May 1, 2016 – Pickering Creek DHALO in the Rain

A rainy May Day, but not a bad day to fish.

Eric had the morning free to fish today, so despite the rainy forecast, we kept our plans to get out.  He had to stay close to home too, so we considered the Wissy, the Penny, Valley, and settled on Pickering, which was supposed to have gotten its last stocking on April 27.   When we arrived, the creek was only a little stained, but it was getting muddier by the time we quit at 11:30 AM.  We got 3 hours in, with not another soul on the creek, and had some success on midges and small prince nymphs.  I think we each had 5 fish a piece and had some drops on the tiny flies we had to throw to get any love.

Eric got a bow to pose for a shot.

I am not sure how many fish they stocked or where because half the fish we caught were holdovers, but at least a couple holes yielded multiple fish.  One in particular was productive enough for us to both hang there for a while and fish together.  We could see fish chasing emergers, most likely midges, because nothing much was coming off the water.  I caught the only brown at this hole, a fish who accounted well for himself.

A feisty brown, the only brown of the morning.

I botched the photo on my best fish of the day, a rainbow that was hiding in a small pocket in a bankside riffle, with overhanging bushes and sticks for protection.  All he wanted to do was get back under his lair, and I could barely turn him even with side pressure.  I eventually landed him in the net and snapped a shot.  Swampy, due to the humidity and rain, the lens was fogged on my phone, so the bow looked more like modern art than anything else.   We were back on the road by noon, satisfied that we got one in on a day when a lot of guys probably stayed home.

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