Valley Creek Chester County 02.24.12 11AM-3PM

[fadeaway263]

As I said on the GF pretty disappointed with the weather. Us old guys are not as hardy as you young'uns'. Typing on flies with freezing fingers not easy in your 60's. Air temp and water temp same 42 degrees. Overcast the whole time with periodic misting. Prof caught a nice fish on an 18 scud...the fly JayL says to fish in Valley. We fished above the iron bridge and a lot of fish were rising in the slow big pool where the giant tree has damned it up a bit. Prof got his fish below this pool in fast water where multiple fish were rising. Something small and gray was coming off the water the whole time we were there. Can't believe how many fish are in a stream that is a half hour or so from down town Philly. The history buff in me loves thinking how close Howe's army was to Washington's and am amazed that there were no periodic skirmishes given this close proximity of the armies.

 

[eaglesfn68]

i intend to fish valley sometime soon.

what kinds of flies are working.

i usually like to fish below the bridge. not to much success above it for some reason.

 

[Foxgap239]

PM sent. Let me know if you got it because I didn't get the normal window I usually get.

 

[eaglesfn68]

i did not get any pm's

 

[eaglesfn68]

im quessing the small gray flies u saw were small BWO's or small midges.

 

[Foxgap239]

eaglesfn68 wrote:
i did not get any pm's

Look this time, I got the screen I'm used to seeing.

 

[eaglesfn68]

got it, thanks

 

[LoPan]

I find the Revolutionary War very interesting. Seems the troops were fishing at the Delaware when they were at VF.

In 1938 Harry Emerson Wildes published the book Valley Forge in which he told a fish story that has endured for more than 60 years. According to Wildes, during the spring of 1778, the Continental Army, led by George Washington and camped at Valley Forge along the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, was in dire straits for food:

"Then, dramatically, the famine completely ended. Countless thousands of fat shad, swimming up the Schuylkill to spawn, filled the river….Soldiers thronged the river bank….the cavalry was ordered into the river bed….the horsemen rode upstream, noisily shouting and beating the water, driving the shad before them into nets spread across the Schuylkill….
So thick were the shad that, when the fish were cornered in the nets, a pole could not be thrust into the water without striking fish….The netting was continued day after day…until the army was thoroughly stuffed with fish and in addition hundreds of barrels of shad were salted down for future use." [1]

 

[englishprof]

Lo,

I can guarantee that there were no Brown Trout in Valley back then but I'm sure it was loaded with Brookies!!!!!

 

[Raven456]

Now the shad fishery is getting spot burned! Interesting story.

 

[marcq]

I do remember reading something that they found salmon in the delaware river at one point.

 

[fadeaway263]

LoPan wrote:
I find the Revolutionary War very interesting. Seems the troops were fishing at the Delaware when they were at VF.

Don't think the troops were fishing the Delaware as that is where the Brits were.

 

[paparise]

I can't believe that tree that fell. Glad I wasn't there to see it. Holy smokes.

 

[LoPan]

ment Schuylkill...my bad