A Hidden Gem

No signs of anyone ever fishing it. Hardly a sign of people ever visiting it. These streams hold a special place for me.

Although I live in an area that has, arguably, some of the best streams in the state, and even the country. But it's the ones that no one fishes that hold the most intrigue, for me. I always have people ask me how I find these streams that hold such big and beautiful brookies. Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the area I live in. Browns just do not thrive in this immediate area, and I believe that because of the lack of browns this leaves the bookies uncontested, and allows them to grow to a larger size. The other thing is these streams that I'm fishing are small, but they aren't really what most would consider brookie streams. The size of the stream that I fished yesterday is similar to spruce creek. It has no where near the ecosystem that spruce creek has but with a stream that size you are going to get some decent sized fish. You are also going to get some small ones in the process.

 

 

Something that I noticed about the fish in this stream, is that the yellow spots seem to be more pronounced than the fish from other streams in my area.

The water was extremely cold yesterday and I still did pretty well, but I can't wait to get back to this stream in the summer, when the fish are more active, and I can take some on top. I tried to do that yesterday but after no hits, and my feet going numb, I knew this was the wrong approach. There are some real large fish in this stream, I know because I spooked one. I'll be itching to get back to this one, and the great thing is that I know when I go back I'll be alone unless I take someone with me.

It's Still Cold

I got out to fish again on Friday.... It was supposed to warm up, the key word was supposed. 35 degrees not 44, and windy. 35, I can handle but when you throw in a consistent wind, it just kicked my ass for about three hours. That is until Olives started to hatch, then I didn't feel a thing.

The risers were more consistent today than they were the other day, and that always makes for a good day. Not to mention that they were all nice fish, nothing too small. It's the beginning dryfly season and I love it. Now all we need are warm temps, and I don't look for that for at least a few more weeks. I'll survive as long the bugs keep hatching.

Dries...OMG Dries

Things have been incredibly busy lately so I haven't posted. I've fished, because there's always time for that, but just haven't posted about it. Heck, I haven't even brewed any beer, and that's bad because I've had such big plans.

Enough about that... I went in search of dries for the first time this year. I figured, it's just a matter of time before Olives come off, and on this particular stream, next to Suphurs, these fish love nothing more than Olives.

What A Beautiful Day

 

When I got to the the stream it was as warm as it has been in a long time, and sunny. Just a beautiful day to be on the water. There were midges everywhere, but not a single fish rising. So, I decided to nymph for a while. It was fairly productive. I picked up quite a few fish, so it was already a good day.

A Beautiful Brown

As I'm working my way up the stream I started to notice mayflies floating around like little baby angels. Man do I love fishing dries, but I gave it a few minutes to see if the fish would react. It didn't take long before I saw a rise. The hatch was sporadic, but that didn't matter to me, as I immediatly switch to a dry followed by an emerger. Unbelievably, on the first cast I hooked up, and for the next hour or so it was on.

First Fish On A Dry For The Year

After taking a few more fish , and missing a few, I had to call it a day. But I got to fish dries for the first time this year and I caught few fish on nymphs. Add all that to the warmth, and I take that every time.

Bass Bugs, Beer, & Blogs

Bass Bugs

As I told you before, I started tying flies. Well, as it turns out, I have all the dry flies and nymphs I need for now. Okay, that's not true, you can never have enough flies, but there are some flies that I need more than others. This summer I was buying a fly from my local fly shop that was just killing the smallmouths. There's only one problem... they're not getting that fly in anymore.

Being an excellent fly shop owner he got me some of the materials that it takes to tie it. Problem is, I just started tying and I wasn't sure if I could tie it. I gave it a try anyway. The only problem was I had to do it from memory, and substitute the stuff I did have for the things I didn't. It took me three tries, but I got something close, and something that I think the smallmouth should smash.

First fishable bass bug

Beer

My friends and I finished the IPA that I brewed this weekend. It was good, the whole way down to the last glass. And I say last glass, because when we got to the last glass in the keg, it was obvious that some of the ingredients had fallen out of the beer to the bottom, as you can tell from the pic. This is even after I had it through a secondary fermentor. I tried it, and it tasted the same just a little grittier, my friends however wouldn't touch it. Having finished the last of the IPA, we tapped the Pilsner that it seemed like we've been working on for ever. More on that later.....

The one on the left is the last of the keg, everything else looked like the right

Blogs

I've been following the blogs listed on this page for a little while now, and I just want to say that those guys are doing an excellent job. I thoroughly enjoy checking these sites out everyday. If any of you guys are paying attention.... Thanks, it's good stuff, and entertaining. And if you're not following thes guys, you should, it's worth it.

Snow Melt

Some friends contacted me about fishing. I have a really hard time passing up any chance to fish. I also thought it would be a good chance for my brother to meet some new guys to fish with. He just started fishing and I'm not really the best teacher. We had a great time, but the fishing really slowed down once it started to warmed up, and the snow started to melt.

We finished the day off with an excellent meal and a few beers at Spruce Creek Tavern. If you're in the area, I would reccomend this palce. I've been there a few times and the food is always good, and they always have Otto's Spruce Creek Lager on tap. You can't beat that.

When this is where you're fishing, you know you're in the right spot.

The fish in this stream are absolutely beautiful

It's still too cold to put hand in the water to take photo's

I marvel at these bridges every time

Fishing with these guys is always a good time

Beer update: We kegged the Prima Pils clone last night and finished off the IPA. I can't wait to tap this, and when I do I'll let you know how it turns out.