March 2007 Report

2007 Reports
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2003-2007 Reports
^^Please check out our archives^^

Be sure to mark your calendar for these FFPA '07 trips:
Penns Creek - May 5-6

Of course we always have our Business Person's Specials and Evening Floats on the Lehigh

Be sure to check out our Penns Overnight!


****PLEASE READ****

For the 2007 season - specifically the Lehigh - we can not stress the importance of booking early.
We have had considerable interest and open dates are being crossed off quickly.

It is also worth mentioning that our time on the water is limited compared to previous years.
If interested in a trip - email now! We will do our best to accommodate.

March 29, 2007 - PA Streams....

FFPA was from one end of the state to the other. Fishing time was extremely limited...however a few minutes was able to be spent at the well-known waters pictured below. The Erie trib outing began well. One steelie was landed right off the bat on a black stone nymph. The action though quickly came to a screaching halt with a broken rod. Snapped on a sucker no less!!! It is safe to say the Erie Sucker Run has begun. The water was green, but dropping and clearing fast.


Erie trib


Central PA limestoner


The central PA on-the-water-time was even less. The water was once again green, with a blue tint and in the bushes. No time for waders so the technique was to just flip a bugger out in the current and swing it in. A big brown bugger! High water = streamers and fish tight to the bank. And believe it or not, a brownie smashed it! Awesome!! Visuals were killer as the fish was only a few feet away. Hook-set sent the rod tip right into the brush along with no fish at the end of the line. Game over...time to go.

March 19, 2007 - Valley Creek Update

Valley Creek was fishing well before we just got our latest round of ice. The olives were popping during the heat of the day and fish were feeding off the top. Even if you do not have a good match for the olives - which are quite big - 14s - a caddis will work, as most trout will explosively attack it as well. VC trout I find are quite opportunistic...and readily eat a well-presented fly, even if it does not match the hatch.

Next up on the hatch-outlook is the apple/green caddis. Years ago, this was a very strong hatch. Duration was not too long, but boy, did it put the fish on the feed. I remember an outing on a brite, sunny and warm mid-April afternoon in the late-80s/early-90s where a particular run was just bubbling with fish eating green caddis. Since then the hatch has most definitely fallen-off in numbers, but in talking to some long-time VC'ers at the end of last season, everyone seemed to be in agreement that the caddis of last April, was one of the better caddis emergence seen in years. Could be a good sign that maybe the stream is regaining some of its former insect diversity. Hook-up with Valley Forge TU to give something back to this water.


This one ate a nitro dropper off a caddis dry.


This one attacked a caddis dry.

March 14, 2007 - FE Walter

It looks as if the Corps is slowly starting to fill Francis E Walter. The chart to the right shows the lake at 1,325' or about 3% of flood storage. Normal pool level is 1,300'. The 2007 Recreation Operations Plan calls for the reservoir to be at approx 1,365' by early May. With a 2" rainstorm on the horizon, coupled with snow melt from the upstream watershed the Corps could most definitely reach their targer elevation by this weekend. Doubtful though that the Corps will operate Walter this way. By the way, the snow pack in the Poconos has about 4" of water in it...this is according to NOAA. Suffice it to say, Walter should be full of ice cold water come early May. Hopefully we can sustain that coldwater into the summer as long as possible. Time will tell.

March 10, 2007 - Tennessee Tailwaters?

Yeup! TN has tailwater trout fishing. Over the past few days the opportunity presented itself to explore a couple of the better-known tailwaters that flow from the large TVA impoundments. Since these are hydro-dams you learn really quick when not to be on the water. You can literally watch the water rise when they turn the switch. And the water retreats just as quick when they stop generating. The streams we fished were the Watauga and the South Holston.


Another South Holston rainbow. Neat color scheme.

Both of these are regarded as some of the better tailwaters in TN. Overall, bug life was not really too active on either water. We did have some blue wing olive action on the lower Watauga, below Smallings Road. 2pm was the magic hour. The bug life appears to be much more prolific on the Watauga below Elizabethton, as opposed to closer to Wilbur Dam. There also seemed to be more fish downstream, where there was more bug life. No coincidence there. If I had to guess, the water quality gets better the further downstream (higher DO) you get from Wilbur Dam, up to a certain point...or at least until the stream looses the coldwater influence. Unfortunately, we did not get to tangle with any of the big fish the Watauga is known for. Best fish came on nymphs...#20 flashback pheasant tail.

On the South Holston, you need to hunt out the better-looking trout water. When you do find it, you also find the fish stacked up. On this stream, the nitro cleaned-up! This water is known for some decent BWO hatches, so the nitro seemed a logical choice for good emerger pattern. On the Holston the fish we did find rising were taking some microscopic. No clue! You could fool them on a #20-24 olive or midge if that is your gig. Best fish once again ate nymphs.


Nymphing a productive looking riff. No life found.


A nitro eating rainbow from the South Holston.


Hook-up on the Upper Watauga.