West Branch Octararo Creek, Lancaster Co. 01/19/2014

[geebee]

Air Temp 45F, water 38F, mix of sun n cloud, fished from 1.30pm til 4pm.

Got the white stripe - the water was low and clear and cold - it had that lovely glacial green tint.

This was my first visit, so i checked out the creek at the Puseyville bridge and saw it was wide, shallow and featureless, so i drove up and parked on welsey road and fished up the C&RFFO area.

the stream and stewarts run were much the same - judging by the piles of rocks and gravel on the sides, both had been badly damaged by Sandy etc. leaving wide shallow flats and riffles

i walked my way up about 1/2 a mile and found one or two deep plunge pools around rock structure but zebra nymphs and a red serendipty found no-one at home.

i could see every stone through my glasses and didn't see a fish all afternoon - i think the lack of holding structure or 'bomb shelters' as Dave Whitlock calls them, meant the fish were elsewhere, there were no deep slow pools or deep runs or undercuts for the fish to hold out of the currents and so no fish around.

i fished up finding more of the same up to about half way up the SGL, about 3/4 mile i guess and called it quits.

it was a lovely walk - a steep valley or gorge with a pretty creek and i can imagine that in higher flows after stocking its a nice spot to fish for stocked trout, but the stream needs a LOT of restoration work - which if it warms in summer, i guess its not going to get as there's more glamorous candidates nearby.

so, although i caught no fish, maybe the water was too cold too, i learned that i needed maybe to fish up where the creek was smaller up around Blackrock road, or perhaps i should have gone downstream to the Meadows section.

its never a wasted outing though, it was nice to get out - especially as temps will likely keep me off the water next weekend.

cheers

Mark.

 

[salmonoid]

There are very few fish that holdover in Octorara. What you experienced is pretty typical.

 

[dc410]

I grew up learning how to fly fish in the early 80's on the exact stretch of stream that you just fished. Back in the day there was a decent amount of structure and deeper holes up through that section but over many years this section degraded badly and you described it perfectly in your report. Back then this section was FFO Delayed harvest and it probably still should be today because holdover fish are few and far between. By mid June water temps on the Octararo are usually getting into the upper 60's. I remember catching some great sulpher spinnerfalls in the past where the action fast fast and furious right at dark. I haven't really fished that section for years due to the lack of structure. I do still get down to fish it a couple times a year and catch a few trout here and there but lately as we get into early summer I have seemed to catch more Smallmouths than trout. Lately I enjoy fishing the upper section of the FFO area. There never seem to be a lot of fish there but it is a very scenic gorge with some really cool geography. I don't anticipate this stream ever being the way I remember it years ago but it still holds a special place in my heart after playing such a critical role in the start of my flyfishing career.

 

[geebee]

yeah the geology is fascinating - i found a piece of black volcanic glass - obsidian (i looked it up).

its a shame, its such a lovely wild scenic spot. next time i'll visit the meadows & blackrock.

 

[salmonoid]

geebee - what you found is iron furnace slag (man-made volcanic glass). There is an old iron furnace on the bank, closer to the upper end of the FFO section. Octorara is the stream where I first went fly-fishing as well and where I caught my first trout on the fly. I spent some good early spring fishing days there when they used to do a really good job of floating from Black Rock down through to the end of the woods. And had a really good time there a few years ago when they stocked a ton of brood fish that they were dumping. But its been a few years since I have fished it.

 

[geebee]

Ah that was one of the things they said it could be - I have to hold a flame to it - if it melts it's slag, if not it is obsidian...

Cheers

 

[salmonoid]

It's definitely slag. There is no obsidian in Lancaster County, except in a museum or private rock and mineral collection. The furnace was called Black Rock furnace. To mess with you, I might just randomly drop some chunks of obsidian around the county 🙂

 

[geebee]

Lol. Thanks. What was the old ruin by the bridge do you know ?

 

[Mike]

The C&R FFO section is no longer stocked in the fall as of 2013, which might be another reason why you did not find any takers.

 

[geebee]

Good to know Mike, Thanks. still a nice day out regardless. looking at the foot of snow on the deck, and the gauge at 1F i am grateful i got out now anyway.