July 6, 2017 – A Good Day Not to Wear Birkenstocks – Northampton County at a Slower Pace

I could get used to this "old bull" kind of fishing...

A few days ago, I spent some time in the garage working on a pair of my wading boots, just replacing the laces and a few studs that had worn down or popped out over the course of the busy spring.  Those refreshed boots were still in the garage this morning when I arrived at the Bushkill Creek in Northampton County, PA, a good hour from home.  While I wouldn’t go to the supermarket sporting the look, and I am more aging hipster than aging folkie or Deadhead, I do rock the ‘stocks and socks look in the summer for the ride to my fishing destinations.  It is nice to take off the sweaty socks and zip off the pant legs and just let the feet breath in the Birkenstocks on the ride home, too.  Because there was a chance of rain this morning, I thankfully wore a pair of slip-on skateboard shoes that I use sort of like Merrell Jungle Mocs, just something to slip on for driving to a fishing spot or walking to get the mail.  Today, those slip-ons became my wading boots…  It was certainly a hot look and about as stable as my first pair of rubber hip boots when I was 10.

At least it wasn't Birkenstockingfoots.

I took the ride this morning hoping that the tricos, miniscule black and white mayflies, would be hatching, and they were in force for a while.  As the opening shot tries to illustrate, I changed tactics today and just sat a lot in the morning waiting for a few steady risers.  I am not a dry fly fisherman, really, but I also don’t ignore what’s happening and change up accordingly.  Plus, this was perfect fishing for my footwear today, and perhaps good practice for when I am 80 years old and take the “old bull” approach to fly fishing.  Plenty of tricos and small blue winged olives were present at 5:50 AM, when I made it to the first hole where I expected them.  A spinner fall never really materialized, and the two fish I targeted appeared to be just bulging the surface for emergers.  The sky was alive with dancing mayflies, but only 4 fish were rising, and only two of them with any regularity.  I saw one beauty of a brown rise once to a caddis emerger, a big splashing take, coming right out of the water, and I have seen a huge fish in this hole show himself a couple times over the last year or two, but neither one showed again today.

A trico on performance enhancing drugs fooled a couple on the surface.

I finally got up from my log bench to target one steady riser who was right up against a cement wall, bulging at unseen flies in the film.   The water was too dirty and the light too low to see if I got a refusal, but he did not take two different trico patterns.  I did not put him down either, though, so before trying a BWO, I tried a super-sized trico—aka a flying ant pattern.  Two casts later, and he took it well.  After the first jump, I could tell it was a brown, and I was hoping wild, but as I brought him to the net, while pretty, he was likely a holdover who migrated from stocked waters or got pushed over some upstream barriers in high water.  He fought well, anyway, and I was really happy to get him to take the dry fly after the tricos were passed up.  

A rainbow in fine shape who took the ant too.

A few minutes later, I got a rainbow working below that brown to take the same ant pattern in black and while, but then it quieted down for 15 or 20 minutes before it began to rain.  The hole is so deep and slow in many parts that I decided to change gears for a while and fish some pocket water upstream.  Sometimes the rain brings out a steadier hatch of BWO’s, so I could always come back to the hole and prospect later.  I sat again and rigged up to Czech nymph but had nary a hit covering a couple runs upstream.  The wading mocs were a bit tricky, and I had to use a makeshift wading staff a few times, so I didn’t go full steam or wade to my full booted potential.  The creek is pretty low, even though the rain is giving it some color and helping to keep the temperature in the low to mid 60’s, so the pocket water was looking pretty shallow and a bit weedy in spots.  

One nymphing, but I should have had a couple more!

A spinner fisherman had hit a couple of my spots already, so that didn’t aid the success of my upstream hobble.  He turned back upstream when he saw me, but he had already plied his trade far enough down that I didn’t have high hopes.  I returned to the first hole and added some (even) heavier flies and an Airlock indicator, hoping to scare up a couple more before quitting for the morning.  I got one more on a caddis pupa, but I also missed at least two other solid hits.  I have noticed that I am not as decisive with the indicator hookset when I have been nymphing without it for a while.  With a tight line, I often feel hits and have no problem giving fish a good set with 4X.  I noticed when I was on the Lehigh River last week that I hesitated a millisecond or two on a couple hooksets and lost fish as a result.  Nothing remaining conscious about the issue and some positive self-talk before wading in can’t cure, but I did lose a decent fish on a crappy hookset today and all but ignored another hit that was practically swimming sideways with it before I set.  More homework to do before I can switch hit with total confidence.

Well, I caught a few fish, two on a dry, and without the aid of wading boots, so it was a mildly successful morning and a relaxing way to fish.  My poor shoes were full of gravel, but thankfully I have no holes in the waders yet.  I am headed to Point Pleasant, NJ for a couple days next week with the family, so I may pack a rod and some bucktails for fluke, but I am not sure I will get out this weekend.  The rain tonight had me thinking about some small limestoners in the area, but I think I need to stay home and grade papers on Friday before taking the boy to the pool.  Hopefully, the cool water and the tricos persist this month, as I am not totally ready to give up the trout fishing just quite yet.

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