Opening Day memories

[JeffK]

Mine is fishing on the Bushkill in 1970 near 1398 Bushkill Dr. At the time the building was still a factory and had a flood protection levee with mowed grass long the creek so it was easy to move up and own along the creek. It was a cold day so when I got there about 7 AM I went over to someone who had started a fire on the levee to warm up. At the starting bell I fished for a while, caught 3 and then went back to the fire to warm up. Went back down and fishing was slower so it took me a while to creel two more then back to the fire to warm up and tell stories. Went back to fishing and got a 16" palomino and it was time to quit. Was freezing cold and figured it was lunch time. When I got back home it was a little past 9! Time sure goes slow when you are freezing.

Maybe about 1965 when I was a 12 year-old kid me and a couple of other buddies staked out a spot on the outside of the bend in a good pool about 6 AM. We didn't have waders and it was great spot to drop a worm into the hole. About 7:45 some guy wades right in front of us blocking our way and spooking the fish. I was pissed. After a little while trying to cast around him I tied on the largest CP Swing spinner I had and cast it upstream of the dude. When I felt the lure touch his waders I yanked and tore a big hole in his waders. I gave a sheepish look and said I was sorry. I hope I don't go to hell for that.

 

[wardman]

I have so many, including spending the night not sleeping in the back of my dad's pickup cap at Belle's Mill lot on the Wissy in Philly. Camping out for the best spot with the way they used to stock those creeks, you know!?

Like the OP, however, my favorite times were staying at a friend of my dad's hunting cabin in English Center, 200 yards from the Little Pine upstream from the lake/park. We stayed for a week, so my father was def pulling me out of school to fish, which I've gotta respect. I caught my first dry fly fish on the Little Pine and Blockhouse Run around 12 years old, I bet. I also was intimidated by a spring runoff high Big Pine, but it made me hungry for those bigger creeks later in life!

Still friends with my buddy Ward who used to come along with us on those trips too.

Hah!

It was Easter week, we were on vaca Remember catching a bunch of Brook (we think) on big night cralwers too at Slate Run. Then we were supposed to sleep in a Datson and fish the Bushkill on the way home : -) It rained, we came home. What was the food for dinner, at the English Center store? Yes, I know the answer.

I have the Bells Mill pic of us that was in The Bulletin too.

And many more we cannot talk about!!

 

[Bamboozle]

...Maybe about 1965 when I was a 12 year-old kid me and a couple of other buddies staked out a spot on the outside of the bend in a good pool about 6 AM. We didn't have waders and it was great spot to drop a worm into the hole. About 7:45 some guy wades right in front of us blocking our way and spooking the fish. I was pissed. After a little while trying to cast around him I tied on the largest CP Swing spinner I had and cast it upstream of the dude. When I felt the lure touch his waders I yanked and tore a big hole in his waders. I gave a sheepish look and said I was sorry. I hope I don't go to hell for that.

You're going to heaven in my book!!

The Bushkill was a favorite haunt of mine but I haven't been there in long time...

 

[Silent Ocelot]

@Bamboozle, that's a terrifying experience. Winston green is a beautiful green until it's lost on the ground... That is a VERY unfortunate incident. Better to lose a green tip in the fall/winter when everything is brown/gray color. If you valued the rod a fair bit I would recommend contacting Winston for a replacement tip. I don't know what I'd do if I lost the tip to my LT 4wt 8'3", and yes, it's the one with the custom Ginny Hall scrimshaw reel seat (the reason I bought the rod). I'd probably commit hara-kiri. Luckily I have relegated that rod to my ever-growing number of safe queens. It will only come out if my Epic glass rod gets broken, an unlikely occurrence.

My latest rod "incident" consists of my friend hitting my SAGE X 8wt on a steelhead venture. Luckily he just pulled the tip of rod off and didn't break anything. I don't think his split shot connected with the blank either (thank God!) just that his line somehow wrapped around the tip and pulled it off. I inspected the tip later and didn't see any cracks in it. Split shot impact would most certainly bear a visible wound. I was pretty mad when it happened but it was my fault for walking behind an actively casting fisherman without announcing myself. After I put the rod together and continued fishing I thought I noticed a difference in how the rod felt. I lawn casted it yesterday with wind and as of now I don't think it feels different before or after he hit my rod. My X is the electric teal model, a color scheme only produced for one year (2019) on a rod that is now discontinued.

Last year, while showing an angler areas to fish on a certain creek I lent him my Hardy nymphing rod. I had it assembled before we trekked to the creek. Once we got into the first hole I noticed the rod I handed him was missing a tip (!). We retraced our steps and found it. It wasn't that far of a walk thankfully. That rod tip is a bronze color so I was thinking that it may be difficult to find.

I usually have my rods rigged up before I enter the creek, ESPECIALLY if I am waiting on friends who don't share the same enthusiasm I do for the sport (I'm late for everything BUT fishing, ok, sometimes fishing too). I have found when trekking into smaller brushy creeks taking the rod in its sock is a good way to transport it. Once I pull the rod out of the sock I can fold up the sock and place it in my pack. When I leave the creek I can pull out the sock and place the rod back into it. Having the pieces in that sock prevents me from leaving anything piece or pieces behind. I could also carry the rod in its tube to prevent damage to the rod but that means I'd have to have a tube on my pack and I don't even have straps on any of my sling packs to even do that. Those tubes aren't all that durable either so I don't think it's worth it to trash a nice tube just to add some protection to my disassembled rod.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I was pissed. After a little while trying to cast around him I tied on the largest CP Swing spinner I had and cast it upstream of the dude. When I felt the lure touch his waders I yanked and tore a big hole in his waders. I gave a sheepish look and said I was sorry. I hope I don't go to hell for that.

Substantially more preferable then having Bam call in an airstrike on you for invading his spot.

In all (somewhat) seriousness my new technique for shooing away people who need to learn personal boundaries is to toss rocks into where they are fishing. If they decide to get more than verbally aggressive I can throw the rocks at them.

My one BIG pet peeve is people barging in close to where I am fishing. All you have to do is ask, I'll most likely be totally cool with splitting a hole with someone or sharing some flies, sharing info on how the fishing is going, or maybe even tossing a beer. I just want the courtesy to be there.

@JeffK, you were nicer than I would have been, I would have hit him with a clouser.

 

[Bamboozle]

...If you valued the rod a fair bit I would recommend contacting Winston for a replacement tip...

I spent a TON of time looking that day because I had no idea how much it was going to cost me for a replacement tip section. My bamboo rod experience taught to expect to pay close to half the cost of the rod for a new tip so I was expecting to have to pay $250 or more.

Even though I bought the rod new with warranty, I wasn't going to try as pull a fast one on Winston either, and this was in the day of NO charges for a warranty repair and free return freight.

Imagine my surprise when they quoted me about $50 for a new tip. It went out about a week later, is still in my quiver & one of my favorite rods. If I knew the price the day I was looking I would have abandoned the search a LOT sooner.

I did make a rod bag "case" from a 4 piece Winston rod bag they gave me for nothing (I used to have a fantastic relationship with the rod shop at one time). I modified it so I could carry a rod in sections with the reel still on it and the rod sack flap closed. I've only used it a few times and only for short walks off the water.

In the interim I've learned more than few tricks for walking off a bushy or rhododendron choked creek with a strung-up rod so I really don't find the rod bag case necessary any longer.

I also lost a tip section on the very first fishing rod I ever bought as a kid, a 4 piece Eagle Claw Trailmaster. I lost it carrying it in it's rod sack stuffed in my back pocket on a several mile hike off a creek one night. So I guess you can say I am spooked about carrying a disassembled rod in it's rod bag...

FWIW - That Trailmaster had a lifetime unconditional warranty too. I cashed in on that warranty decades later despite the protestations of the folks at Eagle Claw that they had no such thing as a lifetime unconditional warranty...

...when I offered to send them a copy of my original warranty card they yielded and made me a replacement tip section, complete with the same metal "mini ferrules" as the original.

I still have it and it is the rod I use if I hit Stocked Trout Waters on Opening Day.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Hah!

It was Easter week, we were on vaca Remember catching a bunch of Brook (we think) on big night cralwers too at Slate Run. Then we were supposed to sleep in a Datson and fish the Bushkill on the way home : -) It rained, we came home. What was the food for dinner, at the English Center store? Yes, I know the answer.

I have the Bells Mill pic of us that was in The Bulletin too.

And many more we cannot talk about!!

Yes, the Brodhead stories are more R rated, I guess!

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Mine is fishing on the Bushkill in 1970 near 1398 Bushkill Dr. At the time the building was still a factory and had a flood protection levee with mowed grass long the creek so it was easy to move up and own along the creek. It was a cold day so when I got there about 7 AM I went over to someone who had started a fire on the levee to warm up. At the starting bell I fished for a while, caught 3 and then went back to the fire to warm up. Went back down and fishing was slower so it took me a while to creel two more then back to the fire to warm up and tell stories. Went back to fishing and got a 16" palomino and it was time to quit. Was freezing cold and figured it was lunch time. When I got back home it was a little past 9! Time sure goes slow when you are freezing.

Maybe about 1965 when I was a 12 year-old kid me and a couple of other buddies staked out a spot on the outside of the bend in a good pool about 6 AM. We didn't have waders and it was great spot to drop a worm into the hole. About 7:45 some guy wades right in front of us blocking our way and spooking the fish. I was pissed. After a little while trying to cast around him I tied on the largest CP Swing spinner I had and cast it upstream of the dude. When I felt the lure touch his waders I yanked and tore a big hole in his waders. I gave a sheepish look and said I was sorry. I hope I don't go to hell for that.

If it makes you feel any better, I get high holed on the regular on that crick to this day.... Something in the water, maybe cheese dust from Keystone Snacks?

 

[Kyle]

i dont have to many. but remember riding my bike at dawn to get to where i wanted to fish opening day. also i remember the first opening day i took a fly rod out instead of spinning gear.

 

[JeffK]

I don't fish that area of the Bushkill much anymore. Used to be great trico water by 1398, in the slack water behind the Binney and Smith dam and by the 90 degree bend above the 13th St bridge. These days it seems you hook one trout and the rest of the pool is spooked.

I don't about Keystone Snacks, maybe it is A-Treat soda and Tasty Cakes

 

[Mikey2006]

I don't have many memories on opening day itself, but i sure am looking forward to making some tomorrow. I was gonna try and get my dad on his first palomino but the two i had located were both caught by my friend on youth day so oh well. Even though i don't really care for stockies anymore its hard to beat the tradition where me and my dad sit by our favorite holes where he taught me to fish (although now its gotten to the point where im teaching him things) and pull in dozens of trout. Most memorable opening day I had was probably last year when I found a nice 16.5 inch palimino in a rarely fished section. Found it late in the evening and tried the rest of the day for it. it took me two full weeks of going back every day to finally fool the darn thing because high flows made sight fishing hard but I finally got it.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Board,

I have two Opening Day memories to share.

The first was when I was about 11 or 12. My brother Mike was 2 years younger and so was his buddy, Glenn. My mom dropped us off at Playwicki Park, to fish the wild and brawling Neshaminy Creek. When she left, she said I'll be back at noon.

We watched people in waders catching fish, but we only had knee boots. We watched and said, screw it, and waded in. The beatings we got almost made us regret the fish we caught, almost!

The best memory is the time I was at college at Penn State and Easter weekend was the Opener. Our family always swapped Holiday hosting's and that time the Curry side had Easter in Sunbury. The evening before the Opener me and my brother Mike and cousin Andy were down the Plummy, Sunbury people will know, netting minnies.

The fish fuzz pulled up and busted us for fishing before the Opener. I was like, "It's a dip net and we have minnies in a bucket." They said it's still fishing. They took us back to our Aunt and Uncles house and made my Dad and Uncle Andy stop drinking beer long enough to come down the magistrate's office and pay our fines.

Dad and Uncle Andy said as we left the magistrates office, "You need to cover your bail boys! We fed the entire neighborhood trout that Saturday, and Sunday too!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Bamboozle]

I read on the PFBC website that prior to 1969, the "start" for Opening Day was 5:00 am!!

It was changed in 1969 to 8:00 am after too many complaints from landowners about people camping overnight on their property.

Does anyone's recollections of Opening Day include a 5:00 am start??

 

[afishinado]

I read on the PFBC website that prior to 1969, the "start" for Opening Day was 5:00 am!!

It was changed in 1969 to 8:00 am after too many complaints from landowners about people camping overnight on their property.

Does anyone's recollections of Opening Day include a 5:00 am start??

Yup! I remember my father getting me up out of bed in the dark and travelling to the stream in darkness on the first day of trout. We started fishing when you could barely see anything at all. Very exciting times as a kid.

 

[Bamboozle]

Cool!!

 

[Bamboozle]

Yup! I remember my father getting me up out of bed in the dark and travelling to the stream in darkness on the first day of trout. We started fishing when you could barely see anything at all. Very exciting times as a kid.

Nice!!

 

[wildtrout2]

I read on the PFBC website that prior to 1969, the "start" for Opening Day was 5:00 am!!

It was changed in 1969 to 8:00 am after too many complaints from landowners about people camping overnight on their property.

Does anyone's recollections of Opening Day include a 5:00 am start??

That's interesting, I didn't know that. I do remember the 8 trout creel limit though.

 

[Tigereye]

Many moons ago in my spinner days, i was fishing the Lehigh R. I was having fairly consistent success in a particular run. Across the stream a guy decided he would to try fish the same water in front of me. Because of the speed, depth, distance and his only angle from which to cast, he really could not effectively fish the water. He only managed to cross and tangle my line. After untangling a few times my patience was growing thin.

When he crossed my line the last time, he gave me slack so as i could untangle us. I yelled across the river it was too messed up. "I HAVE TO CUT YOUR LINE" I cut the line and pocketed his spinner. He had a choice. Swim across rapids and freezing water about 100 yards or go back down stream about 6 miles, cross the bridge, and backtrack another 6 to get me.

 

[laurelrun]

Coincidentally, I lost the top section on BRAND NEW 4pc Winston rod carrying the rod UN-STRUNG down to the Bushkill at Resica. After fishing nothing but bamboo for more than 20 years and doing the same with a bamboo rod a zillion times, I never expected a rod section on a graphite rod could pull off so easily.

I spent hours & hours looking for a 25" long thin dark green rod section in amongst tons of dark green leaf litter and tree branches but never found it. I ended up going back to the car and grabbing a bamboo rod I brought as a spare but ever since, whenever I fish glass or graphite the rod always stays strung up!!



FWIW - I bought my first wading staff BECAUSE of the swift water at the Big Bushkill which was a favorite haunt of mine years ago. I'm not completely positive, but it might have been christened on that Opening Day adventure.

bamboozle, I did the same thing two years ago on my own property along Manada Creek. I must have looked for two hours for that rod tip. No luck. It could have only been in the general area I walked and there were no other people there. Never found it. Sold the property. I reverted to the back up rod after that.

 

[Bamboozle]

I'll never forget an Opening Day on Section 4 of Ridley Creek, quite possibly my last Opening Day before starting to fly fish.

I was fishing from the bank not too far upstream of Baltimore Pike in Media and it was a zoo. Most notably and remarkable to me with my snazzy Eagle Claw Trailmaster & Garcia 408 was there were at least two guys fishing with saltwater tackle.

One fisherman had a boat rod and huge reel and another had a surf rod, both spooled with heavy saltwater line and throwing several ounce weights...

People were lined up on both banks and there were more lines crossed than fish caught. After shooting the breeze with a couple of high school pals who joined in the fracas I hightailed it out of that stretch...

FOREVER...!!!

Such is Opening Day in Delco...