers after a rain but I'm thinking the colder temps kept them from being as aggressive as normal. Just nice to get out for the first time in 2014.

 

[jackstrawphilly]

Hi,
I caught 2 on pheasant tails Monday, (not the zebra midge trailing below it), below the covered bridge and downstream.

Question for the guys who catch so many... I find I can only spot the fish from the trail when they are not rising.
Do you recommend walking the path and spotting fish then creeping in and casting where you saw them? I find once in the water I can't spot them anymore below so I just fish to where I think I saw them. Any tips appreciated!

 

[pcray1231]

#1, I don't think any of the above were fishing in the park.

#2, on VC, if they aren't rising, once you see them it's too late, they see you too.

I mean, I have spotted fish and caught them. But it's not typical, and it's not my strategy. I fish water, not fish. If I happen to see fish, yeah, I'll make a cast or two, but I'm likely to spend less time there because I figure they've been spooked.

And here's a hint. The moderate successes on Sunday had an awful lot to do with rain on Saturday. An advantage that was likely diminished or completely lost by Monday.

I've always said, where and when is 80% of being successful in this sport.

And another hint. Cover water. In a few hours of fishing you should cover some real distance. I do tend to fish a bit slower in the winter, as fish are sluggish in the colder water. Instead of 2 or 3 casts per pool maybe you give it 5-10. They're spooky and not always on the feed, but they aren't overly persnickety on flies or presentation. So if they're feeding and you haven't spooked them, they're gonna hit pretty quick. If they don't and you stay, you're wasting time which would be better used covering more fish. In the back of your mind you should be telling yourself that you're looking for the few dullards of the bunch (which simply means not spooked and currently feeding).

Even in winter, if you are in the park, in 4 or 5 hours you should be able to cover the WHOLE park, from mouth to turnpike. And that's going slow by my standards.

 

[geebee]

The moderate successes on Sunday had an awful lot to do with rain on Saturday. An advantage that was likely diminished or completely lost by Monday.

i can only speak for myself but i think thats what made a difference for me.

i also concentrated more on faster deeper runs and the heads of pools ( that Free copy of Dave Whitlocks "Reading the Water" was a real help) where i couldn't see the fish and they couldn't see me. the tinted water must of helped.

and i was also very careful wading and knelt on the bank wherever i could.

thirdly, i made sure my drifts were as tight to cover, or the edges as i could get them, and i adjusted the weight or indicator depth so the nymph was occasionally snagging bottom.

as i put in the OP, those three fish were my first from VC in three visits, so i'm no expert.

 

[camdogrs]

Were the fish hitting the streamers and buggers on the dead drift or on a strip back up stream? I found that at valley you get a lot of short hits on the streamers and buggers and it helps to clip the tails a little to shorten them up a bit.

 

[bean]

in my limited time fishing them that day i was swinging with quick, short strips back. a well-timed strip set finally solved that.

the sculpin i used had a short tail already, but i agree with the long tails causing issues with hook-ups on smaller fish

 

[Foxgap239]

pcray1231 wrote:
#1, I don't think any of the above were fishing in the park.

#2, on VC, if they aren't rising, once you see them it's too late, they see you too.

I mean, I have spotted fish and caught them. But it's not typical, and it's not my strategy. I fish water, not fish. If I happen to see fish, yeah, I'll make a cast or two, but I'm likely to spend less time there because I figure they've been spooked.

And here's a hint. The moderate successes on Sunday had an awful lot to do with rain on Saturday. An advantage that was likely diminished or completely lost by Monday.

I've always said, where and when is 80% of being successful in this sport.

And another hint. Cover water. In a few hours of fishing you should cover some real distance. I do tend to fish a bit slower in the winter, as fish are sluggish in the colder water. Instead of 2 or 3 casts per pool maybe you give it 5-10. They're spooky and not always on the feed, but they aren't overly persnickety on flies or presentation. So if they're feeding and you haven't spooked them, they're gonna hit pretty quick. If they don't and you stay, you're wasting time which would be better used covering more fish. In the back of your mind you should be telling yourself that you're looking for the few dullards of the bunch (which simply means not spooked and currently feeding).

Even in winter, if you are in the park, in 4 or 5 hours you should be able to cover the WHOLE park, from mouth to turnpike. And that's going slow by my standards.

Completely agree with pcray. I catch very few fish on dries on VC. My best day on VC was with dries but that was an exceptional caddis day and not typical for me. I fish mostly nymphs in normal VC water conditions or WB's after a rain. They can be incredibly aggressive in off color water but the water temp does have to be right. VC has an incredible amount of fish and they can be caught if you pay your dues in time on the water. I know this creek pretty well and I cover a lot of water because I know the dead water versus the prime spots. That only comes with time and experimentation there.

 

[Foxgap239]

camdogrs wrote:
Were the fish hitting the streamers and buggers on the dead drift or on a strip back up stream? I found that at valley you get a lot of short hits on the streamers and buggers and it helps to clip the tails a little to shorten them up a bit.

I primarily use small WB's. Size 10 and 12 with a bead and the tail the same length as the body. In my opinion short strikes are just a normal thing while streamer fishing. I would say I miss more fish on streamers than I catch but I think that's just the nature of that beast. An old VC guy once told me that the best way to fish there is to fish across and strip perpendicular to the bank. I have to agree but I also do well stripping back against the current. One thing I will advise when fishing in high off color water, is to not fish deep. VC fish seem to love to ambush prey from below. I love stripping it back and seeing a fish come out of the deep and slam the bugger. Keep at it, they can be had and I think they are some of the prettiest browns I catch.

 

[Bosshog]

Fished VC yesterday. Landed one, about 8 inches.

I'm still a rookie when it comes to VC, and it took a few trips there before I caught my first fish.

I also agree with others, the first fish i caught there was after a big rain and some snow melt, and it was also 65 degrees in the middle of december. All my fish have been caught on nymphs.

 

[sarce]

Agree on getting lots of short strikes on valley. I think it's mainly because most of the fish there are pretty small. The larger ones don't seem to miss as often.

Back in my spin fishing days I had a day on valley where I probably drew strikes from over 100 fish, landed 32. Not a great ratio but not terrible either. The largest ones that day were about 12".

 

[johnstevens5462]

This stream sounds like it is worth making the trip.

 

[Foxgap239]

johnstevens5462 wrote:
This stream sounds like it is worth making the trip.

Maybe it's just me, but any stream that has cold water flowing and things with fins swimming in it, is worth my trip. 🙂 Remember we call it fishing and not catching. It's all about the journey not necessarily the outcome!

 

[JasonS]

Meh. It depends where you're coming from. There's really nothing special about this stream, other then where it's located. And by that I mean a wild trout stream 15 minutes from Philly, which also means there's approx 1 trillion people fishing it per day. Also, I never nymph this stream. Next to brookie fishing, this is probably the easiest stream to catch fish on dries.

 

[geebee]

IMHO all small wild trout streams are special. I think it's pretty myself but as mentioned its pretty pressured and can be a toughie.

 

[englishprof]

Funny.....I probably fish it as much or more than anyone and unless it's someone fishing with me, I never see another fisherman on Valley.