Slate Run Pennsylvania
Over the past few days I fished with Idaho Ken and East Texas Red on Slate Run, Kettle Creek and Pine Creek, in Lycoming County down in Pennsylvania. I've fished these streams with varying degrees of success in the past, along with others in the area like Cedar Run, Cross Fork, and Hammersley Run. It rained a lot. One day it rained for something like 18 straight hours.
There were bugs coming off. Let me be clear that I'm not an entymologist, but I'll tell you what I thought I saw. There were March Browns that seemed to come in a light yellowy tan and also an orangy brown, size 10. I think there were still Hendricksons happening. At least these bugs looked like our Hendricksons. There were a few sulfurs. There were some midges. There were at least two varieties of stoneflies, Yellow Sallies for sure, and also a dark stonefly a little smaller than the yellow ones. there were also a few caddis. All these bugs and yet they were all sporadic. No really good hatches.
Water temperature was around the 50 degree mark.
Did I mention it rained?
The first evening and next morning, I fished Slate Run without a single rise. Then I met up with Idaho Ken and we spent a few hours on Kettle. Nada. Zippo. Nothing. We fished Pine Creek for a while up above Babb Creek and Ken caught a brookie. Later, we fished an evening rise on Pine down near Slate Run. Ken hooked into a hefty trout, and the rod he was using collapsed at the ferrule. He had caught much bigger fish than this one on this Winston graphite rod without a problem. There must have been some kind of weakness in the ferrule and finally it collapsed. Fortunately he brought a spare along.
East Texas Red showed up along the way and we walked into a stretch of Slate Run. Slate Run is a beautiful stream that holds a good population of hard-to-catch trout. It is very clear with many riffles and runs and some deep pools. Soon after we started fishing, I found a fantastic deep run along the base of a cliff, shaded both by the cliff and by the overhanging limbs of several trees. I started lobbing a parachute March Brown under the tree limbs and quickly hooked what turned out to be a powerful 17 inch wild brown. I had a great deal of trouble landing this fish. It took a run downstream and actually made its way over a small plunge pool and down two more runs, before I landed and released the trout. It turned out to the be the best trout of a trip characterized by cold, rain and disinterested trout.
Please see my posts about this trip "We are hard on this planet" and "I know I promised a lot of pictures" on my other blog, mister anchovy.
posted by mister anchovy at 9:20 AM
5 Comments:
Interesting stuff Mr.A,
The rod failure is a mystery.
I heard once that bead-head nymphs are often the unsuspected culprit. Ever have one whack into a rod from a sloppy cast? The guy I was speaking with about it described it as, like shooting your rod with a BB gun. This creates a crack that will hold until just the wrong sort of strain then poof - the rod breaks.
Sounds logical but I don't know. Its an interesting theory though.
Cheers,
Steve
I should say, by the way, that Slate Run is one of the most beautiful trout streams you could imagine. It rambles through a deep vee valley, with cliffs and long riffles and deep pools and glides. It really is a pleasure to fish it, even on days when the catching is tough.
Mr. A:
I'll agree with Steve - my custom #5 wt 8 ft rod snapped in the top section from casting bead head woolly buggers on a windy day. I was lucky - took it back to the builder who made good on Sage's lifetime warranty and didn't charge me for his labor.
BTW - nice post about the Slate Run
RP
Mr A, sounds like a mighty fine fish & a wild catch. Kudos!
Beatiful river. Nice to hear about you again on internet!
Regards.
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