It has taken me a while to get back here to the website – many apologies. There’s something about gaining a ‘Certificate of Occupancy’ that just seemed to preoccupy me and as a result – I simply have not been adding content. I am still seeking content from our members and this plea has been responded to in a somewhat mild manner. Don’t get me wrong, a few have forwarded pictures and I’ve diligently posted them as we got them – and I’ll continue to do so as they become available to share.

But this entry is about a trip I had back there in Slate Run – running from June 3rd through the 16th. The ‘Certificate of Occupancy’ bit kept me pretty busy but I managed to get out and fish Pine Creek a few times. The results…

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The upper fish and the one one the lower left are the same specimen – one in net and one in hand. The one in hand isn’t the greatest picture but gives you an idea of the girth of the fish – a Brown Trout Club participant. The net picture truly does not do the fish justice (both net pictures actually just don’t reflect the scale of the subjects properly).

Both fish were handfuls! On the rod or in the hand, they were pretty much all I could handle on the 4 weight rod. I know the top fish pushed 25 inches as I held it up to the rod (and measured later) before I release it. The second one kind of slipped outta my hand as I attempted to do the same with him.

I say ‘him’ as I think the jaw was just starting to ‘hook’ a bit – if you look closely. He was every bit as much of a contestant in the ‘I Don’t Wanna Come To Your Net’ contest as the first one though as I distinctly remember not being able to fully encircle his girth with my hand too!

First fish caught on the 7th at 1 PM in slightly veiled sun on a Mahogany/Slate Drake/Isonychia Bi-color sort of fly (I think the tie is in the tying section in this website). The second on the 12th at 6:18 PM in the shadow of the mountain across Pine on a BWO.

Both fish were similar as I had a tussle with them both for a little longer than I’m accustomed to. They were both a little larger them I’m accustomed to also!

I caught other fish during my stay there. But these two were most noteworthy – and they probably were the best Brown Trout Club fish I’ve caught there on Pine to date. The same afternoon I caught the first one, a man from Canada fished across the creek from me and caught his ‘… best fish caught from Pine Creek in 32 years!’. I believe it was close in stature to the one I had brought to net a little earlier that day. I spotted a fish for his partner to fish to and he got a cast to it, the fish struck – but no hook-up was to be had. We had a chuckle about it later.

They’ll be congregating soon at the mouths of the feeders. I’ll leave them alone on Pine and start heading up the runs soon.

Till next time…. UB