May 20, 2015 – The Brodhead Creek – A Little Redemption/Revenge Served Cold?

The Brodhead Creek at dawn.

I had the day off today, but in planning where to go fishing, I had to take care in selecting a stream with some water.  After weeks of unseasonably hot weather, it was going to be chilly, with highs only in the low 60s, so I had that going for me.  But we have had close to zero rain in eastern Pennsylvania despite days of clouds and humidity this month, and with this kind of cold front come the inevitable winds.  I had narrowed things down to the Lehigh or the mighty Brodhead.  The only other option was to venture to the shore, but with the sun coming up before 6 AM now, and none of my surf stuff really ready to go, that sounded too much like work.  The Brodhead it would be.

Morning stats.

The Brodhead has been sort of a second home stream to me for the last couple of decades.  From misspent days at ESU to many NEPA opening days (at one time known simply as opening day), I know it well, and fish it in all kinds of conditions in all seasons.  It has adult stockies, fingerlings every couple of years, wild fish, and many, many holdovers that survive the summer and winter in its deep, deep holes.  Those deep holes, even in low water, also factored into my decision to head there this morning.  To give you an idea of how low the streams are, the Brodhead usually flows at about 150 to 140 cubic feet per second this time of year, but it was flowing about 45 today.  The creek is usually treacherous to wade with slippery round rocks, actual tumbling freestones, steep banks, and the aforementioned deep, swift holes.  I have heard many stories of plunges and close calls, and I have had my own.  Sharpies carry a wading staff.  When I was young, I used to scoff naively at old timers with long floating nets that did double duty.  I once had to go out and rescue my dad because he was rightfully afraid to move a foothold for fear of going end over end.  So, basically, 45 cfs flow gives you options to wade safely and gain access to spots (and fish) otherwise very tough to access.  It’s not often you can say that a trout stream fishes better in low water, but that is the case here.

Enough history, and on to fishing: I beat the summer roadwork crews and made awesome time to the Poconos, arriving at about dawn.  After dressing (or under-dressing, as I was quite cold until at least 11 AM, even sitting in the car with the heat on between spots) I was on the water by 6 AM and making my way down to a favorite spot a short but adventurous hike below the stocked section.  This totally unpressured stretch holds plenty of fish, both wild and holdovers who have migrated downstream, and it can be a handful to wade and fish.  The water near the banks often drops to 4 or 5 feet, and the gorge is strewn with large boulders and rugged outcroppings.  In other words, it is a fun, physical challenge on which to ply one’s angling craft.  I once caught a wild brown trout here that was close to 28 inches long on a Rapala CD 3 plug (and have not one picture to prove it, either, as is sometimes the case), so that is always on my mind when approaching this area too. 

I got one pretty rainbow high stick nymphing a fast run, but the morning started out slow and cold.  I think the temp was dropping not rising as it got later.  It was already getting windy by 7 AM, with strong gusts once in while that even made casting a 4 wt line tough at times, so when some caddis started dancing around and trout started responding all around me, I decided to swing wet flies in tandem instead of dry fly fishing.  I would high stick upstream, letting a tungsten beadhead and a couple shot get the flies deep enough, and then fish out the swinging soft hackle hares ear for the remainder of the drift, most hits coming as the dropper "emerged" near the end of the swing.  

Pretty fish.  Note the intact adipose fin: stocked bow gone rogue or a stocked fingerling who made a long, long journey.

Selfie with another wildish rainbow.

A good trip isn’t complete without a heartbreaking missed fish, and I had one of those shortly after changing tactics.  I broke off a monster wild brown!  When you swing a fly, you are fishing a tight line, so it is easier to be a little too manly with the hookset.  It is great to feel the jolt of a fish hitting, but you have to be gentle when you have no slack to take up.  Well, I got a monster jolt at the end of the line, raised the rod, and PING, no fish and no soft hackle.  How do I know it was monster, you ask?  Well, as if to tease me, the fish decided to jump after he got off, and then jump no less than 3 more times, I assume trying to rid himself of my size 14 hares ear.  He was a big brown trout, with the pale, brown and silver colorization of the wild ones in this creek.  I shook it off and retied a new dropper on with heavier tippet and went back at it.  The technique yielded two more pretty bows, all silver with nice fins, even healthy adipose.  These two fish were like rockets, running all over the place, going skyward multiple times.  I was having so much fun I set the timer for a selfie…

After a fishless and cold 30 minutes or so, I hiked it up to the stocked section to a hole we often fish on opening day each year (see skunk link Opening Day) which is on a big, deep bend.  This was a redemption visit to set things right and realign after a whooping on opening day 2015.  I nymphed a handful out of the deep hole and then moved up to the fast, shallow water above to try swinging wets again.  Wow, was that the right call!  I landed a bunch more acrobatic, healthy fish doing this, and missed a few too on the tight line.  Fish are far easier to hook when you are behind or beside them, not when they are downstream from you grabbing a fly on a straightened leader.  But that jolt in the line is worth the effort and the missed fish or three.

Swinging the soft hackle in a shallow, braided run.

Soft hackle pheasant tail did the trick too.

A couple got hold of the caddis beadhead too, mostly upstream as I high sticked it to get down deep.

It was still windy and cloudy and cold, so I took a break to sit in the Subaru with the heat on.  After warming up, I decided to drive to another favorite spot on the creek.  This particular hole is pretty unique.  Because of the literal freestones in this particular area, the path of the creek will take detours and unexpected bends, often after major storms.  I know this is a sign of a stream that needs love and a better way to control regional runoff, but it does make for some interesting features sometimes.  For the last few years, the creek takes a nearly 80 degree bend here and drops quickly toward the opposite bank before turning back downhill.  Fish line up in the eddies the plunging water forms and hide in the deep, oxygen-rich hole all year long.

A fun, unique hole: riffles perpendicular to the bank.

With low water, the fish were tight to the fast riffles and didn’t hesitate a second before taking the nymph or the dropper (or in the case of a couple tail-hooked and foul hooked fish—both).  I completed the trout trifecta here with a couple brook trout, which I know were stocked last fall because my buddy Kenny and I banged them up one day in late 2014.

Some shoulders to complete the trout trifecta.

Oh, yeah.  I actually used a net today.

At one point, the dropper hooked the tale of a decent rainbow, and he forced me to chase him downstream since he had the advantage of not being turn-able (nothing stronger than tail hooked fish!).  As a result, I involuntarily moved down to another nice hole, so I decided to stay and attempt to nymph it with an indicator and a green weenie.  I landed one or two this way, as the weather began to improve.

Green weenie worked too.

It was getting close to 1 PM and my self-imposed quitting time when the cold front passed, the sun came out, and the wind died down a bit.  I was content to quit with an even 20 fish for the day if my count was right (which it often isn’t) until a feisty fish tried to eat my indicator.  I am no dummy.  I tied on big caddis and decided to target the risers that the wind prevented me from targeting earlier in the day.  I landed three more pretty browns this way, one that was getting some nice color on his cheeks despite once being a stockie.  I can’t think of a better way to end a good fishing day than a few violent surface takes on a size 12 or 14 elk hair caddis.

Finished the day with some dry fly success.

I was on the road before 2 PM, finally warm and definitely happy after a successful day.  After a few bad opening days in a row at the mighty Brodhead, today was a good reminder of why it remains one of my favorite places to fish.

Last one of the day.  This brown nearly swallowed the elk hair caddis.

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