Fishing Update - First week of March 2014

The fishing in the tri-state area is sorta beginning to look up. I only say sorta because of the still lingering ice ageish temps we have been braving up here in the northeast. As a result, for me at least, fishing has still be relatively slow and it has been a struggle to string together any sort of consistency. The occasional pocket of fish have been found feeding, but otherwise the picky, and apparently quite elusive wild trout of the PA limestone creeks, are not all that interested in the feeding frenzy type action we tend to start encountering with the warmer weather. There have been some bugs hatching, but as far as I can see, most adult forms of aquatic insects are having a grand time flying around, mating, and maybe most importantly, not getting eaten that much. I might guess this is mainly due to the odd temperature changes, so hopefully when we get some consistent warmth the bugs won't fare so well (the sulfurs won't be so lucky). All said, here is what I have seen working or happening on the water recently.

Flies - The usual confidence patterns have been catching fish as well as anything, Walt's Worms, Quill body nymphs, Pheasant Tails/Frenchies, and Zebra Midges. If one were to find trout rising to olives, Matt's Soft Hackle Emerger tied in a olive color scheme might do the trick.

I like to carry multiple colors of quill body flies, the natural version above is one of my favorites when nothing else seems to work

Largish Blue Winged Olive duns (14-16) were spotted fluttering around in the later afternoon last weekend. The trout where I was located were for the most part not looking up. Some of the more "game" fish were interested in subsurface imitations such as a personal favorite, the BWO Quill Nymph.

This was one of the wild browns that
fell to a quill nymph. Although this
fish looked pretty beat up from a long
winter, it was eager to move into spring and
eat some olives - Photo by Alex Rundella

Valley Creek had some trout which appeared to be rising to BWOs and Midges, but I tend not to include them in the region-wide discussion as those fish always seem to be rising.

As usual, midges are everywhere right now so if you happen to stumble across some risers, throw some small stuff and see what happens. 

With herds of stocking trucks flooding many streams with cookie cutter style trout, your favorite variety of junk food should produce.