November 30 to December 2, 2016 – A Little Overzealous at the Sight of Substantial Rain
Beating a dead.... |
I was so excited to see rain this week that I snuck out of work during the height of the storm on day one of rain, only to find Valley choked with leaves to the point where I could not fish. Even though the flow was great for a streamer, I could not retrieve a foot without hanging a leaf or twelve. I gave it about 30 minutes, and then went looking for cleaner, less muddy water upstream—all to no avail. Flash forward to Thursday, and again I was so excited I took the day off and drove 90 minutes north to the Lehigh Gorge, hoping that by late in the morning, the gages would have fallen quite a bit. The opposite happened, in fact. I knew it was pointless when I saw a father and daughter float by around 11 AM. The water continued to rise, but I was over 2 miles from my car, so I tried to find some eddies and slack water (which were also leafy, but not unfishable).
I had one legit hit on a streamer close to the bank (the near bank because as the day went on, it was not possible to wade out and cast across). Also, I stuck one little guy close to the bank, hiding from the flood. That was it before I took a nice hike and scouted a couple other spots for the future. When I was leaving, actual whitewater enthusiasts were gearing up. If that's not a sign that you picked the wrong creek, I don't know what is.
Feeling black and white about this week. |
Hmm… this was the day to hit a tiny creek like Valley. I even had tentative plans to hit a wild creek nearby the mighty Lehigh, but it too was roaring. I guess the gages I saw in the morning did a double spike (it was still very high today). It’s been so long since I fished with rain as a variable, that I blew it. Plain and simple. Skunk # 3 of 2016?
Rain made the falls nice, though. |
On Friday, I took the boy to the bus stop in the morning, and then I decided to blow off some leaves. That led to two hours of working on the lawn: leaves, the final cut, running the gas out of the mover and winterizing. By 11 AM, I realized I was not working today. I could have stayed at home and relaxed, but as Tami said when she saw me hosing off wading boots this afternoon: I can’t relax without fishing, apparently.
I took a 30 minute ride to another section of Valley, deciding that 90 minutes of fishing would do me good. I had to celebrate this rain storm, dammit! The creek looked fantastic when I arrived. I decided to target one deep hole with midges and then call it a day—no more 4-hour endeavors with little to no payoff this week. As I creeped up to the hole, I was happy to see relatively clear water and some midges dancing around. I hooked a couple fish right away, including one that had to have been born this year, all parr marked and jumpy, one the smallest trout I have landed in a long time... Then tragedy struck, tragedy that could have and should have been avoided. Not one but two dogs offleash came splashing into the water. I don’t hate dogs; in fact, I kind of like them and had one as a kid. However, I hate irresponsible dog owners who run and swim dogs in wooded parks. I am going to do a Deep Thoughts on this one day.
Two under, ahem,, parr before the pooches waded in.. At least I was feeling sepia toned today. |
I let things settle when they moved on, and caught a few chubs away from the current seam. I sat and retied a larger caddis larvae to avoid the chubs, hoping the rest would allow me to catch a couple more without having to go walking. Not three minutes after I missed a hookset on the caddis did another dog barrel into the water! These folks apologized, but I was done. On my way home, via text, Tom made me feel better by sharing a story about horses and Valley, so things could have been worse. But with the unsuccessful week I have had, and early success in some great looking water finally, I was done. I hoofed it back to the Subaru and called it a day… week. I have over a month off at Christmas time, so the lesson today was relax, man. There will be more rain, more snow, more fish, more posts.
I wonder what the erosion is from, Fido's mommy? |
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