Yellow Breeches, Cumberland Co., 2/3/17

[nomad_archer]

I tried the special regs section of the breeches for the first time.

Conditions:
Flow: 162 CFS, low and gin clear.
Water Temp: Forgot to take this reading but it was cold.
Air Temp: 33*
Weather: Calm and overcast.

I fished from 10:10 until 12:30 when I was plenty cold and the lack of action urged me to move on. Gave the riffles above where the run comes in a bit of attention and then skipped the slow flats and again worked the riffles below Allenberry. Fished lots of different small nymphs with seemingly no interest. I did spook one very nice fish from the eddy below the first dam at Allenberry. I did have 3 different heron's take off in front of me as I fished which probably didn't help anything. Looks like some very nice water that I believe I need to check out after a stocking. I was the only fisherman out today.


Here is a look at where I started today.

 

[geebee]

thanks for the report. that was pretty much my experience when i fished it in the summer too. not a sniff with nymphs.

maybe its one of those places that is better fished with dries or emergers ?

there was other people fishing there with nymphs and they had no luck either.

 

[nomad_archer]

geebee wrote:
thanks for the report. that was pretty much my experience when i fished it in the summer too. not a sniff with nymphs.

maybe its one of those places that is better fished with dries or emergers ?

there was other people fishing there with nymphs and they had no luck either.

Very possible. I think the low clear water made it difficult to get into position without the fish getting spooked. There was lots of great looking flats in the special regs area that would lend themselves to a dry or dry dropper presentation.

I do wonder with what appears to be a a year C&R section, where are the fish? Even from other stream reports in the winter, the catch was dominated by wild fish.

 

[CVangler]

nomad_archer wrote:

geebee wrote:
thanks for the report. that was pretty much my experience when i fished it in the summer too. not a sniff with nymphs.

maybe its one of those places that is better fished with dries or emergers ?

there was other people fishing there with nymphs and they had no luck either.

Very possible. I think the low clear water made it difficult to get into position without the fish getting spooked. There was lots of great looking flats in the special regs area that would lend themselves to a dry or dry dropper presentation.

I do wonder with what appears to be a a year C&R section, where are the fish? Even from other stream reports in the winter, the catch was dominated by wild fish.

This past late summer, fall, and early winter has not been the greatest fishing, especially with nymphs because of this low water. The stream is starting to get a little more water in it but still has a ways to go. In some spots I don't even need split shot where I normally would never nymph without shot. I think that within a month the stream will be much better with some snow and more precipitation in the forecast.

 

[SteveG]

It has been a very mild Winter for the Breeches, the wild fish you seek are in the open water, not being targeted by fisherman standing in line for their turn. They were taking midges on top all day today.

Since we haven't had any worthwhile snow this Winter, we'll need steady rain this Spring and Summer.

 

[TimRobinsin]

+1 SteveG

Enjoy the open water while you can. Fly anglers can get stuck in the root of only fishing special reg waters. Truth is, I avoid special regs as much as possible because it is my experience Fly-anglers make up most of the sustained pressure I encounter.

That applies almost statewide.

 

[ryansheehan]

Am I the only one who can't see the picture? All l see is a minus sign.

 

[Dave_W]

I can't see it either.

 

[nomad_archer]

Opps must have been a permissions issues. How's this.

 

[ryansheehan]

Beautiful, thank you.

 

[fwh14]

Thanks for the report, I fished the upper breeches on pine road from 7:30 till around noon on saturday. Air temp was thirties and water temp was 44 as I started. Did very well on nymphs all size 16 with tungsten bead, biot nymphs and pheasant tails. Tight lined the whole time seeing only one rising fish and very small midges in the air. Fished slow and adjusted flies accordingly to water depth. All fish caught were wild browns and average size around 8 inches. It was just a beautiful day to be out and catching fish was a bonus in my opinion. Tight lines....