Time: 10:30AM – 12:00PM

Location: The Narrows.

Big Fishing Creek 06/02/2016 Photo Album

The central Pennsylvania countryside was lush and verdant, as Jeff navigated numerous rural roads on our ten mile trip to the north and Big Fishing Creek. We did not know what to expect, but Jeff suggested that the green drakes typically emerge later on smaller and colder Big Fishing Creek than is typically the case on Penns Creek. We clung to the hope that this might be true, and perhaps we would intersect with the tail end of the large heavily pursued eastern mayfly emergence during a weekday when crowds are reduced.

Big Fishing Creek

When we arrived at the narrows section of Big Fishing Creek, I elected to move upstream from our parking place to some moderately faster water while Jeff migrated downstream to observe for rises in a slower pool. The water conditions were nearly perfect with a slight tinge of green color and near ideal flows. I was convinced that Big Fishing Creek would break our central Pennsylvania daytime slump. I stayed with my dry/dropper set up, but after no response from the fish in a prime location, I exchanged the prince nymph for a hares ear nymph. Alas, the swap made no difference, as I fished for 1.5 hours with nary a refusal, flash or temporary hook up to justify my efforts.

As noon approached it began to rain, and I slid on my raincoat. Jeff and I had walkie talkies in our possession, and I heard a voice that informed me that he returned to the car. My confidence was at a low, and I was building an appetite, so I readily agreed to return to the car to meet him. We called an end to our Big Fishing Creek experiment and drove south over the wooded hills to Penns Creek. Along the way we stopped at a rod and gun club and used a picnic pavilion to eat lunch, while the clouds opened and dumped volumes of water on the surrounding fields. I was concerned about the impact of an hour of heavy rain on Penns Creek, but Jeff remained confident that clarity and volume would remain nearly ideal. In fact, we both welcomed the cloud cover and hoped for a beneficial impact on our fishing success.

Fish Landed: 0