So, Mike from Troutrageous is heading south to Florida for his job (and hopefully changing his blog name to Snookerdoodle). He threw out the invitation to take a few of us for a "guided" tour of Valley Creek before he heads off to get a year-round tan.
Valley Creek is somewhat of an oddity to me. It's located only 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia and is in the middle of Valley Forge State Park, which is just dripping with history. There are literally no other wild trout streams around this far south, yet this spring fed little stream is home to a population of wild brown trout that have somehow beaten the odds and fought off some horrible pollution a few decades back to thrive in this little stream. It's kinda weird to think that you're fishing in a stream that George Washington took a piss in (and most likely drank from.)
I had to take my kids to swim class so I couldn't get there first thing in the AM, but my car was fully loaded and ready for the day.
I showed up a little late to the party, and Mike, Matt from the Functioning Fishaholics, and Steve from The Fly Fishing Bowhunter were already on the boards with a handful of fish. Matt and I opted for dries, while Mike and Steve waved around the weird Tenkara thingies. WIth all the rain, I was expecting a muddy shit show, but it was quite the opposite. The water was only slightly off color and wound up almost clearing by the end of the day. We wound up having a very successful day, with probably 20-30 fish landed between the 4 of us. Mike was an amazing guide and knew exactly where to go to put us on fish.
In poor blogger form, I didn't capture many pictures, except for a few of the prettiest browns I caught. These fish were beautiful with bright yellow bellies. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the fact that I didn't have to tie on a subsurface fly all day.
I had to take my kids to swim class so I couldn't get there first thing in the AM, but my car was fully loaded and ready for the day.
I showed up a little late to the party, and Mike, Matt from the Functioning Fishaholics, and Steve from The Fly Fishing Bowhunter were already on the boards with a handful of fish. Matt and I opted for dries, while Mike and Steve waved around the weird Tenkara thingies. WIth all the rain, I was expecting a muddy shit show, but it was quite the opposite. The water was only slightly off color and wound up almost clearing by the end of the day. We wound up having a very successful day, with probably 20-30 fish landed between the 4 of us. Mike was an amazing guide and knew exactly where to go to put us on fish.
In poor blogger form, I didn't capture many pictures, except for a few of the prettiest browns I caught. These fish were beautiful with bright yellow bellies. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the fact that I didn't have to tie on a subsurface fly all day.
After fishing, we head off to the Tilted Kilt for some dinner and beers. The view on the creek was beautiful, but nothing compared to the view at this place. It was hard to focus on the food.
Overall, it was an awesome day of fishing with some cool peeps. Good luck in FL Mike, and hopefully we can get out one more time before you head off to gator country.
Leave it to you guys to find a place like the Tilted Kilt...I sense Mike was behind this. Seriously nice to see like minded bloggers getting together.
ReplyDeleteReading blogs about fly fishing really amaze me and I have learned lots of information about it. And this is one is actually appreciative, aside from learning it was fun reading your share.
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Can't believe I missed this! Very much my back yard. Glad you got some pullage.
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