West Branch Octorara, Lancaster Co, 7/16/09

PatrickG

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Mar 16, 2009
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Fished the West Branch Octorara fly fishing only section yesterday with one of my buddies I got into fly fishing this summer. I helped him get his first rod, a Temple Forks, and we had to go out so he could try it out. We fished from about 3-9pm, needless to say it was a dark hike back to my car through the stream as there aren't many trails I could find on the banks. Water is getting lower since the beginning of the summer but there are still plenty of holes that are holding fish. I hooked around 14 trout, missed 5, but was able to land 9 really nice fish, mostly rainbows. I was able to get my friend into a few trout as well, as I put a tandem rig of a BH greenie weenie and BH zebra midge, both flies that the Octorara fish love. I used the greenie weenie myself and the fish seemed to love it up there. All fish were caught nymphing either high stick or using an indicator. There are just some awesome holes up there that are super fun to fish. One in particular I had drifted a BH wooly bugger through with some action, and low and behold a monster palomino emerged from under a boulder and took it. He got off but he must have been around 18 inches, the biggest one I've ever seen. Needless to say I was disappointed, although I had my fair share of good fish. Didn't see many rises, although I did try a beetle and mayfly pattern with no success. There was also a huge midge and white mayfly hatch when darkness fell.
 

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Have you ever fished bellow the lake ? I'm thinking about going down there and trying it out for some smallies ......
 
No I haven't but I have fished the lake before. I just started fishing the FF only section 2 weeks ago and have found it to have a good amount of fish. My only complaint is there's a lot of low water between the spots that hold fish, which means a lot of hiking in the water. I've had to walk back in the near dark with my flashlight about 3/4 of a mile a few times because I'm always trying to see what's up ahead too late in the day.
 
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