Valley Creek. Chester County. 11/30/12

[NickR]

I was able to sneak in almost two hours yesterday on Valley Creek. Lots of midges coming off and the fish were looking up. I found rising fish throughout the entire stretch I fished. I picked up 7 browns, which included one large brown. This was probably one of my biggest browns to date that I have caught out of Valley and a very rare fish for this stream. If your going to fish Valley and you find rising fish, most likely they are eating midges.

 

[dc410]

That's a dandy brownie, for sure. Very nice!

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

NickR,

Nice catch!

Any chance you netted him with white rubber net? I think I was fishing upstream of you when you caught that fish! If not, then there was another guy who also caught a big brown yesterday!

If it was you, nice job playing that fish! The one I watched included 3 big jumps and a little drag pulling!,,

I have only been fishing Valley for just under a year now and always impressed to see fish like that in there.

Did you get a chance to measure that fish?

Which midge pattern did he take?

Congrats!

 

[DaveKile]

Nice NickR and thanks for the the post.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Lovely fish.

 

[NickR]

Fly-n-lion,

That is not my net that you found. I didn't see anybody else in view when I caught that fish.

I have been fishing Valley for quite a few years with some success and have found that most of the browns top off around 8-9 inches. There are some big ones but they can be tough to locate.

One of my friends caught a really big brown out front of Washington's headquarters which he nicknamed the quartermaster. I saw a picture of it and it was an impressive fish.

 

[riverwhy]

Yes a beauty for sure! I would also like to know how big this one is. And to be clear you caught it on a midge? Also do you think this Is a fish that ran up from the Schuylkill?

 

[JohnPowers]

I've only caught small mouths and red eyes in the river there. I'm sure trout find their way into the river but when they feel themselves staring to poach no doubt they head back up the creek. I dont think the river plays much of a part in their lives. It gets very warm. I saw a fish there during that mild spell in march that was every bit a big as the trout we brag on in the west branch. Most are much smaller but it's their incredible numbers that impresses me. I'd think bookies would thrive there were it not for all those brown foreigners.....only kidding. I love brown trout.

 

[NickR]

Caught it on a small cranefly larva imitation. I did not measure the fish but if I could kind of size it up honestly I think it was possibly more than 18 inches. I think it was around 19-20 inches but cannot say for sure since I did not measure.

I don't believe that this fish spent any time in the Schuykill River. I don't really see much of a reason for the trout in Valley to venture into the Schuykill. They have food, cold water, and good habitat in Valley. Plus I think it would be a miracle if the fish could make it up the dam in the park.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

NickR,

I caught this 14"-er in Valley this morning on a white marabou streamer.

Your fish had to be over 18" at least.

 

[NickR]

Hey good job! That is a nice fish.

You can find the big ones in Valley occasionally. I spotted one that stayed in the same spot for about a year... I went back on a few separate occasions to see if I could catch him but never did. The first time I saw him he had a sucker lodged head first in his mouth. The sucker looked to be about 8-9 inches. He was trying to swallow the sucker head first. I thought he was going to die if that fish got stuck like that. Finally the sucker worked his way free but that fish had to have been about 20 inches or so. I think that fish moved onto another location.

 

[martin0206]

Wow that's a huge fish for Valley. Biggest I've caught there was probably 12-13 and the biggest I've seen was around 16. It was in complete slack current and I think it just laughed at me when I tried to get anything within its vicinity.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

I am always amazed at where those big guys hide. Up under banks, in what looks like 10" of water , in fast riffles that appear to be only a few inches deep,,, just upstream of deep holes... Never where you expect them to be.

I have spotted a few over the past year , by sheer accident, and can't believe that they are still there the next time I walk by.


Eventually, they move to a new secret spot, where they will hang and smirk at my flies as they drift by...

Always a treat when one ambushes your fly,, never when you actually target them,, all of the bigger fish that I have caught, have come out of nowhere to crush my fly.

 

[NickR]

Fly-n-Lion,

I had to take my daughter to a doctors appointment in King of Prussia and drove through the park... that warm sun looked to be heating the water up just enough to get the bugs going and I could see rising fish as I was driving by. I wanted to stop and take a walk along the stream below the covered bridge but my daughter was crabby from her ear infection so I just went home. If there was going to be a day to fish Valley this winter today would have been the day. Tomorrow will be even nicer out as I am told. I will not be able to make it during the day but may try to run over after dinner.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

Nick,

Sorry to hear that your daughter is not feeling well. Hope she feels better soon.

I hope to get out after work tomorrow as I think you are right, this weather will definitely get the bugs popping and fish looking up!

I need to tie more midge patterns!! I usually tie small for Valley... #24's , #26's & 28's for dries.

Recommend any good patterns??

Thanks!


I will look for you if I get out there tomorrow.

Good luck!

 

[englishprof]

Fished there today. Real tough going. Plenty of midges, but no rising fish. I hate midges, but guess I'll have to go small. Be there tomorrow, but upstream from where you guys were fishing.

 

[mikesl]

Spent a few hours on Valley this afternoon - Beautiful Day!

Water was 50ish, fish were rising all over the place, presumably to midges.

Still learning how to do the tiny invisible midge thing... after adding a caddis "indicator" fly I could see I was getting a comical amount of drag - loops of slack leader getting pulled every which way 🙂

Anyway, improved my drift, and certainly wasn't spooking fish because they rose right and left of my fly - but still something I am missing with tiny dries.

I suspect the tippet (7x) was visible because it was visibly distorting the surface film - perhaps sloppy floatant use? Is it common to clean tippet to make it sink so it disappears?

Had some better luck with a walt's worm in faster water, but not one of my better days.

Still great to see so many fish on the creek, and see them active.

Another cool thing was a bat came out around 4:30 and actually snagged bugs off the water surface, doing strafing runs like a miniature eagle.

 

[pcray1231]

mikesl, Rarely is it "seeing" the tippet. I think you could have a rope on there, and if it weren't for drag, they'd still hit. Glue a few inches of some 1x to a real bug, toss it out there, and I bet it gets taken.

Could be the wrong size, that's easy to change. Could be the wrong part of the water column, maybe your natural is floating on top and the naturals are in the film, or vice versa?

Most likely, micro-drag. A little drag doesn't necessarily spook the fish, it just makes it look different than what they're eating, which is drag free.

Finer tippets can help with drag, though I never go below 7x. Lengthening the tippet, or using more supple material has the same effect. Play with the leader and tippet length, play with slack line casts. And part of it is accuracy. With such small bugs they focus on the smallest little current seams, and you gotta be in that seam with the fly doing exactly as the naturals. Invisible naturals make this task harder, about all you can do is guess what naturals are doing by bubbles and such.

Take heart, midge fishing is like this nomatter how good you are. You do get better, but "expert" still results in a lot more refusals than takes.

 

[DaveKile]

Just a friendly reminder this forum is to post stream reports.

I believe in the sharing of information and if you don't believe in sharing that is okay too, but this is not the forum to [d]get on your soapbox[/d] debate your beliefs.

Stream Report Forum Guidelines
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Please understand if you do not follow the guidelines the Moderators without notice may modify or delete your report.

Things you should try to include: water conditions, weather conditions, stream, date, time, location, hatches, fishing successes, flies used and other pertinent information.

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Thank you and please keep these useful for everyone."

 

[mikesl]

Point taken. If I knew how to edit a post I would separate out the newbie question form the stream-report part.