Fallfish and Chubs

[Fishidiot]

Mike's input regarding fallfish vs chubs in a recent thread in Stream Reports convinced me to open a new thread here on this topic.

http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8267&forum=8

I've always regarded chubs (not fallfish) as pests. For one thing, they get no where near as big as fallfish and I find I get a lot of them in smaller trout waters with borderline summer temps. They seem to top out at about 10 inches but most are 3-4" and have a frustrating tendency to latch on to dry flies. However, they must be tasty as on several occasions I've been reeling in a little chub and have had a big brown whack him.
Fallfish on the other hand I have come to appreciate. I think they are underrated fellas. Most of the fallfish I catch are in larger smallmouth rivers and they average about 8-10" and fight every bit a well as a wild trout that size. They like to surface feed and pounce on swung wets in riffles.
I think we PA FFers tend to view fallfish somewhat like Westerners view whitefish - or even with more disdain. That's too bad - like whitefish, fallfish hit flies, fight hard, and can make for some fun when trout (or bass) won't cooperate.
A couple years ago, I was hunting a big smallie that lived under a bridge on a local creek using a 4" stonecat fly. I hooked a hard fighting fish and was sure I finally nailed the big bass. Imagine my astonishment when I got the fish out in the clear water and saw it was a fallfish! He was about 19" and a real fighter.

 

[jayL]

FI,

The fallfish population in hay creek is not like those in larger waterways. I always assumed this was the case in most of their range until a few years ago when I got a few big ones in larger waterways such as the schuylkill and susqy as well.

I think most people hate them because they are familiar with the smaller, more annoying variety.

 

[Mike]

Having surveyed many streams in Pa. over a period of 30 plus years, one fallfish population stands out. That population was in Middle Creek, Snyder Co. At one particular site, which I believe was across from or on a SGL, there was a large population of large fallfish. Many were 15-17 inches long; perhaps a few were a bit longer, but I don't want to stretch things. They were certainly impressive in both size and number, and I have never seen such a population since.

 

[jayL]

I have fished opening day on the lower branch of middle creek, and have caught some monsters.

 

[tomgamber]

You should see the size of the fallfish I mentioned in the other thread where this came up. Kettle creek. Below the dam. A few years a go I saw at least 6 over 18 inches and one well over 20 caught just below the spillway. One guy, who said he was frustrated that they hardly put any fishing that spot any longer, was targeting them and doing quite well. They fight pretty well at that size too.

 

[scotto]

I enjoy Fallfish. I catch plenty of larger 10" - 15" while fishing for smallies. They fight real well. Anything pulling that hard makes me happy.

 

[wgmiller]

Do fallfish and chubs rise and take food of the surface like trout?

 

[jayL]

wgmiller wrote:
Do fallfish and chubs rise and take food of the surface like trout?

Yes. Much more readily.

 

[wgmiller]

That would make sense then...

I was fishing the Sinnemahoning Creek this past weekend and came across a "pod" of fish that were "sipping" something off the top. I didn't see an active hatch, but did see a good many nymph shucks floating through the water. This is a warmwater creek although the water temperature was 68, so it's possible it could have been trout.

I tossed on a #14 grizzly hackle 'prospector' and had a few refusals, a few 'almosts' and one connection only to lose him on the way in. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make out what it was and I really wish I would have gotten him to hand. Not long after they shut down and it became casting practice.

Good to know there are other fish out there that will feed on top like trout. Being a noob, I'm still learning feeding patterns but I have to admit there is nothing like taking a fish on a dry!

 

[Chetty82]

My father-in-law finds that fall fish are a nuissance while trout fishing I find them to be quite enjoyable. They put up a decent fight as well as some of you posted already and the great thing is once in a while you might catch one with a pink stripe on it like a rainbow.

 

[jayL]

To be perfectly honest, I grew up throwing fallfish into the woods when I caught them.

Around the time I turned 16 or so, I developed a real sense of regret about killing anything (this is why I don't hunt), and stopped. I would be lying if I said I didn't think the typical small stream fallfish wasn't a royal pain in the rear.

 

[tomgamber]

Chetty82 wrote:
once in a while you might catch one with a pink stripe on it like a rainbow.

Before the bridge replacement and all the development, I used to fish Willow creek near Temple as a kid. We used to catch fish with this stripe. We had no idea what they were. We asked and one old guy had told us they were Fall Fish. We asked others who told us that guy was nuts. Glad to hear that many years later. Never caught one with a stripe in Kettle.

 

[Chetty82]

Yeah here in huntigndon around a place called the swimmin hole you would catch them like that while the water is still cold now the fall fish have moved out to the juniata.

 

[Mike]

Tomgamber: Those fallfish-like fish in Willow were most likely the species officially named "Common Shiner." The ones you caught were in spawning coloration and will take flies and bait on a #8 hook. I have caught them on corn.

 

[tomgamber]

thanks Mike...I was probably 10 at the time. We rode our bikes there as kids. (anyone remember Schwinn Stingrays with the big sissy bar and stick shifter) Too bad you can't do that any more. They were extremely colorful. We also caught sunnies, carp, suckers and trout. It was a great little wooden bridge we sat upon. The kind that when a car went over popped us up in the air like so many dominoes. On the way home we'd venture down stream to the double arch RR bride where the bigger trout and suckers hung out. Big hill, I remember trying to climb on the way back.

 

[greenghost]

tom,
I do remember those bikes with the sissy bar and 3 speed stick shift in the middle! Mine also had a banana seat and coon tails hanging from the grips and a custom bright orange and yellow flame airbrushed frame -- my neighbor was a auto body man. I would also jury rig a basket to the sissy bar with clips for my spinning rod. (I was half an hour bike ride away from a large bass and bluegill pond.) I haven't thought about that bike for years. I even took it squirrel hunting with my 22 Marlin slung over the front bars. Man, those were the days!

 

[Mariner]

For what it's worth, I've seen decent fall fish in large number on the lower West Branch of the Brandywine below Mortonville. Decent carp et al too.