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4th of July Fantastic!

5K views 37 replies 23 participants last post by  Mick82 
#1 ·
For whatever reason the 4th of July is the best day of fishing for me each and every year. It never fails. So when I woke up this AM I had a hunch that I was in for some fun. With all the rain we had I sorta knew it! The game plan today was to fish a stream I fondly refer to as Web Run due to the many thousands of spider weds that adorn the mountain laurel along the stream all summer long. Just about every branch available has a resident spider looking to cash in on the fertile bounty Web Run offers. The good news for me is that I’m not too afraid of spiders and the trout were out and about trying to take advantage of the same food source. This is probably my favorite stream in the state and the most productive creek I’ve personally ever fished. At times I have had astronomical trout/hour numbers on Web and today was destined to be another one of those days. My personal best ever day of 274 trout was had here although I didn’t expect that type of action today but it was the 4th!!, so anything was possible.





When I first hit the water it was clear that someone had fished the creek before me. There were fresh boot tracks, as in most likely this AM. That’s what you get when you’re not on time and I didn’t make it to the stream today until 7AM. I caught 1 wild brown from the first pool that I normally catch several from and I was concerned. I examined the boot tracks a little closer and they appeared to be headed downstream. Sure enough when I moved up to the next pool there were no sign of any tracks and I caught 5 trout from that pool in about a minutes time.




This creek has the prettiest browns I've ever seen. To me they rival a brookie. You just dont get browns like this any place else.





That pace continued for hours on end. At 9:30am I caught my 100th trout.







At 11:45 I caught my 200th trout.







With still quite a bit of stream ahead of me the thought of hitting an all time high crossed my mind. It’s a record that’s stood for 7 years now and hasn’t even really been pressed. If I would ever fish a full day I’d be able to do it but I rarely fish past noon so the fishing has to be epic to even think about it. Today was that day. Trout number 250 was handled and released at 1:00PM, 260 and 270 shortly after that. By now I was finally out of the normal stream and into a swift shallow area with poor habitat. Time was not on my side, as I didn’t want to fish much longer just to force a higher number. A few small pools later I slid trout number 275 back into a pool to set an all time personal best. I fished for another 30 minutes and ended the day with 285 trout handled and releases.






This one has an amazing 'false eye'











It was some of the fastest fishing I’ve had ever over an extended period. At one point I probably caught 20 trout over a 10 minute period and caught over 40 for every hour I fished today which is also a personal best even though I don’t keep good track of that number anymore for a whole outing. I had a pleasant walk out of the wood to my bike that was lying in wait just downstream from my checkout point.




I’m looking forward to Saturday as I have another stream with strong flows all lined up and I expect some more fantastic action. July is my favorite month of the year for catching trout and it’s my best month every year. Had a pretty good start today.

On a side note, I picked up a new pair of wading boots. Bought a pair of Simms “Rivershed” Vibram sole boots. At $179 I was anxious to see how they would work. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I never thought I’d go back to rubber soles but they were so rock solid today. STICKY! Glad I spent the money on there.
 
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#10 ·
Thanks for sharing. Great day.

I'm really trying to pay attention to the trout to see if they are stocked or native. Looks like brookie is stocked.

Now that last brown, is completely different from the rest, with those colors has to be a native. It is gorgeous! Then the rest of the trout are a mix of mostly black spots or mostly red spots. Some have the butter belly and some don't. Very interesting mix of trout on that beautiful stream!

I'm of to the shore for a week. No trout fishing for me. I will be floundering though!!! Things slowed down this week, I had lower water levels in my area late this week. By the time I get back, I'm expecting for the summer pattern to have full grip.
 
#13 ·
I'd be shocked if any of the trout were anything but streambred. Sometimes brookies, especially in the east, dont have the colors that some other areas do like the ones Frank posts. They run quite a bit larger out this way in general though so it's a decent trade off. The brown has different colors most likely because the photo is in full sun and it was caught from a deeply shaded spot so they can get quite dark at times in that situation. I was thinking that myself yesterday about the differences. They're not at all unluck humans really. No two look the same.
 
#19 ·
Great pics and story again.

Pic 14 with the tree across the stream has me wanting to ask for a lesson. First cast to the little opening between the plants at the base on the right, or closer to the middle? Or would you just sneak around the side to fish it from above? A hole like that is just about a sure thing assuming a good hook set, but how you fish it probably makes the difference between catching one or multiples. What would your sequence of casts most likely be? (and Frank if he sees this)
 
#23 ·
Cool question jjgeorge.

Let me start by saying that when I personally approach a pool like this or any productive looking spot my brain is churn on how to maximize the number of trout I can catch from the spot. I already know that in a pool like this that there are probably upwards of 20-30 trout scattered throughout. Of that number I would like to catch 5-7 on a good day. The issue becomes, with the first cast, if you go straight for the kill shot you're likely to get a strike from any number of fish holding in the best spot and once you hook that fish, especially if it's an adult, it will make quite a ruckas getting it to hand. After that you're unlikely to catch anymore wild trout.

So that preface brings me to your question. I read water in multiple layers at one time. Like being in the matrix lol. Just been doing it for so long. At a glance I would identify no less then 10 strike opportunities. Per the picture below, again trying to max the catch and limit disturbing upstream fish, lm placing my spinner right where that trunk hits the water. In this case I was greeted with a small 4" wild brown. No disturbance but another in the books. Next I'm shooting for gaps in the laurel for casts 2 & 3. I may get one on 2 but I am definitely getting a strike at 3 my brain is saying. Spot 4 will hold another smaller trout.
There no way to go over this log with the spinner so with location 5 being on the other side I'm slowly sneaking up and poking my rod tip past the tree and flicking my spinner right and up against the trunk. Depending on what happen at spot 3 will play a lot into 5. Spot 6 I am now standing in front of the trunk and definitely expecting another solid strike. I should have 4 solid hits at this point of the pool. 7 is a fill gap cast that may or may not produce but 8 is another solid strike at the base of the entering riffle far side. 9 is mid riffle and probably a wiff and 10 is another hit on the softer near side of the entering riffle......off to the next spot!!

Often times when I'm fishing with others you'll here me say 'too much line out bro'. Guys are very eager to go straight to the heart of a pool and will make long casts to do it. Afterall, that's where the best fish is going to be located. I prefer to tiptoe into the spot by picking off all the less dominant fish in the least disturbing manner and with the least line out as possible. I prefer short cast WAY more then long casts. It could be argued that that's no way to catch big trout but I'm pretty certain my pics prove that it works just fine haha. In the photo above I would consider spots 3 and 7 to be the kill shots. I don't get to them until cast 3 and 7 though. Most others would be 1 & 2. You'll still catch the same fish in both spots but I'll catch 3 more in the process.

Hope this helps. Fun question to answer however subjective it may be.


Sorry for the photocopied pic...I dont know how to photshop well.
 
#24 ·
Your 1 thru 10 cast spray is laughable to me. Laughable because I know full well that 7 or 8 out of 10 of those casts, would find my hools buried in Mt. Laurel or treebark.
It sould be fun just to watch a few of you guys cast upstream in these itty-bitty streams.
 
#26 ·
Wow. Thanks for an outstanding and detailed reply. You even read my mind and got out the photoshop markers to display the spots. I'm also right with you Fleroo. I even thought of adding a humorous but not so untrue scenario to my original question of just how many of my planned casts would snare the tip of a twig or land and hook the last 1/1000 of an inch of bark on the submerged log. Unfortunately, that result ends up crashing any further chances of action in a prime spot just as often if not more than catching that monster that ends the run.
I learned a lot from your reply. I would still love to get Frank's input too. I know when he posts his guides here, he talks about making long casts a lot. Obviously the big brown obstacle across a hole like this changes things, but it sounds like you might have a shorter cast tactic in general that might differ a little.
Just another one of the aspects of trout fishing that make so many of us love it so much. Reading the water, figuring out a tactical plan, dealing with the obstacles and challenges of the cast and equipment, all done in the scenery of our favorite places. And HPA give us access to free advice from the experts.
 
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