West Branch experiment

 I decided that it was such a nice afternoon that I would head over to the west branch of the Perkiomen. I had picked up a 5’6” Ugly Stick on clearance for $22 a while back at Walmart and a Shimano Sienna size 500 spinning reel from Dick’s for $7.50. They match up nicely with each other and I figured I would give them a try. I caught a couple of small Brown trout with no problem but when I hooked into a decent sized one I had a heck of a time getting it in and the current didn’t help. I went to net it and it came off. I usually use a much longer rod with a stiffer action. I’ll give the smaller setup another try and see what happens. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

Bechtelsville again

 So I had today off and I decided to go over to Swamp Creek in Bechtelsville and get a couple of casts in. Every time I go there the first thing that I do is cast above the dam. I seem to always catch a large minnow or creek chub. Today I made my first cast and caught an 8” brown trout. I then made my way downstream but didn’t see anything. Once I got next to the post office I cast straight across and found this nice 14” brook trout. I caught a skinnier version of this last October 5th in the same spot. I know they aren’t the same fish because I let the last one go above the 2nd dam.

Mixed bag

 So I took a few minutes and went over to my usual spot on the West Branch of the Perkiomen. This was my first trip there this season. First I tried on the south side of the route 100 bridge. I caught a small brown but not much else. I went back across route 100 and started heading north. I cast upstream and caught a ten inch brook trout then on my second cast I caught a ten inch brown. My third cast got me a smaller brown and then the next cast I hooked a larger brook trout but I had left my net in the car and he came off when I tried grabbing him. As soon as I fully recover from my recent surgery, I plan to go back with my waders on.

Back at it!!!

 Well last Thursday (April 4th ) I had two hernias repaired. Needless to say on the first day of trout season ( April 6th ) I was in no condition to go fishing. Today however I felt good enough to give it a try. My big sis drove me over to Swamp creek by the Bechtelsville post office and I managed to catch two small browns. We then went up to the West Branch of the Perkiomen at Huffs Church. I didn’t see anything at the bridge. Then we went back down to Camp Mensch Mill road. I couldn’t climb over the guard rail but I did make a few casts and actually hooked a nice brown. There was no way to get him in since I was about fifteen feet from the creek but I tried. Of course he fell back into the creek. Considering my limited movement it wasn’t a bad day.