It's gonna be a good year....

.....or, so I tell myself at the start of every trout season. After a winter
of record snow, family annoyances at every turn and a even uglier turn in
the nation's mood, I was as ready as I'd ever been to start my trout fishing
season. Yesterday was opening day, which on many PA streams is a mix of
chaos and festivity, with crowded fishing conditions. The weather, a near
perfect 65-70 degrees F, was conducive to larger than usual crowds. Thus, I
waited and got some yardwork done and didn't wander out until 3 pm. I went
to the Tulpehocken Creek, and while noting some souls still flailing away,
many were packing up for the day. The water was still sort of high and
moving pretty strongly, the product of heavy rains earlier in the week.
It felt good to get into the waders again, and string up the old Thomas and
Thomas which has been my trusty pal for over 15 years now. A glance at
conditions suggested streamers, so I tied on a Shenk's White Streamer, which
had, in years past, produced well in early season. A quick dunk in the creek
to get it waterlogged preceded my first cast of 2010. Two casts later, I
aimed for a sunken tree, which was a new piece of structure generated by the
harsh winter, and got slammed by what turned out to be a nice, 15 inch
brown. What a wonderful start, I thought. A quarter mile walk downstream
over the next hour or so only yielded one more fish, though, a smallish
rainbow. Still, it was a wonderful experience, feeling the water
around my waders, hearing the songbirds, seeing the new spring growth,
smelling the assorted woodland aromas. I sat down, taking it all in, on a
rock outcropping, before walking the hill up to my car. Then, I saw it. A
ring, followed by a more aggressive swirl of water. A handful of flies were
coming off a flat bit of water. Grannoms! Now, in a few short weeks, I will
see Grannom caddis by the bazillions up at Penns, but these early stragglers
had gotten the attention of a couple fish on the Tully. I lengthened the
leader with some 5x tippet and tied on
a #14 Coyote Ugly, my personal go-to fly for these hatches. My first couple,
three casts were butt-ugly displays of rusty technique. However, the fourth
got right over where I'd seen the swirl of water, drifted for about a foot
and disappeared into the mouth of a hungry, small brown trout. As I removed
the hook and sent him back on his way, I noted that he'd been solidly
hooked. On the way back to the car, I got to thinking......who was more
solidly hooked, him or me? The coming weeks will draw me, again and again,
back to familiar streams and new places. I'll enjoy this trout season by
myself, amongst strangers and with friends, some of whom go back over 30
years.
Yes, it IS gonna be a good year........

Tom

On Apr 4, 7:52*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:
....or, so I tell myself at the start of every trout season. After a winter
of record snow, family annoyances at every turn and a even uglier turn in
the nation's mood, I was as ready as I'd ever been to start my trout fishing
season. Yesterday was opening day, which on many PA streams is a mix of
chaos and festivity, with crowded fishing conditions. The weather, a near
perfect 65-70 degrees F, was conducive to larger than usual crowds. Thus, I
waited and got some yardwork done and didn't wander out until 3 pm. I went
to the Tulpehocken Creek, and while noting some souls still flailing away,
many were packing up for the day. The water was still sort of high and
moving pretty strongly, the product of heavy rains earlier in the week.
It felt good to get into the waders again, and string up the old Thomas and
Thomas which has been my trusty pal for over 15 years now. A glance at
conditions suggested streamers, so I tied on a Shenk's White Streamer, which
had, in years past, produced well in early season. A quick dunk in the creek
to get it waterlogged preceded my first cast of 2010. Two casts later, I
aimed for a sunken tree, which was a new piece of structure generated by the
harsh winter, and got slammed by what turned out to be a nice, 15 inch
brown. What a wonderful start, I thought. A quarter mile walk downstream
over the next hour or so only yielded one more fish, though, a smallish
rainbow. Still, it was a wonderful experience, feeling the water
around my waders, hearing the songbirds, seeing the new spring growth,
smelling the assorted woodland aromas. I sat down, taking it all in, on a
rock outcropping, before walking the hill up to my car. Then, I saw it. A
ring, followed by a more aggressive swirl of water. A handful of flies were
coming off a flat bit of water. Grannoms! Now, in a few short weeks, I will
see Grannom caddis by the bazillions up at Penns, but these early stragglers
had gotten the attention of a couple fish on the Tully. I lengthened the
leader with some 5x tippet and tied on
a #14 Coyote Ugly, my personal go-to fly for these hatches. My first couple,
three casts were butt-ugly displays of rusty technique. However, the fourth
got right over where I'd seen the swirl of water, drifted for about a foot
and disappeared into the mouth of a hungry, small brown trout. As I removed
the hook and sent him back on his way, I noted that he'd been solidly
hooked. On the way back to the car, I got to thinking......who was more
solidly hooked, him or me? The coming weeks will draw me, again and again,
back to familiar streams and new places. I'll enjoy this trout season by
myself, amongst strangers and with friends, some of whom go back over 30
years.
Yes, it IS gonna be a good year........

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tom

And well it should be. We've paid our price with the Winter past.
Now its time to settle down with a fine rod, a fish or two, and, at
the end of the day, put them all together with a malted beverage and
catch up with old friends.
Now, I'm locked into yard work. Will be harrowing the field on a 1940
Farmall tractor today (don't turn it off because the alternator is
acting up). Then I get to install about 75 feet of pavers in the
bride's nursery garden, which means hauling about a cubic yard of
recycled concrete sand up from the bottom of the hill. Its all good
because I know the reward will be some good fishing in the weeks to
come as the yard takes care of itself.
See you in May, my friend.
Frank Reid

Tom Littleton wrote:
....
As I removed
the hook and sent him back on his way, I noted that he'd been solidly
hooked. On the way back to the car, I got to thinking......who was more
solidly hooked, him or me?
......

Nice.

- JR

"Frank Reid © 2010" wrote in message
...
Will be harrowing the field on a 1940
Farmall tractor today (don't turn it off because the alternator is
acting up).


am I the only one who gets a bit queasy about my dear friend Frank reading
this?



See you in May, my friend.

I'll try to scout for places that are wheelchair-accessable...


ever helpful,
Tom

On Apr 4, 8:32*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:
"Frank Reid © 2010" wrote in ...Will be harrowing the field on a 1940

Farmall tractor today (don't turn it off because the alternator is

acting up).

am I the only one who gets a bit queasy about my dear friend Frank reading
this?

See you in May, my friend.

I'll try to scout for places that are wheelchair-accessable...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *ever helpful,
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tom

Wait till you see what I can do with a power tamper on the crushed
concrete. Not the stuff I hauled up from the bottom of the hill, but
the back porch. Well, it didn't used to be crushed concrete. Wasn't
supposed to be crushed concrete. Its only a few cracks. Nothing I
can't fix with Gorrila Glue.
Frank Reid

On Apr 4, 5:52*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:

Yes, it IS gonna be a good year........

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tom



Wonderful ... thanks, Tom

On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 08:52:36 -0400, "Tom Littleton"
wrote:

nice report partially snipped...

...On the way back to the car, I got to thinking......who was more
solidly hooked, him or me? The coming weeks will draw me, again and again,
back to familiar streams and new places. I'll enjoy this trout season by
myself, amongst strangers and with friends, some of whom go back over 30
years.
Yes, it IS gonna be a good year........

Nice report. And I know what you mean - we are beginning to plan our Spring
fishing trips and it's gonna be nice to get seriously back on and in the "local
water" after what was an unusually rough winter even down thisaway.

TC,
R

Tom

On Apr 4, 5:52*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:

. Shenk's White Streamer, which


I bought a couple of these at Coldspring Anglers ( I think was the
name ) on my one fishin trip in PA ... they had remarkable action ...
I never succeeded in tying one that was as good in that action,
although they look 'easy'


a #14 Coyote Ugly,


What is it? I Googled and came up empty ( of flies if not bars )

"Larry L" wrote in message
...
On Apr 4, 5:52 am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:

. Shenk's White Streamer, which


I bought a couple of these at Coldspring Anglers ( I think was the
name ) on my one fishin trip in PA ... they had remarkable action ...
I never succeeded in tying one that was as good in that action,
although they look 'easy'


They are. On a 3xl shank streamer hook, tie on a fluffy tail of white
marabou. Then(and this is the key part), loop dub a heavy body of white fur
with lots of guard hairs. Rabbit will work fine, although I have access to a
lot of shed fur from an American Eskimo dog. The resulting body should look
like a mess, and you will make it worse by scruffing up the body with a
shorthair brush or such.
Then, carefully clip the body fur down to a tapered shape sort of suggestive
of a fish body: fatter in front, tapering to the rear. Tie and cement head
and you are done.


a #14 Coyote Ugly,


What is it? I Googled and came up empty ( of flies if not bars )

State secret. Designed by me, sold at Penn's Creek Angler, carried by quite
a few Central PA guides. Some day, I'll release the pattern to the public.
But, not yet.
It's still generating income, so to speak.
It involves coyote face hair, dyed olive/grey/tan for the body, a rib of
silver tinsel and a wing of darkish dun snowshoe, which should be enough to
get you started..g
Tom

On Apr 4, 11:15*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:

Then, carefully clip the body fur down to a tapered shape sort of suggestive
of a fish body: fatter in front, tapering to the rear. Tie and cement head
and you are done.


If I remember, I used ram's wool ( not in a loop ). I think the
exact shaping was my failing. The ones I bought never seemed to turn
on the side and always 'pumped' the tail in an exciting way,
regardless of angler input ... mine simply didn't ride the water as
well, wanting to twist ... nor did they produce action that seemed to
come from within the fly, as opposed to from the retrieve ... they
worked but not with the same degree of "art"

I'm not a streamer guy, as a rule, but that is one that I like and
enjoyed fishing ( hooked, but didn't land a nice fish near ... I
swear this is what I remember .. the prison ( jail?, county court
house? ) 'below town' on the LeTort I also caught some fish on
midges further up right around Fox's house and the freeway bridge, as
well as at the Marinaro bench area.

I enjoyed fishing such 'historical' fly fishing water.