Potter County Fishing Report: The Week in Review, April 18-25

Last Saturday was the first (and perhaps the last) annual pheasant release day at The West Branch Tavern.  A recently-established hunting preserve in Coudersport fell victim to the lock down, and lost a good number of hunts in March.  Left with a bunch of pheasants and chuckars, the owner (a TU member) placed an ad in Face Book offering the birds for sale.  Thinking at the time it would be kind of neat, I called and ordered 5 roosters and 5 hens.  Saturday afternoon we released the birds.

Of course, being birds, there was no controlling where they were going to fly when released.  The first did a 180 and flew to the woods across the road.  Two others took a left and flew into the field next to us.  The rest made it to the woods behind our field.  And, at least for the next few days, it was cool hearing the roosters cackle and seeing a bird wander through the field.  And then nature took its course.  Put pen-raised pheasants in the wild, and it wasn't a surprise that the cackling stopped, and with it the birds.  I hope the foxes, raccoons, and other critters enjoyed their pheasant dinners.  As for the birds, well, they at least got a "taste" of freedom, pardon the pun.

Sunday, the "Trout Whisperer" and I took the ATV up to fish Fisk Hollow Run, a small Class A stream just up the road from the WBT.  For once the weather cooperated; cloudy skies with temps in the 50s.  The area was beautiful; the stream shaded by hemlocks and hardwoods.  The cover made it tough casting, the norm when fishing "blue liners."  But a tangle here and there was worth a little frustration,  as we stuck a few wild Browns, and a native Brookie.

The weather was unpredictable over the next few days, so when conditions permitted I'd grab the rod and head down to the "crik" behind the WBT.  I'm still not confident that the state stocked the west branch, but there are still a few trout in the normal holding spots.  And they hammered Mary's Wooly "Blurplebugger," a black bugger with a purple bead-head, and purple flash in the tail.  I fished that fly all week, and it never failed to at least get a take.

The forecast for Thursday pointed to improving conditions, so Bob and I decided to check out the east branch of Fishing Creek.  Our first stop was at a spot that the state normally stocks, and we weren't disappointed, as each of us picked up a fish on the first few casts.

We moved downstream for a bit, not finding much in the way of good holding water, and in the spots that looked fishy, didn't move a trout.  Hopping back in the vehicles, we drove upstream to another put-in spot.  Once again, the water was low, although I managed a small Rainbow in the only fishy-looking pool I came across.  Bob decided to call it a day.  I decided to stick around, and remembered a nice pool just upstream of where we were parked.  Last year I had caught a nice Rainbow in that pool, so I walked a hundred feet upstream to give it a shot.  In a little over ten casts I got 2 Rainbows, one of which looked wild, and a nice Brownie that spit the bugger as I was getting ready to put him in the net.  I figured that was about it for the east branch, so headed back to the WBT and managed three more fish, 2 at the Pavilion Hole, and the third in a nice bend just below.

Mary and I spent most of Saturday tilling soil to plant pollinators; my small contribution to the environment (and also a federally-funded program ... go figure).  With a couple of hours left in the afternoon, I suited up and fished the west branch from the Pavilion Hole down about a half mile.  Once again the Pavilion hole produced a decent-sized Rainbow.

But from the Pavilion things slowed down.  I could only manage another hit downstream, and when I got to my final fishing spot, a really fishy-looking spot, I was honked off by a mother goose that took objection to me fishing so close to her nest.

Before heading back to the cabin, Mary and I sat at the Pavilion Hole for a cocktail and to enjoy the afternoon.  Temps had reached into the low 60s, caddis's were dapping the surface of the stream laying eggs, and a gray mayfly or two flitted around.  Not a bad way to finish the day.

And ... maybe, spring is finally here.

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing

Potter County Fishing Report, 06-07 April: Stockies are Trout Too!

After a phenomenal day on Lyman Run with The Trout Whisperer, I decided to give it another go and have Mary tie into wild fish.  Monday weather was forecast to improve; sunny with temps in the upper 50s.  Or so we thought....

We got to the stream a little after 10:00, rigged up, and started pursuing the same wild Browns and native Brookies that Bob Volkmar and I had the good fortune to tied into only a day earlier. And the forecast was spot on; it was a wonderful day to be in the woods.  No wind, the sun showing on the stream, simply a great day to be out on the water.

Except for one missing element ... the fish.  We covered a helluva lot of water, dredged nymphs and  tossed dry flies.  We didn't spook a fish, and the only fish I saw were a couple of nice trout that meandered past my leg as I was standing in the pool where Bob had slammed the Brookies the day before.  So when I got to the run in the above photo, I was amazed that a trout was sitting in the current and aggressively took my Adams.

By early afternoon it dawned on me why we were so unsuccessful.  These fish are wild not just because they were born in the stream.  They've figured out long ago that sunlight is the quickest path to being eaten, and not just by humans.  So, when the sun is on the water, the trouts are under the banks and logs, and refuse to come out, no matter how tasty the presentation.  The one I managed to net was obviously a slow learner.

With some time left in the day we decided to head back to Coudersport and fish the DHALO section of the upper Allegheny.  The state had been stocking the streams the previous week, so I was somewhat confident that we'd find some willing fish.  We headed downstream a bit where there was some open fishing, and Mary tossed a Wooly Bugger across the current and let it slide into soft water close to the bank.  After a few short strikes, she brought a decent 12 inch Rainbow to the net.

The skunk was off, we moved downstream a bit to a run no longer than 50-60 feet long and 20 feet wide.  The sun was off the water, but it was obvious that the state had dumped a bunch of fish in the section.  And these fish were hungry.  For the next hour Mary and I tossed Adams Parachutes into the run, with nearly every cast resulting in a take.  Most of the fish were cookie cutter Rainbows of about 12 inches, although Mary netted a nice stocked Brownie, and I managed a 14 inch Brownie that, from his color, looked like a holdover.

There's certainly something to chasing, and sometimes catching, wild fish on those "blue line" streams.  But inferred in fishing is the opportunity to catch.  And that is what the stockies provide anglers who do not have the passion, or the time, to relentlessly pursue wild fish.  And, as you can see above, a stockie that survives the season takes on many of the characteristics, if not the behavior, of its wild cousins.

Tuesday initially looked to be a work day.  But when I looked on FB and saw the announcement that the governor and fish and boat commission had decided to move opening day up to ... this morning, work took a back seat!  The governor obviously made the decision to diminish the crowds that normally mass on the stocked streams.  But what it meant to anglers in Potter County was at least a day or so before the masses showed up.  I had missed the local club stocking of the west branch, and the state out of caution did not permit volunteers to help stock, but I had a good idea of at least one spot that would have been stocked.  I also decided that, for the first time in a few years, Mary and I should celebrate opening day with a fish lunch.  So I grabbed the spinning rod (apologies to the purists) with a Mepps spinner and headed back behind the West Branch Tavern.  Four casts resulted in three fish, two of which made it into the creel and then into the frying pan for lunch.

To appease the fly fishing gods, I did venture back in the afternoon with the fly rod, and managed two Rainbows in the lower hole, which is now renamed the "Liars Hole," so named because Mary put a nice "liars bench" on the stream bank.

The west branch has dropped considerably over the last couple of days.  But rain and snow are in the forecast for the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully the water levels will rise and the trouts will move around and inhabit more of the stream.  In uncertain times it's nice to find some cause to celebrate.  Opening day is here, warmer weather beckons, hatches are around the corner, and there are trout to be caught.

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing

Potter County Fishing Report: The "Trout Whisperer" Finds His Mojo

While you never know for sure in Potter County, it's beginning to look like spring.  The Robins are back, the Peepers are, well, peeping, and the trees are starting to bud. 

With a Saturday forecast looking ideal for fishing, Bob Volkmar and I lit out to fish Lyman Run, a small Class A stream that runs through Lyman Run State Park.  The stream empties into a large lake, and then at the lower end spills out and resumes as Lyman Run.  The lower end is stocked and so can't be fished until the trout season opener on April 18.  But the upper section's designation as Wild Trout water permits fishing year round.

We got to the stream and geared up by 1100 or so.  Lyman Run is what you would expect in a small PA freestone trout stream.  Water levels are the determining factor of its fishability.  These small freestone streams are dependent on snow melt, rain, and run off from the surrounding mountains.  So spring is ideal for hitting these streams.  But as the season wears on, and the mountain springs start drying up, lower water levels reduce the number of holding areas for the fish.

That wasn't the case yesterday.  There was plenty of water in the stream, flows were excellent, and there were plenty of fishy-looking spots.  Although a bit tight in spots, most of the stream was relatively easy to cast.  We both began nymphing.  I had a Mary-tied Rainbow Warrior, and at the first fishy-looking spot quickly picked up two Brookies and, surprisingly, a wild Rainbow.

As we moved upstream I managed a couple more Brookies, but noticed that the "Trout Whisperer" had yet to hook a fish.  We moved up to a bend in the stream that just had to hold fish.  I was thinking that I might have to write a memo to the Trout Whisperer Committee; remediation might have to be assigned.  But that's when Bob found his mojo.  He switched to a Royal Wolf dry, and on the second cast a nice little Brookie slammed the fly.

Not long afterward he caught the first wild Brown of the day, completing the NC slam of a wild Brookie, Rainbow, and Brownie.

After a quick lunch we decided to drive downstream and closer to the park, thinking that we'd see more water.  We were right; a lot more water and more holding spots.  I picked up my Brookie for the day on the Rainbow Warrior.

There was a good deal of bug activity in the morning, mostly olives, but also little black stones here and there.  By the afternoon, though, we began to start seeing mayflies (Grey Wolfs?).  The Trout Whisperer's instincts were right on, so much so that by 1330 or so we started seeing rising fish!  Bob parked in a great spot and picked up several Brookies on his Royal Wolf. 

I was doing well on the Rainbow Warrior.  But the chance to catch my first trout on a dry led me to tied on a big Adams and move a bit upstream.  I came across a hole with a log paralleling the far bank.  The spot screamed fish.  And on my second or third cast I saw a nice Brownie chase the fly before darting back to the deep.  A few more casts, interspersed by Bob's calls of "fish on," and the fish slammed the Adams.  Turned out to be a beautiful buttery-colored Brownie that went 12 inches; a nice fish for such a small stream.

Didn't get a picture of the guy, but I know where he's lurking, along with at least one more nice Brownie.  Another day of good weather tomorrow, and we're back in the 40s and snow.  Another spring in Potter County.

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing