John and Deb Hupp came up for a visit this past weekend to enjoy the respite offered at the WBT, but also some fishing. Was hoping to hit Little Kettle. But it was the first week of spring gobbler, and the Trout Whisperer reported a good number of anglers on the stream. So on Saturday we lit out for the DHALO section of the upper Allegheny.
Got to the DHALO section around 1100. We had the entire section to ourselves. Water was in great condition; good flows and clarity. Weather was less than ideal; intermittent rain showers, at one time small hail, and temps in the upper 40s. But everyone caught fish. Wooly Buggers, "Feggs," and Mopp Flies were the fare for the day. Fish were 10-12 inch stocked Rainbows....
With one exception. Deb fought what turned out to be a nice Brownie that took a "Fegg." Things got a bit dicey as the fish neared my net. It turned and went behind Mary, who was standing next to me. I took the rod for a moment, thinking I'd untangle the fish and hand the rod back to Deb. Unfortunately, the fish had other ideas, and shot like a rocket towards the fast water. It was at that time that my focus went completely to the fish and away from my net, which I proceeded to drop, and before I could react was heading downstream. The conundrum: break off the fish and chase the net, or land the fish and worry about the net later? I might have broken off a stockie Rainbow. But a big Brown ... say sayonara to the net.
I managed to get the Brown close enough to confirm that it was a good 18 inches. But as I was leaning over to pick it up it broke off and took off. Fortunately, the creek gods were smiling on us, as Deb located the net a bit downstream, and I was able to recover it.
On Tuesday the Trout Whisperer and I headed out to fish Little Kettle. A stocked stream, it also holds wild Browns and native Brookies. Not much to report. On Sunday we had over an inch of rain and snow. Even by Tuesday the water was still up and fast. Saw a few mayflies but nothing resembling a hatch. So we fished streamers, and I managed an 8-inch native Brookie in the only decent fishable stretch of the stream.
Temps are slowly starting to resemble spring, and the streams have plenty of water. Hopefully we start seeing bugs coming off the water by the weekend.
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
No comments:
Post a Comment