Lackawanna Valley TU Blog

The virtues of catch and release

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:06:07 +0000

Kevin writes about his February 22nd outing – “… I caught the same Rainbow again in exactly the same spot. This fish has a thing for me. This is both evidence of the virtues of catch and release and evidence that stockers are stupid. I’ve attached pictures of the fish (note the small spot on the gill plate- it’s the same fish) taken on 6/28/11, 2/3/12, and 2/22/12. What’s most interesting is how much the fish grew from June to February. Today, she fell for a size 8 Dronestone.” Photos are posted most recent to oldest.

PA F&BC Report on July 2010 Survey of the Lackawanna River

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:11:24 +0000

In July 2010 personnel from the PA F&BC surveyed Section 7 of the river. As of today, Section 7 extends from Route 347 bridge to the confluence of Roaring Brook, but a change may be coming. We have recently received the Lackawanna Management Report and Comments and Recommendations document prepared by the biologists who conducted the survey. Here are some of the recommendations and some surprising facts about the trout population in this section.

Recommendations:

Redefine Section 7 from Route 347 to Green Ridge St in Scranton.
Add Section 7 to the PA Class A wild trout waters list.
Petition the PA DEP to “…upgrade Chapter 93 water quality classification … from Coldwater, Migratory Fishes to High-Quality Coldwater, Migratory Fishes.“
Continue to manage Section 7 under the Commonwealth Inland Waters Regulations.
Improve riparian planting to provide shade to the stream.

Noteworthy findings:

Annual mortality was similar to unexploited populations.
Mortality for age 3 and older was extremely low.
Angler harvest has no impact on population density or size. “Thus, more conservative regulations would not benefit the wild trout population.”
Predominately a wild brown trout fishery although one wild rainbow was recovered – a documented first for the drainage.
Growth rates for the brown trout “… far exceeded statewide averages at all ages.”

Some of us are extremely surprised at the last finding as we don’t see much in the way of insect hatches and wonder what the trout eat. Comments anyone?

Fat rainbow trout

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:04:04 +0000

Kevin writes about his February 3rd outing – “… attached is a big fat rainbow. Really fat and very big. I caught her on a Burk’s Bottom Roller in the Plot section. I know there is some natural reproduction of Rainbows, but odds are she’s a stocker, which takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. Assuming she’s a stocker, they haven’t stocked since last spring, so she’s been in there a while and is clearly getting enough to eat. She looks like a rugby ball. I hope she’s not eating wild Browns.“

Not all fish are skinny

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:23:16 +0000

Kevin, our local nymphing expert, writes about his January 28th outing – “Got a nice 17 inch porker today on a #16 orange tungsten-bead pheasant tail in South Scranton. It was a bitch out there – high, fast, muddy and cold – and the wind was howling so bad that it pushed half my drifts upstream. I’m proud of myself for catching a few.“

Pennsylvania should protect its remaining state lands from drilling

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:47:48 +0000

When Gov. Tom Corbett presents his state budget in February, it is imperative … read more here.

San Juan Worm – February 2012

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:38:54 +0000

In a earlier post, Charles H, after recently moving back to the area, wrote that he caught his first trout on a San Juan Worm. This is a very easy fly to tie. Here are the instructions.

A variation of this fly is to place a bead at the center of the hook. You have to put the bead on the hook at the eye, start the tying process as indicated and when you get to the center, slide the bead back, pull the vernille over the bead, tie the vernille on both sides of the bead and continue the tie.

My first brown trout in many years

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:06:49 +0000

Charles, a new TU member, writes -

“After being away from trout fishing of any kind for about 12 or 13 years, I rekindled my love of stream fishing last spring when I moved back to the area. I’ve been spin fishing almost my whole life, and I decided this year to give fly fishing a shot. I got my first cheap rod for Christmas this year, and I learned all I could before I ventured out. 2 weeks later, I made my first fly fishing outing. After a frustrating 2 hours, I started to get the hang of casting, and just before dark, I landed this skinny ~15″ brown on a red #12 San Juan worm fished about 10″ below a small shot. I plan to fish the LR every chance I get. Seeing that I live a 5 minute walk from the river in the Plot section in Scranton, it should be fairly often.

I just joined TU, and I am looking forward to becoming an active member in the local fishing community.”

Ten tips for stocking the nymph fly box

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:14:47 +0000

In this podcast, Tom Rosenbauer podcast discusses:

fly boxes
redds
tactics for rising water level
hook eyes
loop knot
tips for stocking the nymph fly box

Tips for catching the difficult trout

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:37:19 +0000

In this podcast, Tom Rosenbauer discusses:

fly floatants
fishing riffles
fly line color – does it matter?
tips for catching rising trout

Winter fly fishing tips

Lackawanna Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:43:48 +0000

Tom Rosenbauer shares his tips and flies for winter trout fishing. Read more here.