I was fishing a small trout stream that is a tributary to the mighty Youghiogheny River. The stream is loaded with many decent sized trout. On this particular day, the trout were eating and taking flies very well for pretty much the entire day. I was catching most of the trout on the infamous black wooly bugger and a few trout on an Adams Dry fly. It always strikes me as somewhat funny how a fish that is only about 12-13 inches long can come up and hit a fly so hard that I can’t stop thinking about it all day. Myself and a few of my fly fishing buddies were using about 13-15 foot long leaders and presenting the flies beautifully. The biggest trought we caught all day between all of us was about 17 inches long. The trout was caught on the surface using a Malcolm-X caddis dry fly. It was a beautiful brown trout. The Meadow Run and Laurel Hill streams we were fishing are 2 beautiful streams in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania. Good friends, plenty of hungry trout taking our flies and spending the day in these beautiful streams; made this day a perfect day.
so true .. the pefect fly fishing days are actually very few and far between … sure, like the bumper sticker says “any day fly fishing is better than a day at work” .. that’s true … but, outside of that basic concept … the perfect fly fishing days are, of course defined with subjectivety and a preference orientation, and ultimately the “perfect day” is in the eyes of the beholder … one persons “perfect day” .. could be another persons “horrible day” .. but, either way … and regardless of personal preferences … i think that the “perfect days” are very few and far between … that’s why they are valued as such. great work … hope you find a few more perfect days this season.
Terrific photo bigstreamer and pretty Brown…
I’m curious about the Malcom-X. I am familiar with the Madam-X which is a Deer Hair, bullet head with rubber legs floater….Can you tell me about the design of Malcolm-X?
marshalld
marhall .. i read and re-read your comment and i was like “huh,? what is marshall talking about? .. marshall knows what a madam X is .. he gave me a couple on the west branch of the penobscot.” .. then i realized the Madam/Malcom difference .. totally slipped by me with first read … i too wonder if it was just a typo or a mistaken identity by bigstreamer .. or, if infact, there is such a fly patter as the “malcom x caddis”? .. did a little research and did not find anything … i am guessing that maybe he meant to say “madam x”? … anyone else out there ever heard of this fly? .
when you comin’ home marshall? .. fishing is really firing up ..
jer,
you’re likely correct on the Malcom-Madam mis- tag. I love those MadamX’s on the West Branch or EO.
I’ll be in Clinton May 24. Give or take a few days visiting family, and I’ll try to be fishing… Man, that was a cool Salmon Mike got with you! Speaking of all things FFO, I’ll be guiding independently thru http://www.flyanglersguide.com and Mike’s sold his drift boat. Free to fish more and bounce grandkids. I hope we can car-pool to a day with Jim Messer in Bingham sometime. Would you like that?
sounds good marsh .. ya mike got a beautiful salmon that day … regarding a day with messer .. “would you like that?” .. don’t be silly… you know that answer .. can’t wait for that to turn on … ps.. did you hear that kenny clark caught the first atlantic salmon a couple days ag?! .. pretty cool huh? .. if anyone deserved to get a nice brigh atlantic in maine, and the first one, its kenny clark …. he got it on spey, swinging classic atlantic salmon flies .. good stuff .. get in touch when you get home… but, i am sure . as always .. we’ll probably bump into each other at all the “spots” … we always do ..
I can attest to how beautiful it is in that area, but if you really want to see some beautiful streams in PA head North to Potter County. There is a lot of awesome streams up there just leave your cell phone at home it’s not going to work there.
I would agree that the streams in the Laurel Highlands are beautiful and do produce great healthy trout.
There are tons of places to fly fish that truly are paradise but on Spring Creek there is a section designated ” Fisherman s Paradise “. If you like tiny streams and no crowds after the opening day craziness , you can enjoy solitude in the special reg area in a stream that always has fish to find.
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Mehek
Pennsylvania Treatment Centers