A PA. Triple and a DH
6/05/22
Having fished the Clarion River the past week or so I got a good inkling the difference between when a smallmouth takes a popper or a trout does. Maybe not always but I would say most of the time now.
It was the last day before going home on Monday. I went out one more time in the late afternoon in the river for fish. I took my 6 weight rod but made sure I had some dry flies for trout.
I walked up the road before walking down to the river and waded in. I was casting a frog popper for smallies across river as far as I could cast as it was too deep to wade any further. I made a cast near the far side boulders across the water when a fish tried to grab the popper. By the looks of the miss I had a feeling it was a trout. I brought my line in and decided to offer the fish a dry fly.
Earlier in the past week there was a half decent hatch of Sulfurs but I haven’t seen any since. While float fishing the last couple days I had seen big drakes that I believe were Brown Drakes which I know hatch along the Clarion. I looked through my fly box and picked out a long #10 Brown Drake. I had 8lb fluorocarbon as a tippet but for the heck of it I knotted the pattern on to it. While I was knotting the drake pattern on a couple of other fish rose down river some. I rosined up the Drake with dry fly dope and made a few false casts before getting enough line out to reach the fish that tried for my frog popper. My first cast to the boulders was just where I wanted it. I watched my Brown Drake drifting and bobbing on the subtle waves against the boulders. The fish grabbed it with a splash like it hadn’t eaten in days. I reared back the rod and the long length of line straight lined to the fish as my 6 weight rod bowed. The fish scurried about trying to shake the hook off all the way to the net. Sure enough my first single was a nice brook trout that took the Drake.
I dried the fly off with dry fly powder and started to blind cast it towards the boulders again as I slowly waded down river. The wavy current flowed into a slow deeper pool of water just down river from the outcropping of boulders. I made another long cast into the calmer current and watch the Drake patiently waiting for a strike. A fish rose to it with a gulp. I reared back the line and tight lined another fish. It didn’t scurry about like the brookie but put up a heavy pulling battle. I got it coming my way and was surprised it was a smallmouth this time. I just considered him as the Designated Hitter.
Now, I’ve been float tubing concentrating on smallmouth using poppers most of the week. I hooked a few but lost or missed more than I secured. It wasn’t like the smallmouth were eager to take a popper during the long hours and days I’ve tried for them. If they want dry flies instead and there are possibly trout rising to them I figured I’d just keep casting big dries.
I clipped off the 8 lb fluoro and knotted on a strip of 4X tippet. I checked my fly box to make sure I had enough Brown Drakes in the bullpen to go around in case the others got soaked and out of control. After I caught one more small brook trout with my starter it got pretty soaked and even the dry fly powder didn’t help. As I was retying it, with knotting on another, I heard a splash down river some. I looked up quickly and saw an expanding swirl. I made a mental note of the spot and finished with the Drake reliever.
I waded down river some to get within casting distance to the noted swirl. With another long cast the Drake fell and looked like it was headed for the strike zone. The fish swung at the Drake with little more than just a sip. I reared back the rod and once again tight lined the fish. This trout wasn’t as heavy as the brook trout or smallmouth but still gave me a good fight beneath the surface. He carried on like a kid that ate to much artificial flavored candy. This fish that entered my net was a brown trout I caught red handed with the Brown Drake in its mouth for the double.
As I continued down river, casting the Drake, I saw a rise mid-river. I made a couple short casts to get line out when another trout tried to steal my Drake. I almost got it to the net when it rose to the surface and by chance became unhooked. It was an error on my part. The Drake looked pretty beat up so I decided to knot on and pitch another.
I made a couple of false casts like a pitcher warming up his arm before the ump says play ball. I threw a fast cast that I was aiming directly for the fish that I saw rise beforehand. My dry drifted into the strike zone and he swiped at my pitch. When I tightened on the fish the trout jetted out of the water 3 times before swiftly trying to get away. He took off like a dog that sat on a ground bee nest and was getting bitten while trying to flee a swarm of bees. In his haste he pulled and tugged the line frantically. He used up quite a bit of energy quickly so I got him to net him quicker than the others. When I saw him it was a frisky rainbow.
My PA triple was complete with three different species of trout and a DH smallmouth all caught on a dry fly in an area no bigger than the size of an infield. It was getting darker and late so I called it quits for the day.
Later that evening I sat by a campfire and enjoyed a stogie and a couple of beers. You would think the story ends but another day brought a surprise a day late.
On the next day I planned to pack up and leave I decided I would go out and fish till noon. After breakfast I started packing up some while the chilly morning air warmed up a bit. I donned on my chest waders and walked up the road again to start where I left off the day before. There was no flies of any kind on the water and I didn’t see any rises. I knotted on a popper but that didn’t appear to make anything rise either. It looked like a no hit, and no run innings that may end up without a hit. I clipped on a heavy brown bugger and fished my way down river to a faster current of water that was caused by exposed boulders. I made a couple casts into the swirling and fluctuating current just behind the boulders. I slowly waded down river and continued casting and letting the bugger drift down in the tail out trying to cover as much water as possible. One longer cast got my bugger into the second set of wavy riffles. I let some slacked line out to let the bugger drop deeper before being carried downstream. As the fly line arced on the surface I felt a strike and I pulled the rod back while pulling the line in. The fish swam down with the current till the line straightened down river. As I was playing the fish and getting him closer I saw this yellowing golden trout, under the bright sunlight, just below the surface heading up river with my line attached. I played him out of the faster current and closer to me. I netted this one without any major antics.
After letting him go I thought to myself. "I got a triple the day before called because of darkness. This trout came a day late that could have completed a PA grand slam for me in one game." Where I caught him wasn’t as near the others but close enough to be within the outfield of the ballpark!!
~doubletaper
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