Shame on Mudwall

[Big J]

Doug and I were planning on floating for musky on the James, but 2" of rain Friday thru Saturday am blew those plans.  Mudwall told me about this stream that he was curious about over by him that I told Doug we should hit.  Tried calling Mudwall the day before but his wife informed me he had Christmas tree cutting plans.  Doug and I drove by his house early in the morning and figured fishing this early was out of the question for him these days.  He wouldn't want an alarm to fish disturbing a possibility of a Katy Perry dream.

Doug and I fished two streams, 5 minutes from his house and his childhood home that Mudwall has never fished.  That retired peckerhead could literally walk to these streams! PS good luck finding them because one is not even listed on the map as having water in it!  He wanted me to qualify these statements with he has hunted these lands so I guess he gets somewhat of a pass.

The day prior I was smoking two pork butts.  Started them at 8 am.  8 lb butts.  Took 19 HOURS to smoke to 195 IT.  Had to wake up at 3:30 am to pull the butts off the smoker, shredded at 4:00 am, hit the bed again, and then up at 6:00 am to go fishing.  I was dragging.






Sourdough Bagel, egg and cheese for the road.

Stream 1


Short but steep hike in.


Obligatory first fish photo.


Snakey spawned out fish


















Big Burl


Steep hike out.


But good views.


Lots of red tails were seen and one juvenile bald eagle on the drive in.

Stream 1 produced the goods.  Lots of solid fish, 6-8 fish pools weren't uncommon.  Bite was light, but caught fish in almost every pool and run.  Amazed by the size of this stream and the health and amount of fish it holds.  Unfortunately there isn't much water till it stops holding fish.  It is a half day stream for sure.  Fished from 9 to noon and on to the next stream.

Stream 2 is smaller still but holds lots of fish.  One thing to note is the fish are a lot more colorful than stream 1.  Every pool held multiple fish and they were literally fighting each other for the fly.  Overall fish size was smaller though in the 4-6" range.












Came home and got to enjoy some of that 4 am bbq.

[Woolly Bugger]

bringing the goods to the table!

[Dougfish]

We started out right at freezing. The downhill was semi-treacherous.



That meant the climb out was going to be tough. 



The stream geology was not impressive. A lot of flat rock, shale.
But the fish were there. Lots of fern, hepatica, rattlesnake plantain and lots of young hemlock.







We got past where a trib came in and fishing slowed a bit.
A hundred yards later, the action turned off. No big barrier, no good reason.
Evidence of global warming? Hepatica in bloom on Dec. 6?





On to number 2.
We had fished it for a bit last January. Produced.
We went a bit further and it really produced. Tiny stream.
J remarked that this is a stream that should not produce like this.
True. But better geology. A ton of downed trees. A ton.
And a shorter slide down the hill for this one, too.
No rhodo, but Leatherwood!













Right before we turned to hike out, J picked up the fish of the stream from a bathtub sized hole.











And we were gone. Lots of specs to hand. many more flopped of at our feet.
Passed Muddy and the Missus on the road headed home.
I doubt he recognized my new truck with actual fishermen inside. 

[greg]

Damn those are some pretty fish.

[Aka]

Nice work for some good looking brookies.

Big J, "Took 19 HOURS to smoke to 195 IT." Bruh, do you Texas crutch your butts?

[Mudwall Gatewood 3.0]

Yes, while my local resources were being pillaged and ransacked by a couple of flatlanders, I was with the grandboy searching for the perfect Holiday tree.  And yes, I have hunted those watersheds a lot; in fact, one of my best deer areas is in the very start of one of the streams.

And FYI, Katy Perry and Dorothy Stuart Hamill are no longer the concubines of my dreams.  I have gotten my freak on.  So, Halsey is the latest to stir my slumbering desires.

I am glad you both got to enjoy a couple of nuggets along the Allegheny front.  Good job.

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[Big J]

Nice work for some good looking brookies.

Big J, "Took 19 HOURS to smoke to 195 IT." Bruh, do you Texas crutch your butts?

Yup.  Texas Crutch it with Butcher Paper.  Doesn't shorten the cook time as much as tin foil but keeps the bark better and shortens cooked time compared to not wrapping.  I'm at a loss to why these butts stalled so long at 160 and then again at 180.  Ran the smoker at 250 degrees most of the smoke.

[itieuglyflies]

Great reports but the food part left me hungry.

[ryguy]

Nice BBQ.  Digging the Pfleuger reel, what rod is it paired with?

[Dougfish]

Nice BBQ.  Digging the Pfleuger reel, what rod is it paired with?

Thanks.
Vintage 1492. Early 1950's. Poor man's CFO.
On a Echo Glass 6'9" 3 wt.

[Phil]

Good stuff there. Nice colored brook trouts. 

[Woolly Bugger]

Nice BBQ.  Digging the Pfleuger reel, what rod is it paired with?

Thanks.
Vintage 1492. Early 1950's. Poor man's CFO.
On a Echo Glass 6'9" 3 wt.

 Not even close to a CFO, jis sayin

[Dougfish]

Not even close to a CFO, jis sayin

I own both, jus saying.
Like I said, a poor man's CFO.
Double click pawls. Buttery sound.
The right hand wind influences severe prejudice. 

Two 1492's and two 1492 1/2's are to the left.

[rbphoto]

Not even close to a CFO, jis sayin

I own both, jus saying.
Like I said, a poor man's CFO.
Double click pawls. Buttery sound.
The right hand wind influences severe prejudice. 

Two 1492's and two 1492 1/2's are to the left.

This picture cracks me up.

How many do you have?

At least I know you will part with (at least one of) them, for the right person/price.

Raymond

[Dougfish]

This picture cracks me up.

How many do you have?

At least I know you will part with (at least one of) them, for the right person/price.

Raymond

Medalists?
6 lined up and part of the regular reel rotation.
16 more in reserve/available.

I'm not counting the other reels.