Road Prong 09/29

[nvr2L8]

Went to Road Prong today and the fishing was a bit tough. Lots of water and the temp was 49 degrees. Here's a taste of the amount of water going through there.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd70/nvr2l8_chuck/RoadProng033.jpg
Ended up bringing only 4 small brookies to hand. Fished up to the fifth bridge and then worked my way back down to try a couple of good ones again. Found a spot where I had gotten a good hit and saw three really nice brookies (all at least 8"). Threw everything at them without them even budging till I threw a big ant and one of these guys hit. Lost him about 4 feet from me. Switched to a big yellow stimulator and gotten the second one that shook off about 2 feet from me. The third one wouldn't budge. Had to head back out and chunked one of Pete's big stimulators up a run and got another good sized one that also shook off. The best three fish I hooked all day were in the last 20 minutes or so and I lost them all. Oh, well.
Biggest surprise of the day though was a significant change in the Road Prong landscape. For those of you who have fished it, you have seen what Duckypaddler referred to as Peg Leg Falls (pic below).

http://littleriveroutfitters.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=47&pictureid=312
Well, Peg Leg Falls is no more. It was blown out, presumably by the last big rain that we had. Below are some pics of what is left of it. First, from below. You can see where it's ripped out from the opposite bank.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd70/nvr2l8_chuck/RoadProng037.jpg
Here's a shot from above.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd70/nvr2l8_chuck/RoadProng040.jpg
And a different angle from below.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd70/nvr2l8_chuck/RoadProng038.jpg
Going downstream from this obstruction there was a dogleg to the left where there was a pool and another branch of the stream that dumped in over some boulders on the right hand side of the pool looking upstream. The pool is now gone, rocks and debris dumping down from above and the smaller branch is now dried up, evidently blocked somewhere from above. The run that is now there instead of the pool is where I hooked my last brookie with Pete's stimi. Guess if you hang around long enough, all the streams morph over time. Just hate to see this landmark go.

[Troutman]

That certainly puts into perspective what the power of water can do even on a small stream.

[duckypaddler]

Somehow I missed you post before I left. Called FCfly to see if he could go, and by the time he called back I was already headed up there. I was planning on fishing from 3rd to 4th bridge, but he told me about your post so I had to see it for myself. Wow! It's amazing what a 4 foot rise in the water will do. The force was so much that the big log actually moved away the boulers holding it up. You can see the dirt where they fell in.

I caught a true trophy Brookie today. It was 9.5 inches, but twice as big as some of the 8 inchers I have caught. It was about 2 inches tall and over an inch thick. I could barely get my hand around him. He shook free from my hand as I reached for the camera. I jumped to grab him but he was back in the water pretty quick. This Brookie was bigger than any wild Brookie I have ever seen posted let alone caught from the park. It kills me that I did not get a shot. It was brightly colored and gave my 5 wt a good bend.

Fishing was slow at first but really picked up towards the top. I wondered if some of the fish were "blown out" as I didn't even get a nibble in many places.

It's amazing how 1 fish can make your day.

James

[PeteCz]

Charlie, great pics. I always hated climbing over Peg Leg falls. Most times I had the sensation of it all crumbling down while I was climbing it. It guess it took a 4 foot wall of water to finally tear it down. Does anyone know how long it had been there. It looked like it could have been there for decades.

Glad the Stimis are working for you. I have to give you a few October xCaddis to try....