Penns Creek, Spring Creek, and the YB in 3 days!

[MD_Gene]

I solved a Penn's Creek challenge for once!
Did a quick trip to central PA (Monday through Wednesday morning). Monday I fished about 2 miles down from Coburn. Hooked one brown and landed the largest sculpin I ever caught (10”). That evening I got a couple during the Hendrickson spinner fall about ½ mile down from Coburn. Tuesday I went to Spring Creek below the Benner Hatchery and got skunked in the AM. In the afternoon I put on a tan caddis with a size 16 Frenchie as a dropper. I got between 10 and 15 fishing along the Benner hatchery. Mostly small fish and all on the dropper. But they fought hard!
Tuesday evening I fished below Stan’s Bridge on Penns. I started on Stan’s bank and I tagged one riser on a tan caddis. But by the look of the rises (and there were a lot of them), they were taking something just below the surface. I put on a WD40, size 20, in brown, as a dropper and immediately got 2 fish about 14”. Both on the dropper. I then crossed back over to the road and fished the pool from where the tunnel meets the road. Fish were rising everywhere! Sometimes the splashes were so large it sounded like someone was throwing 3-foot pieces of lumber into the water! They stopped taking the dropper and on to the caddis. I brought a 4 more to hand and lost about the same. One fish took me almost to my backing before getting off. I got to learn how to fight big fish.
Today on the way home, I stopped at the YB. Water was still too high! I did manage to catch 6 in the Run.
Over all central PA is fishing real well. The report is that Moses parted the storm before it got there. The fish are on to caddis and on Monday I saw my first March Brown of the year.
And it’s only going to get better.

 

[csoult]

Good report

 

[pcray1231]

I'm excited. I do expect March browns to start dominating the scene, and wouldn't be shocked to see sulfers to pick up very shortly thereafter.

Just gotta dodge the worst of a few more storms!

 

[BrookieChaser]

One thing stuck out to me, and I'm curious, did you use the same waders and boots when you fished Spring and Penns on the same day?

 

[MD_Gene]

I did believe I saw a sulphur on the YB yesterday afternoon.

 

[martin0206]

Come on Brookie Chaser...You know that answer before you asked the question. No one carries a new set of waders and boots for each stream they fish. Instead of trying to bait Gene into incriminating himself like you hoped he would just so you could then advise him of what he should have done, its better just to say: "Hey Gene nice report, sounds like you did well. Not sure if you are aware but I noticed you fished Spring and Penns and Spring is found to have New Zealand Mud Snails and its advisable to clean your waders after fishing it or maybe bring a back up pair to fish other water. Not sure if you used the same waders to fish both but just wanted to give you a heads up"

 

[Dale49]

Martin,

Not so fast on your comment that no one carries 2 sets of waders and boots for each stream they fish.

I do and I know several other anglers who do depending on if fishing invasive specie streams and non-ones. I decided to go that route as I have regulary fish the Gunpowder, Spring and other streams containing invasive species where I fish other streams either that day on the next.

This is my choice and I keep them in separate containers. Maybe I do this because I'm lazy and don't want to clean waders and boots after each visit to a different stream

Don't want to start a urination contest here, just pointing out that some anglers do.

 

[Fishidiot]

MD_Gene wrote:
I landed the largest sculpin I ever caught (10”).

Did you get a pic?

I'm not being facetious (we've had enough 31" trout sarcasm around here lately). If this fish was an honest 10" in length - are you sure it was a sculpin and not a bullhead or madtom (or, heaven forbid, a round goby)?

 

[salmonoid]

Dale49 wrote:
Martin,

Not so fast on your comment that no one carries 2 sets of waders and boots for each stream they fish.

I do and I know several other anglers who do depending on if fishing invasive specie streams and non-ones. I decided to go that route as I have regulary fish the Gunpowder, Spring and other streams containing invasive species where I fish other streams either that day on the next.

This is my choice and I keep them in separate containers. Maybe I do this because I'm lazy and don't want to clean waders and boots after each visit to a different stream

Don't want to start a urination contest here, just pointing out that some anglers do.

I have one pair of hippers that are labeled for Spring Creek and what used to be my backup boots are now Spring Creek only boots as well. So at least two of us have 2 sets of wading gear

 

[Swattie87]

I’m planning on fishing Spring at the Jam, but doing so Saturday evening, so it will be my last stop of the trip for these reasons.

Good reminder thread, but usually not a good idea to assume the worst.

 

[cranefly]

Very nice report. I'm getting excited, we will be up on Tuesday to fish the rest of the week. That being said, we usually fish both Penns and spring, and I know we don't all have second sets of waders. What should someone in our case do? Can we carry a spray bottle with a weak bleach solution? Any help/info would be appreciated.
-David

 

[BrookieChaser]

Martin, you're right to a degree, I could've been more tactful. Beating around the bush has never been my strong suit.

If my response got others thinking about what to do to control invasives, it did its job. This will be prime time for invasives to spread, as this is the time the area sees the most attention from anglers.

For the record, I don't fish Spring anymore since I don't have a designated set of waders and boots for there. My current set of waders has never seen Spring and this time of year they're getting used everyday (little drying time). I have plenty of other places to fish. I know me, and my one-track mind, I'll forget to clean them.

 

[geebee]

thanks for the heads up guys - i did not know about spring creek.

i'll bring a spray bottle of non toxic disinfectant and spray boots n waders to la Jam.

 

[JackM]

A good topic if it is kept civil. What to do for the Jamboree? I may like to fish Spring, but cannot imagine that I would buy another set of waders or boots so I can fish other streams. A spray bottle of Clorox and copious rinsing? I seek advice from the wise.

 

[tomitrout]

Seems like a great opportunity for a 'teaching moment' at the jam this year.....gather everybody together at the pavilion and have a qwik primer on disinfecting gear the first night or two.

Maybe somebody could even mix up a communal tub of disinfecting solution for use by one and all...personally, I'll be in Cancun disinfecting my liver.

 

[JF_]

Here's cleaning info from PFBC:

New Zealand mudsnails require some specialized disinfection measures. Gear should be visually inspected and any clinging matter should be removed and disposed of in the trash. To kill mudsnails, three methods are effective. Gear can be frozen for a minimum of six hours, or it can be soaked in hot water - 120°F to 140°F - for five minutes. This last method is not recommended for Gortex.

Also, a 2005 study by the California Department of Fish and Game showed that mudsnails can be killed by soaking gear for five minutes in a one-to-one solution of Formula 409® Cleaner Degreaser Disinfectant and water. After soaking gear for five minutes, thoroughly rinse it with plain water. Simply spraying gear with the disinfectant or the mixture does not work. Also, general cleaners have not been shown to be effective against the mudsnail.

Here's the LINK

John

 

[MD_Gene]

I did use the same gear. I do remember reading about the invasive problem in Spring but slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder.

I thought that the dialog around this issue was very civil, don't all of you agree? I would hate to think it's because we're getting close to the Jam and many of us will be seeing each other (some again) face-to-face. ;-)

I say that jokingly but there is a lot of truth that people will write stuff to others on a message board that they would NEVER say to others in person and that has happened once or twice even among us fly fishers @PA.

 

[gutcutter]

JackM wrote:
A good topic if it is kept civil. What to do for the Jamboree? I may like to fish Spring, but cannot imagine that I would buy another set of waders or boots so I can fish other streams. A spray bottle of Clorox and copious rinsing? I seek advice from the wise.

Jack
I am rarely considered wise, but this is what I have done for two years...
i keep a plastic storage bin (Rubbermaid) in the pickup bed. In it, there is about 10-12" of a 50/50 clorox/water mixture.
Once I take off the boots, they go in the bin and the lid goes on.
When I get home, They are taken out and dried until the next trip.
If I'm away for extended days, they just stay in the bin.
I think all of the streams are contaminated, if not infected, so I do this everywhere.
Overkill?

 

[Fishidiot]

gutcutter wrote:
i keep a plastic storage bin (Rubbermaid) in the pickup bed. In it, there is about 10-12" of a 50/50 clorox/water mixture.

I do this too, esp if they're felt sole shoes. I let them soak at least an hour in the solution. I don't do this for every trip but certainly after use in streams with didymo. Perhaps it's a good habit to do after every stream fished. In Maryland, didymo is widespread and felts are banned, but I still soak boots.

I would imagine this would be effective for mud snails as well(?).

 

[dryflyguy]

I always have a backup pair of waders - and boots - with me on my trips. And use them on known infected waters.
However, on my most recent trip, I stopped at spring creek for a few days on my way up to the delaware. Used my backup waders/boots there.
Then used my newest waders/boots on the delaware - dydimo - for 4 days. The fishing there wasn't real great - and I would have normally started back a little early and tried penns/fishing creek or the little j on the way home.
But I was stuck with 2 pair of "infected" waders then, and just stayed put at the delaware.

After I got home, the boots were soaked in bleach/water solution for an hour. Then everything was hosed down good, and set out to dry thoroughly in the sun for a few days.

Fishing has gotten quite complicated for sure!