Potter County Fishing Report: "Trout Whisperer" Magic on the East Branch Fishing Creek

The thunderstorms that rolled through on Sunday night did a number on the small streams.  By Wednesday, though, Fishing Creek, although high, had good color.  And with the forecast to be relatively dry over the next several days, Bob "The Trout Whisperer" Volkmar and I decided to try the East Branch of Fishing Creek.

Both branches of Fishing Creek fall into the small stream category.  The east branch, however, can be a bit more challenging.  With the amount of posted land, access points are not easy to find.  And, while showing a lot of character, the stream itself can be challenging, with overhanging trees, root balls, and woody debris just waiting to grab your fly.

If you're into 40 foot casts, this is not the place to be.  The trout are there, you just have to work for them.  The weather on Friday morning was partly cloudy, with scattered rain in the forecast.  Air temps were in the mid 60s, water temps around 49 degrees.  We headed up Fishing Creek Road at the gentlemanly hour of 10:00 AM, and strung up the rods at one of the spots that we had stocked a few weeks earlier, a hole that Capt. DiPaola had success on opening day.  Bob tied on a chartreuse Mop Fly and a small weight below a strike indicator, and on his first cast nailed a nice 12 inch Rainbow.

After I missed several fish on my turn, we headed upstream to do some trout prospecting.  As I said, you have to work for the trout in this stream.  But where there was good holding water, there was usually a fish. At least that's what Bob demonstrated, bringing six trout to the net while losing one at his feet.  My performance was somewhat less impressive.  When I wasn't missing fish, my fly found its way into the overhanging trees.  Even saving the fly more often than not left a tangled tippet that required re-tying everything.  The fishing gods eventually took pity on me, as I was able to land a 10 inch Brookie on Mary's Chamois Work below an indicator.

Four hours of fishing with only one to the net, not to mention the lost flies and tangled leaders, convinced me that something was amiss.  I began to suspect that Bob's Lab Blue had put some kind of curse on me to benefit his master.

Blue decided to opt out joining Bob and me for dinner that evening, but I still sensed the possibility of a lingering Lab curse, especially when I lopped off a small portion of a finger while chopping onions, an "accident" that had me in the emergency room at UPMC that night (after Bob agreeably finished cooking dinner for us) to get the bleeding under control.

On Sunday Bob departed for Pittsburgh, giving me the opportunity to test my hypothesis.  Weather was not much different than Friday, with the exception that the forecast showers were a couple of days late.  It didn't matter; I was on a mission.  With a latex glove protecting my bandaged injured digit, I hit the spot where we started on Friday morning, tied on a Chamois Fly below a foam hopper, and cast up into the head of the pool.  Missing the Brook Trout that rose to the hopper literally where I was standing challenged my suspicion.  But, even after missing a second fish, I stubbornly resisted the possibility that it was me, and not Blue, and made my way downstream.

Despite hitting very fishy water, I failed to move a trout.  And then fortune struck, and I managed to land a nice 10 inch Brownie that was hanging tight against a partially-submerged log.

A short time later I coaxed a Brookie about the same size from under some submerged roots for the second fish of the day.

So, while the score was 2 fish landed out of 4 hookups on Sunday, It just wasn't enough to prove that Blue had given me the evil eye on Friday.  I doubt I'd get anything out of him anyway, no matter how many biscuits I offered him.  Loyal to a fault, those Labs....

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing

Monday update: Hanging down at the Picnic Table Hole this afternoon, under sunny skies and temps in the upper 60s, a huge hatch (for the West Branch) of Quill Gordons.  Dry fly season is quickly upon us!

Potter County Fishing Report - Opening Day 2019

Anticipation

The stream looks very fishy

Time to string up rods

The state's proscription on trout fishing in the stocked streams is only a month and a half long.  But add to the regulations a gloomy, cold, and wet March, and the wait seems much longer.  Stocking events break up the monotony a bit, but also increases the anticipation that a new fishing season is at hand.

The 2019 season began last Friday, when Capt. DiPaola rolled in to enjoy another Opening Day, the first at the West Branch Tavern.  The evening festivities began with Smokey Manhattans at the bar, followed by a feast of steamed mussels in garlic and white wine sauce and mini crab cake appetizers, followed by a main course of Linguine alle Vongole, and ending with a few glasses of Woodford Reserve (double oaked) and cigars on the deck.  The night skies were clear, temps comfortably in the high 40s, indicating most excellent conditions for fishing.

Saturday morning broke with partly cloudy skies and temps hovering in the upper 40s, with the forecast only getting better as the day wore on.  We quickly ambled down to the Picnic Table Hole (aka Camp Bearclaw), around 0645, set on staking out the best fishing spot behind the WBT from the hord.  Over the next hour or so rods were strung up, the drone prepared for launch, and we enjoyed a continental breakfast, courtesy of WBT co-owner Mary Felker.

At 0800, with the sun just beginning to creep over the mountain, the catching began.  We sunk Woolly Buggers and Green Weenies to the bottom of the hole, and were rewarded with enough Brown, Brook and Rainbow tout to make the early rise worth the effort.  As the weather warmed, we started seeming a few bugs coming off; Little Black Stone Flies, and even a Quill Gordon or two.  But the fishing on this stream seem reluctant to rise early in the season.

By noon the bite was coming to an end, so a good time to send the drone up to catch some action before the bite quit for the afternoon.  An earlier fight caught some good video of the surroundings.  The second launch, however, proved to be a bit more problematic.

After the crash, Captain DiPaola quickly retrieved the drone from the creek.  Amazingly, the battery was still powering the drone.  Removing the battery, Joe left the vehicle to further dry out, optimistic that a "little" freshwater wash down would not result in a Class A mishap.

While the drone was drying, and the bite off at the hole, we decided to scout around to find another spot or two on the stream.  Driving around the west and main branches of Fishing Creek, we noticed a lot more anglers that we had seen on our section of the west branch.  The east branch, to my surprise, was empty.  So we hit a couple of spots that I had helped stock with the state the previous week, and in one hole puled out a 12 inch Rainbow and 2 Brookies, one of them a bit too small to have been stocked.

All in we caught and released about 15 trout for the day.  Even better, the drone proved fully operational after its Fishing Creek baptism.  With Sunday came the thunderstorms that swelled the stream, followed by the cold (and spitting snow on Monday).  Spring in Potter County is kind of fickle.  But the fishing season is on, and with it hopefully the last of Old Man Winter.

Tight Lines,

Mike D Fishing

  

Potter County Stocking (or is that "Stalking") Report - April 5

What better way to recover from our amazing fishing trip in Louisiana than hauling buckets of trout to the stream so the "bait chuckers" can pull them out in a week. To be fair, stocking is actually kind of fun, but it's also a workout.

Two weeks ago I helped members of the Roulette Rod and Gun Club stock both branches and the main stem of Fishing Creek.  Today it was the state's turn to provide the fish.  Weather conditions were not quite as nice as Louisiana.  As I headed to the rendezvous point with the truck and WCO, there was about a half inch of snow on the ground, and temps in the mid 30s.

Joining me in the outing was neighbor and fellow TU chapter member Bob "The Trout Whisperer" Volkmar.  We and about 7 other vehicles met up at the ABC Motel on Rte 6 at 1015, then headed to various destinations on Fishing Creek.

Not a lot of technique involved here.  The driver nets the fish and puts them into buckets, the WCO hands the buckets down to us schlubs, and then we amble off to dump the fish into the stream.

We tossed our last bucket o trout around 1:15 in the afternoon.   I think we stocked around 2,000 fish two weeks ago, and added another 1,000 or so today.  The big difference between the two stockings was fish size.  Most of the fish stocked with the club ran in the 12 inch range.  Today we put in a good number of 16-18 inch Brookies, Browns, and Rainbows.

I'm sure that's the reason why many of the folks in the "conga line" of vehicles didn't get out of their cars.  They really weren't there to haul buckets.  As I said, there are stockers, and then there are stalkers.  And then there are slackers....

See you on opening day!

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing

Venice, Louisiana Fishing Report, 30 March - 2 April 2019

Author and playwright Mehmet Murat ildan wrote, “When there is nothing left to learn from the winter, move on to the spring!”  Unfortunately, my winter learning curve peaked in January, and it’s been a long crawl since then to get to spring-like conditions.  Even then, spring in Potter County is a fickle thing.  A few days of warm temps are easily followed by the return of cold and snow.

Fortunately, Captain DiPaola had the remedy at hand.  I’m sure everyone who reads this blog has seen fishing shows which center on southern Louisiana.  So, when Joe suggested we check out the fishery in person, there was no hesitation, and we headed off to Venice, Louisiana.

Getting to Venice was fairly uncomplicated.  Southwest flies direct to New Orleans.  From there you simply hop into a rental car, get on I-10 East, and about 10 miles out of NOLA take Louisiana Highway 23 south.  From there you simply drive straight another 50 miles or so until you run out of dry real estate, and you’re in Venice. 

Along the way you get an appreciation of the principal threat to the folks who live in Plaquemine Parish.  Not long after getting on the highway you look to your left and see the twenty-foot high levee holding back the Mississippi.  A little south of Belle Chase and you see an additional  twenty-foot high levee that holds back the Gulf of Mexico.  Folks who have the money put their houses (and the schools, for that matter), on high stilts.  Unfortunately, those with lesser means are at nature’s mercy.  So, while we know the images of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, you can only imagine what the 27-30 foot tidal surge did in the lowlands to the south.

We arrived at the Venice Marina, where we had rented a houseboat (actually, a house on a barge … very comfortable) for the next two days, just as the offshore and inshore charter captains were pulling in. Venice advertises itself as the fishing capital of the world.  Watching the fish being offloaded, you’d have a hard time arguing against the claim.  Swordfish, Tuna, Red Snapper, and Redfish in large numbers all made their way to the cleaning stations.  Hanging out with a drink and a cigar under sunny skies and temps in the low 80s only increased our eagerness to hit the water and experience the fishing ourselves. 

That would have to wait until Sunday.  Saturday evening, we met up with our guide, Captain Herman Demoll, owner of Cajun Culture Fishing Adventures (www.cajunculture.net), at “Changes,” a local restaurant owned by Herman’s aunt and uncle. Over gumbo and boiled crawfish, we got to know Captain Herman, his history, and the culture of the area.   As I mentioned earlier, the area is ground zero for severe tropical weather.  And job opportunities are also pretty limited.  You’re either working the oil and gas rigs, or working the water.  It’s amazing that folks choose to endure such tough conditions.  But they do, which is as good a definition of resilient as I can think of. 

Fortunately, Captain Herman is one of those folks.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, although we’ve had a few clunkers for guides, overall, we’ve had more success than failure.  Captain Herman did not disappoint.  A fifth-generation fisherman, Herman proved to be the consummate guide and angler, and a living reflection of Cajun history, culture, and hospitality.

For the next two days we experienced firsthand the amazing inshore fishery in the Mississippi delta.  Captain Herman would pull up to the houseboat promptly at 0615, load our gear, and head off.  Both days we fished during an outgoing tide at an area known as the “Wagon Wheel.”  As the name suggests, it’s a circular-looking area just west of the marina.  From a map it looks only a distance of a few miles to the west.  But there are no straight lines to get to the great fishing spots.  The boat ride alone was worth the trip.  Captain Herman demonstrated the worth of five generations of  knowledge as he navigated the marshes.  I’m not a great judge of speed, but we were moving at a good clip, and in some cases in channels that were not much wider than his skiff. 

Within an hour or so he had us set up in what would be one of two fantastic fishing spots for the trip.  The first was essentially a 5-6 acre cul-de-sac of water surrounded by cane and other grasses.  His fishing technique was straightforward.  We first anchored at the mouth of the hole, rigged up spinning rods with popping corks, about 12 inches of leader, a small weight, and a Kahle hook, kind of an offset circle hook.  Since crawfish season had recently opened, live mudbugs were the bait of choice.  Baiting the hook was simple enough; just push the hook through the tail of the crawdad, and cast it close to the bank.  From there the technique got a little more complicated.  The popping cork is designed to make a snapping noise when the rod tip is jerked, a noise which is like a dinner bell to a Redfish.  Key to the technique, though, is slack and patience.  Keeping slack in the line gives the fish time to take the bait and run.  Patience improves the chances of a successful hook up.  So, when the cork went under, a five second pause, followed by reeling in the remaining slack and setting the hook, usually meant fish on!  The technique took a bit of time to master, with a good number of early misses.  But once we figured it out, fishing turned to catching.  And when the bite slackened, Captain Herman would simply move the boat to another section of the hole, drop the power poles, and we’d go back to catching.

The action was virtually non stop for about three hours, and we boated over twenty fish, almost all bigger than the 16-inch slot limit, and two in the 27-plus inch range that qualifies a Redfish as a “bull.”  I even had a brief encounter with a Red on the flyrod.  Unfortunately, the great weather that greeted us on Saturday failed us on Sunday.  A front moved in the late morning, with gusty winds, cooler temps, and heavier rain than forecast.  We had rain gear, but it wasn’t up to the conditions.  So, after hitting a few more spots with only a few hookups, we opted to get back to the warmth of the houseboat a bit early.  We could have toughed it out.  But the fishing had been so great, with an improved forecast for Monday, that we could easily call the day a success.

We hopped onboard Captain Herman’s boat the next day with clear skies, temps in the low 50s, a bit breezy but seemingly not enough to keep us from our mission of catching a Red on a fly.  We began at the same hole that we had hit on day one.  But unlike the previous day, while we caught good numbers of fish, we caught much bigger fish, several in the bull-class.  Having circumnavigated the hole, Captain Herman pulled up the power poles to hit a second hole, which turned out to be the hottest spot of the trip.  Again, he zigged and zagged the skiff around and through the Wagon Wheel, stopping at the entrance of a small creek channel connecting two larger holes.  The channel itself was nothing to look at; about 60-80 feet long, 30 or so feet wide, 3-4 feet depth on the left bank, and shallowing as you went towards the right bank.  Beyond the channel you could discern a hole of 2-3 feet depth about 80 feet in diameter.  But inside the channel and the hole on the other side were an incredible number of Reds.  For at least an hour and a half we were tying into fish on almost every cast, and again many of them were better than 27 inches.  We doubled up on more than a couple of occasions, which was somewhat dicey considering the narrowness of the channel. But the urge to tie into another big Red threw caution to the wind. 

After a bit we decided to try the flyrods one more time.  Captain Herman moved up into the channel a bit to get us closer to the far hole.  From there it didn’t take long for each of us to claim our first Redfish on a fly.  Mission accomplished!

We hit one more spot that Captain Herman was interested in, but didn’t see much action, so we decided to head back to the marina.  Anyway, the thirty-three fish that we caught and released suggested a pretty good day.  Bidding Captain Herman adieu, we drove back to NOLA, where we experienced a bit of the French Quarter, had a great meal at the Bourbon Street Grill, and finished the night with a couple of Sazeracs at Galatoires.  The perfect end to a perfect fishing expedition.

Our thanks to Captain Herman of Cajun Culture Fishing Adventures, who made the trip an incredible fishing experience!!! 

“Laissez les bon temps rouler,”

Mikey D Fishing