December 14, 2015 – Back to the Fly Rod on a 70 Degree Winter Morning + A Big Rainbow Bonus

Bad pic of a big beast.  A 19 inch rainbow in the net.

With my semester winding down, I was looking at a hellish 4 out of 5 days this week helping students with papers and proctoring exams, early mornings and late nights.  Today was the only day that presented a window to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather, so after some debate in the morning, I decided to “work from home” for half the day and head about an hour north for some trout.  The water temp was a nice 57-58 degrees on my chosen Lehigh Valley stream, which has some limestone influence that keeps it free of ice all winter.  That has not been a factor so far this winter, with average lows equaling the normal average highs for this time of year.

I started out fishing with a zebra midge and a size 20 pheasant tail dropper.  While working my way up to a flat deep hole that I know usually holds fish, I watched at least two fish feeding, bulging just below the surface in a run along the far bank.  I put one down with a bad cast.  The hole is deep, even in low water like this December, so I couldn’t wade out far to get enough room behind me for a long back cast.  Making due with the room I had, I just nicked a tree branch on the back-cast, which sent the cast plopping down short of the run.  No worries.  I slowly inched up to the next fish taking nymphs.  I didn’t mess this one up, either.  After a nice fight, I had a healthy 12 inch wild brown in the net.

First fish of the day: a sporty wild brown.

Action was slower than I expected after that.  From a high vantage point, I could only see the odd sucker or two flashing near the bottom.  I made my way around the next bend to a good deep run, but got no attention there either.  I decided to swing a wet fly back down through the same run.  I tied a heavier pheasant tail on and dropped a size 16 soft hackle about a foot below it.  I then high sticked the pockets and let the wet swing up at the back of the run and into the quiet eddies.  Not long after switching up techniques, I landed a little wild brown, all of 6 inches.  It was good to see at least two year classes in the creek, though.

Behind that big rock in a deep pocket...

The highlight of the day, however, was taking a beast of a holdover rainbow out of the pocket water above.  None of the section of the creek I was fishing is stocked, but fish move their way up and down over time.  This bow was ornery from living in tight swift quarters for a while.  Fat, he’d been eating well all summer and fall too.  When I set the hook, he just stayed put under the white water, so I had no idea how big he was until I put more pressure on him and he took off running up and down the tight spot.  I had to jump off a rocky perch and get into a better place to net him, and even then he took two more runs when I thought he was spent.  I took about 5 pictures, but only the one at the top of the post was not blurry or foggy (hot, humid day).  I measured him at 19 inches before I revived and released him.  I ended the day thinking I had another pig, which ended up being a big sucker who ate a copper john in a deep hole at the base of a falls.  On that note, I packed up and headed for home.  Not a numbers day, but it was certainly a great way to spend a December weekday.

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