Stream Reports

While last week's rain caused some of our streams and rivers to be unfishable due to high, dirty water conditions, the silver lining is we are currently set up with the extra water we wanted for the end of May and month of June. By the end of last week and over the weekend high, off-color water conditions led to productive days of fishing subsurface with nymphs and streamers. All things considered, it was a good week of fishing. The wet weather provided precipitation that we wanted for the rest of the major spring hatches and 17 year brood cicada emergence for the month of June.

The current 10 day forecast is calling for a cooler period of temperatures with the middle of this week staying in the mid 50's and climbing back up into the low to mid 60's for the start of next week. Overnight low temperatures are also forecast to be cooler, reaching down into the mid 40's. This week looks to have a lot of cloud cover with a batch of rain coming Wednesday into Thursday.  The cloudy conditions are usually favorable for larger bugs that typically hatch this time of year such as Sulphurs and Green Drakes.

Water conditions are currently above normal for this time of year. The clarity has continued to green up and clear as our creeks and rivers are dropping into shape. With additional rain in the forecast for the middle of this week Wednesday through Friday, we expect water conditions for this week to be similar to last week offering more high, off-color water that will offer productive subsurface fishing in the short term and continue to benefit us long term for the upcoming weeks.

For the end of May it is great to have an outlook of higher water conditions for fishing on all of our watersheds including Spruce, Penns, Yellow, and the Little J. Late spring fishing in our area is often best when we have extra water, and this year is shaping up to be one of the better seasons of late spring water conditions that we've had in a few years.

The most productive fishing over the last week has been with a variety of weighted attractor style nymphs and streamers rigged deeper in the water column, but since the start of this week dry flies have been back in the equation as well. We have been seeing Sulphurs hatch over the last couple of weeks leading to fish being caught on both nymph patterns and dry flies that imitate what we consider a major hatch of our spring season. Over the weekend we also saw another one of our major hatches show up in pretty good numbers, and it did not take anglers or the fish very long to take notice that Green Drakes are now on the menu as well. In addition to Sulphurs and Green Drakes, there are a mixture of other bugs around most days such as Caddis, Craneflies, March Browns, and smaller Stoneflies. 

All of our typical end of May bug activity is reason enough to be excited, however the biggest news of last week is we have started to see the first of our periodical cicadas emerge around the club. It will take some time for stronger numbers to develop and progress through their life cycle to become more widely available as a food source for the fish, but this serves as a strong reminder to the very unique fishing experience we have on deck that only happens every 17 years in the Spruce Creek Valley. 

It will certainly be a very memorable end of May and month of June, we are looking forward to sharing those experiences with you all on the water!