In preparation for this weekends' opening day of trout season ; I've been spending late nights at the tyers vice . While fishing on the tribs lately ; I have been haunted of visions of naturally colored stone flies as found creekside on our previous adventures . After finishing my regular trout patterns ; I decided to test my nerve with some biots , hackle , & dubbing to mimic the latest naturally occurring April stone flys found on Elk Creek in the last few weeks .
I couldn't have been happier with the results with fish numbers dwindling from droping back into the lake and in the low clear water conditions the new pattern seems to have found a nitch in my box . Fished a few hours Landed 3 of 5 takers ...... so I was pleasantly surprised ! Not always does a new pattern end up with positive results on it's first trial through the riffles . The custom pattern will now be referred to as "Spring Elk Creek articulated stone fly" and will be offered in our online store . It is a dead ringer for spring time stoneflies found creek side!
Man the traditional PA "opening day" is only three days away I anticipate the commradere about to be shared with friends and family exciting times ! Goodluck to all !
Began the day upon Walnut Creek after sleeping in and doing chores around the house ; I managed to escape to the water around 1PM .... Showed up on Walnut Creek and inspecting the stream bottom due to flawless water clearity I began to wonder if I should have did some more chores .
The day began slow landing dozens of suckers and 3 steelhead about one every hour or so . I had such a blast with landing suckers but I knew I should get walking to find some unpestered fish after I landed my smallest fish of the season . LOL
( pictured above Emerald shiner inhaled a stone fly! )
Much to my suprise a little walking revealed some fish holding in fast water ... On the horizon clouds began to darken dropping the barometer and releasing a flury of chromer fury . Hook ups started happening ! I landed 2 decent fish in the 4 to 6 lb range and lost a connection with a dandy of a fish so I moved up stream to find some more chrome in fast water !
I hooked up with 2 more fish but as luck would have it they did not want me to landem ( quick releases ) .... After having the run to myself for a 1/2 hour or so ; a young lad came upstream and began fishing next to me .... I'd rather see his face light up than inhibit his casting so I gave him the "hot" fly for the evening and went back to pursue the big girl that eluded me earlier ..... On my third drift into the pool the line tightened up and chrome exploded from the water was the fiesty beast that I missed earlier . Three jumps , 5 head shakes , 30 runs , and five minutes later the trusty ole 7 weight had the 10lb 1 ounce fish to hand . I felt bad about keeping her but I do not know how long the fish are gonna be here with these abnormally warm temperatures and opening day of trout pressure looming in the near future so I decided I wanted to fill the smoker . I hope you enjoyed the story and try using karma to work for your fishing ; it really does work ! Thanks for reading . Don
On Monday our web designer Jim joined me on the bay for some panfishin action . It was wonderful to be able to enjoy the sites & sounds on the water with the awesome weather that has been afforded us ! We started out fishing 4-5 feet of water and found some co operative pumpkinseeds , bass , and crappies monday afternoon . A pleasant outing with great company aboard our 14ft aluminum boat .....
On day two the fish were jumping in the boat ! Matt from East Springfield joined me as thoughts of fish frys danced through our heads we headed out at 2PM and fished till dusk...... With local walleye and perch fishing being a month or better away these fillets will suffice our cravings .... Day 1 total was about 40 total gills with 28 gills creeled , 2 crappies and about 8 throwback largemoouths with that one missed connection with a steelhead . Day 2 total 130 gills with 91 being creeled , 3 Jumbo Perch , and countless throwback largemouth bass in the 10-15 " range . After a great day on the water we headed for home and fried up some fish from the previous day ... YUMMY ..
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