I had been itching to get back on the water after my short opening day outing. Between a busy work schedule and high water due to heavy spring rain, it just wasn’t in the cards last week. Saturday morning was wide open on my schedule though and the water level was looking good according to RiverApp, so I loaded up my gear and headed to Yellow Creek shortly after daylight.
The air was crisp but not uncomfortable at about 45 degrees. I put on my favorite knit cap that’s adorned with trout and knew by the time I finished my long walk to one of my favorite holes my body would be plenty warmed up. The first thing I noticed was an empty parking lot. People seem to give up easily, or their level of enthusiasm wanes quickly and that leaves a lot of open water. Not catching many fish also keeps people away and I had a hunch the fishing had been tough all week. When I quit seeing cars along the Little Mahoning Creek fly project on nice days that’s usually a sign that the fish are making people work harder than they want to. I’ve always been one to enjoy that type of challenge though and would rather have the stream to myself and catching very few than landing 20 while seeing other fishermen everywhere.
I struggled to get a strike early on. I opted for the Euro rig again and tried a peacock Walt’s Worm, Double Trouble, blood dot egg, and cress bug in that order without hooking a fish. It wasn’t until I tied on my trusty yellow sucker spawn that I was finally fighting a fish. The take was subtle but I got the hook set and had the rainbow in my net quickly. I noticed there wasn’t a lot of fight in it and that combined with the light take made me think to check the water temperature. It was 50.4 degrees, which isn’t terribly cold but not in that 55-60 degree range that has trout most active. I eventually tied on my cacoon fly and landed one more small rainbow. I had a couple other fish hooked briefly, but after close to three hours of fishing that was going to be it for the morning.
I failed to mention that about 20 minutes into fishing I stepped backward onto a large rock and ended up falling and catching myself with my left arm. My hooded sweatshirt immediately sucked up about a gallon of water leaving me soaked and with a cold arm. I was able to squeeze much of the water out but it made for uncomfortable fishing the rest of the morning. The water was still a touch higher than I like it for fishing, and navigating my way through the water. It was a good reminder to look before you step and never wade into water that’s deep enough for you to go under.
On my walk back to the truck I noticed a lot more people on the water giving it a try. Apparently people still wanted to fish but not so much they were willing to get up at the crack of dawn to do it. It seems to me there are plenty of fish in that stream and the fishing should be good well into spring like it was last year. Once the water comes down I’ll be better able to identify subtle pockets that hold fish and get to them with my assortment of nymphs. The best part is, I’ll likely have the stream to myself.