Valley Creek. Chester County. 11/30/12

[The_Sasquatch]

Oh mike, no worries. DKile was addressing a series of posts that have been deleted, not your post. Your post, in my non-mod opinion, was appropriate.

 

[DaveKile]

Mike,

The thread got cut at certain point because a few posts started heading in the wrong direction. Just want to make it clear for everyone stream reports are welcome here and discussions that pertain to that specific report as well.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

Fished Valley upstream from Bradford Rd.
wow , it got cold and windy in a hurry this afternoon.

Still, that did not stop the fish from rising for most of the afternoon.

I tried out some new #28 super small bead head midge emergers that I tied today. Pretty cool, I got about 10 refusals and no takes. Twice they moved my fly with their nose but did not eat it!!!

Very interesting.

I tied these with cream thread base with a dark brown thread as the rib and a dark bead. I used clear ice flash as a wing case.


Oh well, back to the vise tonight.

 

[englishprof]

Lion,

I fished the same section yesterday. Saw all of the midges, but no risers. Went to my favorite section upstream and still no risers, but did a little better up there on small nymphs. That damn stream seems more difficult this time of year.

 

[englishprof]

Lion,

Hell the hell did you get all of that material on a 28 hook? LOL.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

EnglishProf,

I have a huge lighted magnifier on my bench!!

Last year, I started fishing Valley Creek on 12/20/2011 and only saw microscopic midges hatching on most days..... I tried to catch a few bugs.... Almost impossible .... But managed to get a few in my hat one day... I started tying down to #32's. I found super small beads and incredibly thin gold wire, and started tying zebras, etc.

Lots if fun to tie on 7x on a cold afternoon.... But, really cool when a fish sips one out of the film!

Some days those fish can get very picky..... Always a challenge.

Looking forward to a fun winter, as I go into my second year on the stream. Fortunately, I kept a pretty detailed log last year and hope to benefit from the experience I gained last year.

See ya out there.

 

[pcray1231]

Pretty cool, I got about 10 refusals and no takes. Twice they moved my fly with their nose but did not eat it!!!

Coolness.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was the going underneath that helped. You were on top before, they didn't even notice the thing and kept going like your fly didn't exist. Now you're underneath, and from a distance, it registered as food to the fish.

So one question solved. They are focusing on stuff under the surface, not on it. But something still isn't quite right, hence the refusals. Now, it's probably microdrag, or the fly is sitting wrong, or a color, or 1 size off, or something. Keep experimenting, you're closer now. Just as a warning, you've taken the low hanging fruit on this puzzle, and each step gets progressively tougher.

One thing I've noticed, is that if you can find em rising in a little more current, they're more likely to hit. I'm not saying not to try to finish off the puzzle in slow water. But an alternative thought is to fish faster water. When you're that close, the "exactness" standard is a little lower in faster water. Rises are a lot more difficult to see in a broken surface, though. They're there. You just have to look REALLY close, it's just shadows rising and falling, you may not see the ring on the surface.

 

[marcq]

those are some great fish from that stream guys. I know a few spots where big fish hang I guess the trick is big fuzzy streamers. the bigger fish in that stream are some of the smartest I have come by.

marc

 

[Mike]

Large BT in poor condition used to enter Valley from the Schuylkill on an annual basis, usually in late May or more often in June. They generally could not get past the dam on Valley. Their abundance was finally documented in June, 1995, when 35 ranging in lengths from 17-23 inches were collected within 321 m. of the dam's base.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

Ok. Cracked the code today!

Tied #22 tan emerger w/ extra fine gold wire rib , grey CDC wing, and olive dub for the head.

Fished in the park today. Found some nice fish consistently rising next to a log on the far bank.

Rain was on/off for most of the afternoon, water was still pretty clear.

Landed 2 nice ones, lost 5 others, and missed a bunch of others.

They were really diggin this fly. Fished on 5x casting down stream.






Fun on a 1wt... Fly used in pic.

 

[NickR]

Good one! Cdc is great for midges and you didnt need to fish a size 32 all the better.

 

[mushumatt]

I tend to use egg yarn for my zebra emerger. I have never noticed a difference between egg yarn n CDC, and I personally don't think the fish can tell.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

Got out to Valley for a short trip this afternoon after dropping my wife at the mall.

Water was slightly stained today , perfect streamer water!!

Snatched this guy out of the air over some riffles and went back to dries!!

Nice BWO HATCH this afternoon.

 

[wvuandy1]

Great pic of that BWO- fly'n what size would you you guess that would equate to in hook size? I'm still learning this game and would appreciate your feedback. I was out there early this morning and had my best day ever all on a zebra midge size 22. This was the first time I have used a fly that I actually tied myself. I wish I knew how to post pics from my Iphone I had one that was worthy.

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

WV,

After catching the bug above, I went home and tied this BWO fly..

#24 dry fly hook
Tan thread
Olive turkey biot for body
Grey CDC wing
Black hackle



I was on Valley Creek yesterday from 12:30 to 5:00pm. It was raining most of the time, but the water stayed fairly clear. I fished w Tom. We found more BWOs coming off in the riffles again.

This fly produced very well. I hooked up 6 nice fish, all on this fly, all in the riffles.

Tom hooked up on soft hackles in the slow water,, #22s w olive bodies / tan partridge hackles.


Checkout photo bucket app for your iPhone. Pretty easy to use.

 

[wvuandy1]

Fly'n- very helpful and informative.
I love CDC and will look to attempt to tie a few. There is nothing better than dry fly fishing. I let the rain yesterday intimidate me from fishing dry flies alone. There is so much to learn and I greatly value your reply.
I also will download the photo bucket app ASAP.

Thank you again,

wvuandy

 

[wvuandy1]

 

[Fly-n-Lion]

Nice fish! I did not get out yesterday. Did you see any bugs coming off?

 

[wvuandy1]

Thx- This was from Sunday morning. I was fishing in the fog and drizzle and because of that I assumed the bug activity would not have been prolific in top. As I said, I started FF'n late spring and have been slowly learning ever since. I noted your BWO pic from the day before and was prepared with a few (Orvis CDC BWO's). I thought nymphing would have been the best route because of the rain. Needless to say, from reading I have realized I could have had a great day on the dry.
Your post will have me open my eyes a bit more the next time I'm on the water. Great info much appreciated!

 

[lablover]

Isn't that the picture of the fish I sent you last year?