Prospector
Well-known member
Today I took an old friend out to fish. He's 80 and we haven't fished together all year due to the virus. He wanted to go today so I obliged. It would be the stream of his choice which I knew meant we would be driving around looking at a lot of water. That is what he enjoys most these days since his balance, legs and stamina aren't what they used to be. He and my father were charter members of our local fly fishing club when I was a boy and at our annual fly tying school he was the advanced class instructor. We've spent many days together over the last 40 years fishing and hunting and talk roughly once a week. Today the pace slowed for me and that was just fine. So the good news is not only is there a fishing report but also stream conditions and observations from other NWPA streams.
West Branch Caldwell Creek C&R
Time Fished: 12pm to 2pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny, 68 degrees
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear but maybe a little tannic discoloration. The flow was slow in a large pools...barely moving. There were ample riffles so oxygen appeared to be okay.
Insects: a few caddis, one brown mayfly sz 16, one yellow mayfly sz 14
We had looked at a lot of water but as expected he didn't feel the need to actually fish. However when we reached West Branch, I knew this is the type of stream he likes. A brown trout fishery with nice pools that are protected by woody cover and a forage base of larger minnows/shiners that can allow a brown to grow quite large. It is stingy about giving up trout. The pools would surely get him excited but any fish would be dearly earned.
We parked at the bridge and we started upstream. He chose a large nymph and fished it until he lost it in a snag then just selected another good candidate. He wasn't concerned about losing flies, he wanted to push the envelope and be in the fish catching zones. When he'd break one off, it would be "there are a lot more where that came from". He ties very unique flies with almost everything being a variation. Hardly ever ties the same fly twice. That is where we differ. I tie mostly traditional patterns where he wants to invent.
As it turned out he fished upstream until he ran out of spirit without landing a fish. He handed me the rod and said "let's go back down and you can fish the spots that I couldn't get to" (due to steep banks or large piles of debris). I managed 2 shiners, but on the way back to the truck he was strategizing on how to approach this creek the next time he comes. It was a good day. He will undoubtedly formulate a game before next spring.
Bonus Coverage
- the night time temps went down into the mid to low 40s, both of the last 2 nights, so that contributed to the low stream temps observed today
- Neshanncock Creek Open Water about 20 yards below the confluence of Otter Creek and Cool Spring Creek where the Neshannock Creek is born. Water temp at 645am was 58 degrees. Running low and Clear. No insects observed
- Little Sandy Creek FFO Section. Water temp at 8am was 53 degrees. Saw a large crane fly. No one fishing.
- Sugar Creek was 56 degrees at 9am. We saw 15-20 caddis and a few mayflies. We talked to some other fly fishers and they had caught some trout earlier and they were leaving. We looked over 4-5 holes and saw no activity. One hole still held a nice palomino. Running low and Clear. Saw about 4 cars parked along Sugar.
- Lake Creek (a tributary to Sugar creek near Cooperstown) was 55 degrees at 945am. One caddis. No one fishing by the ballfield
- Oil Creek at Miller Farm was 58 degrees at 1030am. There were a few small caddis (sz18) flying around the bridge. A father and son were fishing at the bridge and there appeared to be 10-15 fish in the area but we could not positively ID that they were trout. There were 5 cars parked at the bridge (including the father/son). The rest were either fishing downstream or were hiking (picture attached...note how low the creek is based on the amount of visible streambed rocks)
- Caldwell Creek FFO was 60 degrees at 2pm. It was low, clear and had a very slow flow. We didn't see any insects. There had been a truck at the FFO section when we went past at 1130am. At 2pm, no one in lot.
- Just down the road from my buddy's house, preceding my 6am arrival, I ran into a Raccoon and her litter. When I stopped momma ran off and the youngsters weren't sure what to do. They were carrying on in raccoon talk, that loud purring that some of you have likely heard. I had 2 pet raccoons as a kid so it brought back fond memories. The one alone in the front was really little and in the group of 3 the rightmost yearling was twice as big as the runt.
West Branch Caldwell Creek C&R
Time Fished: 12pm to 2pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny, 68 degrees
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear but maybe a little tannic discoloration. The flow was slow in a large pools...barely moving. There were ample riffles so oxygen appeared to be okay.
Insects: a few caddis, one brown mayfly sz 16, one yellow mayfly sz 14
We had looked at a lot of water but as expected he didn't feel the need to actually fish. However when we reached West Branch, I knew this is the type of stream he likes. A brown trout fishery with nice pools that are protected by woody cover and a forage base of larger minnows/shiners that can allow a brown to grow quite large. It is stingy about giving up trout. The pools would surely get him excited but any fish would be dearly earned.
We parked at the bridge and we started upstream. He chose a large nymph and fished it until he lost it in a snag then just selected another good candidate. He wasn't concerned about losing flies, he wanted to push the envelope and be in the fish catching zones. When he'd break one off, it would be "there are a lot more where that came from". He ties very unique flies with almost everything being a variation. Hardly ever ties the same fly twice. That is where we differ. I tie mostly traditional patterns where he wants to invent.
As it turned out he fished upstream until he ran out of spirit without landing a fish. He handed me the rod and said "let's go back down and you can fish the spots that I couldn't get to" (due to steep banks or large piles of debris). I managed 2 shiners, but on the way back to the truck he was strategizing on how to approach this creek the next time he comes. It was a good day. He will undoubtedly formulate a game before next spring.
Bonus Coverage
- the night time temps went down into the mid to low 40s, both of the last 2 nights, so that contributed to the low stream temps observed today
- Neshanncock Creek Open Water about 20 yards below the confluence of Otter Creek and Cool Spring Creek where the Neshannock Creek is born. Water temp at 645am was 58 degrees. Running low and Clear. No insects observed
- Little Sandy Creek FFO Section. Water temp at 8am was 53 degrees. Saw a large crane fly. No one fishing.
- Sugar Creek was 56 degrees at 9am. We saw 15-20 caddis and a few mayflies. We talked to some other fly fishers and they had caught some trout earlier and they were leaving. We looked over 4-5 holes and saw no activity. One hole still held a nice palomino. Running low and Clear. Saw about 4 cars parked along Sugar.
- Lake Creek (a tributary to Sugar creek near Cooperstown) was 55 degrees at 945am. One caddis. No one fishing by the ballfield
- Oil Creek at Miller Farm was 58 degrees at 1030am. There were a few small caddis (sz18) flying around the bridge. A father and son were fishing at the bridge and there appeared to be 10-15 fish in the area but we could not positively ID that they were trout. There were 5 cars parked at the bridge (including the father/son). The rest were either fishing downstream or were hiking (picture attached...note how low the creek is based on the amount of visible streambed rocks)
- Caldwell Creek FFO was 60 degrees at 2pm. It was low, clear and had a very slow flow. We didn't see any insects. There had been a truck at the FFO section when we went past at 1130am. At 2pm, no one in lot.
- Just down the road from my buddy's house, preceding my 6am arrival, I ran into a Raccoon and her litter. When I stopped momma ran off and the youngsters weren't sure what to do. They were carrying on in raccoon talk, that loud purring that some of you have likely heard. I had 2 pet raccoons as a kid so it brought back fond memories. The one alone in the front was really little and in the group of 3 the rightmost yearling was twice as big as the runt.
