Valley Creek Small Trout

[salmo]

I know, size doesn't matter. But when I fish Valley Creek I'm used to catching the vast majority of the brownies in sizes 6-8 inches with the occasional fish in the 10-12 inch category. In my last several trips I have noticed that much of my catch is in the under 5 inch class. I was wondering if others noticed anything similar? Does this portend that there have been good spawning seasons and that the young of the year class is up or does it mean that Valley can only sustain a larger population of small fish? I'm sure nobody on this forum will have an opinion.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Maybe because it is a C&R stream with limited biomass and depth, enough smaller fish don't get culled to allow the average size to increase. I honestly don't know, but the primary eaters of those fish seem to be herons and ospreys. Maybe their numbers are down a bit and have allowed the smaller, younger, dumber trout to proliferate more.

 

[DoctorWater15]

I'm no expert on Valley Creek, but I have been fishing it very frequently for the last two years. I would wholeheartedly agree that the majority of the fish I catch out there are on the smaller side. The tradeoff is that I now catch much higher numbers of fish than I did when I started fishing there more frequently. Not sure if that's just cracking the code on the creek or a reflection of what the fish biomass happens to be now. I'd venture a guess that we have had a few good spawning classes that have created these small fish that are voracious and fearless eaters, but there are definitely some lunkers in there, and maybe if there were more culling we could see more of them. I'm not entirely sure what the answer is though!

 

[sarce]

I've found that if the water has been fished over before me, I'll pretty much only catch the little ones. Given Valley's popularity maybe that is the case when OP happened to be there. I have fished it a bit in the past few months and lucked out and didn't have other anglers ahead of me where I fished, and caught many 8-11" fish.

 

[geebee]

VC has been the only game in town for many folks due to the genral regs waters being closed.

I'd judge it in May after a rise and fall. if you're still not winkling out the 8/9" fish then I'd be concerned.

 

[shadspoon]

Yes, we had a very successful spawn fall of 2016. Also 2017 if I could guess. If a 4" fish is caught a few times it either dies or becomes smart. Those 4" fish were 3.5" last fall and a lot easier to catch. If they survive AND find a place to hide they become the larger fish. With the stormwater problems in Valley most of the hiding spots are gone, making larger fish hard to find and much fewer in numbers. Agree with Sarce, if you are not the first one there the larger fish are hiding! That's a good thing!!! A 12" fish is a trophy now. I've been a regular since the 1980's. A member of VFTU since 1979. WE are still working hard to save a spectacular fishery... Sorry for the commercial! Pete

 

[sarce]

Pete,

PM incoming, FYI.

 

[shakey]

Those tiny browns crack me up!
They are most often caught by nymph fishing,especially with small shiny bead heads.
You don’t see them as often fly fishing with wets ,especially large wets.
But,they do take EHC readily.

These days I don’t see fish over 12 inches except on streamers.

 

[wildtrout2]

Valley has a good population of small browns, and there are some big fish in there, but they are pretty rare. I've only ever seen a few pics of trout over 16" from Valley Creek over the years.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

shadspoon wrote:
Yes, we had a very successful spawn fall of 2016. Also 2017 if I could guess. If a 4" fish is caught a few times it either dies or becomes smart. Those 4" fish were 3.5" last fall and a lot easier to catch. If they survive AND find a place to hide they become the larger fish. With the stormwater problems in Valley most of the hiding spots are gone, making larger fish hard to find and much fewer in numbers. Agree with Sarce, if you are not the first one there the larger fish are hiding! That's a good thing!!! A 12" fish is a trophy now. I've been a regular since the 1980's. A member of VFTU since 1979. WE are still working hard to save a spectacular fishery... Sorry for the commercial! Pete

That has been my experience too, in that there appears to be two very abundant year classes that have overlapped. Last year, when the 2016 YOY were big enough to eat a midge, I could leave certain spots out of guilt for catching those tiny fish in search of better fish (better in VC meaning 8 to 10 inchers). With another year class on top of them, it is harder to avoid the dinks. My biggest fish in the creek, from say 14 to 19 inches have either come on a streamer in high water or off-peak hours (and seasons) in the best lairs. If you don't catch 10 dinks from a prime-looking spot, let's just say there is a reason... That seems to be the case in many waters that hold ghostly big fish.

 

[AndyP]

There is nothing but very small fish in Valley ..... not worth the trip ...you should all go over to Pickering .....

 

[salmo]

Interestly the last time I fished Valley I fished the largest fly I ever fished on Valley. It was a size 14 Walt’s worm. That’s what I caught most of the dinks on. I was a bead head.

 

[JustFish]

I used to catch a fair number of nice size browns in Valley Creek over seven years ago. Obviously, a fair share of little guys too. Just moved back to the area and haven’t fished it yet. When I used to fish it you might have saw an angler or two. It wasn’t really pressured like it is now. Or as it seems from posts I’m reading on here. Seems like it gets hit pretty hard today. Plus I know TCO and other companies doing stream reports and videos on the stream probably haven’t helped. I’ll probably go during the week next week.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

It's a shell of what it used to be, largely because of the pressure. It was always relatively pressured, but somehow iit was able to fly under the internet radar. However, over the past 7 years or so it has gotten pressured to the point that I rarely check it out anymore.

 

[JustFish]

I remember an old fisherman named Jack told me 15 years ago that the internet would ruin Valley Creek. He said it was too sensitive of a stream. It wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure. Looks like he was right.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

It's not that the stream and the fish can't survive with all the pressure, it's more that the pressure has made the bigger fish freakin' geniuses and ridiculously spooky. Because of the avian predation, I think that stream has always been easy to spook. I once saw a crow fly over a pool, casting a shadow, and that pool died like it had been shot, and the fish stayed cold until dark. Add to that 3x the fishermen that used to fish it in 2001 (if not more), and all the cumulative spooking, and what you have are some pretty skittish fish. They're like bonefish.

 

[shadspoon]

Another twist on JustFish's comment about the internet being the ruin of Valley. The internet has made catching way more challenging. The fish are still there but smaller. What will ruin Valley is the uncontrolled development / stormwater and spills. Very fortunate indeed to still have wild trout here!!!

 

[troutbert]

shadspoon wrote:

With the stormwater problems in Valley most of the hiding spots are gone, making larger fish hard to find and much fewer in numbers. Pete

We know that it's possible for limestone streams to support wild brown trout even with a lot of development.

For example the Spring Creek in Harrisburg, which surely has even a higher percentage of developed area in its watershed than Valley.

On these streams, where there is good physical habitat (depth and cover), there will be trout of good size.

But the big question is how to create and maintain good physical habitat (depth and cover) in streams that are blasted by excessive stormwater runoff.

And this is a question for many similar streams. Little Lehigh, Monocacy, Bushkill (Easton), Saucon, Spring Creek (Centre)...

 

[JustFish]

Yeah, I try not to wade in Valley if all possible. If I do, I stand there and hangout for ten minutes before I start fishing. Years ago two guys were wading down the middle of the stream. Me: you guys catching anything? Two guys: nope. I also used to use a 12 foot hand tied leader with a dry dropper rig. No fly line on the water if I could avoid it.

I’m gonna go this week during the day and fish it to see what’s up with it.

 

[Chaz]

Small flies catch small fish!