It’s less confusing if all navigators in a vehicle are navigating to the same place. After breakfast in Frederick, Lou Reichel and Bob O’Donnell both turned on their GPS apps, it must have been somewhere around York Springs I started getting suspicious after receiving instructions to go both straight and turn. It was then it became apparent that Bob was giving direction to Boiling Springs, while Lou for Big Spring; But what the heck, as long as we were headed for a spring creek somewhere.
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The temperature held at 31 degrees all the way up to Big Spring, and as we drove past the ditch section to the parking lot the surface of the creek literally twinkled in the bright sunshine with thousands of hatching midges. Fish were rising as we suited up, and by noon the temp had risen to the high 40’s and we were all shedding clothes.
We had a good turnout at Big Spring and were met there by Steve Fletcher, Frank Bowles, Jim Crowell, and Bob Muelenkamp. The water was crystal clear as expected and once my eyes adjusted I could see fish holding just above the green bottom, and under the mat off the far bank. I always start with a cress bug, and on my first drift missed a take, after that they would only give chase, lose interest, and settle back to their lie.
Steve caught two of the three fish at Big Spring, a 10 inch brookie and a small rainbow, Lou the other, a small brookie, all three on what Steve called a Utah killer Bug that looked a lot like a Walt’s Worm to me. Steve was fishing a Daiwa kiyose rod with streamside leader 16’ furled Tenkara line, Lou the traditional fly rod.
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Two hours really isn’t enough time to fish the place, and we were a little tardy in our departure and thus an hour late getting over to the Yellow Breeches, around 1 pm. There we met up with Ken Bowyer, Ray Miller & Marc Hutzell. Rather than go to a restaurant for lunch we had decided to cook brats in a pot right at streamside. Maybe food just tastes better on fishing trip, or maybe the warming sun was a factor, or even just plain old hunger, whatever the reason they were good!
Midges were hanging in swarms all afternoon from sizes #26-#28 up to about#20. Dark little flies and the fish were reacting to them. I think we all caught at least one fish, my one was fooled by a #24 Midge Pupae fished behind a BH Black Stonefly. Bob Mulenchaump got into several under the bridge on a Zebra Midge, and I was ready with the camera as he fought a huge rainbow that he lost after a good fight. Ken landed three, two browns and a brookie, all three on a Parasol Black Midge Emerger. Frank got two a little differently, fishing down into the main stem he worked his way back up to the end of the run and got them both on a Blue Winged Olive dry using a Tenkara USA 12’ Iwana with a TUSA furled line.
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Ya just never know what might work. Bob O’ threw a Crystal Meth pattern to some fish under the bridge that had ignored my midge patterns for 30 minutes, and on the second cast wham! He didn’t quite get it hooked, but his heart leaped around a little. This fish looked heavy, maybe 20 inches.
The run was stocked a couple weeks ago, and one of the locals just hanging out at the run just to watch told me the fish had thinned out, but there were obviously still a fair number to be had. They are draining Children’s lake above the run which has the flows heavier than usual and fishing pretty well.
Dennis Covert
Outings
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