Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sad
The sad thing about my last post is, that was the last time I was able to get out fishing. I missed a lot of good days this month. This Saturday is the first free Saturday I've had all month, and fishing is on the agenda. Prepare for some brookie fun!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
A long day on the water
Winter fishing is tough. Every July when I'm standing out on the streams in 100 degree weather, I get romantic ideas about fishing a snowy afternoon. When I'm out in 18 degree weather, waste deep in 50 degree water fighting the temptation to dive in just to warm up, I think that those 100 degree days sound pretty good.
Saturday I met up with a buddy around 9am for some Lebanon County exploration. The first stream we went to is a little limestone tributary to the Quitty. He took me to the stretch he fished before, but as we were walking down stream, we started seeing some very tempting waters. Not seeing any posted signs, and all the houses on the property were clearly abandoned, we took a risk and followed the stream. This stream looked amazing. It was classic limestoner through and through. It was fed by several springs, including a very large spring that came out of an unusually large spring house. We walked down stream as far as we could, and just as we were getting ready to fish our way back up, we were met by a young woman who informed us we were on private property and kindly asked us to leave. We apologized (and informed her that its a general courtesy by stream-bank owners to post their land), and left. Too bad. You'll see from the pictures I took that this stream looked very fishy and very promising.
After our little illegal activities, we headed over to the Quittie. It was high, just inside its banks, and flowing quite strongly. We hung around for about 20 minutes, threw in the towel, and headed out for a warm lunch. After lunch we headed over to Myerstown to the upper Tully. My buddy and I have had the skunk for 4 outings now, and we knew we could break our skunk. We ended the day very cold and sore, but with several wild brownies brought to hand (none of which we took pictures of, because neither one of us wanted to take our gloves off long enough to get out our cameras...)
Saturday I met up with a buddy around 9am for some Lebanon County exploration. The first stream we went to is a little limestone tributary to the Quitty. He took me to the stretch he fished before, but as we were walking down stream, we started seeing some very tempting waters. Not seeing any posted signs, and all the houses on the property were clearly abandoned, we took a risk and followed the stream. This stream looked amazing. It was classic limestoner through and through. It was fed by several springs, including a very large spring that came out of an unusually large spring house. We walked down stream as far as we could, and just as we were getting ready to fish our way back up, we were met by a young woman who informed us we were on private property and kindly asked us to leave. We apologized (and informed her that its a general courtesy by stream-bank owners to post their land), and left. Too bad. You'll see from the pictures I took that this stream looked very fishy and very promising.
After our little illegal activities, we headed over to the Quittie. It was high, just inside its banks, and flowing quite strongly. We hung around for about 20 minutes, threw in the towel, and headed out for a warm lunch. After lunch we headed over to Myerstown to the upper Tully. My buddy and I have had the skunk for 4 outings now, and we knew we could break our skunk. We ended the day very cold and sore, but with several wild brownies brought to hand (none of which we took pictures of, because neither one of us wanted to take our gloves off long enough to get out our cameras...)
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Cooling down
Tons of rain last night, high winds today, a cold front is pushing through the Susquehanna Valley! That means that I missed the warm days and Saturday's adventures will be in 30 degree weather with high winds. Still, with the rain, our limestoners will be running quite nicely by Saturday AM, and I'm looking forward to getting a trout on the Featherlight...or perhaps I'll take my fourth skunking in a row.
I also wouldn't mind taking my new Martin for a spin. I'd like to hear that reel out on the creeks. Saturday's outing should provide me with the opportunities to get fish on both the new rod and the new reel...if we can find the fish!
I also wouldn't mind taking my new Martin for a spin. I'd like to hear that reel out on the creeks. Saturday's outing should provide me with the opportunities to get fish on both the new rod and the new reel...if we can find the fish!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Warming up
Well things are warming up, and I am extremely anxious to get out after some trout. Quite frankly, I'm not happy with my brookie numbers this year (one!?), but alas, I am stuck at work while the daylight runs out. Things will have to wait til this weekend, when it'll be around 33 degrees again. Oh well. The plan is to tackle one of my local spring creeks and test out the Martin 61. I want to hear that badboy screaming! I'll be cold, I'll be catching browns and maybe a wild bow or two instead of brookies, but it should be a fun day out, regardless. Any day on the water is a fun day.
I acquired a 8'6" 7wt Wonderrod to accompany my new Eagle Claw Granger reel. The summer SMB fishing is going to be awesome!
I acquired a 8'6" 7wt Wonderrod to accompany my new Eagle Claw Granger reel. The summer SMB fishing is going to be awesome!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Winter....it kind of sucks
One little thing I don't know that I mentioned here is that since last January, I lost 103lbs. Don't get me wrong. I'm still fat, just not as fat. So here I am, going through my first winter w/out an extra 100lbs of insulation, and I gotta say, I'm not a fan. The cold cuts right to the core of me now. I used to love winter, but now I'm far less tolerant of the frigid temps.
The other thing that sucks about winter is the fishing. I spent a significant amount of time on Valley this weekend, a stream that is usually teeming with trout. I fished with a group of four other guys, and we all got the skunk. Hard. In fact, every single person we talked to on the stream was getting the skunk. I even resorted to streamers to try and move some fish (this is a last resort for me!), nothing. I tried midges, scuds, BWOs (there was a healthy amount coming off the water), dry droppers, small nymphs, big nymphs, small streamers, big streamers, even green weenies. I tried up top, down deep and everywhere in the middle. There's gonna be days like this, I guess. Still, it was a really nice January day to be out. It was warmer than most days, the company was great, the scenery was nice, and the deer were on the move.
Monday I found out the answer to the age old question, "How cold is too cold?" I headed out to our local limestoner (Lititz Run) in hopes of a miracle (a trout actually feeding in the C&R FFO section). Midges are the order of the day on a cold winter day on that stream (or so I've been told), so I fished a weighted olive scud with a zebra midge floating above it. The wind chill was pretty brutal, and I couldn't find my fingerless gloves. I lasted 90 minutes, which is a drop in the bucket considering I was planning on being out for at least 3 hours. I covered not even half of the water I planned on fishing. I stopped often just to put my hands inside my fleece pockets. How cold is too cold? Wind chills in the teens is about what I can take, apparently.
On the upside, I fished Valley with the Featherlight 6'6" and I loved it. Going with the heavier line weight, I was able to do some nice casting, even from longer distances. The little graphite they're putting in these rods now to make them less floppy is a benefit. I wasn't sure how I'd like that addition, but its nice. It adds just enough firmness. I also received my Martin 61 (Tuna Can) in the mail on Wed. and got it lined and on the Fenwick. I love a loud reel like that.
I'm ready for spring.
The other thing that sucks about winter is the fishing. I spent a significant amount of time on Valley this weekend, a stream that is usually teeming with trout. I fished with a group of four other guys, and we all got the skunk. Hard. In fact, every single person we talked to on the stream was getting the skunk. I even resorted to streamers to try and move some fish (this is a last resort for me!), nothing. I tried midges, scuds, BWOs (there was a healthy amount coming off the water), dry droppers, small nymphs, big nymphs, small streamers, big streamers, even green weenies. I tried up top, down deep and everywhere in the middle. There's gonna be days like this, I guess. Still, it was a really nice January day to be out. It was warmer than most days, the company was great, the scenery was nice, and the deer were on the move.
Monday I found out the answer to the age old question, "How cold is too cold?" I headed out to our local limestoner (Lititz Run) in hopes of a miracle (a trout actually feeding in the C&R FFO section). Midges are the order of the day on a cold winter day on that stream (or so I've been told), so I fished a weighted olive scud with a zebra midge floating above it. The wind chill was pretty brutal, and I couldn't find my fingerless gloves. I lasted 90 minutes, which is a drop in the bucket considering I was planning on being out for at least 3 hours. I covered not even half of the water I planned on fishing. I stopped often just to put my hands inside my fleece pockets. How cold is too cold? Wind chills in the teens is about what I can take, apparently.
On the upside, I fished Valley with the Featherlight 6'6" and I loved it. Going with the heavier line weight, I was able to do some nice casting, even from longer distances. The little graphite they're putting in these rods now to make them less floppy is a benefit. I wasn't sure how I'd like that addition, but its nice. It adds just enough firmness. I also received my Martin 61 (Tuna Can) in the mail on Wed. and got it lined and on the Fenwick. I love a loud reel like that.
I'm ready for spring.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Great Pflueger Repair of 2013
Last night was an epic night for me. It began with purchasing an Eagle Claw Featherlight, 6'6". I made the mistake of going to the local sportsman's store to find the rod. Its a rod I've seen there all summer. They were out of it, no biggie. The mistake was going into a store that sells firearms right now. What a madhouse! People are gun crazy right now. Everyone, just take a deep breath. As I was leaving, two cop cars pulled up w/ their lights on. Maybe some one's background check turned up something they were hoping would stayed buried!
I ended up getting the rod off Amazon. With my free 2 day shipping (thanks to Amazon Prime), I'll have the rod for this weekend's outings. $26 shipped, can't beat that. Time to see if this rod lives up to its reputation.
The reel I want to use with the rod is currently occupying the reel seat on my Fenwick. I have a Pflueger Medalist for the Fenwick, but the reel foot broke. I haven't been able to find a replacement, and the prices of the Medalist have skyrocketed since the reel was taken out of production. I don't exactly want to pay three times the cost of what I paid originally for the reel. That's ridonkulous. So I decided it was time to Amish Rig the Medalist. Now, I'm not the most crafty, handy person, but I'm not an idiot either. Here's what I did. I had a medal reel foot from another reel that I don't use currently. The contour and curves of this reel foot seemed to fit perfectly the contours of the broken reel seat of the Medalist. I reached for my tubes of J-B Weld, a remarkable product if I may say so, and got to work. I laid the new reel foot underneath the remaining piece of the Medalist reel foot and welded that son of a gun together, stuck it in a C-clamp overnight, and this morning that thing was solid as a rock! I pulled w/ all my might and could not tear that reel foot apart. Repair success. I screwed the seat back into the reel, slapped it on the Fenwick, and it was like a reunion with an old friend! Glad to have my black beauty back.
I ended up getting the rod off Amazon. With my free 2 day shipping (thanks to Amazon Prime), I'll have the rod for this weekend's outings. $26 shipped, can't beat that. Time to see if this rod lives up to its reputation.
The reel I want to use with the rod is currently occupying the reel seat on my Fenwick. I have a Pflueger Medalist for the Fenwick, but the reel foot broke. I haven't been able to find a replacement, and the prices of the Medalist have skyrocketed since the reel was taken out of production. I don't exactly want to pay three times the cost of what I paid originally for the reel. That's ridonkulous. So I decided it was time to Amish Rig the Medalist. Now, I'm not the most crafty, handy person, but I'm not an idiot either. Here's what I did. I had a medal reel foot from another reel that I don't use currently. The contour and curves of this reel foot seemed to fit perfectly the contours of the broken reel seat of the Medalist. I reached for my tubes of J-B Weld, a remarkable product if I may say so, and got to work. I laid the new reel foot underneath the remaining piece of the Medalist reel foot and welded that son of a gun together, stuck it in a C-clamp overnight, and this morning that thing was solid as a rock! I pulled w/ all my might and could not tear that reel foot apart. Repair success. I screwed the seat back into the reel, slapped it on the Fenwick, and it was like a reunion with an old friend! Glad to have my black beauty back.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A great looking weekend
My updates have been slow in coming, and that's because the fishing has been slow in coming. I was able to get out to a local Class A freestoner that I haven't fished much in the past. I only got one brookie (first one of 2013!) but it was a beautiful stream. I look forward to hitting this gem in the Spring.
I'm also watching Ebay right now for a new rod and reel. Probably going to be getting that yellow Eagle Claw and a Martin 61 or some such classic reel. I would like a shorter 4/5wt for these little streams.
This weekend, however, is shaping up quite nicely. I have a 5 day weekend. Saturday I'll be chasing browns in Valley Forge National Park. Monday I'll be going after 'bows in York County. I'll work in a day to go after brookies too. So hopefully come next week, I'll be able to photobomb this site!
I'm also watching Ebay right now for a new rod and reel. Probably going to be getting that yellow Eagle Claw and a Martin 61 or some such classic reel. I would like a shorter 4/5wt for these little streams.
This weekend, however, is shaping up quite nicely. I have a 5 day weekend. Saturday I'll be chasing browns in Valley Forge National Park. Monday I'll be going after 'bows in York County. I'll work in a day to go after brookies too. So hopefully come next week, I'll be able to photobomb this site!
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