... took two seasons but we finally started to catch some fish yesterday on the 'Tenkara' fly rod... not that many actual days in, however, maybe eight or ten... we're not that avid of fishermen now'days - might pick up a fly rod for a day or a few and then not touch it again for two years... we divide our time amongst many endeavors - at least we don't get bored...
... was worth the time and effort, however - really knocked out the fish - landed eight, lost that many (though a few or possibly all are probably included in the eight catches) and had probably three times that many strikes - all native brook trout with one surprise (very aggressive) rainbow in the mix...
... all five to seven inches in length, aggressive, with vibrant sheen and color (especially the rainbow) - attributes that distinguish 'em from the herded, grain fed stocked trout (our opinion)...
... there's some very good native trout fishing here'bouts but ya' gotta' put in a bit of effort - we'd been a bit lazy the previous seasons and finally decided that we gotta' get to where we know the real fishing is to see if this Tenkara style works or not... this particular feeder stream tumbles down a boulder strewn ridge flank forming a deep hollow with some steep drops and tight chutes and channels requiring some rugged hiking for access - all stuff we love...
... some upstream pools and holes usually leave us scratching our heads as to how the fish even managed to get there themselves - another reason we quit tryin' to figure out nature long ago...
... steam level is currently at optimum as well - most will disagree...
... " so where's some pictures of some fish, ya' bullshi**er?!!"... hey - can't say we didn't try (but we suck at it) - four of the fish we lost was because we were trying to land a fighting trout with one hand and fumbling with a small compact camera in the other - each instance the fish squirmed off the hook and bounced a bit violently off the boulders and back into the water (we are usually quite a few feet above the pools using the boulders for cover) - no way we're leavin' a stream strewn with dead fish all for our own self gratification to get a shi**y photo - actions like that are for the riff-raff haunting the park-and-fish stream sections (our opinion), so we quit tryin'...
... a few good pools with rock ledges for cover...
... the entire section is about a mile long partial of a feeder run to the Youghiogheny River...
... headin' back out we stopped at Dunbar Creek - fished upstream for maybe a quarter mile above the Betty Knox parking lot with no action...
... first fished this stream back in the mid sixties when just a little guy - caught our first fish there probably around 1965... used to go quite frequently with a family friend named Harry Pytrulak who was a real fishing guru - the guy knew his sh*t and taught us a lot (although he figured it was goin' in one ear and out the other - wasn't the most patient sort) - hear he's still out there at it at nearly ninety years old... wish we still had the old fly-tying kit he gave us... a few other local older guys (no longer with us) who were real "no bulls*t" creek and river men and really knew their way around the local streams were Harry Fosbrink, Joe Polidora, and the king, Stan Helinsky - used to pick those guys brains every chance we got*...
... *(10/07) - let's not forget Mr. Richter...
(Internet Image)
... Pytrulak had an original International Scout (his was green) - this is back in the 60's, and nobody owned a 4WD vehicle - recall gettin' back into a few small streams in that thing where ya' didn't even have a chance of encountering anyone - might as well have been on the moon as far as we were concerned...
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