I(Tim S) had longtime clients Bob and Don for a full day float today. The water temp was 66˚ and the skies were partly cloudy. The day started out slow with not much happening on the streamer and nymph front. We floated from Lehighton to Walnutport and because of the short days we kept moving at a good pace to make sure that we were in good position for evening hatch activity. Because of this we did not have the opportunity to work some areas over as much as we would have liked to and we were actually “kicked out” of the Turnpike Pool by a construction worker because they were about to begin blasting for the new Turnpike Bridge. Our first trout encounter was above the Turnpike Pool, a beefy rainbow, and a few more tugs but no more fish until we were near Lizard Creek. We caught a few bows in the 9-12″ range that appeared to be adipose clipped, we’ll post a confirmation when confirmed. If this is correct then these are fingerling raised trout and it’s exciting to see 2-4″ fish maturing in the river. After lunch the fishing began to pick up, the fish were looking up and just waiting for some food. We hooked most of the fish we saw rise and were able to prospect a few as well. Slate Drakes, Sulphurs, and Cahills were all present but it was Slate Drakes and Adams-type flies that go the job done. All in all it was a good day, we didn’t land any monsters but Rivers Guide Paul K. landed a 20″+ fish on his second cast near Walnutport. Fish were caught, fish were lost, fish were missed and a great day was had on the river.

In a rare show of force, the entire Ski Patrol was on the water tonight. Paul and I(Tim) put on at Bowmanstown, water was 62˚, and Paul had already hooked a small trout before we even started floating. The action was sporadic and we had to pick up Jay in Palmerton so we hurried down river a bit and the action picked up just above Palmerton. Paul hooked a couple of fish with Catskill style Cahills, all aggressive browns. I landed a nice little brownie with a plain jane #14 parachute adams. We picked up Jay and he missed a nice fish and landed a rainbow on within probably two minutes with a #12 Royal Wulff. A few miutes later Jay landed a nice bow of about 18″ and I had a similar size fish, presumably also a bow, hooked up and and then off in the blink of an eye. There was sporadic rise activity until we got closer to Walnutport and then we had some more hook ups and landed fish. All in all the fishing was pretty good, not insane but we certainly had enough targets. It seems like from the outings we’ve had for the past few weeks that there are certain areas with higher concentrations of fish but there are fish in just about every stretch of the river. Paul has the pics so if I get them I’ll post them.

I(Tim) fished just above White Haven tonight. There wasn’t much going on with the bugs when I got there but there was still some rise activity so I decided to fish stay where I was at. Around 6pm some sulphurs started hatching and the fish were feeding pretty good, the only problem was that they were all fairly small. If anyone from the PFBC wants to know where all of the small fish in the upper river are just give me a shout, I’ll show you. There was easily 75 5-7″ trout in the pool I was fishing. IU caught a few just to see what condition they were in. My camera was having a low light focus problem but I think itthey’re clear enough to see that the fish were in excellent health. I fished a large Strung Out Golden Stonefly, about two inches long, for a half hour and must have missed 20 fish with it, some fish would try to eat it 4-5 times before giving up. They all took a #14 sulphur pattern with a good drift.

Paul’s Report
Two thirds of the ski patrol was once again on the river last night.  However, this time we decided to divide and conquer. I fished below the Lehighton Sewer Plant and saw the same insect activity.  The slate drakes were absent last night.   A fair amount of targets were present and I have included a few pics.  Water temp was 63° and all fish were in great shape; even the Lehigh River Tarpon pictured above.  Caught approx. 6 trout (3 rainbows and 3 browns) in the 12-16 inch range.

A good night to be on the river; although a bit disappointing when compared to other recent outings.  I was still impressed as the area that I fished had not fished very well earlier this spring when compared to other years.  Good to see that the fish are there and as you can see they are quite fat.  All fish were caught on a light cahill parachute.

My plan is to fish different stretches of the river in an effort to see if there are trout scattered throughout or if they are congregated in certain areas.  I’ll keep you posted.

Tim’s Report
I fished around Palmerton. It was overcast for most of the evening with a brief shower every now and then. I hooked and landed a nice brookie on my second cast of the evening and thought I was on easy street but after that the rises were sporadic and only one other fish was hooked. The browns are usually tough when they’re not in a good feeding rhythm. No Slate Drakes whatsoever, but the were lot’s of cahills, sulphurs, and small olives. I watched the Cahills drift past every fish untouched, though I did see a nice fish slash aggresively at a cahill emerger as I stripped it back in to recast. I tried swinging some flies through the area but no interest. There were some stoneflies laying eggs but they were also fortunate that the trout were not very active.

Two Thirds of the ski patrol (Kanaskie and Wisnosky) were on the river on Tuesday evening. The skies were overcast and the water temp was 67˚. We fished a section of the river normally only accessible via a remote (maybe not that remote but at least a hint to our location) air strip.  We limited our fishing to a stretch of water maybe only 50-100 yards long.  Once again the river (actually the fish) did not disappoint.  The hatch consisted of mainly slate drakes and olives with a few large stones mixed in.  The large stones induced some fierce splashy rises.  Numerous targets (30+) were present from 6pm through dark.  More fish were missed than were caught but approx. 8-10 fish came to the net.  Most were browns in the 13-16 inch range with a few rainbows mixed in.   All fish seemed to be hatchery fish with deformed fins.  A few larger fish were hooked but lost at the net.

Conditions will continue to be  very good and rain is forecast for the next few days.  I have been on the river 4 nights since last Thursday and fishing has been at the least very good each night.  As shown in the attached pics, all fish are in excellent condition and are on the feed.

Once again – No other anglers were seen, had the entire river to ourselves.

On another note, release from Beltzville is 66.6°, must be some colder water available by now!!  Not that we really need it but any warmer and release will be detrimental to the fishery (both the Po and the Lehigh).

Perhaps two words could best describe Labor Day fishing on the Lehigh River:  Uncrowded and Unreal.

Cloudy overcast skies with occasional brief sunny periods; water temp 66°. Lehighton flow approx. 600 CFS.  Conditions extremely wadable.

Fished from approx. 5 pm to 7:45 pm.  Slate drakes, sulphurs, light cahills and large stoneflies were the flies of choice as they were hatching in large enough numbers to have the fish looking up and on the feed.  Targets simply too numerous to count.  Browns and rainbows to the net from 10-20 inches.  Check out the rainbow and brown pictures with the possible fin clip.  Approx. 8 rainbows to the net between 10-12 inches; fingerlings?  Quite possibly the best 2 hours and 45 minutes of dry fly action that I have ever had anywhere, period!!!  I caught numerous fish in places where I had never caught fish before.  There was one spin angler that I talked to at the parking area who indicated that he has been enjoying some excellent smallmouth fishing.  He indicated that he has not caught any trout.  I yielded the better of the two spots to him and went upriver to fish.  After about 1 ½ hours I moved downstream to where he was fishing.  He stated that he had caught a few fish but was not very forthcoming with information.  There were fish rising all around him and after he witnessed me catch numerous fish, he simply reeled up and left.  Obviously the fish were looking up!!

A special thanks to Tim S. for the dark brown Lehigh Unusuals that he gave me back in the spring; the larger browns that were eating the emerging slate drakes could not resist these flies.

Upon the recent recommendation of Joe and Dean I bit the bullet and carried my long handled boat net with me in an effort to photograph all fish that were caught.  Net was a bit awkward but sure did come in handy.  I tried to take a picture or three of each fish and when I returned home there were 79 pictures on my camera.   I realize that a lot of them look the same but most fish were browns in the 13-16 inch range and they did look similar.  I have attached a few of these pics and will forward more if you desire.

My recommendation would be to gather your equipment from summer storage, pre-treat some dry flies with floatant and get on the river ASAP.

Paul and I(Tim) floated from Bowmanstown to Walnutport this evening. The water was in the mid 60s and the fishing was pretty good. We had Slate Drakes, BWOs 16-20, Golden Stoneflies, assorted caddis, and some White Flies or Cahills. Paul started out tossing tandem buggers and managed to hook up a few smallies here and there. Within a half hour we were on to rising trout and we continued to cast to risers until we couldn’t see anymore. Paul landed about a half a dozen trout, maybe a little more and I lost all the fish I hooked including a pretty big brown. The best flies were BWO parachutes and Iso(Slate Drake) emergers. Any anglers looking for some solid fall dry fly fishing should head to the Lehigh River. Check the flow gauges if we get any rain but the river has been in excellent shape for wading otherwise. We took a few pics, no monsters but we were very happy at how healthy all of the were fish that we caught.