Where does the time go? Even though it's right in my own back yard, it's been 16 long years since I last fished the Lehigh Valley's
Monocacy Creek in Bethlehem, Pa. Why? I dunno, just a wanderlust for other fly water I guess. I actually have some very fond memories of fishing some pretty respectable trico spinner falls there on those sultry, humid mid-summer mornings with not another fisherperson in sight, while the rest of my angling brethren crowded the parking lots and banks of the other valley limestoners like the Little Lehigh and Bushkill Creeks shortly after daybreak. So lately I figured it was time for a return to one of my old haunts to have a look and see how things may have changed, for better or worse.
Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday and there would be no trico fishing this morning. The day broke sunny and clear with air temps rising from 36F in the morning to a comfortable 48F by mid-afternoon. The water temperature was 46F at 1400 hrs and there was a pretty decent flow of limestone water thanks to generous autumnal rains over the eastern third of the state. The fall baetis hatches seem to have run their course for the season and there was no longer any sign of active spawning activity, at least not on this section of the stream. This is
Class A wild brown trout water and managed as Trophy Trout Water by the
PFBC.
The first fly I chose to start off fishing this late November morning was a heavily weighted, size #16 orange shrimp pattern, although perhaps not so heavily weighted as I was after consuming two helpings of Thanksgiving dinner, plus two slices of pecan pie the previous day. The plan was to
dynamically nymph the pocketwater sections and hopscotch past the pools. I knew the pools that were once alive with wild browns rising to trico spinners, baetis & sulpher duns would seem virtually lifeless on this late November day.
Once again I rode that orange shrimp pattern all day except for one short period when I tried a small size#18 beadhead hare's ear nymph to no avail. I figured the fishing today would be slower than a highly ranked SEC gridiron defense but it turned out to be slower than molasses. Yep, it was even slower than a Big 12 defense! I only landed two small wild browns that were each less than a foot long out of the riffles of Monocacy Creek. Both on that orange shrimp pattern.
On a side note, today was another somewhat rare opportunity for me to break out my old 7' 9" Orvis Superfine, Far & Fine model fly rod. It's the perfect rod in my arsenal for small stream trout fishing and since I've been fishing bamboo rods almost exclusively over the past few years, the Far & Fine has been spending way too much time in my closet at home.
Monocacy Creek is born from two small branches (East & West Branch) at about 900 ft. of elevation around the town of Bath. There is some Class A water up there but it is very small water and 100 percent posted. That's ok, the best water is really further downstream in the town of Bethlehem where it is fed by numerous limestone springs. Bethlehem is just down the road from Nazareth. Despite running through the middle of town there is a very nice riparian buffer along the stream including two conservation areas, two county parks, an inactive railroad grade that provides easy access and more than a few historical sites. Of course, there's also a thriving wild brown trout population.
While hatches of aquatic insects here aren't the greatest, the ones that it does have come off in large numbers. On this particular day there was a respectable hatch of midges in mid to late afternoon and a few very nice fish were midging the slow water pools. Not having any midges with me in my Richardson's fly box it was all I could do to pass them by. That might be a blessing in disguise since those hatching midges were on the order of a size #26 and I wouldn't be able to see my fly on the water anyway. These days I have to really concentrate just to see a #8 Green Drake dun on the water at dusk.
Time marches on. There have been a few changes to the stream course since my last visit more than a decade ago. My favorite trico pool is gone, replaced by a protracted S-turn. Another old fieldstone retaining wall where I once hooked and landed a 15" wild brown on a trico spinner has crumbled into the stream over time. But all in all the habitat seems to be just as good as it ever was, perhaps a little bit better even. This was never big fish habitat to begin with, but the population density was always there. Some years it had 4-5 X the PFBC's biomass criteria for a Class A rating. And that's pretty darn good for a very small limstoner in a suburban setting.
It's always nice to rediscover a stream that you once knew well, all over again, after a long hiatus. Suffice to say I won't make the mistake of waiting another 16 years before I return to test the wild browns of Monocacy Creek. I'm already looking forward to next summer's trico hatch. At least the weather will be a lot warmer then.
PFBC 2008 Field Survey Results
Big Salmon Lake
South Fork Flathead River
Same shot as above, just a different perspective and slightly different exposure. Other than that it's the same shot.
The Skelly Farm is only 10 minutes from John's front door at home but to reach this beat he endured a 5 hour plane flight, 55 miles of dusty washboard roads around Hungry Horse Reservoir and a bone jarring 20 mile ride on horseback. He said he was hungry as a horse when he finally got into camp at Salmon Forks.
Big Salmon Creek
Big Salmon Creek
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Monocacy Creek
Monocacy Barn
Penn State 49 - Michigan State 18
