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!