Blown out opening day for trout

Adding insult to injury:
After a few dry days this weekend, its supposed to rain all next week again.
Let's hope that's wrong.....
 
Eleven months ago we fishing was going to be ruined because of drought. Now we faced with the threat of flooding screwing things up for a while. Every county in Pennsylvania is above it's normal rainfall so far this year.

May 2023​
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April 2024​
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DaveKile said:
Eleven months ago we fishing was going to be ruined because of drought. Now we faced with the threat of flooding screwing things up for a while. Every county in Pennsylvania is above it's normal rainfall so far this year.

May 2023​
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April 2024​
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I’ll take high water any day over drought. If it’s not chocolate brown it’ll still fish.
 
The good news about high water is you know you’re going to have some good fishing conditions coming soon. I plan to make the most of it and get out a couple days next week.

With low water, you’re just waiting. And it often takes a lot of rain, or multiple shots of a lot of rain to make any meaningful improvement, especially over the Summer and early Fall.
 
Swattie87 said:
The good news about high water is you know you’re going to have some good fishing conditions coming soon. I plan to make the most of it and get out a couple days next week.
With low water, you’re just waiting. And it often takes a lot of rain, or multiple shots of a lot of rain to make any meaningful improvement, especially over the Summer and early Fall.
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That is true. However, there are certain streams where I rather enjoy low water conditions on creeks, as long as the water is cold enough, that is. What I like about low water on certain streams is this: as long as you are able to move stealthily and not spook the trout, then will often rise to a well presented dry. I think that you can prospect with a dry much more in low water conditions and get reactions than you can when flows are better.
 
jifigz said:
That is true. However, there are certain streams where I rather enjoy low water conditions on creeks, as long as the water is cold enough, that is. What I like about low water on certain streams is this: as long as you are able to move stealthily and not spook the trout, then will often rise to a well presented dry. I think that you can prospect with a dry much more in low water conditions and get reactions than you can when flows are better.
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Agree. I have my cache of low water streams too. But there’s a far greater number of streams that I like, mostly small streams of low to moderate gradient, that fish best when the water is up a bit. It’s good to have some reliable low water options though too.
 
jifigz said:
That is true. However, there are certain streams where I rather enjoy low water conditions on creeks, as long as the water is cold enough, that is. What I like about low water on certain streams is this: as long as you are able to move stealthily and not spook the trout, then will often rise to a well presented dry. I think that you can prospect with a dry much more in low water conditions and get reactions than you can when flows are better.
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Agree 100%.
 
One of my most memorable days of dry fly fishing was a day that the Little J was running at 650 cfm on the drop from a similar spring deluge as we just had. I had a trip planned out there with a cabin rented so I went even though I figured the fishing would suck. The river was chocolate milk.

Much to my suprise I saw a riser under a tree on the far bank across from Green Hills campground. I had to take off my pound of shot with size 4 weighted bugger and tied on what I think was a sulpher, found a rock sticking up high enough to perch myself on so I could cast across without drowning and started picking them off one after another. None were huge but they made for a great moment during some terrible conditions.
 
Live report from Huntingdon county. Smaller streams will fish okay tomorrow. Getting ready to stock a couple in the next hour. We actually fished some wild unstocked streams yesterday and caught a couple of fish. The smaller creeks dropped nicely, still holding some color. Adapt is the key word......
 

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blitzinstripes said:
Live report from Huntingdon county. Smaller streams will fish okay tomorrow. Getting ready to stock a couple in the next hour. We actually fished some wild unstocked streams yesterday and caught a couple of fish. The smaller creeks dropped nicely, still holding some color. Adapt is the key word......
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That wild brown is eating well. Love the color of that stream.
 
Mike said:
Antietam Ck, Berks Co, runs off fast and clears up fast. It’s a go-to water when all streams in the area are muddy because it clears so fast.

I walked along the lower Jordan mid-afternoon today and although it drains a lot of ag land and was still high with very rapid current even in the normally slower pools, I could already see 1 ft down in the water column. Meanwhile, along Mill Ck, trib to Sacony, Berks Co, my wife said that water was still flowing off the fields and hillsides at a good pace in places. Flows may not drop as fast as I thought even as water clarity improves.
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Yep it’s almost perfect already
 
dudemanspecial said:
One of my most memorable days of dry fly fishing was a day that the Little J was running at 650 cfm on the drop from a similar spring deluge as we just had. I had a trip planned out there with a cabin rented so I went even though I figured the fishing would suck. The river was chocolate milk.

Much to my suprise I saw a riser under a tree on the far bank across from Green Hills campground. I had to take off my pound of shot with size 4 weighted bugger and tied on what I think was a sulpher, found a rock sticking up high enough to perch myself on so I could cast across without drowning and started picking them off one after another. None were huge but they made for a great moment during some terrible conditions.
Click to expand...
Off color and high water hides many sins. Want optimal fishing conditions? Go when it’s 300 cfs with perfect green color (along with everybody else and their brother). Want optimal fish catching? The next several days will be prime.
 
blitzinstripes said:
Live report from Huntingdon county. Smaller streams will fish okay tomorrow. Getting ready to stock a couple in the next hour. We actually fished some wild unstocked streams yesterday and caught a couple of fish. The smaller creeks dropped nicely, still holding some color. Adapt is the key word......
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Hmmmmm. I have a pretty good guess as to which crick this is.....

That brown trout has a GUT!
 
blitzinstripes said:
Live report from Huntingdon county. Smaller streams will fish okay tomorrow. Getting ready to stock a couple in the next hour. We actually fished some wild unstocked streams yesterday and caught a couple of fish. The smaller creeks dropped nicely, still holding some color. Adapt is the key word......
Click to expand...

As a small stream guy, the conditions in your pictures are dialed in IMO. (Aside from wanting the water to probably be about 15 deg warmer.) But flow and color are perfect.
 
I do look forward to opening day shenanigans. That being said you can shenanigan whatever the water levels are.
 
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