Sugar Creek (my home waters)

[jjsjigs]

Took a look at Sugar yesterday. The "old bridge" pool is deeper, wider, and looking great! This flood actually did some good for this creek. A gas driller from Oklahoma was fishing in a hole above this spot. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it usually doesn't hold SMB until after the spawn when they seek cooler trib flows from the heated up river.



The PA DEP was here as well... the gentleman told me that he was here to assess the flood damage. But agreed with me that the creek is in much better shape after the seasonal "scouring".







The flood waters knocked the crap outta the riparian wall knocking some boulders into the water. The rip rap wall was much higher before the flood. This run is deeper on. But the flood made the rip rap into a nice J-hook deflector. I'll bet a few bass will be calling the J-Hook home soon. I can't wait to fish this...

 

[ScottV]

That's some great looking fishing water.

 

[jjsjigs]

Still a little stained and dirty... but I'm hitting it tomorrow afternoon. Walleye are moving up this creek. Gonna blast the holes with streamers...

 

[Jig Man]

Now thats some fun fishing...

 

[AtticaFish]

Sounds like the high water did some good! I have been out checking some of my favorite spots on my local river and looking at the new structure that is left. I have 1 BIG log i think i am going to have to roll down the river to get it away from the edge of a really good hole. Have to wait till the river drops some more to see where it acutally is.

Good luck and post up all the fish you catch. A walleye on a fly rod - now that would be pretty cool.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Walleye in skinny water IS pretty cool - can use really light gear?

Just asking, don't take this as a dig, but does angling pressure disrupt the spawn any?

 

[Radtexan]

Looks like a nice stretch !!

 

[JSC]

Good Lookin Water
JSC

 

[jjsjigs]

Hawn,

All I fish with is the fly rod. I use both a 5 weight rod (pretty light) and a 8 wgt (moderate heaviness) and I go after salmon, steelhead, muskie, pike, carp, walleye, pickerel, trout, bass, and panfish with both rods. As long as you have some relative skill and know how to properly fight and land these types of fish with a "long whippy rod"... it's NO problem.

 

[jjsjigs]

Attica,

I've done it... it's not an everyday occurance for me since our walleye population isn't as thick as our SMB. But at least once a month I'll land one on some of my bigger streamer flies.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Judging by the head-body size proportion, that is a healthy chunk of an eye! Weight?

Judging by the posting section, this water holds trout? Did they survive the washout?

Also, are the pics taken on public or private land?

 

[jjsjigs]

I really have no means to weigh them... around these parts of PA we kinda go by length. I guessimate by using my fly rod. My cork grip is 7" so this 'eye is about 16-18". Not a huge 'eye but a might catch for going after them in small streams like Sugar Creek. This creek holds trout but high up in the headwaters. I fish the last 4 miles of this creek before it empties into the Susquehanna River. The creek is 23 miles long and in the first 8 miles of creek there is a decent population of wild brookies and browns. Once past the 10 mile mark the creek loses its habitat to hold trout and warms up. Then the smallmouths and fallfish take over at the quarry. The walleyes, pike, and muskie use this stream as "nursery" water.

The trout population is alive and well up higher in the stream. They have an uncanny ability to survive the annual spring floods. I was tromping about today up in the headwaters. I spooked more than I caught. I waited around tonight for the Hendrickson Hatch to come off. Boy, it did! It seemed like every fish for 4 miles were rising in cadence of the spinners and duns. I had to remain epically still and watch for tiny sips and rise forms. If I waved my rod around too much false casting they would bolt. Then I'd have to remain still once again until they decided it was safe to feed. I landed 8 and missed about 10 all on a size 18 March Brown dry fly and a #16 emerger soft hackled fly. Good times! I don't have pics of tonight adventure since my Droid phone was on the car charger getting juiced up!!

Pics are all on public land... 90% of this stream is open to public access. 10% runs through land owned by a prison and they really don't want people tromping through... but the prison folk know me as a steward of the watershed and allow me access as long as I don't drift more than 25ft off the stream bank area. (Security purposes, I suppose).

Tomorrow's adventure is fishing Grey's Run a wild brookie stream in Northern Lycoming County plus a run down to Haleeka, PA to fish the Lycoming Creek. A report to follow tomorrow night!!

 

[jjsjigs]

Hit Sugar Creek last night in the rainstorm. Conditions were muddy and high. Wading was a little hard...


but the fishing was superb!

I started using my new E.H. Bucktail Chub Fly and the smallies loved IT! 3 or 4 smaller male "dinks" and then a female nailed it!


Check out the scars on her!

I switched up to a Bolivian Chickenbat streamer and the bass responded!



Some mayflies started to hatch an I noticed a huge splashy rise downstream from me. I waded over and threw a cast and caught this! A quillback. An elusive fish and very uncommon to catch especially in a tributary and most definitely rare to catch on a fly.




This quillback fought me like a smallie. Deep strong run, headshakes, and a few jumps in the water. At first I though Carp? As I was fighting it I though... maybe a large fallfish? But then I saw the dorsal quill spine. WOW! I was really excited to catch this fish. In over 20+ years of flyfishing this is my first Quillback.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Congrats on the catch of smallies and it's cool adding a new species to the caught list.

 

[Jig Man]

Nice catch...Thank you for the up-date, I miss stream fishing.

 

[Hawnjigs]

The QB is beautiful - the flashes during the fight must have been exciting!

How do the smallies get so beat up?

 

[jjsjigs]

I'm friends with the only full time guide on the North Branch Susquehanna River (in my county) and he has been guiding for over 30+ years. He has caught only 5 QB in this time. He has never caught one in a trib and never has caught one on a fly (just jigs). He is putting me in for an anlger citation award with the PA Fish and Boat Commission. He said to catch one on the fly is quite an accomplishment, especially a large streamer fly, since QB usually only eat tiny chronimids and nymphs.

The fight of this fish was fabulous... a cross between strong runs like a carp and the headshake of a SMB. I'm still on Cloud 9 from catching this fish!

We think the SMB get a beating from the Herons, mergansers, pike, muskie... Mostly the herons. We have such a large population of blue herons and white egrets here in the spring and summer. One can usually see a dozen or so herons on a 400 yard stretch of stream. Especially when the YOY and the fry start hatching in the shallows.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Just guessing, but the mid body injuries do look like drag marks from dropping out of heron beak. The deeper tail wound looks like it could have been earned shake battling out of a tail grab.

The unmarked smallie is a chunk - maybe too big for a heron to mess with.

Is the quillback protected? CO has several endangered native carp like critters on the west slope

 

[AtticaFish]

Dang that looks like fun - can't wait till my river is fishable. Smallmouth are a treat on the fly rod, but i have to say the quilback may have them beat as far as fighters. They can pull alot of drag with the broad sides they have. I caught one early last year and then started targeting them - after i actually figured out what kind of fish they were. haha! I managed a few on both my fly rod and spinning gear. Half the ones i caught were hooked the same as yours... in the nose. If you see them 'flashing' on their sides in a deep pool, either small shiny clousers or stones will catch them.

Are there Redhorse in your river? This is another recently 'new to me' species that are in my local river that i had always just lumped into the sucker category. BUT - They can grow to be brutes and are like little torpedos in the water.

Excellent catch!

 

[jjsjigs]

Yeah, I was ever so slightly disappointed that I "foul hooked" him but after talking with my guide pal I found that 99% of the time he would nail them in the nose too with his jigs. I didn't realize that was the norm with these QB's. He stated it was because of the location of their mouth and how they try and swipe at flies in the water column instead of sucking up the bottom food. So I felt a little better that a "foul hooking" was normal.

I think we have Redhorse. But I'm really not up to speed on all of the "roughfish" in the Susquehanna watershed. (I cut my teeth on the Salmonids, LM/SM, 'eyes, Pike and Skie). But I've found a new joy... the carp, chubs, fallfish, etc, etc. Heck, when I went Steelie fishng in the Lake Erie tribs I started throwing #12 wooly buggers trying to catch a few gobies!!! I'm totally in love with "roughfishing" and "brownlining". I've realized that the sucker runs on my warmwater streams are more challenging fishing for me than going after stockies. Plus with all the gas drilling fracking water spills in my County. Our Exceptional Value Class A wild trout water is suffering and under attack with pollution. I think the warmwater species thrive in the frac water!! LOL!