Yellow Breeches, Cumberland Co., 6/14 and 6/15/09

[PatrickG]

Fished the Breeches along Creek Rd. and Leidhigh Dr. yesterday. Weather was warm, sunny, water was at a normal level and clear. Managed to catch and release 3 rainbows and 4 browns, along with a small mouth bass. All were caught using BH prince, hares ear, pheasant tail, and copper john nymphs, sizes 12 through 18. Helped a few older fellows out who were fishing one of my favorite riffles. They were using dries but there was virtually no surface activity and the fish were sitting low. I set up a nymph rig for them and explained where to cast, although they were unable to manage any fish. They wanted to see me have a go and I jumped in there and was able to pull out a really nice rainbow on my first cast using a prince nymph dead drifted. That might have frustrated them more but they were nice guys and we chatted for a bit and I shared some spots they should check out. The one was nice enough to snap a shot of me holding the big rainbow I pulled out of there.

Fished today along the same stretch. Weather was about the same. Managed a rainbow early but then the fish slowed down. I moved downstream and managed to hook into a huge brown that barely fit into my net. Correct me if I'm wrong but he looked wild. Caught him on a dead drifted #12 prince nymph. Managed to catch and release 3 browns and 3 rainbows all on nymphs, although I did catch a small brown who was surface feeding along the bank with a #14 elk hair caddis. Helped a father who was new to the stretch and teaching his son to fly fish with some spots to check out. I pointed him in the right direction, I hope they were able to catch some fish. Overall 2 good days of fishing.

 

[Squaretail]

The bigger brown sure looks wild to me. So does the one below it.
Those big wild browns are no pushovers. Nice job.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Yes that one for sure is and the other is probably wild too. Very nice beautiful fish!

 

[wgmiller]

Nice to see you had good streamside etiquette and helped out some of the 'noobs'. I'm sure they appreciated your help as being a beginner can be frustrating at times.

 

[Fishidiot]

Patrick,
Nice report. I'd say the brown, fourth from top, is certainly wild. After some of the grumbling (including by me) about Yellow B. in a recent thread, it's nice to see a positive report. While the reg water may not have a lot of fish these days, YB is a long river and there is a lot of good fishing in the "open" water as you have demonstrated.

 

[greenghost]

The fourth brownie is wild... definitely one of the Breeches lunkers. They are in there.

Many think the Breeches is nothing more than an overrated, mediocre fishery. It's been my experience that the Breeches is more than that. Granted, many stretches have been slowed and spoiled with remnants of mill dams, farming and sprawl. But because it flows through limestone country, there are many feeder springs... and where there are feeder springs, there are trout.

I used to fish Breeches only in the fall, because if you know where those cool water sources are, you can find some surprisingly large fish -- even bigger than the one you caught -- that come out to play during pre-spawn. Remember that stretch and check it out later in the season.

The stream is like 75 miles long. That's a lot of water. A lot of possibilities. And a lot of fish.

Great job with the nymphs -- and helping others!

 

[mattd]

Good job, nice fish! That fourth one is for sure a beauiful YB wild brown. The one below looks to be also. It seems like the wild browns are being found further down stream every year. I happen to be lucky enough to have access to bout a 1/2 mile stretch of private water along pine rd. I can't even believe I'm on the Breeches while there.

The stretches above and below this property are posted and not stocked. I do catch holdovers there and sometimes a fresh stocker or 2, but I'd say 3 out of 4 are wild. 12 or more wild browns is the normal. I catch alot of them in the open water but the big difference is the size. Most the ones I catch on the privat in the water are 12-16 in with a few larger ones. I've caught em up to 18 in the open water but the normal is 6-13.

Just makes me wonder what the breeches would be like with some different stocking habits. Maybee even another SR area. Alot has already been done with the removal of the dams and I believe we are already seeing a difference.

 

[PatrickG]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Those sections I were fishing definitely get a lot of pressure from the bait fisherman but I rarely ever see them fish the tight riffle sections with low lying trees that I caught a lot of my fish out of. I sure hope no one catches that big wild brown for their dinner table as it would be nice to see more generations of it.

My grandfather, who was obsessed with the sport, taught me how to fly fish in the Allenberry section of the C&R when I was around 8 or 9. He thrived in the sport when the likes of Ed Shenk and Ed Koch were documenting their tactics, as I've read in my ancient copies of Shenk's Fly Rod Trouting and Koch's Fishing the Midge that he left me, along with a plethora of old rods, reels, flies, and about a lifetime supply of tying materials. Those books definitely helped my approach to the Breeches as Shenk documented many tactics he used in his book specifically about the Breeches. I didn't have much patience for the sport and participated in it moderately until a few years ago when I started college. Since then I've become increasingly obsessed with the sport. Along with my desire to move westward after I graduate college in the fall, I've now figured out I would like to pursue guiding out there as well.

 

[nativebrownie]

Patrick,

Nice post ... You do enjoy a great family tradition within the sport - very nice.
Curious as to the light colored rod (4th pic)- is that vintage - beautiful look from what I see? Breaks the black on dk gray look of modern makers...
Thanks..

NB

 

[mattd]

looks like an eagle claw, you can get one for bout $20.

 

[spectorfly]

Yes it is. An Eagle Claw feather weight. I bought one for my wife a while back and she hated it. She said it felt to stiff to cast. I since bought her a full flex Matrix 6'6" 2wt and she loves it. She only fishes small mountain streams for wild brookies. She's been known to join me a Quittie or Kettle Creek on occasion.

 

[PatrickG]

Yes it is indeed an Eagle Claw Feather Weight. I couldn't tell you how old it is as it was brand new in the plastic when I obtained if from my grandfather's rod collection. Its a 7ft 6 weight, casts pretty well. My TLS power matrix was recently snapped near the tip by my roommate one drunken night so I've been trying this rod out. Good thing orvis has such a good warranty.