24th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup

The Stony Creek Anglers will be hosting the 24th Annual Stony Creek Clean Up on Saturday, March 27th, 2010. This is truly a worthwhile event, as dumpsters of trash and discarded items are reclaimed from the Stony Creek each year in anticipation for opening day weekend - a big win for both the Stony Creek Watershed, the Borough of Norristown, and trout fisherman alike!

(Click to Enlarge)

Here is a link to some photos of last year's event, found on the Norristown Farm Park Preservation Association's website:

http://www.farmpark.org/new_page_7.htm

Stony Creek Videos

Thought I'd post a collection of Stony Creek videos I've assembled (for the SCA website) from various online sources.  Not all were shot by me, actually most were not, but regardless they all show the Stony & Kepner Creeks and some of the fishing that goes on there.  I hope to add more videos to this over the next year or so, so if you like what you see, check back often.

Tough Day at Stony

Was hoping to scratch my fishing itch this morning.  Haven't been out since New Year's Day and I decided I needed to go out despite the light drizzle and chilly temps.

When I got to Stony Creek noticed that the water levels were down which would eliminate some of the nice "holes" that appear when the water is about a foot higher.  Saw these guys fishing the "unofficial" fly fishing area.

Stopped and chatted for a bit, neither were having any luck...  I should have took that as advice and ditched the Tenkara fly rod and grabbed my spinning tackle, (when the going is tough, why add the degree of difficulty?) but I suppose I'm a glutton for punishment.

All along Stony, fishing was slow.  Had a few follows, but absolutely no takers.  Talked to a few more anglers during my stroll further along the trails and nobody was doing better than I.  In fact had a nice little conversation with a guy who had traveled from Jersey to fish Stony this AM.  It was his first time so I pointed him toward some of the better holes, but I felt bad for the guy...I think he left out of disappointment shortly following our conversation. (He did take interest in my telescoping Tenkara rod though, think he was having issues maneuvering his 8 foot fly rod through the brush.

Decided to hike along Kepner Creek for a bit in a stretch I'm really not all that familiar with.  Came across these nice little step down pools and decided to fish them for a bit.

Nothing in the first pool, but my first cast into the second pool saw a brookie rise from the depths and go for my Wooly Bugger!

Unfortunately (as would be my luck today), I wasn't able to get a firm hookset and he kicked my hook.  Sure, it was a barbless hook, but I still chalk this one up to user error.  I've got an ok feel for a hookset on my Tenkara Iwana rod, but I'm admittedly not a pro yet.  Tried a couple more casts, but couldn't get him or any of his buddies to commit again.  They were wise to my game.  Here's a shot of the pool that little bastard of a trout calls home.

By this time it was getting late and I told K.C. I'd get home around lunch time to help her with Lilly (and some household chores).  Although it was nice to get out, it would have been a lot more satisfying if I could have brought that brookie to hand.  Instead, he swam off and all I grabbed were some pics of the scenery.

First Fish of 2010

Had to get out today...it had been weeks (maybe more than a month since the last time I went fishing).  Fatigued from hours of flipping through the pages of the Bass Pro, Orvis, & Cabela's catalogs over those said weeks, I decided last week that the first day over 40 degrees (that didn't involve rain), I'd get out and get a line wet.  That just so happened to be today, New Year's Day.

Went over to the Stony Creek in Norristown about 2PM today.  Figured it would be a good time because the Flyers were playing in the NHL Winter Classic and Penn State was in the Capital One Bowl, and I'm not really a fan of either, so that might give other anglers a reason not to be out.

When I got there, there were a lot of folks already fishing.  Luckily, they seemed to all be at the dam and the bridges, and all of the water in-between was traffic free - so that's where I fished.

Took the spinning gear out first - using Wyld Edge baby bezerkers - and got into some brookies in a hurry.
Here's the first fish of 2010:

After getting my fill on the spinning gear, I switched over to my Tenkara fly rod armed with a Woolly Bugger and landed two more (& lost two more).

I decided to pack up and head home around 4:30PM, it was starting to get darker & colder, two things I have zero tolerance for.  In all, it was a good day.  Yes, all the trout were stockies (no bonus points for "wild" fish), but I can live with that.

Stony Creek

Went to Stony Creek in Norristown this AM. It was cloudy and cool weather-wise, with a little bit of off & on spitting drizzle. No biggie. Rolled into the Norristown Farm Park parking lot around 7AM, and there were already some folks hanging out at the dam. I call these guys the "PowerBait Brigade" because they can seemingly sit there for hours, just floating PowerBait. I have nothing against PowerBait, I could just never do that, my mind would go numb.

There was one character there who provided some comic relief as well. All morning, he insisted on telling anybody & everybody that walked by (no matter if they wanted to hear or not) about the HUGE trout he got up to the bank, but made one last run on him and broke off his line. Seriously, he sounded like Captain Quint describing an encounter with JAWS.

Anyway, I didn't fish the dam (I never do), I went quite a bit upstream to some other runs and pools. I started out the morning using spinning gear and in no time landed an nice Rainbow on a Wyld Edge spinner. I was also using Bioline biodegradable fishing line (review to come) for the first time. After that though, I thought I'd switch it up and grab my fly rod. On the way back to the car, I of course heard the JAWS story for the second time, which made me laugh.

The fly gear wasn't as productive as I hoped. My casting still isn't where it should be, so it was no surprise that the fish weren't taking my offerings. I'm sure they were simply looking up at me and snickering to themselves, thinking "idiot."

After wasting about an hour on that, went back to the car (heard the JAWS story yet again, comedy quotient increases with additional exposure), and grabbed the spinning tackle once more. Hiked back in and ended up bringing in a few brookies & 'bows on some Fish Creek Spinners Armadillos. Nothing really outstanding, but this one mutant stockie - well...I'll probaby have nightmares about his ugly mug tonight. He looked like Freddie Krueger's spawn. He was really thick though - and put up a pretty nice fight considering he had the torn up pectoral fins typical of a stocked fish. He was pretty stupid though. I let him go and caught him again less than ten minutes later on the same spinner. Who's the idiot now?

Idiot Mutant Stockie

Stony Creek Anglers 2009 Trout Tournament

I went to the Stony Creek Anglers monthly meeting last week and picked up a flyer for the 12th annual trout tournament. I scanned it and posted below (click each to enlarge).

The tournament will be Saturday & Sunday, April 5th & 6th on Stony Creek, located in the Norristown Farm Park / Norristown State Hospital grounds. It should be a good time, especially for kids. Proceeds go toward the operation of the SCA trout nursery, as well as club-sponsored youth programs.

Stony Creek - 11/29/08

So, word on the street was that the Stony Creek Anglers were doing some trout stocking of Stony & Kepner Creeks on Black Friday. Word was true, but unfortunately I was working on Black Friday (oh, the perils of internet retail), so I didn't get a chance to check it out. Plus Lilly has developed a case of the croup, so needed to get home as soon after work as possible to help hold down the fort.

That being said, I did decide to give it a go this (Saturday) morning. Lilly was up all night coughing, so I didn't get much good sleep on Friday night getting up to comfort her and put her back down. I can't really complain though because she's been so miserable with the constant coughing...what a trooper. Anyway, because of that I didn't get as early a start as I wanted to and by the time I got to Stony Creek, most of the good holes were already manned.

I did manage a little fishing, but came up zeros on this brisk 30-degree morning. I don't feel that bad about it though, it was nice to get away from the hustle & bustle of holiday retail for a change and just enjoy the sounds of the riffles breaking around my waders. Plus I did take some (poor) pictures of some Golden Rainbow Trout. Some tough glare so all you can really make out is the silhouettes. Some people call them Palominos, but they actually are golden rainbows. There were two of them kinda hanging out with each other the whole time - where ever the big one went - the little one followed. It was kind of fun just watching them for a little bit even though I wasn't doing much fishing. Also took a quick movie below.

Boca Canal Fishing

It's mid-June and unfortunately I've only got on/in/next to the water three times with a rod & reel so far. Ouch!

Darby Creek - Opening day of PA Trout Season (with Mutt J. Mutt III, star of the 6AM land grab). Somewhat fun, but quite chilly. Caught a few trout on Panther Martin spinners, but nothing to brag about. Wished more of my D-Squad brethren could have made it, but between warmth/sleep and family responsibilities, I guess it was not in the cards this year

Norristown Farm Park - nothing, nada, no luck whatsoever - more of a farewell trip than a fishing trip anyway. I used to be able to roll out of bed and go fishing in N'Town, I lived across the street. But now I live in Limerick, and my beloved Stony Creek is now a bit of a hike.

Boca Raton - K.C., Lilly, & I visited Gary & Lorraine towards the end of May. Whenever I go, I do a little fishing in the canal to kill some time. I caught a nice amount of Bream on a trusty Mepps Agila and even K.C. got into the act with her Zebco and some bread crumbs as bait.