Wissahickon Creek - Philly, yo - 4/30/17

[Nymph-wristed]

Water: stained and 66 (ouch)
Air: 65 and actually springlike

Jimbot and Van Cleaver inspired me to give the home waters a little love. Full story on my blog, along with way too many trips to the same creek over the last two weeks due to a busier than normal work schedule.

Despite not being stocked since April 11, and not due until tomorrow, I believe, for the last stock of the spring, the Wissy in the gorge is fishing very, very well. Fish were tuned into caddis emergers and pupa, it seems. I had close to 20 trout, and a dozen panfish and small bass take a z wing pupa, most on a dead drift, but a few on the lift or the swing. Only saw one splashy rise, but the creek was still muddy from thunderstorms. A couple fish looked really good, especially two or three that had migrated into pocket water and hard to reach spots. Probably 10 were in such fun to fish places. Got rewarded for my success with a mugging by two mooks, but such is urban fishing. I also met a nice dude new to the sport and was able to give him a little advice and an indicator to help his learning curve, and he was from NoLibs, which is really in the city, so we are not all bad. A couple pics;

Yes, this is Philly. Can we get a FFO or DHALO now (just ignore the water temps this anomalous year, please.....)?

 

[hooker-of-men]

lol. Good title.

 

[timmyt]

Wait you got mugged?

 

[Nymph-wristed]

timmyt wrote:
Wait you got mugged?

Whoops! Figure of speech... Never had an issue in 35 years of fishing down there. Only college girls running by themselves with expensive electronics on display seem to have any trouble, and even they are less safe in a mall parking lot.

 

[troutbert]

That brown is really colorful. Looks a lot like a wild brown? What do you suppose the story is on that one?

In that one photo, is that bugs we see on the water? If so, what are they?

 

[wzsembik]

Mugged, gooned, boxed, all the same usually defined as getting unwanted company in very close proximity to the water you are fishing. Yo, catch anything? ....

Seems like nymph wristed got tag teamed, lol

All kidding aside, beautiful pictures of a nice stretch of "crick"

Bill

 

[Nymph-wristed]

I think the creek holds a few over every year. There is no fall stocking anymore, but you will see the odd fish midging in the winter. With the water being 66 degrees again today, I think they will need good A/C (W/C?) to survive. That brown was in a prime spot and well away from fishing pressure too. Deep riffles with a cool water seep coming down the cliffs most of the summer.

I wish those were bugs, but what we have going now is a tree pollen hatch. I had to quit when it got windy this afternoon. Fish were cooperative again, but man the pollen was worse than the algae on the rocks.

 

[troutbert]

Do you see any mayflies, caddis or stoneflies in the Wissy?

The reason I ask is that back in the early 1990s, I met a guy who had done a study of the stream and said they found lots of midges, but NO mayflies, caddis, or stoneflies at all.

I was kind of shocked at that. Even streams with a great deal of sewage effluent usually have tan caddis, the caddis formerly known as Hydropsyche.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Mostly midges, but also little dark caddis, black and brown, plus the tan, as you mentioned. The logic is sort of reversed. The upper waters in suburban Montgo are a mess, and it improves as it gets deeper into Fairmount Park with old grownth trees and better holding water. A shame about Montgo because a lot of roads and towns in the area have "spring" in the name.... The building never stops, and most is multi-unit on small lots.

 

[bam]

Nice report. Good fish, but it's a stocker brown. It wouldn't surprise me if a wild fish or two made it's way in there though. More than one stream that feed the skuke down that way are known to hold wild fish...

 

[Dave_W]

Nymph-wristed wrote:

timmyt wrote:
Wait you got mugged?

Whoops! Figure of speech... Never had an issue in 35 years of fishing down there. Only college girls running by themselves with expensive electronics on display seem to have any trouble, and even they are less safe in a mall parking lot.

Yeah, that's a relief.

I thought the same thing (we have had PAFFERs get robbed on fishing trips before - fortunately this is very rare).

Nice report BTW. That is indeed a beautiful stream.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

bam wrote:
Nice report. Good fish, but it's a stocker brown. It wouldn't surprise me if a wild fish or two made it's way in there though. More than one stream that feed the skuke down that way are known to hold wild fish...

Thanks, bam. Yeah, I totally agree. I was suggesting that where he was holding, he could have been there since last spring. I have caught fish in August targeting bass, so if they can make it that far, I think they can hold over. Like I said, I have seen some midging in the winter from time to time, one here, one there... It's going to be tough on them this spring!

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Dave_W wrote:

Nymph-wristed wrote:

timmyt wrote:
Wait you got mugged?

Whoops! Figure of speech... Never had an issue in 35 years of fishing down there. Only college girls running by themselves with expensive electronics on display seem to have any trouble, and even they are less safe in a mall parking lot.

Yeah, that's a relief.

I thought the same thing (we have had PAFFERs get robbed on fishing trips before - fortunately this is very rare).

Nice report BTW. That is indeed a beautiful stream.

I sometimes forget that sarcasm does not always translate well, and I thought "mugging" was a well know term, but it may have migrated over from my other life as a surf fisherman. (I think Jersey surf guys know it well). On the AC jetty you can experience both in the same night. Thanks for your concern though, guys (no sarcasm intended).

 

[Fredrick]

Yes, this is Philly. Can we get a FFO or DHALO now (just ignore the water temps this anomalous year, please.....)?

I honestly believe if you found the perfect spot for a special regs area they would still find a reason to deny it. Since special reg areas create a bigger work load plus they take water away from the opening day anglers they will never approve it . Probably have better luck asking for a keystone select stocking .

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Agreed, Frederick. The PFBC eliminated fall stocking here after an unscientific usage survey, claiming not enough usage in the fall, even though a lot of us fished all winter, just avoided the truck chasers the first weeks of October. This, however, is a perfect reason for special regs: it would boost usage and by a different type of fisherman!

 

[Fredrick]

Nymph-wristed wrote:
Agreed, Frederick. The PFBC eliminated fall stocking here after an unscientific usage survey, claiming not enough usage in the fall, even though a lot of us fished all winter, just avoided the truck chasers the first weeks of October. This, however, is a perfect reason for special regs: it would boost usage and by a different type of fisherman!

Yeah they eliminated all but one of the fall stockings here in DELCO .The only stream that gets a fall stocking is Ridley, there was no survey just budget cuts. Two of the most populated counties in the state only one special regs area that's not even a half mile long . I'm not sure if they do this already but it would be nice to have a stocked stream that has no closed season and no special regulations .

 

[afishinado]

Fredrick wrote:

Nymph-wristed wrote:
Agreed, Frederick. The PFBC eliminated fall stocking here after an unscientific usage survey, claiming not enough usage in the fall, even though a lot of us fished all winter, just avoided the truck chasers the first weeks of October. This, however, is a perfect reason for special regs: it would boost usage and by a different type of fisherman!

Yeah they eliminated all but one of the fall stockings here in DELCO .The only stream that gets a fall stocking is Ridley, there was no survey just budget cuts. Two of the most populated counties in the state only one special regs area that's not even a half mile long . I not sure if they do this already but it would be nice to have a stocked stream that has no closed season and no special regulations .

I hear ya, Fred. With fewer stockings and less fish to stock in recent years, my guess was the PFBC would open up more SR streams with DH or CR regs to extend trout fishing opportunities in stocked streams. In fact they did an extensive angler survey a few years back that showed anglers were in favor of more SR areas. Delco is getting short changed, as well as many other areas of the state.

You may have to remove your tat....

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Good luck.

There are a few streams in my area that deserve special regs but it's like talking to a dam wall

 

[Fredrick]

I didn't get that tatted on my heart for no reason . You can take the person out of DELCO but never the DELCO away from the person .