The Last Trip To Capp's For 2008

[Buzz]

Not having to work today I decided to hit Capp's Creek one last time before the new year. I got a late start and got there about noon. I went to the mill first. There was a man and his two kids fishing by the old bridge so I headed up to the dam. No luck there so I headed back downstream to the bridge. When I got there I saw a couple of fish jumping so I asked the man if he was doing any good? He said he had missed a few but hadn't caught anything yet. While we were talking fish were jumping all over the place. I made a comment about that and he told me that the MDC had just stocked the creek with Brown trout. He said that they stocked 1000 fish and only browns, no rainbows. He was bait fishing with worms,but not catching anything so they moved downstream. I took up his position and started fishing a Zebra midge. I caught 4 and missed several, the biggest pictured below. I fished a little longer around the park and then left to go downstream to the lower parking area. I found a spot with some fast water and fish feeding. I tied on a foam beetle and caught a few then tied on a Yellow Humpy and thats when the fun started. The fish were almost leaping out of the water to get my fly. I caught several and jumped off just as many in the fast water. I had a blast.

I don't know a whole lot about Browns, but I thought it sort of odd that freshly stocked browns wouldn't bite the live worm. They were somewhat selective, more so than a fresh stocking of Rainbows would have been. I hope they get settled in and keep rejecting the live bait. Most of the fish I caught were in the 12 to 13 inch range with a couple that would go 14 inches.If they have a chance to survive we should have quite a few keeper sized fish next year.

Buzz

[ollie]

Not true about the browns. I was only catching stocked rainbows last week when I was down there. You would have caught more browns if they had stocked that many IMO.

[Buzz]

Maybe so. All I know is how many I saw. They were stacked up in certain places. There was no mistaking the fact that most if not all of the fish that were visible were browns. I only have the word of the bait fisherman on the quantity. I only saw five rainbows caught, four by the bait fisherman. I'm sure they will spread out a little in the next couple of days. Strange thing was that those fish wouldn't take most of my usual offerings. I had to change up often until I found what they wanted. As far as catching the fish on dries, the sun was going down and it may have turned them on a little.

I'm heading down to Roaring River tomorrow to try my luck there.

Buzz

[ollie]

I dunno, maybe you were right. I just know you, and I mean YOU can normally catch a lot of browns when stocked and I've seen it. Normally I can even get lucky and hook one now and then, but stocked browns aren't very smart yet until a few weeks later I would think.