Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna

Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna

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Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 7/19/2008 11:37:08 PM

mgp629

Posts: 259
Joined: 10/1/2003
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Has anyone fished this area lately ? I just wondered what the conditions are.

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 7/20/2008 1:08:22 AM

ROCKHARD

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Joined: 10/13/2007
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been two weeks ,but did fairly well,been working last 14 days strait,would love to get back up there

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 7/20/2008 6:40:08 AM

matthoops33

Posts: 62
Joined: 2/26/2008
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It was tough last weekend. The water was very clear and was a little on the low side. Four hours up there and I didnt get any. Had one or two turn on my fly, but I never hooked up.

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/10/2008 2:39:17 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
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Anyone else been fishing it lately? From all this talk about steelhead, I decided to go try for some trout. So far, in 3 trips to the DHALO, I've got a few nice smallmouth and more rock bass and gluegill than I care to count...but only one rainbow. Fought like a champ and swam away healthy, which says that they're thriving even in the heat of summer.

Saw a beautiful brown that I think unfortunately probably ended up dying. Was swimming kind of upside down and I was able to walk over and pick him up. Every bit of 20-22", and a healthy looking build, but a torn dorsal and tail along with alot of nasty scratches on his sides makes me think that somehow a raccoon got to him. I thought about just taking him home so he didnt go to waste, but he was still making an effort to move, so I found a deeper pool and gave him a few sweeps through the water and gave him a far better shot at recovery than in the shallows where I found him.

Other than that, I've seen at least 3-4 other nice trout in the 16-20" range, and another 8-10 in the 7-14" range. Like matthoops says...alot of fuss and following from the trout, very little actual chomping. It seemed as though a few of them have learned to take a bait but then spit it out again jsut as fast. I didn't feel the strike at all, but I saw them do it. Also saw a bigger trout chasing a sunfish I'd hooked...looked just like a pike does stalking prey. I let the sunny fish a little more to see if he'd strike, but I think he was following more out of interest in the commotion than really wanting a meal.

Headed out again tonight, so if you see another fisherman on the DHALO, as if they're cold!

(in reply to matthoops33)

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/10/2008 10:21:06 PM

Rnglgdj

Posts: 31
Joined: 10/2/2001
Status: online

The blue herons have been working the trout over again there. I came across a 20" rainbow that had the head eaten but from the gills on back to the tail it was intact. Went up again 2 days later and it was gone because of the high water.

Don R

(in reply to Cold)

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/10/2008 11:24:09 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
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Well, it was a pretty lousy evening fish-wise, only getting one smallmouth (thought it WAS pretty nice), and absolutely no other fish. Trip-wise it was great though, with nice scenery, a muskrat and nearly a dozen deer crossing my path. Saw several nice trout and had many follows and a few strikes but alas, they were all of the short variety. Found a few more holes that are managing to support several trout, but it's hard to sneak in on them.

I never thought about the herons taking larger fish. I just kind of imagined them eating only the 3-4" shiners. Now I dont feel so bad about kicking the one heron out of his fishing hole when he hears me moving upstream!

Also, if any of you were the guy I saw loose his footing up above me...you definitely didnt have to leave! I was just about to climb the bank and give you a wide berth, then I looked up again and you were gone!

(in reply to Rnglgdj)

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/11/2008 4:57:07 PM

PeteM

Posts: 288
Joined: 11/1/2007
From: Bethel Park
Status: offline

I may be heading over there this weekend. I'll be using mynphs and buggers.

Any suggestions?

(in reply to Cold)

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/11/2008 5:58:16 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
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Be sneaky. The trout are spooky.

This rain, I think, will do wonders for the fishing, raising the water level and giving it some stain. It'll also wash alot down, encouraging them to feed more freely. I'm not a fly fisherman (yet!), but when I hit up the DHALO, I use trout magnets almost exclusively.

I'm even considering wearing some camo, which might help the stealth factor in the shadier stretches of the creek.

If you see me, dont be afraid to say hello!

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/15/2008 12:08:27 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
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I was down by the big bank restoration project they've got going on down there and saw a worm of some sort in the mud. The front alnost looked liked it was trying to be a fish, but with no eyes or visible mouth, the middle was like an unsegmented worm, and the back had a kind of flattened appearance, like it was suited for swimming. It didnt move till I picked it up, but then it started wiggling or flopping, not like a worm but more like maybe a salamander flops around. I tossed it into the water and it took off quickly.

Any ideas as to what it might have been?

(in reply to Cold)

Post #: 9

RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/15/2008 7:54:12 PM

2dog

Posts: 821
Status: offline

Did it look something like this? If so, it was a lamprey. Found a dead one in there about about ten years ago. They are common in there.

(in reply to Cold)

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/16/2008 10:07:41 AM

...masterofnone

Posts: 17
Joined: 3/6/2008
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I saw one in there too about a year ago somewhere a bit downstream of the apartments. It seemed to be nosing around in the rocks. Kinda freaky lookin. Are they native? Are they parasites?

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RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/16/2008 12:24:57 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
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That's it! Wow, I thought lampreys were only saltwater. Mine was a baby, I think, how big do they get? Also, might picking it up have been dangerous or painful? If I see another...let it alive or toss it on shore?

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Post #: 12

RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/16/2008 10:41:18 PM

2dog

Posts: 821
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I saved the one I found hoping to run into a warden. According the PFBC officer that I talked to the day I found mine was that they are harmless and they are native.

(in reply to Cold)

Post #: 13

RE: Delayed Harvest Loyalhanna - 8/21/2008 2:06:36 PM

Cold

Posts: 676
Joined: 3/27/2008
From: Latrobe, PA
Status: offline

Finally pulled a trout out of the DHALO!

Got a 15" rainbow on an olive beadhead wooly bugger between mill creek and the swinging bridge. Put up a great fight. It took him a little while to recover, during which time he held up right beside my leg in the water. Eventually, I went to grab him to get him into deeper water but apparently he was okay, as soon after, he took off for the hole I pulled him from.

It was my first ever trout on a fly, and I hope to get more soon!

(in reply to 2dog)

Post #: 14

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