3wt7X
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
- Messages
- 670
My father in law surprised my wife with a trip to the Kentucky Derby this week. I had several obligations back here in Maryland, so I was unable to go. I took the opportunity with the free afternoons and weekend to tour the Cumberland Valley streams. Here is the rundown of the trip:
Thursday (05/02/2019):
I fished Big Spring. The water conditions were higher than usual, but the stream was gin clear. I saw a fair amount of midges and I was able to nymph up several brookies and a little rainbows on size 20 zebra midges under an indicator. I switched to a sculpin closer to dark, and took a couple nice brookies. I scouted around a good bit and saw very little surface activity. The only trout I witnessed rising were in the ditch and they were tiny.
Friday (05/03/2019):
I fished Yellow Breeches. The water was elevated and it was dangerous to cross in most areas. That stream can be very strong. The clarity was decent, but it certainly had a nice stain to it. Once again, very little in terms of hatches and surface activity. I fished the current seams adjacent to the large sweeping runs, and I did really well nymphing under an indicator. Sucker spawn and Hendrickson nymphs were the hot flies. I also took several on hot spot pheasant tails. Some of the rainbows they put in there are gorgeous fish. I got two of them in the mid teens, and they both could be mistaken for wild Big Spring bows. I also caught a few of the digi browns with the strange markings. Those fish bother me to look at for some reason.
Saturday (05/04/2019)
I fished Falling Springs. The water was bank full and gin clear. Plenty of midges about and some risers were spotted in the normal spots. I had my heart set on streamer fishing today. I had several decent swipes and landed one 14 inch wild bow. I was rained out after only a couple hours on the water.
In all it was a great couple of days. We are extremely blessed to have these types of trout opportunities in PA, so close to home!!! I hope these updates will provide some motivation for some of you to get out. Even with all the rain we've had the limestone streams fish well.
Thursday (05/02/2019):
I fished Big Spring. The water conditions were higher than usual, but the stream was gin clear. I saw a fair amount of midges and I was able to nymph up several brookies and a little rainbows on size 20 zebra midges under an indicator. I switched to a sculpin closer to dark, and took a couple nice brookies. I scouted around a good bit and saw very little surface activity. The only trout I witnessed rising were in the ditch and they were tiny.
Friday (05/03/2019):
I fished Yellow Breeches. The water was elevated and it was dangerous to cross in most areas. That stream can be very strong. The clarity was decent, but it certainly had a nice stain to it. Once again, very little in terms of hatches and surface activity. I fished the current seams adjacent to the large sweeping runs, and I did really well nymphing under an indicator. Sucker spawn and Hendrickson nymphs were the hot flies. I also took several on hot spot pheasant tails. Some of the rainbows they put in there are gorgeous fish. I got two of them in the mid teens, and they both could be mistaken for wild Big Spring bows. I also caught a few of the digi browns with the strange markings. Those fish bother me to look at for some reason.
Saturday (05/04/2019)
I fished Falling Springs. The water was bank full and gin clear. Plenty of midges about and some risers were spotted in the normal spots. I had my heart set on streamer fishing today. I had several decent swipes and landed one 14 inch wild bow. I was rained out after only a couple hours on the water.
In all it was a great couple of days. We are extremely blessed to have these types of trout opportunities in PA, so close to home!!! I hope these updates will provide some motivation for some of you to get out. Even with all the rain we've had the limestone streams fish well.
