Monday, September 30, 2024

The Shoulder Seasons


Scenes from the shoulder seasons...

If I had to break down my fishing exploits over the years, you'll probably find an identifiable pattern of activity that is heavily concentrated in the fall and spring. Building out a van and using it the past few summers has swayed my cycle a little bit, but those two periods that vacillate between too hot and too cold in the Mid-Atlantic region will always produce the most action. The in-between, or shoulder seasons, result in sporadic outings, less results, and are way more unpredictable. Within these shoulder seasons, my least favorite time to fish is during September. Overall, most waters are still way too warm to fly fish for trout. When you combine that with low water and high water temperatures from summer, I find it downright unethical to entertain the idea of trout fishing within that window. It grinds my gears when I see local guides posting about fishing in August and September because a weather window dropped the water temperatures to 66 degrees one morning. Ridiculous! I typically give trout a break during the month of September and will concentrate seasonal outings in the month of October. This gives trout time to recover from a long summer. As November approaches, I shut it down to allow the trout to spawn and do their thing. I won't pick trout fishing back up until the second shoulder season from January-March. That window is overall more productive, more ethical, and slowly ramps up to the peak months of April and May. 



Murph pumped to break cabin fever...




Big Poppa Pump: more excited to find a golf ball than catch a 20" wild PA brown...


Lehigh Valley TU President and Keep Fish Wet Board Member (haha) Dan Dow


A very brief lift from the water tank. 


Ariel's first time fly fishing and his first trout...


I get to fish sometimes too.


Kody Britton before he moved to Tennessee


Ryan Bartynski. 













Famous last words: "just slide man, your waders will be okay"











































































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