Opening Day trout anglers tackle tough conditions
Opening day fisherman Martin Sanger peered into the pasty, roiling waters of the Brandywine Creek rumbling through Downingtown’s Kerr Park and shook his head. “It’s gonna’ be a challenge today,” he sighed. Sanger, like the other fishermen who had collected along the Brandywine’s banks well before Saturday’s 8:00 a.m. starting bell, was anticipating the difficulty of hooking any trout in such muddy, turbulent waters. Nonetheless, Sanger’s hopes remained high.
“This is a good spot,” he nodded, his eyes scanning the wide water where Beaver Creek empties into the Brandywine. “Last Saturday I brought my four year-old son Leland here for the Mentored Youth Trout Day and he caught his two trout limit no problem, so I know the fish are here.”
Other fishermen may not have been so sure, afraid Friday’s heavy downpours might have washed all those stocked trout clear downstream and into the Delaware Bay or the Atlantic Ocean. Saturday morning’s weather was chilly; the rain had gone and the skies were clearing, but stream conditions remained daunting, which helped explain the relatively sparse crowd of fisherman that had appeared this morning. “There were a lot more people here last year,” Sanger observed. “This year the rain scared the people away, that and the murky water.”
Tim Zug of West Chester concurred. “I’m surprised there aren’t more people here. The rain kept a lot of them away.” In a typical year you might expect hundreds of thousands of anglers to take part in our eighteen county Southeastern Regional Opening Day, but thanks to the weather and poor stream conditions, those numbers were significantly deflated this time around.
Another angler declared, “Normally that parking lot is packed on opening day, but there were so few cars in the lot this morning that for a minute I thought I came here on the wrong day.”
Coatesville’s Jerry Duncan was also surprised at the low turnout. “I come here to fish every year,” he said. “Last year there were probably a hundred people lining the stream right here. Now there’s just a handful.” Duncan’s terminal tackle hanging from the end of his line was an artificial lure that resembled a wax worm. “I did real well with this last year,” he reported.
“I use old fashioned Rooster Tails in every color,” added Sanger, “but I’m well armed bait-wise since I also have Power Bait, salmon eggs, corn, and Trout Magnets. You have to go with a lot of different baits until you find out what they’re biting on.”
Philadelphia’s Brian Oetzel and Matt McGraw’s bait of choice this morning was minnows. “I have good luck with Rosey Reds with Power Bait as my backup,” said Oetzel who comes out to fish the Brandywine each year. “We come out here to escape the madness of Wissahickon and Pennypack Creeks which are shoulder to shoulder on opening day. Tomorrow I’ll be fishing Unami Creek in Montgomery County.”
“We’ve come out here other years and caught our limits in a matter of minutes,” added McGraw, “but today it will be a challenge.” And a challenge it would be. When the eight o’clock starting gun fired, dozens of baits hit the water. On a typical opening day with decent stream conditions anglers can expect to enjoy a flurry of action right off the bat. But with fast, high, murky water the consistency of chocolate milk, it’s a much different story. As the first hour passed nary a nibble was to be had. McGraw had one quick hit as a cunning trout snatched his Rosey Red clean off the hook, but that was the only action any angler would have along that stretch of stream as another troutless hour dragged by.
Waterways Conservation Officer Bob Bonney weighed in on the difficult stream conditions anglers faced on the morning of the opener. “We get little benefit from this type of rain event,” Bonney lamented, but offered some sage advice. “In muddied, turbulent waters, anglers should fish close to the bank and in slower water. Also try using darker colored lures rather than brighter. The black shows up as a better silhouette than the brighter colors. Very slow methodical drifts are important. Presentation is everything no matter what conditions you’re fishing in. You can have the best ideal conditions and the perfect bait, lure or fly, but a bad presentation results in few hookups.”
There were no hookups farther upstream where fishermen were faring no better. Downingtown’s Jose Salazar, who arrived at the creek around seven that morning, remained hopeful. “It’s not too bad considering it rained all day yesterday,” he said, casting a pink Power Bait worm into the rapids. “I think it will still be good to fish.”
Less optimistic was Cliff Johnston of West Bradford, also fishless.” I’m only out here today because my fifteen year old son loves to fish, otherwise I would have stayed home today,” he confessed.
While fishermen on the Brandywine seemed collectively skunked this morning, anglers on smaller streams and tributaries (that tend to clear up more quickly) were having somewhat better luck. Within the first two hours of dipping his Power Bait into the less murky West Valley Creek, Exton’s Trevor Kane had already netted three small trout and was well on the way to achieving his five fish daily limit, proof that at least some opening day fishermen were having success.
And although our regional opening day’s miserable stream conditions kept a lot of fishing folks away (perhaps a cruel April Fool’s joke played on fishermen by Mother Nature?) they also kept a lot of trout in the water. That, along with clearing streams and a decent weather forecast promise significantly improved angling prospects for Sunday and much better days to follow.