December 21 and 22, 2015 – Wild Brown Tuesday after a Polar Bear Club Monday

Wild browns on a rainy, warm winter day.

I am not going to lie.  Not only did I take a good two hour skunk on Monday at a little Class A trickle, but I also took a header into the 48 degree water, I mean damn near full immersion.  I stumbled on the bank and into the creek hands and, nearly, face first.  My waders filled up above the belt, and I had to put both arms in to the shoulders to push myself back up and out.  The only good thing, besides no witnesses, is that my 80 dollar Otterbox kept my phone completely dry.  I spent the rest of the morning driving around scouting out a couple new spots, heat cranked, trying to dry off, which didn’t work.

Flash forward to Tuesday (with an extra dry shirt and jacket packed) I headed to one of the spots I scouted on Monday while I was driving around avoiding hypothermia.  This little creek on the outskirts of the Poconos was new for me, but I will be back.  It is stocked once in the spring, I believe, but the PFBC is managing it differently lately due to a very encouraging survey of wild fish.  I was definitely encouraged.

I started out working quietly upstream from my parking spot in a slower, moderately deep section where I had seen a handful of fish from a high spot on the bank.  Working all the way up to the head with a tandem of Z-wing caddis and soft hackle pt dropper, I got no takers, but at least the rain had held off.  The air temp was around 53 degrees, and the water was a chilly 48, fog here and there, especially later in the day.  Upstream of me looked like more of the same, so I worked my way back down, trying each little pocket, but really just searching for a good wintering hole.

When I found that hole, it was game on for about an hour straight.  As I let the caddis and pt drift down the seam of a deep run, I got my first fish.  I was actually disappointed for a second because it was a rainbow, but he was a pretty holdover.  

Fish #1, a holdover rainbow.

The next drift yielded a little wild brownie, who took the pheasant tail as it swung upward at the end of the drift, and it was 4 more wild browns after that on either the pt or the Z-wing caddis nymph.  When I stopped getting hits, I put a little spit shot on and got more love.   The wild browns were getting better too, a couple over 12 inches, a couple quite acrobatic, which gave me a couple smiles.  Hits were incredibly subtle, but the fish were plenty active when hooked.

First of 7 wild browns.

At some point, I broke the soft hackle dropper off on a submerged log, so I tied on the heaviest nymph I had handy, a tungsten green weenie.  As that nymph drifted through the hole, I hooked a bigger fish that ended up being a 14 inch rainbow, healthy with good fins, so probably a holdover from a spring stocking this year or last.  For a minute I was excited that I had hooked a good wild brown, but after a few good runs and a nice jump, I was happy to bring the bow to hand.

A solid bow in pristine shape.

Brown ate a green weenie too.

At some point, the rain started coming down more heavily, so I paused and tied another caddis on.  I hooked my biggest brown of the morning on a caddis nymph not long after that.  He was fatter than his cousins and put on quite a show.  Not only did I smile, but I think I laughed out loud as he went airborne multiple times.  He was a good 13 inches too.

A fattie.

I worked my way slowly down to the tail of this pool with no takers, so instead of wandering around in the rain, looking for another wintering hole, I ended on a high note and made my way back to my parking spot after a very productive two hours.  I would say 9 fish, 7 of them wild browns, makes for a solid morning, especially on December 22 in sub-50 degree water.  I am hoping I can get out again after Christmas, and I actually have tentative plans with Eric, who is off next week.  Who knows, I may have some new flies to fish with if Santa is good to me…

Rain didn't stop them from eating.

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