It really snuck up on me this year. Maybe it’s the fact that I have too much going on in my life right now or that the season is kicking off as early as I can remember being only April 4. Truth is, I didn’t even start thinking about what my opening day plans would be until late on Friday afternoon. I had an event for my Elite Focus Coaching business that was going to run from 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and that wouldn’t leave much time in the morning or afternoon for a lengthy outing. That, combined with being a fly fisherman and having already been out this season, didn’t have me terribly motivated to prepare.
As things turned out though, it ended up being a fun opening day of the Pennsylvania trout season anyway as I was able to fill the day with several activities while still wetting a line. In the morning, I chose to take my camera for a walk along Yellow Creek and soak in the sights and sounds of others starting the season along its banks. I parked at the Game Lands parking area off of South Sixth Street and swear I got the last possible spot. It was packed with vehicles! Oddly though, it seemed like vehicles outnumbered anglers because there was still plenty of water to fish. One of the challenges though was what I call grumpy water. Thanks to a fairly wet spring so far and some overnight showers, the stream was running cold and swift, but still fishable if you could find slack water holding fish.
On opening morning you see people toting tackle of all shapes and sizes ranging from long, overweight rods and reels designed for lake or big water fishing to the occasional fly rod and about everything in-between. Most were using typical spinning gear with the primary bait choices being nightcrawlers and other worms, and spinners with Rooster Tails appearing to be the most popular. For some, opening day might be the only day they go out. Others will watch the in-season stocking schedule closely and get out a few times more. Very few will fish as much as I will, or will happily have less fish to chase as long as it means fewer people as I do.
I walked all the way to the reservoir snapping photos along the way and just enjoying a beautiful spring morning. I saw a few fish landed including a really nice one at the spillway by a young woman. I only saw one person taking a fish from the stream for the frying pan, which was far more common when I was growing up. Back then if you caught it, you kept it. Satisfied that I had seen enough for the morning, I returned home and started preparing for the rest of the day.
As luck would have it, I had time to walk the “Bunny Trail” up town with Will and Angela. It’s an annual event where local businesses hand out plastic eggs with treats in them to kids excited for the Easter holiday. With will being nine now, I want to cherish these moments knowing he’ll soon be too cool for them. From there I packed my display materials and headed to the Emersyn Madness basketball event to talk to parents about my focus coaching business. It was supposed to run until 4:00 p.m. but it wound down by 2:30 p.m. leaving me plenty of time to get home and prepare for a brief fishing trip before the sun went down.
I grabbed my gear and headed back to Yellow Creek where the crowd had diminished by about half. I walked right to the spot I hoped to fish and there was nobody there. I immediately noticed the stream was even higher than when I was there earlier though, so I knew having much success was going to be an uphill battle. I stayed in that general area and did my best to battle the swift water, landing a few creek chubs in the process. Eventually I hooked and landed a nice rainbow, which meant I wasn’t going to get skunked. I got increasingly frustrated with my inability to get decent drifts with my Euro rig so I decided to call it quits and wait for better days. Walking out, I Iooked at my watch and realized I put in less than two hours. I laughed to myself as I recalled opening days of old when I would have fished from daylight until dark. I don’t know if I’ve gotten lazier or older and smarter. Maybe a combination of those things.
Leaving the steam early meant I got home in time to go for a nice walk with the dog, Angela, and Will. It was a beautiful night and a nice way to cap off the day. While I didn’t put in a full day of fishing, it was a busy day with a variety of activities and I still managed to put a trout in the net. I’m going to call that a win. Here are a few of my photos from my morning walk along Yellow Creek.
