Chiquesalunga and the AT Too

It was a nice weekend to get out, but it was a little on the warm side. My buddy Andy came up Friday afternoon and we hit the Chiques late in the day. We did well and each caught five different species of warm-water fish: Smallmouths, Green Sunfish, Red Breasted Sunfish, Rock Bass and Creek Chubs (venerable creek chubs as Walton would say). The smallies were quite nice and feisty. Andy took the prize for the largest one at just over 13". Great fun on 4wt rods. Andy also showed me how to ID rusty crayfish, and Asiatic Clams which, unfortunately, are now in the Chiques watershed. Capped of the day at Bube's.

Saturday we hiked into the Shikellamy Power Dam located between Rt. 183 and Rt. 501 on the AT. There was a kid fly fishing at the dam, so we set up camp then headed downstream. Perhaps I should say "downtrickle." The drought has really taken it's toll on small brookie streams, however, we each managed to hook a few. We then went back up to the pond and each caught another fish. The pond was loaded with brookies, but it was hard to fish, because the edges dropped off fast and it was hard to generate a back cast. After supper we explored the boulder field near our camp. Then at dark, we went on a "herp" hunt. We identified two species of salamanders in the stream near our camp. Oh, and an American Toad.

Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast and coffee, we headed out. We drove to the Northkill Creek and fished for an hour or so, but again, low water made it difficult. Decided to call it quits, and headed to the Union Barrel Works in Reamstown for lunch. This turned out to be a great find, and I would recommend it to anyone, especially the trout chowder and their pale ale.

Here's a slideshow of the weekend: