Prospector
Well-known member
We went on our annual trip this week. In past years we would spend almost the entire trip on Oak Orchard creek but this year creek conditions caused us to mix things up. Our friends had fished the previous week and they headed home as we were in route so they gave us some advice about trying different locations that worked out fairly well. We knew this week would yield inconsistent results due to the soaking the area took previously.
On Saturday, after checking into our room we set out about 2pm to check Johnson Creek and Sandy Creek. We decided to fish Sandy Creek after checking several places that we knew we could access. Many people had the same idea and the public area closest to the lake had 15 vehicles and all public access points had vehicles. So we chose a place we had never been to. The water was up and off color but we expected this to be a good thing and hoped a lot of fish to be present. We never had a strike and saw no fish activity. At night our motel was full.
Sunday we decided to try 18 mile creek near Olcott. Due to the deer activity we tried to drive during daylight hours so we missed the bite at sunrise. When we arrived the lot was half full (a welcome sight). Where we fished there were more kings than browns. Most kings were still fresh (a big surprise). I caught both males and hens that were spewing milt and eggs respectively. Conditions were a little muddy. I caught 3 browns and a king before 10am then it got a little slow but the kings were still active if that was your goal. My goal was to track down some friends that I hadn’t seen in a few years. In the process of searching I was surprised to only see 15 in U at the dam at noon and only 5 in U at 130pm. After catching up with my friends I landed a few more kings before we quit for the day.
Monday was our Oak Orchard day. When we arrived at 715am there were only 25 vehicles parked at the Archers club. Compared to last year, when every fishable inch was occupied by huge crowds as Covid related unemployment was in full swing, the stream now looked barren. The water level was high and a little off color. I went to the best brown trout location I knew of and soon folks began picking up browns. I’m usually confined to a small piece of Real Estate but on this day on my side of the creek I had about 60 yards of stream I could work top to bottom and repeat. I didn’t pick a good fly until about the 4th pass (same fly that caught browns on 18 mile the day before). Caught 2 on first 5 casts then hooked another brown that I lost. That would be it for me and eventually I found a buddy who was taking a picture with a king. I hadn’t realized it but folks at the dam chose to lower the water level without sounding the alarm. The drop in water level exposed the kings and had them seeking pools with more depth. In the chaos I caught a king. Mid afternoon was spent catching up with friends and later afternoon I found myself alone on my side of the creek in my favorite hole where I caught 2 browns and lost a few kings and a brown. The browns and kings do mix but generally one or the other has a significant majority interest in that stretch so being able to identify the difference between a brown spot and a king spot is helpful. When the evening bite concluded there were about 20 people in sight and I saw about 15 browns hooked, 3-4 kings and 1 Atlantic (it made some nice leaps). I never saw a steelhead caught at any point on this trip.
I think the poor stream reports had caused many people to cancel their trips and may be rightfully so since fishing was pretty tough. Our motel had about 20 units and only about 3 were occupied from Sunday to Wednesday morning.
Tuesday we went back to 18 mile since it’s easier for the old timers I fish with to get to the fish. It was a King Salmon bonanza. My father had fished for 3 days without a hookup but he had 8 hookups on Tues. our other buddy had a dozen hookups. Equally important, they made some new friends streamside and exchanged flies. There were many reports of small browns (15-18”). People caught them and others saw them traveling together upstream in groups as large as 10. Kings were enticing and cooperative but most people were concerned by the lack of browns. Based on the size of the fish caught (browns and kings), 2021 was a good summer on Lake O since the fish were heavy for their length especially the browns. I ended up with 7 Kings and 1 brown on Tue.
Wednesday would be a short day with us heading home at 11am. We snuck out early and arrived around 7am with 23 vehicles in the lot at Fishermsn’s Park. My dad and buddy wanted to catch browns so I took them to the best spot that they could get to but none of us landed one. Our buddy began getting crowded out of his BT spot so he bailed and went back to a King spot and hooked 7-8. Everyone fishing close to us hooked a brown, but numbers were very low for this time of year.
The gold medal on this trip was awarded to the wife of a fellow from Donora (Pittsburgh) who I met streamside. He told me his wife had been with him all week and she sat in the car all day waiting for his return. I saw her 2 different days and was wondering what she was up to. A truly understanding and accommodating woman.
Everyday we heard people were heading to Sandy but we never heard of any fish being caught. I’m curious if that was the best kept secret of the week or the biggest disappointment to everyone that tried.
On Saturday, after checking into our room we set out about 2pm to check Johnson Creek and Sandy Creek. We decided to fish Sandy Creek after checking several places that we knew we could access. Many people had the same idea and the public area closest to the lake had 15 vehicles and all public access points had vehicles. So we chose a place we had never been to. The water was up and off color but we expected this to be a good thing and hoped a lot of fish to be present. We never had a strike and saw no fish activity. At night our motel was full.
Sunday we decided to try 18 mile creek near Olcott. Due to the deer activity we tried to drive during daylight hours so we missed the bite at sunrise. When we arrived the lot was half full (a welcome sight). Where we fished there were more kings than browns. Most kings were still fresh (a big surprise). I caught both males and hens that were spewing milt and eggs respectively. Conditions were a little muddy. I caught 3 browns and a king before 10am then it got a little slow but the kings were still active if that was your goal. My goal was to track down some friends that I hadn’t seen in a few years. In the process of searching I was surprised to only see 15 in U at the dam at noon and only 5 in U at 130pm. After catching up with my friends I landed a few more kings before we quit for the day.
Monday was our Oak Orchard day. When we arrived at 715am there were only 25 vehicles parked at the Archers club. Compared to last year, when every fishable inch was occupied by huge crowds as Covid related unemployment was in full swing, the stream now looked barren. The water level was high and a little off color. I went to the best brown trout location I knew of and soon folks began picking up browns. I’m usually confined to a small piece of Real Estate but on this day on my side of the creek I had about 60 yards of stream I could work top to bottom and repeat. I didn’t pick a good fly until about the 4th pass (same fly that caught browns on 18 mile the day before). Caught 2 on first 5 casts then hooked another brown that I lost. That would be it for me and eventually I found a buddy who was taking a picture with a king. I hadn’t realized it but folks at the dam chose to lower the water level without sounding the alarm. The drop in water level exposed the kings and had them seeking pools with more depth. In the chaos I caught a king. Mid afternoon was spent catching up with friends and later afternoon I found myself alone on my side of the creek in my favorite hole where I caught 2 browns and lost a few kings and a brown. The browns and kings do mix but generally one or the other has a significant majority interest in that stretch so being able to identify the difference between a brown spot and a king spot is helpful. When the evening bite concluded there were about 20 people in sight and I saw about 15 browns hooked, 3-4 kings and 1 Atlantic (it made some nice leaps). I never saw a steelhead caught at any point on this trip.
I think the poor stream reports had caused many people to cancel their trips and may be rightfully so since fishing was pretty tough. Our motel had about 20 units and only about 3 were occupied from Sunday to Wednesday morning.
Tuesday we went back to 18 mile since it’s easier for the old timers I fish with to get to the fish. It was a King Salmon bonanza. My father had fished for 3 days without a hookup but he had 8 hookups on Tues. our other buddy had a dozen hookups. Equally important, they made some new friends streamside and exchanged flies. There were many reports of small browns (15-18”). People caught them and others saw them traveling together upstream in groups as large as 10. Kings were enticing and cooperative but most people were concerned by the lack of browns. Based on the size of the fish caught (browns and kings), 2021 was a good summer on Lake O since the fish were heavy for their length especially the browns. I ended up with 7 Kings and 1 brown on Tue.
Wednesday would be a short day with us heading home at 11am. We snuck out early and arrived around 7am with 23 vehicles in the lot at Fishermsn’s Park. My dad and buddy wanted to catch browns so I took them to the best spot that they could get to but none of us landed one. Our buddy began getting crowded out of his BT spot so he bailed and went back to a King spot and hooked 7-8. Everyone fishing close to us hooked a brown, but numbers were very low for this time of year.
The gold medal on this trip was awarded to the wife of a fellow from Donora (Pittsburgh) who I met streamside. He told me his wife had been with him all week and she sat in the car all day waiting for his return. I saw her 2 different days and was wondering what she was up to. A truly understanding and accommodating woman.
Everyday we heard people were heading to Sandy but we never heard of any fish being caught. I’m curious if that was the best kept secret of the week or the biggest disappointment to everyone that tried.
