A day in the "wild"

[Beweav]

Yesterday I got the chance to get away from the chaos of urban life and soak in some forest silence. I explored some new woods(for me) and got to see some beautiful streams/marsh/beaver ponds. The fishing was fantastic but not because of the size or amount of fish caught. It was just hard not to enjoy yourself in a place like that. I was surprised twice by fish I caught. I was fishing a little spring creek about a beaver dam and hooked into what I thought was a nice sized brookie. I was very surprised to bring it out of the water and see it was actually a tiny chain pickerel. I continued fishing upstream and the next hole had tiny brook trout. The next hole had a couple more pickerel. I never imagined those two sharing the same tiny "trickle".
The second surprise was not as exciting. Later that day I spent some time at Clarks creek above the dam. The water was beautiful, there was quite a bit of aquatic plants, and it just gave off the vibe of a healthy spring creek. I didn't catch a single trout though. Instead, in all the "holes" where I expected a 5" brookie to wack my white wooly bugger, I ended up with these tiny sunfish. I was pretty far above the dam. Is that normal for to find these in a spring creek? Also what species would you all say they are?
Anyways all-in-all it was a beautiful day! I Love that we still have some of this forest protected. It's hard to appreciate it's value until it's gone. I pray that someday my grandkids will still be able to get out into the "wild".

 

[Beweav]

 

[Beweav]

 

[coyoterahn]

Nice pics. Interesting too. I’ve never caught panfish in Clarks above the reservoir. I‘d imagine they move up from the dam but I don’t know that for sure.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

Very beautiful pictures thank you!

It does seem strange when I have caught pickerel out of a tiny brook trout stream but it is actually the way it should be in the Delaware and Susquehanna drainages of PA.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Beweav,

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them.

Like coyoterahn above, I imagine with some of the heavy thunderstorms of the past week or so fish may be moving upstream from DeHart Dam. Like you wanting to get out and see something other than town fish will move when the opportunity presents itself.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[dc410]

Really beautiful photos, thanks for sharing with us! Just taking a stab at it - I’d say it’s probably a Green Sunfish.

 

[caddisflyer]

Nice post. See some Painted Boletes there.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I know the first stream your on. Could spot it from a mile away. As sixfoot said those Fish actually coevolved together and are supposed to be found together.

That first stream with the pickerel and brook trout is not the highest catch rate stream in the area. A good day is 1-2 fish but its one of my favorite because the habitat being most similar to what we belive to be reference conditions and native fish composition is how it is supposed to be.

 

[Kyle]

thats awesome. thanks for sharing it with us. great photos

 

[wildtrout2]

Nice post. See some Painted Boletes there.

That hemlock varnish shelf is very cool too, it's a solid color I haven't seen. I usually see them multi-colored like this one.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Very beautiful pictures thank you!

It does seem strange when I have caught pickerel out of a tiny brook trout stream but it is actually the way it should be in the Delaware and Susquehanna drainages of PA.

Absolutely! I think someone recently mentioned Shohola or another Pike County watershed that I remember from my youth. Both present consistently.

To the OP, great shots! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Beweav]

Nice post. See some Painted Boletes there.

That hemlock varnish shelf is very cool too, it's a solid color I haven't seen. I usually see them multi-colored like this one.

Thanks for the ID on those fungi! Every time I'm out I wish I knew more, so I could appreciate them more. The deep red on the hemlock varnish shelf was stunning.
As far as the sunfish go, that makes sense that they are moving up I guess. I just always thought they liked the warmer water. Arn't there supposed to be some brook trout in that section?

I know the first stream your on. Could spot it from a mile away. As sixfoot said those Fish actually coevolved together and are supposed to be found together.

That first stream with the pickerel and brook trout is not the highest catch rate stream in the area. A good day is 1-2 fish but its one of my favorite because the habitat being most similar to what we believe to be reference conditions and native fish composition is how it is supposed to be.

I will definitely be back. It was one of the most untouched places I've been too lately. I loved the tannin stained water in the section below the dams. Things felt right there. The beavers have done an incredible amount of work. The tiered dams were impressive. Have you ever here of people catching things in the marsh? It looked fishy but I didn't see anything to indicate fish in there. It seems to me if the small pickerel are there, then big pickerel should be in the bigger water. There were tons of Eastern red spotted newts everywhere which I was thinking meant that there aren't many fish in there but I found out later that fish don't love to eat them because of a toxic secretion they have. So who knows maybe I didn't catch anything because I didn't believe they were there. Confidence is a game changer

 

[Fish Sticks]

Thanks for the ID on those fungi! Every time I'm out I wish I knew more, so I could appreciate them more. The deep red on the hemlock varnish shelf was stunning.
As far as the sunfish go, that makes sense that they are moving up I guess. I just always thought they liked the warmer water. Arn't there supposed to be some brook trout in that section?

I will definitely be back. It was one of the most untouched places I've been too lately. I loved the tannin stained water in the section below the dams. Things felt right there. The beavers have done an incredible amount of work. The tiered dams were impressive. Have you ever here of people catching things in the marsh? It looked fishy but I didn't see anything to indicate fish in there. It seems to me if the small pickerel are there, then big pickerel should be in the bigger water. There were tons of Eastern red spotted newts everywhere which I was thinking meant that there aren't many fish in there but I found out later that fish don't love to eat them because of a toxic secretion they have. So who knows maybe I didn't catch anything because I didn't believe they were there. Confidence is a game changer

I fished it once and mostly had the red spotted newts chase my fly did bot get any follows or hits from fish lol.

 

[Beweav]

Interesting. How long do you think the beaver dams have been there? It just looks like fish would have to be in there somewhere!

 

[Fish Sticks]

Hard to say it is a beaver management area. One of the lower dams blew out that had previously cut off a tributary above it. Now there is connectivity again and that lower section is transitioning from beaver pond to beaver meadow in its own. Will be interesting to see if next big dam up gives or not and how the fishery responds.

 

[Prospector]

Yesterday I got the chance to get away from the chaos of urban life and soak in some forest silence. I explored some new woods(for me) and got to see some beautiful streams/marsh/beaver ponds. The fishing was fantastic but not because of the size or amount of fish caught. It was just hard not to enjoy yourself in a place like that. I was surprised twice by fish I caught. I was fishing a little spring creek about a beaver dam and hooked into what I thought was a nice sized brookie. I was very surprised to bring it out of the water and see it was actually a tiny chain pickerel. I continued fishing upstream and the next hole had tiny brook trout. The next hole had a couple more pickerel. I never imagined those two sharing the same tiny "trickle".
The second surprise was not as exciting. Later that day I spent some time at Clarks creek above the dam. The water was beautiful, there was quite a bit of aquatic plants, and it just gave off the vibe of a healthy spring creek. I didn't catch a single trout though. Instead, in all the "holes" where I expected a 5" brookie to wack my white wooly bugger, I ended up with these tiny sunfish. I was pretty far above the dam. Is that normal for to find these in a spring creek? Also what species would you all say they are?
Anyways all-in-all it was a beautiful day! I Love that we still have some of this forest protected. It's hard to appreciate it's value until it's gone. I pray that someday my grandkids will still be able to get out into the "wild".
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I’ve never caught a Pickerel so that part of your story intrigued me and reminded me about my quest for one. As a 15 yo I was at a 2 week Conservation Camp at Penn State and the lake on the property had pickerel but I never had a hookup. Three years ago I got some information that State Parks in Berks and Chester Co has 2 lakes that hold pickerel: Scott’s Run and Hopewell. Hopefully next summer I’ll load up my canoe and make the 5 hour drive from Western PA to try for them. Thank you for jogging my memory. I’m glad you had a great day!!

 

[Fish Sticks]

I’ve never caught a Pickerel so that part of your story intrigued me and reminded me about my quest for one. As a 15 yo I was at a 2 week Conservation Camp at Penn State and the lake on the property had pickerel but I never had a hookup. Three years ago I got some information that State Parks in Berks and Chester Co has 2 lakes that hold pickerel: Scott’s Run and Hopewell. Hopefully next summer I’ll load up my canoe and make the 5 hour drive from Western PA to try for them. Thank you for jogging my memory. I’m glad you had a great day!!

If you want to guarantee you catch a native chain pickerel and are willing to drive that distance you should just keep droving for another hour and a half and go to the western pine barren lakes of new jersey. The Pine Barrens are the best places to catch pickerel that I know of period. There are many lakes where you could show up and get your first pickerel and the get 30 more in a couple of hours. If you need some lakes to explore there PM me.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

If you want to guarantee you catch a native chain pickerel and are willing to drive that distance you should just keep droving for another hour and a half and go to the western pine barren lakes of new jersey. The Pine Barrens are the best places to catch pickerel that I know of period. There are many lakes where you could show up and get your first pickerel and the get 30 more in a couple of hours. If you need some lakes to explore there PM me.

There are a lot of lakes in the Poconos that it's hard not to catch one.

 

[FarmerDave]

If you want to guarantee you catch a native chain pickerel and are willing to drive that distance you should just keep droving for another hour and a half and go to the western pine barren lakes of new jersey. The Pine Barrens are the best places to catch pickerel that I know of period. There are many lakes where you could show up and get your first pickerel and the get 30 more in a couple of hours. If you need some lakes to explore there PM me.

I'll second that. I used to live in Mt. Laurel and fished the old abandoned cranberry bogs in the Pine Barrens a few times. Hard not to catch them. In fact, that is all I caught. The hardest part was getting a line in the water, so I used spinning gear. That was nearly 40 years ago.