April
2010 Report
2003-2010
Reports
^^Please check out our archives^^
April 26, 2010 - Lehigh Report
We had out Terry and Marvin on the Lehigh for the first trip
of the year. Overall the fishing was pretty tough. They got into
some fish, but had to work for all of them. Lack of bugs was probably
the biggest factor working against us. For some reason the insects
just never materialized, but the two of them persevered and managed
to stick a few. For them part streamers and wet flies were the
most productive patterns. Water temp was 58 Fat Palmerton in the
latter portion of the day. And we did manage to land one fin-clipped
bow. It was fat and fought like an Upper D bow. What a great addition
to the Lehigh River fishery these PFBC fish-clippie bows are!!
Hope to tangle with many more!
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Dry fly fooled brownie. Caught on a hendrickson
comparadun.
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April 19, 2010 - Lehigh Report
Over the weekend we were able to get out for a cold and blustery
float. We floated from the new ramp in Bowmanstown down to Walnutport.
At the start the conditions were tough for the fisherman. WIND
and lots of it. The water was also up a bit (1,400cfs
at Lehighton) from the rains Friday night, despite the fact
that the Corps limited the weekend release at 400cfs.
Fortunately, the wind did die down some. So much so, that we found
some rising fish. So obviously bugs were hatching and were on
the water long enough for the fish to take notice. Actually, for
the conditions the rising fish action was pretty good. So much
so that it looks like the Lehigh is picking up, right where it
left off last fall! All the fish we got into were fat a healthy
looking. Although we did not land any rainbows we did stick a
few that we know of.
The
bugs we did see were mainly olives, and hendricksons. Although
the latter could have been quill gordons since we did not get
a good look at them. Whatever they were, they were big. Size 12s.
The fish were not very picky. Any well presented drift, had a
mouth coming up to eat. Pretty cool stuff.
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April 14, 2010 - Apple Caddis
Are On!
For the SE PA limestoners that have this bug, well, they are
hatching. The heat of last week kicked them off, and from here
on out - for who knows how long - the fish will be looking up
for these bouncing bugs. Not sure what it is, but trout seem to
go crazy over these things. Maybe it is like a cat and mouse game,
where the emerging caddis is like, 'yea, see if you can catch
me,' as they rocket toward the surface...because there are times
when you will see fish 2' out of the water going after the adult.
Whatever the case, when the caddis start hatching, the fish are
looking up. Let's just say, dry fly season has commenced.
Also, don't forget to give a caddis
worm a try. Sure, we all like to catch fish on dries, but
a caddis worm or emerger can be an even more effective fish catcher
than the full-on dry.
The plan for this weekend is to get out on the Big
Lehigh. We shall see!? Lehigh
trips start soon, and dates are limited, so get in
touch if you want to hit it!
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CDC and brite green. This pattern,
depending on the weather floats like a cork and does a
good job imitating the apple caddis.
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April
8, 2010 - Francis E. Walter
To the right is what Walter
looked like a few days ago - 1,380'ish, and about 25% of flood
storage. This weekend looks
like another one of those "bonus" weekends for the
whitewater folks as the releases will once again be in the 1,000cfs
range. Combine this release and last weeknds purge with the mid-week
yo-yo action due to the grout work going on at Walter, and
you've got a rough start to the Lehigh River trout/fisherman season.
The fish and the fisherman just can not seem to get anything
consistent going when it comes to flows
so far this early season.
Fortunately next weekend (Opening
Day) and the following have a restricted release of 400cfs.
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April 4, 2010 - Opening Day
Weekend - SE PA
Not so much a fishing report since we did not get out and do
any fishing, but in our travels we did notice a lot of folks logging
some Opening Day hours. Travels took us to the Lehigh River watershed
where we were hanging posters to educate fisherman about the PFBC's
fingerling study and along Lizard Creek anglers were crawling
about. In Walnutport the canal was elbow to elbow with families
wetting a line. No doubt the beautiful weather helped. Some folks
were even giving the Lehigh a shot, even though it was certifiably
ripping! 4000cfs
at Lehighton is a lot of water. That said, folks did catch
fish - some nice bows and browns. Guys were also looking to float
the Lehigh is some not-so-sea-worthy floatables, considering the
conditions. Hopefully they wade out ok.
Along the way we even saw Daryl Pierce, Area 5 biologist with
the PFBC, who was out and about doing an opening day creel survey.
He made a comment that someone had caught a fin clipped trout
from the Lehigh, but it was not a PFBC fin clippie. Huh?! Is someone
else out there clipping fins? A rogue clipper?
Some of you may have been noticing the erratic
releases from Walter. Well, the reason for this is to allow
for the grouting project to take place up at the dam. I guess
in order to facilitate the grouting the dam tenders need to drastically
cut back the release on a daily basis. We are not sure how long
this will be taking place for, but we hope to get an answer.
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