Valley Creek, Chester County 9/16/2014

[huntfish]

were you in the park?

 

[Longbow]

I was planning to head there tomorrow. Will see if I see anything.

 

[Nympho]

I fished from the Chesterbrook bridge up to the mouth of Little Valley.

 

[huntfish]

weird..when i fish in the park i'll see some occasionally but never seen any outside the park.

 

[Longbow]

Met some nice guys and managed to land a couple of nice fish. I think the fish in the pic was my best brownie to date on Valley. Hit a pheasant tail; great fight. Merry Christmas to all.

 

[FlyForFun]

Not meaning to hijack the thread but was curious if any of you more experienced guys wouldn't mind giving a few tips to a newbie for fishing Valley Creek? Have walked the creek before and was thinking of trying to fish it a bit this winter, maybe even this sunday.

 

[marcq]

valley is a tough stream for new guys. this time of year the fish start to slow down and so do the hatches. might still get blue wing olives but most of the fish are eating midges and scuds. fish a tandem rig which is two flies. I would start with a bead head pheasant tail or heirs ear size 14 to 18. then a midge. size 20 to 24. make sure you are near the bottom.
I like to cover a lot of ground. I start in the park but walk out up stream. fish spook easy here and they tend to be small.

 

[Longbow]

There was a small BWO hatch yesterday going on overtime the sun came out. Fish were active on top.

 

[FlyForFun]

Thanks for the heads up Marcq and Longbow, will be trying to get out this weekend to take the new rod for a stroll. Will let you guys know how it goes.

 

[Cloudlife_flyguy]

Black Zebra midges and if they don't work there is always the green wenie...I catch fish year round on the wenie at valley

 

[huntfish]

+1 ^^^^

 

[Longbow]

I was fishing one of my favorite holes earlier this week and could see a bunch nymphing on the bottom. I tried most of my nymphs to no avail. I put on a size 14 Prince nymph and caught two on my next few casts with one being close to 14". Needless to say, that my day was then complete.

 

[lestrout]

Yo Longbo - that is funny, the #14 Prince. I don't think the Isonychia, which is the basis for the Prince, lives in Valley. Nor do any stonelies that might be that big. Ditto for fishflies, alderflies and other possible #14 Prince lookalikes. I wonder if maybe the trouts thought it was a crayfish?? Or just something that needed extincting. It is funny how some stockies can be sooo picky, and on the other hand, how some wilds don't go purist.

 

[geebee]

another plus one for the black zebra midge - i use #18 or #20 under an indicator or caddis dry fly.

my best day at VC came above the park when the water was fining down and had a green tint to it.

most of the water above the park is pretty skinny so stealth is your #1 priority imho, keep low and kneel on the bank.

for a noob to VC i'd suggest nymphing the deeper holes and bend pools.

you will see fish in runs and riffles if you are stealthy but i find them very spooky to cast too.

the #14 prince perhaps was seen as a leech or minnow ?

wild browns are opportunists for sure - especially when not spooked.

 

[theoriginalnickyp]

I bet fish get caught with a hook in their mouth simply out of curiosity. They don't have hands so if they want to feel something their only option is to put it in their mouths. I often see trout eat some inanimate piece of debris only to gum it and spit it back out. Fished in the park with a streamer last Saturday and met a fellow PAFF lurker. Nothing to hand but had grabs in all of the expected places.

 

[Longbow]

Les, I didn't think anything like the prince lives in Valley, but after throwing all of the nymphs they typically eat, I figured that I had nothing else to loose so that prince caught my eye. I figure a fish will hit anything once, but actually caught two fish with my first three casts of the prince and lost another. I tried it again yesterday but no takers in the same hole and they were actively feeding on something. Did manage a couple on BWO emergers though as there was a small hatch going on and fish were active on top. Only when the sun shined though.

 

[SNJChef]

Will be out tomorrow and giving it a shot.

 

[Bosshog]

Was out today. Was much more crowded then expected, guess the rain didn't scare anyone off. Managed one on a small streamer, and missed a few others.

 

[englishprof]

Interesting. I fished Valley yesterday also. Didn't see another human being - fishing or otherwise. Won't get into numbers, but the water level made it pretty easy.

 

[pcray1231]

Regarding the odd success of the prince, a lot of time in situations like this I find it's not the "choosiness" of the fish, but rather some other factor.

For instance:

1. Sometimes it's not that they choose one over the other, but rather that one makes it to them and another does not. Maybe the bigger fly with a beefier hook actually rides the bottom more naturally, whereas another fly could ride too high, or else too heavy and "bounce".
2. Maybe it has nothing whatsoever to do with the fly, but rather the hole itself. Valley is notorious for having long dry spells, and then you come on a hole where everything is set up right for you and you pull a bunch out of there. It could be that it's set up so that you don't spook fish on approach, or your rig is proper for getting the right depth and drift for that particular hole, or that the sun is on the water, or a spring has temperatures more correct, or any number of things.

Fly fishing is full of "other" factors. And I personally believe that fish are less choosy about getting the outward appearance of their prey correct, and more choosy about getting the location, drift, behavior, time and place, etc. correct.

I couldn't tell you how many times, especially on Valley, where I'll take the skunk for an hour or two and come on one spot and catch 5 or 6 on consecutive casts, without changing my fly.