They Exist. Early Christmas Present

I also have been fishing this the last 15 or more years, since I have been a little kid really. I also was fishing before it was widely known, but it ALWAYS has been known to an extent by ALOT of locals. And you are spot on about all your assessments.

I pass a lot of nice fish in this creek as I don't like to disturb the spawn obviously, so I spend a lot of time walking just looking for very large individuals. But, I do agree, 15 years ago it was much more consistent.

It was cool to hear your stories though, as I don't talk about it much LOL. I do think that some of the pressure that was once there though has subsided, I don't see many people fish it at all anymore. I only saw 1 guy all fall, maybe it was you LOL.

Thanks for posting.

 
IMG_20151127_094947_zpsqoh14ulx.jpg


Zak, I edited your post and copied your url into the the little orange button three from the word message above in the editor.

Maurice
 
Just noticed that these fish were all caught on spin gear...serious question... how do you know that you are not disturbing the spawn? If these fish are "in and out" like you guys claim wouldn't it be better to leave them alone?
 
NickR wrote:
Just noticed that these fish were all caught on spin gear...serious question... how do you know that you are not disturbing the spawn? If these fish are "in and out" like you guys claim wouldn't it be better to leave them alone?
Click to expand...

Serious follow up question to the original serious question...How does fishing for them on spin gear make a difference in this regard?
 
Really doesn't make a difference if they were caught on fly or spin gear but it's not everyday that I see spin anglers showcasing their skills in targeting spawning wild brown trout and then posting about it in a fly fishing forum. To be honest I am surprised this question was not asked sooner.
 
NickR wrote:
Really doesn't make a difference if they were caught on fly or spin gear.
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I didn't think so either.

As for posting pictures of Trout caught on spin gear, I propose the loss of 2 posting status stars for all violators! There’s nothing worth learning or enjoying reading about in a post of that nature! Mods back me up on this!
 
I do all I can do to avoid disturbing ACTIVLEY spawning fish. The same any fly-only angler would do. The few people I fish with are all fly fisherman. I do/enjoy both methods.

What you fish with has no bearing on your level of respect or understanding of the fish and their habits.
 
everyday that I see spin anglers showcasing their skills in targeting spawning wild brown trout and then posting about it in a fly fishing forum.
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Yes, yes, it'd be much better if it were a fly angler showcasing their skills in targeting spawning wild brown trout and then posting about it in a fly fishing forum??????

Timing suggests post spawn. Looks of fish say it's post spawn.

To be honest I am surprised this question was not asked sooner.
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Post #2 apparently not soon enough? With an answer from the OP in post #3 about avoiding redds and never fishing over fish actively on the redd.

That line of questioning merely questioned the targeting spawning fish part, though. I guess you were the first to criticize for being a spin angler. Congrats...
 
Fly or spin doesn't matter to me, but it's always funny to me when someone posts a report like this then says the place is a shell of its former self..

Where I live trout season is 4/1 -10/15, so that is another way to protect spawning fish.
 
Well NickR does bring up a good point to maybe expand upon.....at what point do you consider a fish to be 'actively spawning'?

Only when it's working a redd?

How 'bout when it's running upstream to spawn? Harassing these fish via C&R might seem like no big deal while they're making their run, but how does the stress of catching that fish affect it's ability to spawn? How long does it take to recover before getting back to the business at hand?

Interesting line of thought, imho.

 
Where I live trout season is 4/1 -10/15, so that is another way to protect spawning fish.
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That's odd. I don't know of anywhere in this state that it's true. Labor day is in September. I assume this was a typo.

Regular season: Opening day to labor day.
Extended season: (ATW's only) Labor day till end of Feb.
Closed Season: (ATW's only) March 1 through opening day.

We have no clue if the streams discussed here are ATW's. If yes, then they are clearly open to fishing legally in the time frame of question. If no, well, lots of people have debated that with most on this board coming down on the side of "it's open for C&R only", and the fish was released, so it's pretty clear there was no legal issue.

at what point do you consider a fish to be 'actively spawning'?
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A fair question. Note it's a moral issue, not a legal one.

If we accept that it's wrong to fish for spawning fish, what about fish that aren't "actively spawning", meaning not on a redd, but may be moving to spawn, or preparing to spawn?

But how can you tell? Having a problem with this basically requires you to take a stance that it's not ok to fish anywhere that wild trout could exist from late September through January (or places with rainbows in the spring).

I just can't go that far. Avoid fish that are actively on a redd. Avoid stepping on redds after the fact. If the stream has a huge number of fish on redds, i.e. right at the heart of the spawn, steer clear for a while. Beyond that, have fun. The OP did all of these things....
 
Pcray, don't you think it's dishonest to say I insulted spin anglers? I acknowledged that I just realized those fish were caught on spin gear. That's no insult. Congrats on your 19,000th post. Thanks for allowing others to ask questions and have opinions. Personally I think more should be done to protect spawning fish...if regs are not in place anglers in the know should abstain. Why chance interrupting these fish? Time of year is a poor way to assess spawn activity since it varies from stream to stream and on individual streams based on conditions and weather patterns etc....

 
NickR, I connected your spin angler comment with your followup question about spawning. It was based on post #45 and maybe I assumed some blanks that weren't actually there. If that's the case, I apologize.

The way I read it was:

"I just noticed you're a spin angler. In that case, I'm going to scrutinize the morality of what you're doing...."

The spawning question was brought up in post #2 and answered in post #3 in a knowledgable and satisfying way, at least to me. Choice of tackle doesn't affect the question or the validity of the answer.

I see tomit's question as a fair one, although it's not specific to this particular story but more a general question, to which I gave my take above.
 
That's called projecting my man and we can't compare this to steelheading in PA where a hatchery will just make more. We're talking about wild fish here being targeted in small streams while they try to spawn.
 
You projecting that a spin angler must be up to no good, or me projecting that a fly fishermen is scrutinizing morality of a spin angler more than they would a fly angler?

I admit to my projection, while asking if it is correct. ;)

The fish likely spawned recently or was preparing to do so (in this case had recently but prior to catching there was no way to know), but it was not on a redd and actively in the process. I don't see anything different in this, than, say, fishing Spring Creek in December while avoiding targeting fish on redds. How you feel about that leads to tomitrout's question....
 
NickR wrote:
Just noticed that these fish were all caught on spin gear...serious question... how do you know that you are not disturbing the spawn?
Click to expand...

I think the intent to imply that spin anglers (and not fly anglers) were disturbing spawning fish was likely given the phraseology chosen. Most notably the use of “…”. That notation implies one thought or phrase being connected to another. If it was your intent to simply indicate that you just noticed these fish being caught on spin gear after 43 posts, and then to discuss fishing over Trout during spawning season separately, two separate paragraphs, or at least two separate sentences would have done a better job of conveying that.

It was either intended to be taken that way, or poorly delivered. Take your pick.

IMO, I think the context clues in your follow up post in #45, point more to the former.
 
Pat,

Regarding mooney's post...... NY trout season runs from 4/1 - 10/15 which will give the brooks, browns and bows the opportunity to spawn unmolested. I'm pretty sure that I've posted on here at least 50 times that wild trout waters should close in the fall and reopen in the spring. There are still put and take streams to fish during the winter if an angler 'needs a fix'.

I also think that Nick was approaching from the angle of "Look at these fish taken on a spinning rod"
 
Kray,

Ah, NY, ok. That splains it. I'd probably support that regulation in PA.
 
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