I thought that perhaps an essay would go along nicely with my photo review from my favorite fish of 2012. Many of my friends don't quite get my fascination with fly fishing. They don't understand why I trek my fat butt through the woods, miles at a time, only to catch 5" brook trout. They don't understand my most of my fish pictures are fish the size of my hand, and why these fish are worth the effort. Fly fishing, for me, brings me a moment to clear my mind. Between working two jobs, going to college, raising a family of four, not to mention my other involvements in life, the chance to get out onto the water brings me some much needed silence. The fish are a bonus. For brook trout though, what makes them so intriguing to me is that they're supposed to be here. When I walk up a little trickle of a stream and pull out a brook trout, I'm holding a fish that perhaps no human hands have ever touched before. This fish was meant to be here. Its part of God's design that this fish inhabits these little streams. Concerning wild brown trout and rainbow trout, I realize they are not meant to be here (they were introduced in our waters at some point), but they are naturally producing trout, and to me, that is amazing. When I catch trout that didn't come from white trucks and buckets, there's something special about that. Size matters not, although I don't deny that I love to catch large trout. The idea that these fish are out in the wilderness thriving without the aid and help of stocking programs is a draw to me. That being said...
My 2012 began with a pilgrimage to the Cumberland Valley. I had never fished any of the legendary Cumberland Valley limestone spring creeks before. Sharing a birthday with a fly fishing buddy, we both decided that for our birthdays we'd make the trek out to the legendary Big Spring. This was not my friend's first time there, as he is a bit of a spring creek expert. For me, it was a sight like I never saw before. It was snowing and the air was a nippy 29 degrees. Yet, through the heart of this winter wonderland ran a spring creek flowing at 50 degrees and littered with wild brook and rainbow trout. Fish just everywhere. I never saw anything like it. It seemed as though I would take my first official Big Spring Skunking, but somehow managed to catch two little rainbows. Skunked or not, its a trip that I'll always remember.
My first wild brown trout of 2012 came in Feb. with a trip to a small spring creek in Lebanon County, just west of Myerstown. The stream, (Tulpehocken Creek) is actually a fairly popular Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only stream below Blue Marsh Lake in Berks County. However, above the lake, its a fantastic wild trout fishery, IF you can get access. Most of the land is posted, however, a friend of mine found access with a land owner and we've been able to enjoy this little jewel. I took another friend who had never fished the stream above the lake and we both brought to hand several little brownies.
The brook trout were harder to come by in the early part of the year for me. I tried, and with the milder winter I should have had more success than I did. I made several trips out to local freestone streams that I know hold native brook trout, but it wasn't until March that I started having success. Actually, the first memorable brook trout came from Lyman Run in Potter County in April. A gang of us were up in God's Country for a long weekend of fly fishing, and several of us hit Lyman that Friday morning/afternoon. Fishing was tough, however, after spotting a brook trout in a drainage ditch, I decided to go for it. I sat on a slope beside the hole for about 10 minutes and then made a cast into where the trout was spotted. Sure enough, my dropper went under and I took a pretty little 7" brookie.
Once April came though, the brook trout were abounding. I had several double digit days on a Northern Lancaster County "Approved Trout Water" stream. Approved Trout Water streams, for those who don't know, are stocked streams by the PA Fish Commission. This stream is stocked several times during the trout season in April and May and gets POUNDED with bait fishermen there to harvest the stocked trout. After the crowds die down though, the stream is a fantastic native brook trout fishery with some wild browns thrown in...and believe it or not, a few little wild bows as well. I spent a lot of time on this stream this year, exploring it and learning the patterns of brook trout. I consider this stream my "home town stream", as it is only 15 minutes from my house.
May was a great month for me as well, as I attended the PA Fly Fish annual jamboree. Got to meet a lot of guys from the website, we got some fishin' in, and even won an Allen ATS 2wt rod, which is a great small stream rod! Good times, good memories. Also got to fish the sulpher spinner fall on Spring Creek. Great experience!
With the hot summer months, I shifted my focus towards the smallmouth bass. I still got some trout fishing in, but the bass action was hot. Lancaster is filled with great warm water fishing. Did a float down the Swatara Creek with my brother and another buddy, pullin' smallies out, but the most memorial moment came from a stream about 10 minutes from home. My family was at a park playing on the swing set while I hit the stream behind the park. Big hexes everywhere. I tied on a size 8 green drake, simply to match the size and profile of the bugs I saw flying around, and bam. Nailed a 18" hog! What a great fight.
I can think of one memorable moment in August. It came during the first week. I had a week of vacation as I was spending the mornings helping my church with their annual VBS program. I spent the afternoons fishing. This particular day, I decided to hit up Lititz Run. Lititz Run is a restoration project of Donegal Trout Unlimited. There's a fly fishing only stretch that is pretty good in the spring, but is marginal any other time of the year. I never catch anything out of Lititz Run. Its a bunch of stocked pellet heads who are constantly fed dog food. This particular day though, I decided to hit it up using the famed Letort Popper. Lititz Run is a spring creek that flows through some meadows, so the terrestial action in the summer can be (has the potential to be) exciting. I had to cover a lot of ground that day, but I did manage to take one stocked brookie on the popper. It felt good to just catch a fish on this stream. It is the only trout I caught on that stream since October of 2011.
The fall is my favorite time to fish. Columbus Day (bank holiday!) is a day I look forward to every year. This year I decided to fish the Tulpehocken in Myerstown again, and I'm glad I did. I caught a lot of trout that day, including two wild rainbows. On my way home, I stopped at my local stream and caught one of the most beautiful brook trout I've ever seen. The brook trout in the Fall are amazing. I love how they turn orange, just like the leafs.
The year isn't over, and there's still a lot of winter fishing to be done, but with the holidays coming, I can't see that I'll be getting out much more this year. This was definitely a banner year for me. I fished close to 40 different streams, over half are streams I never fished before. I caught more trout this year than I ever had before, and I made a lot of new friends on the waters.
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