About an hour into the float we really started to get things down and started to land a few fish including a few nice Smallmouth. Unfortunately, the nicest fish had other plans when it came to picture time and back in the river she went. A solid 15 to 16" Bronze-back was the days best. One thing for sure, once you float in this boat you won't ever want to float in a canoe again. The stability of this boat is amazing.  Weather sitting or standing casting is no problem. With the two of us and enough gear to stay on the river for two or three days the boat floated in less than 6" of water! The bow casting platform is very roomy and easy to work from. At no point did I feel like it was too small. If my back started to hurt I would just sit down and cast from the seat, the line of sight was not as good, but it was a nice break from standing. 

  All sections of the White Clay will continue to receive good stockings of fish until the middle of May. This should allow for good, local fishing for quite some time.  

  As mentioned earlier Rick and I spent last Sunday (4-7) fishing together. We had a great day fishing for wild Browns. I started with tandem nymph rig with a few fish taking the Walt's Worm. We then moved to a trib of the main river. The water level was alarmingly low (this was before the Friday storm) so I switched to a dry and dropper. After the warm days we had two weeks ago the water temp here was pushing 50 degrees and the bug action was great. We found BIG clingers in the water, as well as Caddis larva, smaller clingers and some Black Stones. I only managed 1 fish on the dropper, the red Copper John when all of a sudden the fish started to take the dry. At one point the dropper hung in a rock and I had to break it off. I didn't tie it back on and just fished with the dry. The fish were taking Stones. Rick was using his CDC Black Stone and I was fishing a Stimulator. Here are a few shots from that day. 

  The East Branch of the Brandywine is fishing well. Greg, one of our customers, spent a few nights up there last week and reported good top water action. Browns were rising to midges three nights in a row. CDC puffs, Sprout Midges and Griffiths Gnats are all productive patterns. Be sure to have a few Caddis imitations with you as well. We saw a blanket hatch of Caddis on the Brandywine while scouting for Shad last night. 

  The White Clay Fly Fishers had an outing on the West Branch of the Octoraro a week or so ago. All reports were positive about the outing and the fishing. The West branch has been fishing well for a month now. Attractor flies will work on the fresh stocked fish. As the fish are in the river for a bit they will become more acclimated to natural feeding habits. This is when you want to switch to more natural patterns. Pheasant Tails, Midge Larva, and Hares Ears are all great choices. Steve Burke wrote a great article summarizing the event, it was published in the clubs news letter that all members receive. If you are not a member you might want to check them out. They are a great organization. 

 As mentioned earlier we are keeping a close eye on the Shad, both Hickories and Americans. We have received a few spotty reports from Deer creek as well as the Brandywine. A scouting trip last night produced only marginal sightings of Hickories and no Americans. It was nice to knock the rust off of the two handed cast last night. Jared did manage to bring one Hickory to hand. We did see a true blanket hatch of Caddis right at dark. Believe me, nobody wants the Shad here more than me, it just isn't happening yet. We will put the word out as soon as we find them in fishable numbers. 

We got on the road at about 3:45, a little behind schedule so we would have to make up some time on the turnpike. We made it out there in about 2.5 hours. We had just enough time to pitch our tents (literally) and then sat down to a meal fit for kings.

After dinner it was campfire talk, passing the bottle of brandy, and a great relaxing time. I really enjoy this time each night. There is something about sitting around a fire and staring into the flames...a very calming feeling. We are all anxiously waiting for tomorrow.

Up at 6:00 and it is a mad dash to get ready, get rigged up, and head to the river. This river is open water, and I am the only fly fisherman I have ever seen up here in 20 years of making this trip. The crowds can be overwhelming at times so walking great distances is the norm. When we got to the water it was a little low, but running hard. Typical snow melt water. I opted to throw a streamer at the beginning. My plan was to prospect with the streamer and see what I see. When I find some fish I will switch to a nymph rig.

 It didn't take long to realize the fishing would be tough. To say the fishing was kinda tough is like saying Carrie Underwood is kinda hot. A quick check of the water temp showed it to be 38 degrees. I don't ever remember the mountain peaks covered with snow on opening day. We fished for several hours until we had to head back to the cabin for breakfast. The reports we're all the same a few fish, but not great action. I spent the morning swinging streamers. My thought was if I found a pod of fish I would switch to a nymph rig. Well, the fact that I never switched rigs should tell you how the morning went.

 Back at the cabin a spaghetti dinner that would make Clemensa proud was waiting for us. A huge dinner was just what the doctor ordered. A little pasta, and some good red wine will cure all ills. After dinner we had more campfire time and then off to bed.

 With the season open we were on the river by 6:30. Water temp was up a bit, not the fishing. With rain threatening we fished till about 9:30. Then we decided to head back and pack up the tents before they got soaked by rain. After quick breakfast and with storms coming we decided to cut our trip short and head home.

All in all it was a great trip. We got to see some good friends and meet a few new ones and spend some quality time with my family. The fishing was not great, but that is ok. Anytime you are on the river is a good time.


Oh yeah, We did manage to catch a few  fish. 


                                                                                                                                              Tight Lines...

 Here are two samples of what I would call exceptional flies. Paul R. took what he learned in two of our classes and combined them to come up with the "Blonde" Brandywine Crawler. At the right times this pattern will be DEADLY on Smallmouth! The "Gary's Albie Fly" looks good as well. To see how well an "Albie" fly works on a wild Trout stream click here to read last weeks report. Below are samples of more exceptional homework from the class. 

 After checking out the home work we started on this weeks pattern, the Ice Pick. I recently instructed the advance class on another Strolis pattern, The Headbanger Sculpin. On that pattern we did a rear hook and a Fish Skull shank to make the articulated joint. Many of the guys from the advance class are in this class also so I decided to show how to do a wire connection. Many of you know I don't fish with tandem hook flies, so at the end of class I took the sample fly and nipped the hook off at the bend. This is absolutely a personal choice, If you want to fish with two hooks go ahead, just be sure to check local regulations and please pinch the barbs down.  

  The great thing about this fly is that color options are only limited to your imagination  For bigger flies we use the EP Sparkle brush. For Small versions of this fly or if you cant find the right color of brush you can use the dubbing loop. 


  Here it looks like I have tied in the Marabou and Krystal Flash for the tail and The Rabbit has been tied on top. I am preparing the dubbing brush to palmer up the hook shank. 

 The best part about tying articulated streamers is that the second half usually is similar or even identical to the first half. After you make the connection to the front hook just repeat the steps you did on the first hook. On this piticular pattern be sure to leave enough room for the head and you are finished. 

  This was a great fly to end the class with. Again we would like to thank all of the people that participated in this class. we truly hope you had as much fun in the class as we did. At some point this summer we all need to get together and fish some of these flies. until then.


                                                                                                                                                Tight lines...

  The spring like weather has the fishing heating up in many of our local rivers. The middle branch of the White Clay is giving up good numbers of fish on a consistent basis. The West Branch of the Octoraro is full of pig Rainbows and nice Browns. The East Branch of the Brandywine is fishing well, and many of our un-named wild streams are fishing well. This is one of  the best times of the year for the Trout fisherman, as we transition from winter to spring. The fish become more active as do the bugs. All of these things coming together add up to some great fishing for the next 12 weeks. If ever there was a time to get out and fish, now is it!

  With both of Pennsylvania's opening days as well as the Delaware opener happening within the next three weeks we will have more area to fish. With increased area comes increased angling pressure. I will encourage everyone to explore some of the open water after the "opening day" crowd disperses. Usually after the first week or two the bridge areas are clear of lawn chairs and sand spikes and much of the crowd is done for the year.  Sure you will come across the occasional stringer or jar of Power Bait, but we are all out there fishing and having a good time and that is what it is all about. I have had some of my best fishing on open water after the crowds leave. Give one of these areas a try, i'll bet you will be glad you did. 

  Sunday Rick and I headed out to fish the late morning till dark. The plan was to drop me off at the top section so I could fish through. Rick then drove the truck around to the bottom section and fished up stream. we figured we would meet somewhere in the middle. I chose to fish streamers all day. Actually I fished the very fly we tied in the Smallmouth class the Wednesday before. I committed myself to fishing this fly all day no matter what happened. Well, I am glad to say I never had to second guess myself. The fly preformed great landing several stocked as well as a few wild fish. 

 I met up with Rick about four hours after we split up. The streamer was the ticket as he was finding the fishing tough with a tandem rig of micro stones. It was a cloudy cold overcast day with the water temp getting barely above 41 degrees. 

  The highlight of the day was when we met two young local guys. We have talked to them in the past and after the usual stream side banter we continued fishing down and they went up. All of a sudden I heard a whooo hooo and then what sounded like someone dropping a slab or cord wood off of a 12' ladder into the water. I turned just in time to see a MASSIVE bow leap into the air in an effort to shake the fly loose. Angler and fish did battle for several minutes covering about 100 yards of river. I was the only one with a landing net and they asked if I would net it for them. Gladly I did, I didn't even mind going elbow deep on the now 40 degree water to do it. An awesome fish for sure. After snapping a few pictures the behemoth was released back to the water, hopefully to provide another angler with the thrill of the season.  

(Marblehead note; Get a landing net!)

  "One Boot" Ed text me from the river on Sunday. He was on the West Branch of the Octoraro. The water was colder there as he reports water temp in the high thirties. The fishing was tough, but he did manage to bring a few fish to hand. I will bet this weekend would be great in the fly section. Warmer temps and pressure from up stream for the opening day crowd just may move some fish down to the FF section. Get out and give it a shot. 

  We have had several good reports from the middle branch of the White Clay. I would like to share this one with you. On Wednesday my phone's text alert kept going off. Well, it turns out that my brother was on the middle branch about mid afternoon. Now my bro is not a fly fisher, he prefers to chase Trout with ultra light spinning gear and in-line spinners or micro crank baits. An accomplished angler to say the least, I have seen him work a run with a spinner that would make a seasoned fly fisher jealous. He is artistry in motion on the water, spend a few minutes watching him fish and you will soon realize there is more to ultra light spin fishing than just cast and reel, MUCH more. Anyway he spend Wednesday and Thursday on the middle branch and had banner days on both outings. He did note a definite "turn on" time of about 1:00 in the afternoon. Here is one of the pictures he sent me. Good job bro, one of these days we will get a long rod in your hand. 

 We are coming into the best time of the year for the Trout fisherman. Get out and fish!
                                        
                                                                                                                                                       Tight Lines...