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
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