How did you wet a line due to the flooding ?

[Fredrick]

So I'm curious what you ladies and gentleman have done to get a bend in your rod with all the rivers being blown out . Did you go out of your comfort zone and try something different either it be new water types like lakes/ponds and small steams that recover more quickly or targeting fish you typically don't fish for ?

I have to say that all the rain hasn't really effected me since I fish allot of still water in the summer but with these recent lower temps I wanted to go to a favorite trout stream of mine but it was blown out so I went out in my yak instead .

 

[dwa111]

I went to Colorado and fished. Hit the Frying Pan, Roaring Fork, Taylor and the Arkansas. Four days - four rivers!

 

[redietz]

I spent a lot more time fishing limestone spring creeks than I would have otherwise. I've been doing pretty well, too. Nice to re-visit some old haunts.

 

[Acristickid]

My last foray was August 16th, a small mountain stream in the Laurel Highlands ( the stream had flooded in July). It yielded a perfect 10 inch brown that rose aggressively to a good cast at 11:44 am.

Only days later I suffered a catastrophic knee injury which still has me completely hobbled- it’s not gonna cancel my trip to the Olympic Peninsula next week however!!

 

[sarce]

Small stream wild trout has been the key to my sanity this year. Several times I went knowing full well that I'd get rained on the entire time, because that was my only choice if I wanted to fish that weekend. I survived and caught a lot of fish, but did get chased out by rising muddy water a few times, and after a while you get sick of being in a dark valley with the sound of raindrops all around.

I won't complain too much as I was able to confirm (by catching on flies) wild trout in 28 streams in MD that I hadn't fished before this year. Not all were good or worth returning to, but my curiosity is satisfied. And some were real gems that became instant favorites. The best part is I haven't even touched Garrett County yet.

It has been getting harder and harder to find fishable trout water as the fall has gone on for me. Feel like I'm getting forced onto smaller and smaller water after each round of rain.

Also have done a little lake fishing lately for pickerel with good results. Moving forward it will be more of those and stripers before winter slams the door.

 

[Swattie87]

It's been a generally good small stream Trout year for me too. Even with those, I've had to pick and choose my spots at times based on the high flows all Summer. When it's been good, it's been very good though.

I've missed WW fishing completely, short of one July outing on a fairly small stream, by WW standards. For Trout, I had plans to fish a couple of larger freestone watersheds that are among my Summer, lower flow go to's, but I never made it to them...Outside of a couple brief windows, they were too high all Summer. My couple day trips down to the DE beaches to surf fish were busts too...dirty, rough water churned up by the storms.

My ideal flow year (relatively to the time of year) goes something like this...

January - April - Low. Makes it easier to get around and fish in colder weather, and average seasonal flows at this time of year on some streams are actually too high for good fishing.

May - June - Seasonable - This provides good flows for hatch fishing on bigger Trout streams, but still generally good small stream flows as well.

July - August - Seasonable - This is when I do the bulk of my WW fishing, and average flows at this time of year are usually conducive to that. Most years, the higher water comes in short bursts after Tstorms, and this makes things dialed in for small stream Trout fishing for a day or two afterwards, but flows return back to baseline quickly. This year, the sustained high water has made for very good small stream fishing over this time period, but has wiped out WW fishing.

September - October - High - This is usually the period with the lowest average flows, and low flow fishing can be slow and difficult. Higher flows can produce very good Trout fishing as fish feed and move into spawning mode.

November - December - Seasonable to a little high. All day soaking rains typically begin to occur more frequently by the middle to end of October most years and flows begin to rebound. As long as it stays fairly warm, seasonable or perhaps slightly elevated flows can keep fishing very good, even on dries until the first deep freeze.

 

[afishinado]

Fredrick wrote:
So I'm curious what you ladies and gentleman have done to get a bend in your rod with all the rivers being blown out . Did you go out of your comfort zone and try something different either it be new water types like lakes/ponds and small steams that recover more quickly or targeting fish you typically don't fish for ?

I have to say that all the rain hasn't really effected me since I fish allot of still water in the summer but with these recent lower temps I wanted to go to a favorite trout stream of mine but it was blown out so I went out in my yak instead .

I fished some smaller streams for trout, but really good fishing involves travelling out of SE PA so haven't made that many trips and all the small stream fishing gets me claustrophobic after a while.... :lol:

I did a little lake fishing but I really miss the WW fishing on the streams and rivers. Many are close to home like the Skuke, Brandywine, the Perk. And I can hit one of them any time I have a couple of hours to fish.

Also, the Susky is only about a hour away but has been totally unfishable for months. This is by far the worst smallie season ever! > no fish because no fishing > skunked!!! :lol:

I'm still holding out hope that the monsoon season will end soon and we all can get out and hit the rivers for smallies before the really cold weather settles in.

 

[jeremymcon]

I wish I could say that I discovered some new streams and learned some things. But in the last couple years I've taken up woodworking, so instead of fishing marginal streams in the rain I've been staying inside and building stuff. It's been rewarding in its own way, but I do wish I had at least a couple decent days on the water. Hopefully this fall - fall is my favorite time of year to fish anyway, I think.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

I've been chasing the small stream game since the rains began. I'm pretty bummed that I haven't gotten much time on the larger streams, and zero time on the river for smallies- but I have to say that catching pretty brookies all Summer long ain't such a bad thing. This has easily been my best year for that thanks to the rains and increased water levels.

 

[MKern]

Jeremymcon,

I like the look of that end-grain cutting board.
It's pretty picked over now, but Big Valley Lumber in Reedsville has 40% off all hardwoods. I filled my lumber racks with 4/4 quarter sawed oak and 3/4 walnut.
You can't beat their oak prices.

But as far as fishing: brookie streams all summer.

 

[RLeep2]

We've had a higher than average water year up here, but nowhere near the Biblical deluges being endured by the rest of the state.

I'd say my flowing water SMB fishing has been reduced by a quarter this year, at most.

Trout fishing, where it is worthwhile around here has been good. Lot's of stocked holdovers and the number of wild browns in some of my favorite regional watersheds seems to be the best it has been since moved back to PA in 2014.

I haven't been over in the so-called Pennsylvania Wilds for trout this year. Even though Petunia says balderdash, go! and even though our health is good and all, I'm just not comfortable leaving her alone for the 2-3 days it would entail to make such a trip worthwhile.

So... I've kind of come full circle to the fishing that has always been here and that I grew up on. Lots of LMB fishing on the small lakes, quite a bit of pan fishing (and keeping, yum..) and even a few trips out on Lake Erie for Wally-Eyes (more yum..). Along with a lot of flowing water smb fishing.

Until the snow flies, I plan to do my usual redd counts on the usual trout streams and fish some stocked water for holdover RT (yum!) and keep bass fishing until they go winter numb.

My big project between now and then is to continue to work on figuring out walleye in the smaller lakes around here. This will be jig & leech and spinner/crawler rig work for the most part, although I may get a few on sink tips, etc. Mostly though, I'm interested in the yum(!) and putting enough walleye in the freezer to allow a meal a week every 10 days or so and still avoid mercury poisoning. I have enough cogitational problems already without that...

 

[dryflyguy]

I got out a couple times over the summer to some headwater steams - and did quite well on them.

Fortunately, I planned a few late summer trips out of the area. These were arranged back in spring - with no idea of the constant monsoons to come over the summer. Turned out to be pretty lucky for me.

I vacationed in Tennessee with the wife the last week of august.
And she let me wet a line on the South Holston River a few days, which was very fishable then.

Earlier this month, I spent 10 days in Colorado - on a fishing only trip with several forum members
They're in a bit of a drought out there, with all streams very low and clear. Made for some tough fishing, but did OK.
And it sure beat what's happening here.

All in all, I'm very glad I got to try some new waters out of state.
If the rain doesn't shut off soon, I may be done fishing here until next year!

 

[Dave_W]

'Nother small trout stream chaser this summer and fall....to the extent I've done any fishing at all. Even these creeks have been a mixed bag with many days of mediocre or only average catching. Had I had time to get further out and fish longer periods. I'd have expected better results on the small trout streams.

Hit one lake chasing toothies over the summer but otherwise no ponds or lakes.

 

[wbranch]

I spent quite a bit of time tying low water Atlantic salmon flies just for fun. I also tied about 100 #12 - #16 nymphs for fall steelhead and set-up my steelhead vest and a couple of rods.

 

[poopdeck]

I got so tired of the boat sitting in the driveway that I started fishing high fast muddy water with spin gear. I mean really high, really fast, and really muddy water.

 

[Dave_W]

poopdeck wrote:
I got so tired of the boat sitting in the driveway that I started fishing high fast muddy water with spin gear. I mean really high, really fast, and really muddy water.

How did you make out?

There are some boat guys (motor boats- spin gear) that are adept at fishing the Susky when conditions are high and muddy. They often do quite well.

 

[afishinado]

Poop is a D River rat.....

 

[Dave_W]

afishinado wrote:
Poop is a D River rat.....

Yes, I know that.

Was curious if he'd had success in the high water there. As you know (very well)....Susky and Del are similar rivers.

 

[just_jon]

I continued to fish Big Spring which is where I fish 75% of the time anyway. Even though it is up 50% over normal levels, I consider this to be a good thing as levels there is so much more fishable water now.

Rest of my time has been on small blue lines that have had good flow and temp all summer.

 

[just_jon]

Also spent about 10-15 days fly fishing for strippers, SMB and LMB at Raystown.