Hiking with a Fly Rod

Monday is my Sunday and I use this day to get out and explore. Today was a visit to an old locale that offers up great hiking with the prospect of catching wild brown trout. A place that has seen an increase in traffic with internet hot-spotting, yet still a very scenic wild place. It location is north of Pittsburgh. A place that I found on a hunch and advice from my grandfather. A man who has fished the area since the early 70's.

I have recently been working hard to get back into shape. Not a new years resolution, but a need for the upcoming summer travels. Hiking has become a great way for me to get exercise. It also gives me the opportunity to be in remote places that hold the natural beauty I so adore. The plan for today was to make the two mile hike to the main stream and then fish my way back upstream.

The hike in was nice with the ground still frozen from the night before. The sun was shinning through the trees as birds chirped at my presence. There were two cars parked in the lot. I was hopeful they were not out fishing.

"If a tree fell in the woods, and nobody was around....."

Then I had to go back for the camera.

 
It was easy to tell that someone else had been on the path before me. My heart sank as I made the turn down to the stream and found footprints. I held hope that maybe they just wanted a closer look at the stream. So I put together my rod and tied on a size 16 Adams dry fly. The water was crystal clear and cold. The fishing went well and the pools all looked promising. But someone had gone before me.

 

The fish? none. And for the first time ever fishing this stream I blame that on angling pressure. All it takes is one person to tromp up stream to spook the fish. I'm not sure how far back I was from the other person but it wasn't enough for this stream.



Still an amazing day. The walk back gave me time to clear my head and enjoy the moment.

 

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Erie Tribs

After two days of fishing Spring Creek in State College PA, I had a single day to move out of my apartment before another two days of fishing. The second trip was up to Erie, PA for the steelhead. A place that is home to tributaries that bring lake run stealhead up from the lake starting in late fall and running trough the winter. It's a place that see's a lot of angler pressure but has enough fish to make the days fun.

We started out at a hole that produced fish a few weeks back.
 
 

derrrrp!

 

With limited success at this location we decided to get into the truck and drive downstream a few miles. Once at the parking lot there was the decision to be made as to upstream or downstream. Gesus picked downstream and it turned out to be a great choice.

When we made it down to a fishy looking location the weather really started to get worse. The winds picked up and a rainy/snow mix began. This event drove a lot of people from the stream and left us with great water and solitude.

Gesus began to fish a hole that would end up holding enough fish to keep us busy until dark. The top producing fly was one that his dad had given to him. It was a brown stonefly nymph in a size 16.

 The day grew dark and there was a good hike back up to the truck, so we had to call it quiets. There were only three cars left in the lot. A far cry from the nearly two dozen when we started. Spirits were high as we hit the highway for a hot shower, cold beer and a good meal. Our lodgings we too nice for two bums fresh from fishing.

After getting settled in the room it would have been easy to crash- out with room service and cable. Fortunately I had a little trick up my sleeve that gave me a second wind.

I have never been a fan of Samuel Adams for the reason that it was originally brewed in Pittsburgh but is popular for being from Boston. I have gotten over this feeling in the past few years and a case of it for Christmas made it easier to drink. This Coffee Stout is good. It has it's time and place to be drank (like most beer types). After a beer and shower we stayed in the hotel for food. good food.

The beers came first. Magic Hat Howl. A decent winter brew that has a touch of all the classics. Full roasted taste with hints of bread and coffee. A smoky after taste that adds to the aroma of rich malts.

Not overly impressive but a good paring with the meal.

We ended with some good conversation with the waitress, Liz. She wished us the best for tomorrows fishing and brought out two Erie Ol' Red Cease and Desist. A beer the Liz informed us was limited to two per customer because of it's high abv at 10.1%. It had a robust warming element that was probably produced by the intense malt flavor that helped hide the high abv.




 

We headed up to the room and opened up a PBR before deciding it a good idea to go swimming.

The next day was slow. Not many fish being caught by anyone. Yet a mild day for the end of December and a great way to end up the 2011 fishing season.

beer