We arrived at one of our favorite DHALO streams to finf PEOPLE! Numerous times over the years, we rarely run into people, let alone close to 30 people at this stream. We found a spot to park that was a little off the beaten path and required some mountain climbing through the laurels to get down to the stream. Well, it was worth it because (as we assumed) most anglers did not travel far from their vehicles. There were 2 of us today and we probably passed by  close to 30 anglers. Some fly rodders, but most chucking spinners. We only saw other guy catch a fish and we could see that he was using Powerbait paste which is not allowed on the entire 1.8 mile stretch of river. Each of us caught 20-25 trout each. We each also caught a few fallfish and 1 brown. The rest were all bows with my buddy landing a nice 25"er! It was interesting to see how others fish, no matter the type of gear.

Went out to a couple local stocked streams with some success. It was tough dealing with the crowds but they seemed to all go home at lunchtime, never to be seen again. I generally do not go out specifically for stockies, especially around opening weekend. But, I had a few hours by myself and the warm water  fish haven't really woken up yet. I managed about 20 stockies in a few hours. I was not impressed with the trash along the streams nor the condition of the fish. They were ugly and beat. You could tell the cramped conditions of the state hatcheries. What a shame. I guess the bucket brigade doesn't seem to care.

No trips this week. Gave the fish a weekend break. Took the time to look at some alternative tow vehicles that would haul at least 5 people comfortably, get good mileage, and still tow a driftboat. It's a tough call. The Silverado served us well and the Frontier, although smaller, did just as well. Neither hauled 5 people comfortably and we do not need a Tahoe or Suburban. The choices for 2013 were Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Highlander, and GMC Acadia. Yes, there are a few others but these are the ones that we narrowed it down to.
The Pathfinder was our first choice due to past experiences with them. No bucket seats for the middle row, making it difficult to get to the 3rd row seat. It's a tie between the legendary reliability of the Highlander vs. the affordability of the GMC. My wife works for a GMC dealer so that makes for such a tough decision.

What can I say? It's cold and the fish are sluggish. Forget about fly fishing. If you hit the fish on the nose with a nymph, you may get a reaction strike. With the snow melt and the much colder water temps in our local limestoners, their metabolisms are quite slow as they usually are this time of year. Most give up fishing this month, some go ice fishing... and then there's me.  I have yet to be completely skunked when pinning for trout.
Today was a close call with one actual landing. Nice 14-15" wild brown. A few rollovers and missed strikes but still only one successful catch.

Today we decided to hit one of our favorite special regulation streams.
We did not anticipate much with the cold temps but at least there wasn't any ice flowing. It was a slow start and we managed to pull out a fish or two out of each hole. Between the two of us, we managed about a baker's dozen with all but one being rainbows. All fish were caught on soft plastics using the pin. We bumped into a flyfisherd on the wa

This morning started out in the mid-teens so we waited until 11am to hit the water. With temps in the low 20's and a stiff wind, we didn't expect too much action. We were dead on... with only 6 fish between us for the day.
All fish were browns except for one very healthy bow . He managed to make his way from the spring stockings upstream to the Trophy Trout section where we were fishing downstream. Dropping to 4lb floro and #12 hooks, we were able to fool them with chartreuse and pink power worms.
Low and slow was the name of the game today. We had quite a few hits and failed hookups which were consistent with the subtle bites that trout tend to ta

Today, we took a trip out to one of our favorite DHALO waters. This a beautiful stream that gets very little fishing pressure after the stockings. There are wild brown and brook trout but the state stocks rainbows in the spring and in the fall.  As of this past fall, the PFBC will not longer stock this stream in the fall. A few browns and plenty of hold0ver rainbows all fell for floro orange an pink power worms.

A few browns in a few hours on one of our favorite limestoners. Nothing over 14" today. All fish hit a flourescent orange power worm on the pin.

I've been a little lacking in providing everyone with at least a weekly update on our adventures. Over the past month, we've had some great days out on the local trout streams. The majority of January was a good month trout fishing with good action on the pin with soft plastics and nymphs.  Over the past month, I've done better getting more pictures to post online but since I've been a little busy getting ready for the little one, I haven't spent the time to get them organized and posted. Here is one pic that stands out, mainly because this is the 5th trout over 20" that I have pulled out of a wild brown trout stream. Although browns are by my favorite, it's nice to get a surprise once & a while.  The upper stretches of this stream are stocked once in the spring by the PFBC and in the past a few sportsman's groups have stocked some as well. Word on the street is that other than the PFBC, nobody has stocked any trout in this stream in a long time due to the economy.  Needless to say, it looks like the stream is also supporting a year long rainbow trout fishery as well. Since October, I have caught a lot of rainbows... many of which are less than 7" and have parr marks in addition to the 5 over 20".  I will be updating a lot of pics, especially of the browns so that I can share the different spot patterns and variations in color. One  brown in particular looks to be a tiger trout caught in the Lehigh River.
I'll let you be the judge.... TICH

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.