https://youtu.be/9Ww-TQUeA3E
Nothing much to see here. Headed up hill to the usual trash dump brookie stream despite the less than ideal conditions. I hadn't fished the upper section in a few years, and hoped to get lucky, and stick another 11 incher.
Trillium is not quite there, but the bloodroot was peaking.
(https://i.imgur.com/gDTbRMt.jpg)
The catching was a little slow, and the size of fish seemed to be off a bit. I must confess a couple nice pools, including the lunker hole did yield anything. The fish are there, they obviously weren't playin ball. 12 inch icicles were hanging off the rocks in some of the shady areas. I don't think the cold helped the cause.
This was the first time fishing the upper gorge with naked trees. I felt naked as well. Had I known I'd be this exposed, I wouldn't have fished here. Thoughts of cars flying over the guardrail started to seep in.
(https://i.imgur.com/43E0CRs.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/J1jHZXS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Maf2NGU.jpg)
The largest fish was a disappointing 9 inches. That being said, some of these little fuckers are friggin obese. Perhaps this is due to the sewage being pumped in at the top of the gorge.
(https://i.imgur.com/4HqINBS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZPrlMgh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KmiU2lh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ukjHGQI.jpg)
Called it quits after an hour and a half. Had about a dozen come to hand. Off to stream #2.
Occasionally, I have a hankering to hit some culvers, bridge aprons and whatnot, with the intention to pluck up some slab brookies. There is a watershed just up the hill that supposedly is mainly a brook trout watershed, with only triploid browns being supplied for the put and take stuff several miles downstream. I was hoping maybe to catch a bridge beast brookie.
I pulled up into a large parking area, and after looking around a bit, I found a way down to the stream. Briar canes were impressive. Trash and oil cans were everywhere. Just as I hoped, I found a nice place to fish below an interstate off ramp.
(https://i.imgur.com/vD8dZWg.jpg)
I've dabbled in this watershed for a few minutes on two different occasions during the Winter. There simply isn't any concrete info on this watershed, except I do believe Appbrookie caught a 13 incher nearby. I made about 10 drifts, started to get a little pissed, but then I saw a flash. A couple more drifts, and proof of life! Well damn, look what we have here! This whole watershed is good brown habitat, but I frankly did not think they were here due to the VWDR data.
(https://i.imgur.com/21wnHwV.jpg)
I went down to the main interstate bridge hoping for another pool, but there was a nothing burger there.
The pic below was taken under I-77. Lotta wildlife use this dry area to cross the rd. It was much darker than the pic suggests. Glad I didn't stumble across any sleeping coyotes, and some other weird shit.
Stream also had some good stand alone runs. I bet with all the artificial light in the area, the browns feed mainly at night. Sun was blisteringly bright. That all being said, it is obvious this place is a no go once the leaves are out!
(https://i.imgur.com/WoNgv2H.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7jh4Kjs.jpg)