Creek Addict

I spent Sunday at the shit hole with my buddy Jordan Ewing. The fishing wasn’t fast and furious, but we both managed a couple of carp in the rain. This was Jordan’s first time getting carp on the fly, and I can safely say, these won’t be his last.

One of Jordan’s carp. I think the three wolf one moon t-shirt gave him the right mojo to get him hooked up.

I think this is the smallest carp I’ve caught to date. Still tons of fun.

This was the biggest carp of the day. Again, I think the three wolf one moon t-shirt was behind his good fortunes on Sunday.

This was my favorite picture from the day. God, these things are ugly.

My buddy, Mike Osborne, and I fished one of my favorite local streams on Saturday. I’ve been working on the floor with Mike for the past 5 or 6 years and didn’t know he was a fly fisherman until recently. It’s funny how you can work with someone for so long and have no idea what they are about. I guess the daily grind can make you forget to ask the important questions, like, “Do you fish?”.

The fishing was pretty decent all day. From the start of the day I knew we were going to do alright. Right when we got to the water I put Mike in a spot that netted him 3 or 4 fish in a matter of minutes. One of the fish was Mike’s first native brookie! The brookie was probably the best fish of the day, the colors on it were just amazing. I think between Mike and I we netted 40 trout or so, not a crazy good day for this place, but it was consistent.

None of the fish we caught were huge, all of them were probably about 8-12 inches.

I found a size 10 march brown stuck in this guy’s mouth when I caught him. Hopefully he’s a little happier with it removed.

This was Mike’s first native brookie. This thing was gorgeous, too bad all I snapped was this blurry photo before it flipped back into the river.

Luckily Mike caught a few more of these great looking fish. The picture of this one came out pretty good.

Near the end of the day the fish started rising like crazy and we managed a few on dries. I had to head home early but Mike stayed down there for a little longer. I haven’t talked to him yet today, but I’m willing to bet he caught a few more.

I spent Sunday with my buddy Jay Lajoie at the shit hole. I think the spot is starting to get a lot more pressure. The fish were spookier than they have been in the past. I saw a few other fisherman there, as well as a fly fisherman that I didn’t know. The water was low and clear, which didn’t help the situation. Although it was tougher than normal, I still managed to net a couple.

A little guy.

The nice one. This guy really had some fight in him, it put a serious bend in the 8wt. Now that the water has cooled down a bit, I think they have a bit more spunk.

Saturday I took some buddies out to one of my favorite spots. Although the fishing wasn’t that great for them, everyone had a good time. I’ve taken John out with me a few times, and he has yet to catch a fish. This time was no exception! Next time we go out, I’ve promised to spend some time with him and make sure he catches at least one fish! It’s just unacceptable at this point. He spent most of his time “lost” in the woods with his girlfriend, while I was fishing with Cory.

I spent a lot of my day with the only real fly fisherman Cory giving him some pointers for the river we were fishing. He managed to hook a few fish, but didn’t land one until right before we were heading home. It was his first native trout, and he was stoked to finally get one in the net. Although he fell in the river about 5 times, and only landed one trout, he had a great time.

I didn’t fish for too long, as I wanted to make sure the others had a good time, but I did manage to catch a couple.

This guy had been caught before. His lip was a bit ripped.

I fished a couple of central PA streams this weekend with my buddy Aaron Jasper of Fly Fishing Evolution. I would love to tell you that I went there and slayed em, but that just wouldn’t be true. Although Aaron put a serious beat down on some of the PA trout, I struggled to catch just a few fish. We went to two streams out there, one of which was super technical and tough, the other, a walk in the park (comparatively speaking).

The water in stream 1 was slightly stained and low as can be. Dropping a pin on a pillow was all that was needed to spook these trout. Crawling, kneeling, and creeping was the name of the game here. If the trout saw or heard you, you could pretty much forget about it. I netted 2 and missed one other at this place. The lessons I learned were inversely proportionate to the number of fish I caught. After leaving this place, I feel like I came away with a lot more know-how. The challenge of this place forces one to adapt and learn if you are to be successful. It really made me realize how easy some of these places I frequent are. When I go again, though, I know I’ll do better. Aaron showed me a few things and pointed out a few of my faults when he wasn’t hammering fish. If you don’t know the guy, or haven’t seen some of his stuff in the past, this guy is a true fish magnet.

Stream 2 was off color and fishing nice. We only fished there for a little while but I was hooked up literally the minute I got in the river. It was nice to get out there and start catching fish again after getting my ass whooped all day. It was good for the confidence. I only caught 8-10 inch dinkers here, but Aaron (surprise surprise) managed to catch a few nice ones.

My best fish from stream 1.

A nice one from Aaron out of stream 2. I’ve never seen blues on a brown like this before.

Pretty little central PA brown.

My labor day weekend was spent with the wife at The Eastman Inn in North Conway, NH. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the fishing was just okay. I decided to skip the stockie bashing this time and look for some wild brookies in the white mountains. Though I didn’t dedicate much time, I found plenty of small wild brookies eager to take my offerings. I probably spent a total of 4 or 5 hours fishing, but managed to catch probably near 100 of these minnows gorgeous wild fish. As pretty as they are, you can only catch tiny fish for so long before you want to head home.

The wife and I spent some time exploring the town, and the short hikes in the area. The White Mountains region of NH is absolutely stunning. The small towns, beautiful scenery, and abundance of rivers, lakes and streams makes it one of my favorite places on the east coast. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. If you are thinking about staying at The Eastman Inn, mention creekaddict.com and receive a discount. The breakfast alone may be worth the trip. Breakfast is hands down my favorite meal of the day, and The Eastman Inn does not disappoint. You can expect to have anything from chicken walnut quiche to creme brulee French toast. After the 5 star breakfast, if relaxation is what you want, you came to the right place. Whether relaxing on the porch soaking in the sun and gorgeous mountain views, or warming up in your room with a bottle of wine next to the fireplace, the Eastman has the cure for the stresses of everyday life. The hospitality and relaxed atmosphere of the inn really makes for a wonderful experience.

A heron taking flight over some super glassy water on the Saco. Although I didn’t fish it this time, a dry dropper rig thrown close to the banks normally nets a few good trout.






A video of me euro nymphing for brookies on a gorgeous stream in the White Mountains.