March 13, 2017 – Had to Sneak One (Okay, Two) in Before the Blizzard of 2017 – French Creek FFO and Pickering Creek DHALO

French Creek FFO in the residual snow (soon to be covered in a lot more).

With the approaching weather, our first double digits snow fall of this winter, which is quickly becoming spring despite the white stuff still around, I had to catch a few today.  I may not only be stuck indoors for the next two days, or sledding with a boy, but I may also be splitting time between two colleges.  I now officially have two jobs until the end of the month, so I am going to be busy, except for on the weekends, and I hate crowds!  I decided to try French Creek’s Fly Fishing Only (FFO) section late this morning.  It is a creek I have never fished before, at least not in the FFO section.  I saw plenty of fish, and I caught at least 6 or 7, but with low water, there was not a lot of great habitat, at least on the lower stretch of the special regs section.  I ended up finding two pods of skittish fish, hanging in the deepest water they could find, actually using the ice fringe of the creek for cover at one location and an undercut bank and some bankside vegetation at another.  The water temp was barely 36 degrees, and ice in the guides was a factor even while applying Chapstick.  My net, which I must have lost later on Pickering (a “measure net” with a magnet attached. If anyone finds it, use it well...) was also frozen solid after netting my first fish of the morning.  The upside, besides catching half a dozen on a new creek, was that I had the place to myself. 

Average for French Creek today, but I did turn a 20 incher on a size 20 fly, much to my surprise and his.

Because the creek was so cold, low and, clear, I used a dry dropper with a variety of midges (zebra, brassie, weightless pheasant tail) on a long leader, at least 36 inches.  The fish still spooked once in a while when the size 18 wullf touched down.  The takes were tentative, and the battles were short and lackluster.  I came close to tangling with an outsized rainbow of 20 inches or more, but all I caught was a glimpse of his big white mouth and the flash of his side as he took off upstream without the pt nymph in his mouth.  I was throwing my 3 wt, so it was probably for the best…  I made a cast that managed to hit the best lane, the one running right under a bank and some overhanging bushes, and the dry fly went down, I set the hook, and was surprised that it was the piggie who had taken the dropper.  Go figure.  Ten smaller fish around, and I tangle with the biggest one—and fail.

Pickering looking lovely (and cold).

After a break to check emails and return a phone call from a student, I decided to head home and get the boy at the bus stop, but it was Tami’s day, and she wanted to get him (and leave early on a Monday!) so I decided to try Pickering on the way home.  By the time I arrived, there were fishermen everywhere.  They all had the same idea, I guess: Get an afternoon in before this snow!  I had to take a phone call, which lasted way too long, but I eventually got to fishing.  I stuck one right down the hill from the Subaru, but they did not all come that easily or quickly.  I saw some risers in a flat hole, which incidentally had a young bull throwing a spinner or jig at them to no avail, so I kept moving but hoped to return on the way back to the parking spot.  I made my way to another hole that often has rising fish, and they were there, only they were popping midges in the foam in front of a log.  Hmm…  I have seen this many times before, and I usually go after them with a nymph instead of floating a dry into the muck.  This time, I just decided to try the back of the same stick up, and I landed my second Pickering bow of the afternoon.  

The midge: back to winter fishing for a spell.

Since time was running out, I decided to head back to the other pod of risers, hoping the two guys fishing up there had quit by now.  I was right, and the fish were still bulging the surface chasing emergers that were two small to see.  No worries.  Even though a couple different dry flies, including a size 20 griffith’s gnat and a smaller wisp of hair, about 22 (how small do you want it, you uppity stockies??), were all refused, at least 5 more, including some brown trout, took the dropper before I had to head for home.  A couple took a size 20 zebra midge in red, and a couple took a 20 brassie too. I would have liked to have fooled one on top, but I was happy to add to my total.  A couple of these fish, likely fall stocked fish, actually fought.  It was nearly 39 degrees outside by then, so that might have helped the water temp a little bit too.

A few browns too, also on the midge.

As nice as it was to have such a mild winter, it sort of robbed me of much of my actual winter fishing, which is a different game.  Today was more like those typical mid-January trips, and it was a welcomed change, believe it or not.  I am not looking forward to snow, but the day off will be nice, and I don’t want it to get too warm too fast, either.  I already have snow on my blooming forsythias at my house, but we need the precipitation in any form we can get.  I hope the roads are passable enough by Wednesday, so I can get a new net too.  My old one, which was not that old, is probably frozen solid, hanging from some brambles right now, but at least it smells of fish.

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