The river formerly known as the West Branch of the Delaware...

[Fascist Killer]

Weird fact I learned. But, to the story. I recently read in the back of the latest Fish&Fly a report from the guy over at The Evening Hatch. He said this time of year the big browns are running on the Lehigh. They go into the tribs to spawn (the Lehigh is too acidic for spawning). They nail them on Zonkers and streamers in yellow and chartreuse. Anyone ever head over there in November for these fish?

[identical.meat]

No, that's ridiculous! I've never heard of such a thing! :

Seriously, I have, but I think it's a right time/right place scenario. I've never hit them right. I keep hearing all this great stuff about the Lehigh, but my personal experiences there haven't lived up to the hype. Part of the reason for that hype is to get more favorable releases from the FE Walter Res that would maintain survivable water temps throughout the summer. Not that there's anything wrong with that - there's tons of cover and suitable habitat and it could be a hell of a tailwater fishery.

For now, the state and the Lehigh River Stocking Association stock the hell out of it. There has to be some in there, but I doubt it's loaded with monster spawning trout.

[Nymphmeister]

Spawning trout are always a crapshoot- go a day or two after a rain, they usually wait for an increase in flow to shoot up the smaller creeks. Egg flies usually far outproduce anything else. I'd call a couple shops/guides from that area and see if there reports agree. In the end, like I said, it's hit or miss. You can always fish the big river if the tribs don't pan out.

[AaronJasper]

I have done well in the Lehigh as far as average fish are concerned. I have caught many 17-18 inch holdover trout. However, I would have to disagree with the information that you received. I would like to know what they are calling a monster. I would bet its less than 20 inches.
For some reason the Lehigh does not produce many large (20 inches) or larger trout. I don't know if its a lack of a good holdover rate, food, which there is plenty of or maybe many of the wild fish that are in the tribs stay there and do not go into the main river. Maybe one guy goes out there and visits the same trib in a daily basis and on one day there is a big fish in there. I would not call it a spawning run. I think that if someone were to make the trip out there for that they would be terribly disappointed.

[Nymphmeister]

Yeah, it's a total crapshoot. If you wanna hit "the run", go to the Great Lakes tribs and hit it for sure! Aaron, I do know there are big trout in there- they stock of ton of whoppers, and there must be at least some holdover from this. I know people who have caught 2 footers there on bait, and lost bigger ones. The association that stocks the river with big trout put thousands of trophy size fish in, including a decent number over 10#. Two of the guys in that group had a combined total of something like 18 fish over 10#. On flies. I'm sure they were all brood stock fish, but it's still kinda impressive. Probably helps when you know right where they are stocked, right? I know they have even stocked Steelhead there in years past. There is supoosed to be a good mix of fresh stockers, hold overs, wild fish, and brood stock in there. It is an interesting sounding fishery, and I would love to float it in my Water Master raft.

[identical.meat]

They also put a handful of huge kamloops 'bows in there a couple years ago. I think a couple were eventually caught.

[AaronJasper]

Yeah... if one of those larger trout gets caught, I don't exactly think its going to get released. I am sure most of them go on stringers.

[identical.meat]

[quote author=AaronJasper link=topic=1039.msg6281#msg6281 date=1196266429]
Yeah... if one of those larger trout gets caught, I don't exactly think its going to get released. I am sure most of them go on stringers.
[/quote]

Guaranteed. The baiters around here don't care much for the concept of c&r.

[Nymphmeister]

They catch 'em & release 'em.... right into their freezer.

[AaronJasper]

I am sure there are quite a few foil "body bags" in freezers in the few weeks after the LRSA stocks those nice fish. Too bad they don't have any protection for those trout that they put in ??? I know they are doing a creel survey on that river. I would think that in the next few years it gets made into a "trophy trout" stream and is give the 2 trout 14 inch size limit. If they were to do this along with intensive fingerling stockings you would see an awesome trout fishery develop!

Also, I am pretty sure that the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to store even more water behind that dam. This will make for a larger thermal bank which will ensure cool enough temperatures that the trout need to make it through the summer! Keep your fingers crossed!!