April fishing sure was different compared to last year when half of Appalachia was under water. You’d have thought it was June this weekend down at Indian Creek if not for the newly budding trees everywhere. The creek was well within its banks so we made camp right alongside the water and had a late night around the fire watching the full moon rise.
When we headed out in the morning, the camper next to us told us about a small black bear they had seen in the creek overnight. I wish I’d seen it. We did hear a splash but didn’t see anything in the dark from by the fire. It’s definitely the time of year for them to be up and around.
We set off upstream, looking for deep pools, riffles and good current. Creek chubs were all over and we hooked a bunch all day. The waterway was a mix of log jams and perfect pools full of cover for all kinds of fish. In one nasty logpile, I saw a trout patrolling the narrow spillway but just couldn’t make it happen as I snagged a loose twig on every cast.
Once I finally had my line sorted for the fourth time, the trout had disappeared and my waders were parboiling me. We hiked back down the gravel road to camp for a quick wardrobe change at the trucks and then drove around fishing different areas until breaking for lunch in the late afternoon.
After a quick tin of smoked trout and some ice cold drinks, we hit one last section of creek along a long flat run next to 9A. The second we hit the bank, it was obvious this was a good spot. We worked both sides of a log jam for a good while before scoring a small sunfish, a small rainbow and a little rock bass. A ton of fun on tenkara and now I really need to restock my fly box. Moss and purple balanced leech, black stonefly and pink worm produced all day but I’ve lost them all to snags.