I watched the weather all week. At first it looked like Friday was going to be the day, then Saturday, but it wound up being Sunday because of the snow and rain. Friday and Saturday were rotten. Friday, Campus was closed because of the snow, and Saturday it rained in the evening. Sunday looked to be the only day I could make the trip. The weather on Sunday called for rain in Ohio and rain in Central Pennsylvania, I could deal with a little rain. The stream gauge shot up on Spring Creek on Friday, and dropped a little on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, I had no idea if the trip was going to come off or not. I was not going to drive seven hours round trip for a blown out stream.
At 5:30am, as the coffee was brewing, I checked the stream gauge, weather, and road conditions. Everything was dry, the stream had dropped to fishable levels and the forecast for State College was warm and sunny. I was on the road by 6:00am and putting on my waders by 9:30. I fished until dark and enjoyed a gift of a beautiful warm sunny day in late February. The water was a little high and off color. There were hoards of other anglers on the stream. It seemed no matter where I fished, I was fishing behind two or three other guys. The fishing was tough.
I fished small naturals, I fished big bright attractors and I fished a big black streamer. Nothing was getting it done. The few fish I did catch were on small flashy nymphs with a lot of movement or on naturals in shallow water near the bank where the water was pretty clear. I caught five or six trout. Half were a good size and the rest were twelve inches or less.
The fishing was not outstanding, but it was an amazing day. It was such a beautiful day to be out on a trout stream. It was warm and sunny, I was out of the law library, in the fresh air, and I caught some fish too. Any day on a trout stream instead of being in the law library is a great day in my book; the trout were a bonus!
I had to work for them, but fish were landed. Here are a few.
The very crowded parking lot. I created the only empty spot when I left.
