2016 Brood V Cicadas!!!

I will admit, I am a bona fide cicada junky.  2008, Brood XIV, emergence in central PA did that to me.  It started at the tail end of the drake hatch on Penns Creek and after chasing wild trout into the middle of the night on coffin fly spinner falls.  I was nymphing a run the next day and watched a guy nailing big trout on what looked like a huge dry fly.   When I passed him he said fish were starting to take the cicadas, though only the first ones had began emerging.  He was an old timer and said it would only get better.  He was right.  

I scurried back to my tent and mobile tying station and whipped together the ugliest looking foam mutation onto a size 5 Alec Jackson Spey hook (which was the largest hook I had on me).  Guess what?  I spent the next two days catching some of the largest and smartest wild trout in the stream...in the middle of the day.  

the old man was right, it only got better and after spending a month of pure fly fishing joy, I was forever changed

I've been waiting for Brood V since 2008 and hoping that it would hit Western PA.  You can imagine my delight when I started seeing the tell tale 1/4" holes drilled out of the ground, ready for the big emergence!  

Return to Penns Creek

For many years, a camping retreat to Penns was an annual event for the family.  As I got into fly fishing, I would go every year and try to hit the Green Drake hatch.  I went with my girlfriend, who eventually became my wife, along with our first born (our Lab Cooper :)  I got my Dad into fly fishing late in his journey and we took many trips to Penns, even when he was battling through the end stages of cancer.  The periodic cicada hatch of 2008 (Brood XIV) on Penns Creek will go down in history for me as one of the best outdoor events of my life with my wife, Father, and many friends. 

Penns Creek is a special place and I hold it close to my heart.  It’s crazy then its been a couple years since I have been out here, but with a few munchkins all in diapers, it is explainable.  I was glad to make this trip happen again and spend a night out here.  Penns is 3.5 hours from me, so its not really a day trip and anyone that knows me, knows I don’t like to be rushed.  

There were a few noticeable differences with the new trestle and tunnel renovations.  The improvements are nice to see, but I liked it the old way.  I liked the raw, wet, cool dark feel of the old tunnel, the dripping water and knowing there were probably thousands of bats above, watching me.  Of course there was the chance of a rock tumbling from the cavernous ceiling, but I figured if that happened, I probably deserved it for some reason of another.  Every time I walked through the heart of that stone mountain I felt I was leaving all worries behind and renewing my soul.  I didn't quite get the same feeling walking through the new steel tunnel, but I am sure I am in the minority camp on this one.  

The one thing that didn't change was the wild brown trout were still the prettiest fish in the state.  Something special about these trout.  They never disappoint.

Virginia Fly Fishing Report

Our family spent the long extended Easter weekend in Hot Springs, Virginia. And with a few extra sets of hands, I was able to do more fishing in four days than I did most of last summer. With the windows down in the mini van, music rocking and a mini-cooler of iced down beer, these Virginia trout were in trouble.

Lower Jackson River below Lake Moomaw - Tailwater

I've fished this tailwater more than a few times now and every time I wade out, I think "I should be in my drift boat".  Not that I am not happy to just be fishing,...but its a big, strong river more easily covered with a boat.  More importantly, there isn't many places to actually even fish this river with the Posted waters and that 'King's Grant / Crown Grant' access law which basically says the landowner owns the bottom of the river.  I've seen some landowners go as far as getting custom designed POSTED signs to state 'no wading or anchoring on their stream bed.  It's so ridiculous, I get angry typing about it.  The wild rainbows are plentiful and tailwater strong and the big browns are just plain elusive (as usual).  I saw a few blue quills emerging in the afternoon, but nothing working the surface.  All I can say is, I cant wait to bring my boat.

Upper Jackson River above Lake MooMaw - freestone

I've fished the Upper Jackson before in the special regulations areas and have done OK.  This time I explore the open waters in Hidden Valley and surrounded by the bait / hardware crowd.  It was a pretty section of stream, but  I dint see one fish caught (including myself) and I was convinced it was 'fished out'.  At least, that is what I will tell myself.   

Back Creek

Back Creek is tailwater absolutely loaded with 13-16" rainbows.  Before getting too excited, this is a man made stream and the rainbows were stocked.  Whereas the Lower Jackson was a tailwater, all the fish - both rainbows and browns - are wild.  These Back Creek trout were squishy pellet heads and an 8" wild Jackson trout would pull it around the stream. The one thing it had going for it was it was relatively remote and had plenty of casting room.  So, if I want to take the kids one day and get them on fish, I may return.

Wild rainbow stream

On Easter Sunday, I went hiking with Hunter in the backpack, my 3 wt and a parachute Adams.  We found a little stream full of wild rainbows.  if you can stream bust me from the pictures, more power to you.  We caught a handful of 5-9" wild rainbows and Hunter just squealed with joy each fish we caught that he wanted to touch (including the minnows).  It was such as nice afternoon Easter hike.

Christmas Eve duck hunt

A group of friends went out on Christmas Eve on a perfect setup for an absolutely awesome morning.  All the credit goes to one buddy who did all the scouting and knew there was one shot at this setup, so he called the crew.  Ironically, he also has a red lab, so I didn't need to bring Cooper.  One of the guys happened to be a lights out duck caller too.  I just needed to show up with my thermos of coffee and shoot.  The ease and simplicity felt foreign and almost uncomfortable.

As promised, the ducks began dropping in right after first light.  We had some decoys out and sets of 5-15 ducks dropped in during the first 1.5 hours.  We saw black ducks and mallards and with 5 guys on the hunt, not many got away.  

The Duck Roost

I was extremely fortunate to get access at a great lake / swamp area that was a great waterfowl spot.  I set up in a swamp I have yet to hunt and was surprised there was even open water in the shallow flats.  As I set my decoys in the pitch dark, I could hear ducks ALL around me. A few nervous ducks couldn't take it anymore and decided to get the heck out.  This set off a slight chain reaction and I ended up listening to what sounds like a thousand ducks take off around me in the dark. It was nuts.  The rest of the morning, I watched ducks take off all around the swamp, but none were interested in circling back into my spread...go figure.  And I opted not to sky bust the few that flew high over me.  Needless to say I was in a roost, and I know not to shoot these up.  I plan to return for a mid-morning or early afternoon hunt where I don't spook the entire flock that is working this roost.

PA Pheasant Honey Hole...Part II

Well, I jinxed it. As soon as I wrote about the honey hole, the birds disappeared.  Or it could have something to do with the fact its December and most holdover birds were coyote appetizers.

But the story of this trip wasn't the pheasants, it was these fresh rubs.  Reminder, this is SW PA, not Ohio.  Yikes.

PA Pheasant Honey Hole

Honey holes are typically reserved to fishing spots that are known for their abundance to produce AND must be, to some magnitude, under the radar.  Of course in the hunting realm, there are hot spots and money spots that will, year after year, produce dominant gobblers and mature bucks.  But, for whatever reason, I just don't call those honey holes.  

Pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania is what it is.  The birds are not wild and its clearly not South Dakota.  But, my dog doesn't know and I like to hunt with my dog.  Plus the commute is a little closer than Aberdeen, SD.  The problem with PA pheasant hunting though is that there are typically droves of hunters around where the birds are stocked.  I loathe crowds, especially ones with guns, so I usually hike far away sacrificing # of birds for less # of hunters.  

I followed my same logic this season and hiked away from the orange army, but randomly came upon a semi-remote area that had tons of ringnecks. I'm not sure how so many bird ended up here, but I never saw another hunter all season long.  On a couple hunts, I was intentionally passing on flushed birds, because I wanted to run the dog a bit longer before limiting out.  A sort of catch and release hunt.  

Each season is different, but for now, I officially have found a nice little honey hole.

Our little pumpkin patch ...

We wanted to grow some pumpkins for the kids this year, so we planted a couple plants on the perimeter of the property.  We had 3 pumpkins grow and each day the kids went and checked on their pumpkins.   Ironically, the farm directly across the road planted about 40 acres of pumpkins, so there was no shortage of pumpkins or seeds, but glad we plant our own little patch.

Puffballs Mushrooms

I was making my way to my treestand this evening and found a half dozen giant puffballs all around my tree.  I climbed my tree and sat out the last couple hours of light.  The deer were on their feet and I watched a couple small bucks chasing does all over the hill side.  Fun action, but no big boys yet. On my way out I grabbed one of the medium sized puffballs (yes, some were bigger).

I knew puffballs were edible, but I mean, just look at it.  Does it look edible?  It took a bunch more research to convince myself to actually eat one. The key when eating a puffball is it HAS TO BE PURE WHITE.  If it starts to turn yellow at all (entering the stage when it turns into that big dead "puffball" we have all intentionally stepped on in the woods) then it is past its prime and not edible.   This one was pure white and in perfect condition, so I cut it into about 3/4" steaks and pan fried it in butter until golden brown on both sides.  

The results???  Delicious!!  It was like a little piece of fried dough.  It was mild in flavor and just a fun little snack.  I bet puffballs would actually be pretty good with a little maple syrup on them for breakfast too and be a nice paleo replacement for pancakes.

Early duck season

It's been a few years now since the glory days of this wood duck hole.  It used to pile them in at first light and usually resulted in a limit within the first 45 minutes.  The past few years have been disappointing though and the woodies seem to be elsewhere.  I don't have time to scout this spot in advance, so its literally boom or bust.  

To be fair, I always see a 'few' ducks.  This time was no different as the first set of 3 ducks buzzed my ass and I sat there dumbfounded at their speed and ability to surprise.  This shouldn't surprise me as they do this to me every year.  I never get a shot off on the first set of ducks.  Its almost as if my coffee is still working its way into my veins.  But in years past, I usually get opportunities to redeem myself and actually get ready.  

This year, I said it wouldn't happen again and sure enough they came in from behind me and scared the hell out of me.  I was ready for the next set of ducks, but they never came.  

September bowhunting

I've never been one for early season bowhunting, especially as early as it comes in now in September.  For me, it just doesn't feel right until, there is a chill in the air.  Truth be told, I fully believe bowhunting should be a test of endurance and misery for that one opportunity.  It's twisted logic, I know.  

So with a chaotic house of toddlers and busy demands of a job, an hour sitting over the pumpkin patch in 78 degree weather is more meditative than hunting.  Expectations of actually getting anything are extremely low, which is why I spent a good 15 minutes playing around with picture settings on my phone taking various pictures of my bow hanging over the field.  

Then I became pretty mindful to the fact I am always on my phone all day long, so I put it away for the last 45 minutes of the evening and just enjoyed my surroundings and watch the sunset.  I saw a couple doe right at dusk, but then again I hate having to dress and skin a deer in hot weather.  

Tomato picking

It's tomato picking time with the kids!  In my opinion, there isn't anything more fun and satisfying than watching them enjoy picking some fresh garden veggies.  This isn't always the most productive harvest, but it sure is a whole lot of fun!

SW Virginia Shrooming

I took Hunter on a like fall forage around the mountains of Hot Springs, VA, primarily so he'd finally take a nap, but also so I could do a little mushroom hunting.  We had a great hike and he was drooling out of the baby bjorn in no time flat.  

We found some older mushrooms, but still fun to find nonetheless.  We found some Chicken of the Woods, Maitake, (Hen of the Woods, and my first ever Cauliflower mushroom.  I've never found one of these and had to do some research to even find out what it was.  Unfortunately, it was a bit old and I opted not to eat it.  

Note: I intentionally picked some Jack O Lantern mushrooms so I could take them back to the house and examine them further.  I found them on the tree with the maitake and I circled them red in the last picture.  Don't eat those.  You might die.    

*As always, I am not a mushroom expert, so please do not use this blog as a source of knowledge.  Do not consume wild mushrooms unless you are 100% sure of their identification.

Wild Virginia Rainbows

Spence and I took the afternoon to spend together the best way we know how - which is hiking up through a mountain stream fishing dry flies to wild rainbows.  There is not many other places I know of with wild rainbows, so this stream is very special.  In addition, it has one of the coolest, most picturesque streams I've fished.  

I knew the trip was going to be special when we walked to the first big plunge pool and scared a bear from taking an afternoon drink right out of the place I wanted to fish!   

Wild rainbow fishing (think brookies) is exactly what you want when you dont fish as much as you want.  The fish were not selective and happily ate a decently presented dry fly.  No match the hatch, techinical Euro nymphing, micro drag, etc, etc.  Just happy hungry trout in a beautiful setting.  Stealth and an accurate cast was all you needed.  We only took one little 3 wt and I found it more fun watching Spence fish then I did myself.  Plus its loads of fun busting on each other after missing a fish, which happens often when the little 4" fish tried eating a bug that is bigger then his mouth.  

Later the at evening, my father-in-law and I took Jack back to the bottom of this creek that held some stocked trout. I had a more difficult time catching a trout that clearly had no idea what I was trying to pass off as food, but alas I triumphed.  And a happy 3 year old was the winner!

Wild Virginia Wineberries

We took the family down to Hot Springs, Virginia and I was able to spend a precious few hours casting into the Jackson River.  

As I was walking the banks, I came across this magnificent berry bush covered in glowing red berries.  Raspberries, I thought!  But as I got a little closer, I knew these were not raspberries.  I picked them anyway, but waited on stuffing my face.  When i got back to the cottage, I did a little research and quickly identified them as Japanese Wineberries, They are considered an invasive species, but man are they delicious.  They are related to the raspberry, but have a distinctive sweet / tart flavor.  I honestly have never heard of them around Pennsylvania, but I will definitely be looking out for then in Virginia.

Early season harvest with kids

We grew a garden and the kids helped pick the first harvest of the season.  We had beets, carrots, and lots of snap peas!  The twins loved pulling a surprise out of the ground and the boys ate enough peas to get a stomach ache.  We had a great time harvesting what they helped to plant.

Happy Anniversary Float

For our 8th anniversary, I asked my wife what she wanted to do for the special day.   And without hesitation, she said "I want to float the river"...

...And I fell in love all over again...

With two year old twins and a one year old, we have floated the river together once in the past 3 years.  So with Grandma babysitting, we felt like we were back out in Montana again.

It was an odd morning, with a mysterious layer off dense fog that hovered about 10 feet above the river.  This created pretty challenging conditions as lines were impossible to run in the rapids and big rocks had a tendency to sneak up real fast.  We did pretty well on one specific fly that the fish couldn't resist.  

We took our time and had a really nice stream side lunch as the fog lifted and the day was really starting to shape up...until the skies started to darken.   This particular valley is notorious for summer storms to sweep in out of nowhere and I have paddled through a bad storm before.  It really sucked.  Trying to avoid this, I picked up the pace, but it was of no use.  With still another 1-2  miles left the first thunderclap roared over our heads.  After a few more, I made my way to the bank to wait it out.  The problem with waiting it out was daylight was quickly falling and the only thing worse then paddling the last rapid sets in a lightning storm, was paddling the last set of rapids, in a lightning storm, in the dark.  So as the last two fishing guides drifted by on the river, I figured we had to go for it.  Being last guy out is not always fun.  

My wife, God bless her, was a great sport.  I think I definitely was more nervous than her as the lighting lit up all around us floating liking ducklings down the river.  And just when I thought it couldn't get much worse, that damn fog settled in again for the last 3/4 mile. I didn't even think fog could exist in the rain, during a storm, but I'll be damned  if it didn't just pile onto the current situation.   Stupid.  Needles to say, things weren't going well.  

As we paddled the last 500 yards into the take out, the rain conveniently stopped and the storm began to lift.  It felt like a mockery.  But somehow once we made it to shore, it was an easy thing to almost laugh off.  With no rain jackets, we were completely soaked to the bone and the boat had about 4" of water in the bottom.  Spencer just shook her head  and laughed.  I've seen that exact same expression a few times before..and it probably wont be the last.

So Happy Anniversary, sweetie.  I'm just glad this wasn't "my" idea.  

Morel mushroom hunting with the twins

We took the kids on an afternoon hike to look for some morels.  We went to a place we'd never found any before, but it was close and needed some fresh air.  We were delighted to find some morels and let the twins pick their own (last year, they were in baby bjorns).  They were certainly interested and loved how excited we were!  

Chasing the Grannom hatch ...

Years ago I walked blindly into one of the best hatches I've ever encountered with the Grannom Caddis.  It was so good I drove the 3 hours the next day again with my wife so she could see it first hand.

Since that year, I've been chasing this hatch and trying to recreate the insanity that happens on a few mid-April mornings.  The challenge is that the hatch is really short-lived and a 3-5 day cycle.  Being 3 hours away + work + Easter + weather + blah + blah = a bunch of recent swing and misses on hitting this hatch.  But not this year,...I was convinced the timing was PERFECT.

I met my good friend for a two day mini-trip to a central PA limestone stream.  We fished the mornings and camped and drank beer in the evening.  A pretty good plan for sure.  I'll skip to the punchline...we never hit the Grannoms.  I saw a few emerge and I thought it was going to be on like Donkey Kong, but it just never happened.  It was a cloudy day and what did happen (once I abandoned nymphing the high water) was one of my best streamer days.  The wild browns were absolutely pounding the streamer and it was so much fun.  

The next day was a blue bird day and after I acknowledged this bug was a no show again, I switched back to my same exact streamer set up.  Conventional wisdom says streamer fishing isn't nearly as hot on a sunny day and conventional wisdom was right again.  I didn't even get one chase.  I reluctantly went back to dredging the bottom with some HEAVY nymphs and managed a couple to salvage my pride.  

Virginia Brookie Fishing

Spent the afternoon tossing dry flies to eager little brookies in Virginia while visiting the family.  I saw Blue Quills and a few Quill Gordons.  Happiness is spring time mayflies and a hike with my good loyal dog, Cooper.