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Monday, March 10, 2003 Page: 1B
I’M REMINDED BY MY FISHING JOURNAL THAT BY THE END OF THE SECOND WEEK OF
MARCH LAST YEAR I HAD CAST TWICE FOR TROUT WITH A FLY ROD. THE JOURNAL IS
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT, AS IT’S NO MORE THAN A DOG-EARED LITTLE SHIRT-POCKET
NOTEBOOK IN WHICH I JOT DOWN THE TIME AND DATE AND WATER I FISHED. I MAKE
WHATEVER AMATEUR METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS I CAN, SUCH AS IF IT’S SUNNY OR
OVERCAST, RAINY OR NOT. I USE A STREAM THERMOMETER TO CHECK THE WATER
TEMPERATURE. AND I MAKE NOTE OF HOW THE STREAM IS RUNNING AND HOW THE FISH ARE
REACTING. ALL OF THIS SOUNDS COMPLICATED AND TIME CONSUMING, BUT I’VE GOTTEN
THE ROUTINE DOWN. IN A SHORT COUPLE OF MINUTES I GENERATE NOTES THAT GIVE ME A
PRETTY FAIR IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING ON THE STREAM. THIS COMES IN HANDY FOR
THE NEXT YEAR. LAST YEAR, BOTH EARLY OUTINGS WERE ON DELAYED-HARVEST,
ARTIFICIAL-LURES-ONLY WATERS. AND ON BOTH TRIPS, MY RECORDS STATE, I CAUGHT
BROWNS AND BROOKIES ON WEIGHTED HARE’S EAR NYMPHS UNTIL MID-AFTERNOON. THEN,
WHEN THE SUN HIT THE WATER, A SURPRISING HATCH OF LITTLE BLACK STONEFLIES CAME
OFF. THAT SPURRED SOME TOPWATER ACTION FOR ABOUT AN HOUR UNTIL THE WEAK SUN
DROPPED BEHIND THE TREES AND THE CHILL RETURNED TO THE STREAM. ALL THIS
OCCURRED WHEN STREAM LEVELS WERE MODERATE FROM LACK OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN OR
SNOWFALL AND WHEN WATER TEMPERATURES WERE APPROACHING HONEST 50 DEGREES. LAST
YEAR I FISHED NESCOPECK CREEK EARLY, A STREAM THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN STOCKED
WITH TROUT. AND I FISHED MUD RUN, WHICH HAD NOT YET RECEIVED FISH. A whole
new ballgame
A journal carries lessons with it. The topwater stonefly action had me
stumped, as I didn’t have a fly in my box to match them.
In desperation and with trout splashing the surface, I tied on an extremely
dark, chocolate brown Elk Hair Caddis.
The trout cooperated nicely.
The big, bushy No. 10 and 12 Hare’s Ears that appealed to my enthusiastic
sense of spring excess didn’t appeal at all to the fish finning in Mud Run.
I dredged the slowest water with them; nothing. But No. 14s and a 16
crafted by a tier with better eyes than mine did the trick. The trout, as they
say, turned on.
This winter I tied a dozen black caddis to be ready for the stonefly hatch
as well as a dozen or so smaller Hare’s Ears.
But this winter bears no comparison to last winter.
Snow still rests deep along the streams, and ice chokes the waters.
The creeks are very cold, and I do not welcome a long and rigorous hike
through deep snow wearing waders to brace against an icy and possibly swift
flow.
When the snow and ice finally does melt, the waters will rise.
The snowmelt will chill the water, the trout and the insects upon which
they feed. And I’ll be left recording it all – for next year – in my little
pocket journal.
Smith can be reached at 829-7230 or at georges@leader.net.