I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Although I did not get a chance to get out this weekend due to Friday's heavy rains, I wanted to inform everyone of some upcoming news. In 2013, our family will be expecting our 3rd child... a little girl. She is due February 20th. Because of this, I will be taking a little bit of a break from the norm. There will be a limited amount of trips available and most will be fairly local. I also wanted everyone to be aware of some good news for the Lehigh River. There is also a little bit of bad news as well. Unfortunately, the Lehigh River Stocking Association did not do a fall stocking and it's due to the lack of funds. This is directly related to the lack of membership dues. I will be upping my contribution to the association this year and hope to gain more members. One thing you can do is opt out of getting the LRSA merchandise that way moreof the funds go stocking. Here's the really good news... the LRSA had asked the PFBC to donate one truck of fish this past year. The PFBC does not stock the Lehigh River but suggested that the LRSA start a coop hatchery. There is a small family owned hatchery on Samwill Creek. The Sawmill is a feeder creek that dumps into the Pohopoco. The "Po" is an awesome tailwater fishery that is fed cold water from the bottom of Beltzville Lake and dumps into the Lehigh River in Parryville. The "Po" has all 3 species of trout and all 3 have been found to reproduce naturally, although the majority of the rainbows are stocked. The creek that the hacthery is on does have some wild browns in it which will make it difficult to run a hatchery. The fact that browns are not native and the wilds are likely from the hatchery at one point will help the PFBC make a positive decision. If the PFBC agrees to the coop, they will donate the fry. The LRSA will be responsible for rearing and releasing the fish. This will mean that instead of purchasing say... 1000 trout, they can raise 6000 trout for same amount of money.

We've been eyeing up a stream that runs under a highway overpass for years but haven't had the chance to explore it. We decided to check out some streams in Hickory Run State Park and on the way home, check this one out. Hickory Run is designated as a Catch & Release - Artificial Lures Only stream. Upon arrival, the PFBC sign basically stated that it was fly fishing only but the flies to be used were very limited. I did not bring any flies other than nymphs which according to the sign, were not to be used. I decided not to take the chance and I took a quick picture of the sign for clarification later from the PFBC. In the park are a few smaller streams and we decided to go check them out. We ran into a ranger who confirmed the smaller streams had no tackle restrictions. He was unsure of Hickory Run. We explored Fourth Run. It is a very small stream and was loaded with 3-4" native brookies. The stream was also severely choked from the mountain laurel making it impossible to fish. Unfortunately we lost a lot of time today because one of the anglers that was with us decided to go his own way and got lost.
On the way home, we stopped by Mud Run. The name does not do this stream any justice. It is absolutely beautiful. There is a small tributary to this stream called Hawk Run. The falls on this stream are absolutely breathtaking! After climbing down the falls to where Hawk Run runs into Mud Run, we realized that this is where we should’ve gone in the first place. Your typical riffles, run, pool, tail-out type of water with some good sized falls and pools mixed in. We only had an hour of daylight to check out this stream and hence we did not bring any of our gear down with us. Through the years, I’ve heard good and bad things about this water. At one time, it was a Class A wild trout stream so the state stopped stocking it. Then the trout populations started to decline causing the PBFC to start stocking efforts once again. Depending on who you talk to, the stream is loaded with some very large brown trout… just my cup of tea. Also, according to my records, this section of the stream is fly fishing only. We could not locate any signs designating the water so I sent an email out to the PFBC to clarify. If the water is open to all tackle, you can bet we’ll be there in a few weeks with our centerpin gear trying to persuade some hefty browns out of those deep wintering holes. If not, we’ll see if some heavily weighted meaty flies will do the trick.

The morning started off with steady, but light rain.  The forecast called for it to stop in the early afternoon.
Well, it didn't and it was cold but that did not deter us. There were 3 of us out today at one of our favorite tailwaters.  After a few hours of  7-12" bows (one possibly being wild), brooks, and browns on the pin and fly it was time to explore a small tributary that feeds into the stream. After a 3/4 mile hike up the mountain, we settled on a small pool. Immediately, the fish knew we were there and they were off to cover. They're were small native brookies and small wild browns. We managed to hook a few in the middle of spooking dozens more. Further down the trib and a nice deep hole we each managed one decent sized fish. A 16" brown, 18" brookie, and 20" rainbow all came from the same hole. The 18" brookie was obviously the trophy for the day considering there is a good possibility that it was indeed a native as opposed to the possible wild brown and the obvious stocked rainbow. We ended the day back on the tailwater where a monster 25+ inch trout was spotted. It was obvious that this fish has been around a while. There were many wound marks on it, very much like the dying salmon in Pulaski.

The Lehigh has been on my mind for weeks now. The water levels looked good and the flow didn't look too bad.
We hit our first usual spot, an area that is used heavily by the rafters during the summer. Nobody home.
Moved upriver to another usually productive spot and managed a few rainbows. The water was moving pretty good and it was clear, but still up. It was lunchtime and the fog still lingered. We took a break and headed to a tailwater fishery just a few miles away. First fish... a perch! Must've came through the dam and into the stream.
Fish were rising and there was a small hatch going on. The 3wt with a dry would've been ideal today but the rises were very small. It was likely the fingerlings that were recently released. The afternoon yeilded a good variety of browns, brooks, and bows. Just before dark, I hooled into both a rainbow and brown each no less than 17". Winter is working it's way upon us and we will be exploring small tribs and looking at a possible demonstration or two for those that are interested. Christmas is just around the corner and that means it's time to start thinking about what you or another fisher may want under the tree. A good suggestion is to check out Dead Drift Rod Company. Although they specialize in trout pinners, they've also done great work on SH/TH fly rods, spinning rods, surf rods, and baitcasting rods.