9-23-23 Night Trip
After a busy day hanging out with my kids, I called a friend to see if he was available to do a little night fishing. Storms were forecasted to hit the area around 3AM so we decided to hit the water at 11PM and fish until we got rained out. He lives 2 hours away in Pennsylvania so we met at a stream in PA that’s almost an equal drive for both of us. This is a wild trout fishery, however it definitely gets stocked in other sections, just not the area we fished. That being said, plenty of stocked fish move through the river and end up in the wild trout portion of the stream.
Flows were very low, I started out jigging a streamer, hoping to create some movement and entice a fish to attack. It’s never all that effective for me at night, but for some reason, I continue to try it out, hoping one day I’ll crack the code. After a solid 30 minutes with 0 bites, I tied on a wooly sculpin and worked that off the banks. I would give it a couple strips, let it dead drift, then bring it back to life. I continued to change flies and colors, even used a tandem rig of streamers to no avail. It was extremely slow going, but we kept working the water and hoping for the best. I finally had one take on the wooly sculpin as it swung just below the surface. I definitely tied a bad knot, that fish just took my fly and left with me with nothing. Being lazy always comes back to haunt me, but at least we had some action.
The rest of the night continued to be a challenge. We decided to give it one last go through a pool before calling it a night in the rain. Jim headed through first and I followed about 20 yards behind him throwing an articulated sex dungeon in black. I’m not sure what changed, as we both fished this section to start the night, but I felt the unmistakable tug of a fish. I started to strip set and felt a lot of weight on the line. With my 6 weight and 20lb test, I got the fish into the bank in a few seconds and it had some mass. It was nice to catch a fish to end the night, but not what we were looking for. It was definitely a stocked trout that came in from other sections of the river, but still fun to get.
The fishing might not have been the best, but it’s always fun to be out at night. Regardless of when I go fishing, I’m always very optimistic, however at night, my imagination always gets the best of me. I’m always thinking, tonight is the night we are going to get the monster brown, and that might be what keeps me coming back. Or it could be the joy of spending some time on the water with friends, some nice cigars and bourbon without the crowds of people fishing. Likely it’s a little bit of everything.
Sex dungeon used at night
Stocked brown trout that decided to eat at night