Periodic Spring Creek Trips

Over the summer I took a few mornings off from the warm water game to chase some spring creek trout. These photos have been hiding amongst dozens of smallmouth pictures, I think it is a great time to show them off before we welcome in the new year. I have and always will love spring creeks no matter how many times I want to throw my rod in the mud or curse at a large unwilling trout that refuses to take my fly. There are small victories and lessons each time on the water, some how I feel its amplified on a spring creek because you have to get it all right to make it count. Over the years we have put some beautiful trout in the net, and these few photos continue the tradition. They aren't all huge monsters that some people need to catch to feel accomplished, but they are a combination of size and color, each with their own story to tell. That is what makes me keep coming back!

Plan B

It seemed that the whole trip started to crumble as we were leaving. People backed out, mother nature said no, and the campground shut down on us. So Rob and I were left to decided what to do. After countless text messages to friends and phone calls that seemed to never stop, we finally decided to head to State College and fish the little J and Spruce creek. I have always loved the little J and never fished spruce before so it was going to be fun. As Andy said "lets just go fish for steelhead locally" he wasn't kidding. Oh yeah and Rob kinda might have broke his toe so there wasn't much hiking in the forecast for us, so that limited us too. So Rob and I fished the little J together in the snow/rain/wind and got into some fish, then Andy meet up with us for some BBQ and late evening fishing. Day 2 was our day on Spruce, if you haven't done it, you need to. There are plenty of fish, both wild and stocked and they eat flies very very well :). Unlike some stocked private water, these fish have a regular diet of insects both nymphs and adults(with a side of food pellets), so they actually feed like they are supposed to. I have some great guide friends that have access to some beautiful private water. Day 3, well that one kinda sucked, I got sick so after a 3 hour car ride home I spent the rest of the day sleeping. Take a look at the pictures, thank you Andy and Kyle for the hospitality. You may also want to check Kyle's blog out The Fishing Flow, its awesome.

Featured Fly or Should I say Flies

With the recent snow fall and tomorrows temp drop, I have already found myself thinking about summer time smallmouth. I had finished two videos just as the season wrapped up, one of my Over Easy Sculpin and the other of Brian Shumaker's Shimmering Minnow. Both are great smallmouth flies, that will carry over into many other freshwater situations as well. I am going to try the Shimmering Minnow in Erie this weekend. However, I will always associate both of these flies with warm water and smallmouth bass. Check these videos out and get them tied up and ready for warmer weather.

Simms Dealer Camp

A brutal but awesome trip to the Salmon River. Went up to Pulaski to see the new line and was able to get out and fish a bit. Day one started off pleasant, but the front rolled in and it got cold. The next day we had to work for the fish, but we prevailed. Snow was coming down sideways and the wind was blowing 20mph plus. By day three we had 18 inches of snow and it didn't stop, we got out of there with the help of a bobcat and some man power just before the heavy stuff came down. Hot flies were all sucker spawn or some kind of egg pattern. Low and slow was the ticket to success.

Forgotten Post - Final Smallmouth Float

Through my thoughts and travels of great lakes steelhead, I have forgotten to post about an epic season ending trip for smallmouth bass. Andy and I decided a few weeks ago to take the clacka for one more float before putting her to bed for the winter. We had made the decision that if it was our last float we should do an exploratory float of a section of the Juniata that neither of us had floated before. The float quickly became my favorite with some fast and technical water and some amazing smallmouth. We never changed flies, all we fished was a white Roamer that was about 5 inches long. We put about 6-8 fish in the boat with at least that many more eats that we never connected with. That was until the end of the float, about 100 yards from the take out when I got crushed by an amazing 19 inch smallie and then Andy a few minutes later popped a 20 incher. Needless to say we reeled up and floated to the launch with large smiles on our faces and satisfied with our smallmouth season.