Heading into this past weekend I was finally expecting a proper spring weekend. The daytime temperatures for Saturday were forecasted to be as high as 75°. I was excited to get out and fly fish anywhere in Pennsylvania because for the first time in three weeks water levels were perfect. The list of streams I’ve wanted to fish during the spring months has been steadily growing. Although I had my sights set on Big Pine Creek, I decided I’d head to the Yellow Creek Trout Club. If you’re asking yourself why I’d head to club waters during the middle of April, you are justified. However, I had a great opportunity to meet-up with fly fishing artist Andrea Larko to chat about a project I’m working on and do some fishing. Big Pine Creek would have to wait.
Read moreFrozen Reels And Rainbows On The Pequest River
I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of snow blowers running outside. A couple of inches of fresh snow had fallen overnight in southeastern Pennsylvania and it was cold outside. The temperatures on Saturday were forecasted to be in the high 20s with a “real feel” that was much lower. This was the only time this year that I paused for a second while rolling out of bed to consider whether or not I wanted to venture out to water somewhere to wet a fly line. But it didn’t take long for me to convince myself to get out there and soon I had my truck packed and warming up. Earlier in the week I’d been continuing my research on trout waters in New Jersey. One name that kept coming up was the Pequest River.
Read moreExploring The Ken Lockwood Gorge On The Raritan River
Last Wednesday I was surfing YouTube while eating lunch and I came across a video posted by Tightline Productions. In the video, several individuals are conducting a Christmas 2016 stocking of the South Branch Raritan River in New Jersey. There are numerous large rainbow and brown trout shown being placed in the river. They even stock a trout nicknamed “Bubba” who has a tag in his lip, which if turned in will net you a brand new G. Loomis Pro 4X fly rod at Shannon's Fly Shop. The video was fun and perked my interest in wanting to learn more about the Raritan River. I did some research and found that there are many miles of stocked trout waters on the Raritan River. One of the popular spots for fly fishing is just below the small town of Califon in a 2.5-mile stretch of Catch & Release water that runs through the Ken Lockwood Gorge. I decided I’d head there over the holiday weekend.
Read moreCorn Flies And Carp On The Conestoga River
A couple weeks back when I was fly fishing the Conestoga River for smallmouth I ran into some schools of large carp. I got it in my head that I was going to go back and try to catch one of these brutes. I have caught carp on a fly rod before, but I never went out fishing to specifically target them. I did a bunch of research online and learned more about carp than I ever wanted to know. For example, I had no idea how big carp fishing is in Europe. They have all kind of rigs they use for putting these things called boilies (a gumball sized boiled carp bait made up of all kind of stuff you’d never want to eat) on the bottom of lakes and catching giant carp. I wasn’t about to tie up a boilies fly, but as I have known since I was a kid, carp like to eat corn.
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