Had a wonderful morning reacquainting myself with Valley Creek in Valley Forge National Historical Park on New Year’s day.
It was a brisk 40 degrees, but not super cold. It was breezy, which made the tenkara rod and level line the wrong choice. As my nymph got blown around a bit, I sure could have used the weight of a fly line to keep things in check.
I brought my first fish of the year, a 5 or 6 inch wild brown trout, to hand within the first 10 minutes, but the fishing was pretty slow, only picking up two more the rest of the day.
But who cares about numbers, it was glorious to be shin deep in cold, flowing water in a place that holds some sentimentality for me on the first day of a brand new year. Couldn’t have worked out any better.
Also needed to have a hoagie for lunch. I’ve had pizza, cheesesteaks, and soft pretzels, but no hoagie yet on my return to the Philly area. Not much was open considering the holiday, but I found Nonna Rosa‘s in Norristown was, so I slid in there to end the outing on a proper note.
It’s amazing how a random pizza shop in the Philly area can make a better sandwich than all of Jacksonville. It’s definitely the wooder.
Happy New Year! 🤘
Michael
Hats off to you for braving the cold and the wind. I wonder what the wind chill was. I could brave that type of weather when I was younger, but no more. My season will begin in March.
According to Walt, one of my bloggers, Valley Creek is a pressured creek, and one has to have tremendous patience when fishing it. You passed the test! Thanks for sharing
Yes, Valley sees a lot of traffic. It’s one of the few wild trout streams in Philadelphia area. I bumped into 4 anglers while I was out on New Years. I’m sure March can’t come soon enough!