Weekday FlyFishing (on going blog)

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Well i get a free pass to fish from what was today to Thursday. Yes i have to work but thats ok. 7am - 1pm is plenty of time to catch fish.
My wife left for Scranton yesterday and i got a few hours on Lititz Run to poke around with an experiment.

Jay has been fishing Lititz Run with a articulated sculpin pattern he has come up with. He gave me one the other day while fishing the Conservancy and i told him id try it in the catch and release area.

But this story gets interesting........

I parked @ the upper end of the C@R area by the spring house. That farmer has always been gracious about his land. He does have about 15 dogs that will run up to you and bark. It can be uncomfortable but they are usually friendly. We greeted and i left to go fish.

With all the rain the water was high but flowing nicely. Anyone that has fished here that sees the pics will agree its a bit high. IMO this is when its best to fish Lititz Run. The fish DONT know your there. Yes they are fed and can be difficult but at least they arent aware of you.


the streamer

This was the bait....

The stream

Working my way down stream i didnt have a bite. I know i passed over some prime water and big fish. I was confident though.
Even as i got farther downstream i was greeted by and an old friend.

as soon as he saw me.............hes across the stream grunting @ me.
:lol: the killer sheep lives on. Make no mistake this ram will mess you up. Just Ask NoMoreCornChunkin.:lol:

Throwing the streamer i ended up getting a tug. I pulled up (it didnt even feel like a fish. Sure enough it started swimming and immediately went over to the shallow water. When i saw the size of the fish i ran over and trapped it in a small rock pool along the stream. The fight took about 30 seconds. I snapped 2 pics and released the fish within 60 seconds. it was perfect. I know this fish very well and have only ever caught him once before. I just measured my rod according to the pic and hes 28-29 inches.

monster

Monster2

Tree reflected water and sun.

The fish came from the above hole. 🙂 I just liked the pic.
Do Jays flys work? well in 4 trips its landed 2 20 inch browns and a 29 inch brown. Yes im rounding up 🙂 I say they work.

Thanks Jay for making day one of four a success. You are 5 times the fly tyer that iam. That fly will be in my box forever waiting for the next large trout. I will never forget this fish and trip 🙂

Today is the Letort........Wednesday TBA, Thursday is Lehigh area.............Ill have tons of pics and reports.

Now back to my becks and jameson :-D

 

[brookieaddict]

Nice fish Sal, we havent faired that well but on this creek we dont get our hopes up.

 

[double00]

That brown resembles a mini Taimen. Thanks for sharing.

 

[djmyers]

Can the pattern be shared for the streamer?

 

[Fredrick]

Sal is that a Jayl fly ?

 

[jayL]

It is now. :lol:

 

[jfetkin]

no its my pattern,,,not sure if i want to share it yet,,but i will eventually

 

[jfetkin]

If you really want it bad , you can find the version that inspired mine on you tube. I made a bunch of changes and improvments to that one but it works. Not as well as mine tho 8)

 

[tomgamber]

Looks like a wool head sculpin pattern with a stinger hook and lead eyes. Adjustments are always good no mater who you borrow a pattern from. Creative license.

 

[ryguyfi]

Man I wish I had good fishing like that close to me... maybe one day I'll make the trek over to other parts of the state for an extended fishing vacation and some of you guys can show me around...

 

[wgmiller]

Good thing that fly is articulated. Otherwise you'd probably get nothing but "short strikes".

Amazing how that fish laid in the water to snap the pic. I swear you are the "fish whisperer"! :-D

I gotta start hitting LR more often...

 

[flipnfly]

i know its not nice to invite myself but we can car pool ry

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

There was always something about the Letort I could not describe till today. Some people say its enchanting, some say she is historic and i always have said shes is both. But its more than that........a lot more. It is amazing to me how while im fishing, even though im @ peace, my mind never rests. The hussel of everyday life can make it hard to shut down and even harder to relax. I was going to find i just couldnt focus today.

I made it to Harmony Hall Drive @ 6:30 this morning and waited for day light. Once it arrived i was greeted by a nice PP&L worker (of all people) that wished my luck fishing. I just sat and watch the steam come of the water and hoped to see a rise form in her grey cloud reflected face. It didnt come.

I tried working scuds and nymphs, i tried buggers, i threw cress bugs, i threw jays streamer to no avail. I fished from Harmony Hall Drive down to Shady Lane. I saw tons of fish and Jays streamer moved a few really big trout. I think they would have eaten it had they not saw me.

Letort

When i came to a pool i was sitting trying to watch the water for any movement and i could hear the cars from RT 11. I could hear cars from other highways. It was hard to focus. I just kept watching her soft grey gaze and gentle swaying weeds and it got a little more quiet. Human interference staticy white noise distractions......all disapaiting like the steam rising off the mirror. All the world got a little smaller and it was just me and her finally.

She gave me no trout but she gave me a lesson.

Then it dawned on me. The Letort is so quiet is can be deafening if you listen to her. Everything seems...so undisturbed. If you can blend in and make her feel comfortable, you will recieve gifts in fish. If you donot, you will learn a lesson. I apperciate both the same. I was far to distruptive in mind and body to catch fish here today. You could consider the walk back up 11 from shady lane to harmony hall drive the "walk of shame" if you are fishless. In some wierd way i felt like it was a victory lap today *shurgs* 🙂

Letort

Letort2

Letort3

Meanwhile some where in the gentle currents of the same waters.....she was giving someone a very BIG gift.

If any of you fly fisherman have never been to the Letort.....you need to go pay hummage in 2010.

Well i consider both days a success. Large fish day 1 check......sureal experince on the Letort check.........day2 who knows :-D

 

[wgmiller]

You just needed to turn on your "whisper mode" and the fish would have been yours for the taking...

 

[Squaretail]

Mr. double digit Letort...I cant believe it.
Did you not see them rising today?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Thats the thing. I went there expecting the BWO hatch. It happened this time last year but no BWO's

Just wasent my day 🙂

 

[Squaretail]

Heck, I couldnt have been but a mile or two up from you?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

yep not very far thats for sure. I was on the otherside of the war college from you. I coulda swore a BWO hatch was gonna come down my way. Perfect conditions, cloudy....cool but warm for winter. But she just wouldnt allow it for me 🙂 you got the gifts this time bud. Enjoy it cause it makes you feel great.

 

[Squaretail]

After re-reading your post searching for answers, what jumped out at me was the time you got there. What time did you leave? I arrived at about 12:30.

 

[slay12345]

Time of day probably had the most part of the success rate.

Dkile and I fished Muddy Creek on Saturday and didn't turn a fish until nearly 11am after the sun was hitting the stretch of water. Not thread-jacking but heres a link that trip...

http://s666.photobucket.com/albums/vv22/slay12345/Muddy%20Creek/

water temp was around 40 and air temp was around 50