The best day of the year so far...and no pictures to prove it!

Saturday was amazing. Of course, I have no pictures to prove it as my camera got fried on my last voyage out, but I have the memories (and a new camera ready for this coming weekend).

Saturday was a warm 44 degrees (under the norms for this time of year, but warmer than it has been lately...as I sit and watch a fresh 4" of snow pile up outside right now...). There's a local Class A that I've only fished twice, only caught one brookie on, and both trips have been in Feb. (this year and Feb. of last year). All I've heard about this stream is "it ain't what it used to be". I was starting to believe it. I arrived at the stream around 2pm on Saturday, took a water temp (holding strong at 48 degrees), and proceeded to chuck my dry dropper into some promising looking holes. Nothing. No misses, no rises, nothing at all. I can't figure this out. How is this stream a Class A!?

I soon found out. About 45 minutes into my voyage, and it was like someone threw on a switch. I came to a nice pool (although, no nicer than the numerous pools that I was taking skunkings in), and sure enough the stimy went under. Set the hook, and thought I got a chub. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a 4" brownie! I thought, this hole has more than one fish, I know it! Next cast, the stimy goes under, and I pull up a beautiful 7" brookie. Third cast, and a nice 7" brownie hits the stimy! Oh...and I "long distance released" 2 other trout. So now I'm getting excited. I move to the next hole. Instead of fishing the pools, I start dropping my rig into the fast currents and letting it drift into the head of the pool. That did the trick. The numbers just started to add up. Brownies and brookies, all with some decent size, were lying in the fast waters, where as the pools themselves were usually void of fish. I expect this behavior from brownies, but brookies usually like slower waters. Still, there they were, in pretty much equal numbers, laying in the fast currents between the pools.

The best catch of the day came from what I'm dubbing as "the toilet hole". I give it this name because there is an old toilet laying on the bank of the stream at this stretch. Given the uh, crappy structure (pun intended), there was a nice riffle flowing between two pools. A beautiful cinder block created some nice pocket water (the joys of fishing a Class A that runs parallel to a road...). I dropped my fly behind the cinder block and moved a really nice fish. I failed to land him. Tried again. He took it again, and I failed to land him again. At this point I'm thinking, "its gotta be a sucker or a large fall fish". Dropped the fly behind the cinder block and the stimy went under again, and this time I landed him. A beautiful 11" wild brownie was brought to hand. I had no idea fish of this size were holding in this little stream. Not a giant by any stretch, but when you're expecting fish in the 5"-7" range, and you bring one up of that size, its a pleasant surprise.

The day ended with me bringing 9 brownies and 6 brookies to hand, only 3 of them were under 6", and I missed a lot more than that. Double digit days are rare on northern Lancaster freestoners, especially in the cold months. I can't wait to get back to this stream on a warmer day and do some more exploring.