2013 Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament

It's Tourney Week!

It's time again for the Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament, and as such my annual commercial for the event.  If you're in the Norristown, Pennsylvania area (or have the time to make the trip over), fishing starts at 8AM on Saturday the 27th and 7AM on Sunday the 28th.

More Info HERE


DISCLAIMER:
This is my trout club's annual fundraiser - which pays a large portion of the annual operating costs to feed the fish we raise on behalf of the State for stocking of the creeks and streams in and around Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Founded in 1997, the Stony Creek Anglers are Montgomery County's first co-operative trout nursery, and an IRS recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Wetland Mitigation & Stream Restoration On The Stony Creek

Huh?

Yeah, I don't typically use big words like "mitigation" or write about stuff like this, but I thought it was kind of interesting, and probably overdue in terms of sharing.  See, a lot of my site traffic comes from my affiliation with the Stony Creek Anglers of Norristown, PA.

In 2011, a major stream restoration project was started on the Stony Creek, and it involved the removal of a popular landmark, the Norristown Farm Park Dam.  Now this dam wasn't some giant dam like the ones you see in the videos from out West.  Rather this was a smaller dam, one that garnered quite a bit of attention because it created two large fishing holes (above and below) for local fishermen to enjoy.  This year's trout tournament (the club's primary fundraiser) was the first tourney without the dam, and honey holes.  Its absence created a lot of confused anglers...with the most common question being "Why'd you remove the dam?"

The dam in it's former "glory"

Well, the Stony Creek Anglers didn't remove the dam, several organizations including the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, and American Rivers all have a hand in this project.  Basically the dam goes away to allow for better fish passage (& to be honest it was a bit of a safety hazard), and the turnpike folks are involved because they need to create some additional wetlands to replace those that were removed during turnpike expansion.  All that said, the SCA has endorsed the work, and has been kept abreast of all activities on the Stony to date.

Here's a few overview documents that explain the project in some detail (click to enlarge).

To learn more, check out THIS LINK that redirects to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's website.

2012 Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament

Holy smokes...it's Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament week!  Yup, time for my annual commercial.

No, I don't fish in it...I work it as a member of the club, and boy should it be an interesting tournament this year.  Why, you might ask?  Because the old dam (and the super deep holes) that everyone used to congregate around were removed by the State since last year's tourney.

That means different fishing holes to find up and down the creek, and possibly trickier fish to catch.  Either way, it's usually a great time for young and old, and I'm pumped that we finally got some rain this past weekend to make it a possibility.  Fish can't swim without water if you know what I mean.

Kiddie Pond

Even if fishing for stockies in an environment like this isn't your thing (and honestly, it isn't mine), the tournament serves as the major fundraiser for our club each year.  As a cooperative trout nursery for the State of Pennsylvania, we have to foot the bill for pretty much everything but the fish...the biggest cost being food.  And believe me, it costs a lot of money to keep fish healthy and fed each year.  Club membership dues only go so far...

For details on the 2012 Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament, check out the SCA website HERE, or the tournament flier below.

Sh*t's Going Down On The 24th

There are two trouty things locally that are worth mentioning...you know...if you're local...and you're into trouty things.

The first is the Great Swamp Fish & Game 7th Annual Pre-Season Trout Derby...

Great Swamp Fish & Game 7th Annual Pre-Season Trout Derby

With Pennsylvania approved trout water closed for the month of March to allow for pre-season stockings, this is one of the few opportunties to get out this month and chase some fish.  Plus, stockies are stupid and to be blunt, this is easy pickin's.  I'm not one for derbies, but Great Swamp is a friend of my trout club, and they run a top notch event.  Even if you're not fishing, it's a great excuse to get the kids outdoors!

Speaking of which...

My trout club, the Stony Creek Anglers will be hosting the 26th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup the same weekend...

Stony Creek Anglers 26th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup

Yeah, we pick up a ton of trash from Stony & Kepner Creeks, and to be honest, it's just a really fun time.  It's amazing the stuff you can pull out of an urban watershed...one of the big ticket items from last year being a hot water heater...  The 2011 event was covered locally by several news outlets and our club also does a pre-season stocking immediately following at noon for anyone that wants to swing by the nursery and help out.

So...Stony Creek Clean Up on Saturday, Great Swamp Pre-Season Derby on Sunday...sounds pretty trouty to me.

Down Goes The Dam!

Hey, thought I'd write a blog post today.  Novel idea, right?

I got some photos via email of the dam removal process over at the Stony Creek.  Yeah, I mentioned that the dam was coming out in a previous post, but the real heavy lifting finally got started this past week.

While dam removal is viewed as pretty important, this one is a bit controversial because the dam is kind of the centerpiece for recreational fishing on the Stony Creek.  No dam = two less deep holes (above & below) for the stocked trout.

I mean check out this "before" picture from this year's Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament as reference:

And here are some "after-ish" pictures (courtesy Ray Duff):

It's going to take a little while for the Stony Creek to settle down and find its new flow...but it will definitely look very, very different a year from now.

I Feel Dirty After Last Night

So last night was a disaster.  For those of you that weren't following along and after reading last night's post are contemplating full abandonment of this blog due to excessive exposure to chest hair, there was a little blog competition about crap posts, or something like that.  Honestly, I still don't fully understand the concept.  Maybe that's the point, ask Clif & Ivan.

Anyway, a bunch of us wrote intentionally poor posts, and in my opinion, YGF was the runaway winner.  Here they are, in case you want to take a peek and judge for yourself.

Troutrageous!

The Functioning Fishaholics

Owl Jones

Lunker Hunt

The River Damsel

Yukon Goes Fishing

That aside, I'm done with the Friday night nonsense.  Instead, I'll concentrate on giving you the questionable quasi-fishing posts you all have come to tolerate love.

So what's of interest today?  I dunno.  Think I'm going to try and go fishing either later today or on Sunday.  It's supposed to rain parts of both, and we could really use the precipitation.  The fish ain't got a lot of water to swim in these days.  In the meantime, enjoy (or don't) some recent search terms & phrases that actual people (or more likely genetically-enhanced apes) typed into search engines to end up here, courtesy of Google Analytics.

blue trout

pete rose batting stance

kim kardashian

720p sunglasses video jerky

amago versus kongo tenkara

baby duck fishing flies

beautiful native american woman

blue icee

can i get a hell yea

can you eat clams from chester river

celebrity ass

cliff lee stoney creek

dale jr suck

duke sucks a completely even-handed

french lady in waders

fuck you all losers

has cliff lee ever fished stony creek pa

i like em young

jobu's rum

lunkerhunt sponsors

mechanical amusement devices

nymph out looking for a one nighter on the weekend

pizza orgy

red head afro kick in balls

stream young teen cam

t

tenkara bullshit

what happens on business trips

yo yo anymore

So there you go...lots of randomness in the search results.  Some funny, some questionable, most stupid.  Now please excuse me, I'm off to really find out if Cliff Lee ever fished the Stony Creek!

Do I Really Have to Go to Work Today?

Long, but fun weekend.

First the business part.  The SCA Trout Tournament wrapped up late Sunday afternoon.  In its wake were two days of dawn to dusk fishing.  Unfortunately not really for me.  As club Treasurer it meant two days of 4AM wakeup calls, hawking memberships, hats, & t-shirts, and reconciling cash boxes from the various stations of the event.  Lots of big fish were caught, even more smiles on little kids faces, and from all early accounts, a success from a fundraising standpoint.

Lots of people = Not ideal fishing conditions, but lots of money

As for the fun part, Lilly showed up for a little bit on Sunday afternoon with K.C., and we met up with one of her friends from school and her father.  As such, I took a little time out from my duties to go fishing with Lilly and try to catch her a fish.  First stop was the kiddie "pond," but she wanted no part of it whatsoever.  For real.  Not sure if it was too crowded, or she just knows that isn't real fishing.  So we just left the kiddie pond snagging fishing to the other little kids' dads.

Kiddie pond of death

Instead, we tried to find some room on a bank to do some fishing, but since it was shoulder-to-shoulder in all the promising spots it was more about uncrossing lines than it was about fishing. (Yeah, I'm sure the hardcore guys to our right were lovin' us!)

Lilly pretty much lost interest when she figured out she really couldn't do her long (but inaccurate) "grip it & rip it" casts like she does at the sunfish pond we frequent, so she just picked up rocks, played with her tackle box, and chased her friend around the surrounding trails a good portion of the time.

Crappy cell phone picture of the 10 or so minutes Lilly & her friend fished.

So no fish for Lilly today.  At least she had fun with her friend and from what I can tell from the smiles, a good experience overall.  Fortunately, I don't think the lack of action discouraged her from fishing again.

On the walk back to the car she looked up at me with bright eyes and a sneaky grin and we had the following exchange:

Lilly: "Daddy, can we go 'Family Fishing' at the pond tonight?"

Me: "Tonight? No, not tonight Lilly. Daddy won't be home until late."

Lilly: "Tomorrow...?"

Me: (Huge Smile)

The Tournament's This Weekend!!!!

Please excuse me as I use this this space to advertise my trout club's (the Stony Creek Anglers) annual signature event yet again.  I know...it's a re-post, yuk...but it's only a few days away and it's now or never.

So...rather than posting here, today's hijinks will take place over on Facebook & Twitter. "Like" and/or "Follow" and you'll be in "the know."

14th Annual Stony Creek Trout Tournament

Saturday, April 30th- 8AM to 5PM (Gate Opens at 6AM)

Sunday, May 1st - 7AM to 4PM

Rain or Shine at Norristown Farm Park & Norristown State Hospital Grounds

Enter Gate 5 (Stanbridge St.) 

**No Camping**

BROOKS - PALOMINOS – BROWNS – RAINBOWS

(Prizes Awarded for Tagged Fish)

Advanced Ticket Sales Available

Adults (Over 16) - - - - - Donation $20.00

Teens (Under 16) - - - - - Donation $10.00

Children (12 & Under) - Donation $5.00

Breakfast/Lunch & Drinks Available

Handicapped Section & Childrens' Section

(Special Pond for kids 6 & under)

Bait, Lures, Tackle Available - Fishing Rods for Kids

*Proceeds will be applied to the operation of Montgomery County's first co-op trout nursery & our childrens programs

1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies for longest fish

Trophies awarded for Adults, Handicapped Adults, Children, Handicapped Children, and Kids 6 & under at the end of each day (30 trophies total)

Click HERE to download tournament flier above

Click HERE to sponsor a trout

Click HERE maps & directions

or

Click HERE for general information on the Stony Creek Anglers

Entertaining Guests & Random Pictures from Last Weekend

I'll be entertaining some guests from Japan (by way of Arizona) the next week or so.  Couldn't be happier.  Taking the little guy fishing with me today...we'll see if the language barrier poses a problem.

I also took some pictures while out on a local creek last weekend.  Really didn't think too much of them, as a matter of fact, let them fester inside the camera for a week without looking at them, but after popping the SD card in the PC last night, thought these made for some nice shots.

Who'd think you'd find such serenity a mere stone's throw from the concrete jungle?

The pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-cursor to The Diaper Bag Wrangler must have lost her sewing machine.

Show's over.  You may resume your normal Sunday activities now.

2011 Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament

Please excuse me as I use this forum as a commercial for my trout club's (the Stony Creek Anglers) annual signature event.  It's our main fundraiser of the year and the source of the majority of our club's income.  Without a successful tournament, we would not be able to raise the fish or operate our youth programs.

14th Annual Stony Creek Trout Tournament

Saturday, April 30th- 8AM to 5PM (Gate Opens at 6AM)

Sunday, May 1st - 7AM to 4PM

Rain or Shine at Norristown Farm Park & Norristown State Hospital Grounds

Enter Gate 5 (Stanbridge St.) 

**No Camping**

BROOKS - PALOMINOS – BROWNS – RAINBOWS

(Prizes Awarded for Tagged Fish)

Advanced Ticket Sales Available

Adults (Over 16) - - - - - Donation $20.00

Teens (Under 16) - - - - - Donation $10.00

Children (12 & Under) - Donation $5.00

Breakfast/Lunch & Drinks Available

Handicapped Section & Childrens' Section

(Special Pond for kids 6 & under)

Bait, Lures, Tackle Available - Fishing Rods for Kids

*Proceeds will be applied to the operation of Montgomery County's first co-op trout nursery & our childrens programs

1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies for longest fish

Trophies awarded for Adults, Handicapped Adults, Children, Handicapped Children, and Kids 6 & under at the end of each day (30 trophies total)

Click HERE to download tournament flier above

Click HERE to sponsor a trout

Click HERE maps & directions

or

Click HERE for general information on the Stony Creek Anglers

Wednesday Nibbles - Helping Those In Need Edition

What's up everyone, having a good Wednesday?  I had no idea I had so many readers intensely devoted to their headwear.  Glad to know everyone is "touched" just like me.  However, Clif, I think it's time to give up.

That chemical imbalance must be why you all keep coming back, because these crappy Wednesday Nibbles certainly can't be the draw.  But since you're here already...

Wanna drop $1200 on a fly reel?  Sure why not, right?  Hardy will have you covered come April.  Yeah, this St. George Commemorative reel is a limited run of 100.  There's some sort of uber-Royal backstory with Princes, Dukes, and probably inbreeding that evidently makes this reel hot sh*t, but I really don't want to get into all that.  It's expensive, but essential equipment for every weekend warrior.  Jay, I bet this Hardy reel is the perfect match for your bargain bin fly line.

$1200 gets you this or this.

So how's everybody's bracket going?  Mine sucks.  The Big East is screwing me big time - Pitt & Syracuse can both...well, I won't say it.  Those who have hitched a ride on the Jimmer wagon are probably looking really good right now...even though this song spawned by Jimmermania is pretty lame.

But this is what you get when presumably white LDS guys with no flow try to rap.  That should be in total violation of their honor code, but at least they do toss in a token brotha.  (Warning, this video is on the long side 5+ minutes, so don't bother watching if you aren't intensely Jimmered.)


Thought I'd use this next fishy spot to drop notice that my trout club, the Stony Creek Anglers, is hosting the 25th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup this weekend on Saturday the 26th.

If you're a local reader (yeah, I know there's a few of you) and want to participate, the meetup is at the Fire Chief's Band Shell in Elmwood Park in Norristown, PA at 8AM.  Gloves & trash bags will be provided, all you need to bring is yourself, boots or waders, and proper attire as this is a "rain or shine" event.  More info can be had on the Stony Creek Anglers' website HERE.

It's a fun event and we fill a few dumpsters with litter, old tires and scrap metal each year. Who knows, maybe this year we'll remove the holy grail of a discarded toilet or mattress. You never know what you're gonna find in an urban watershed.

The SCA will also be celebrating it's 14th Anniversary in 2011!

Stupidity rules.  Especially when it involves children.  I won't say too much about this one other than stop looking at the pre-teen in the tight shorts' butt for a second (pervert) and concentrate on what's going on in the background.  Yeah, I know, I love Dance Dance Revolution too, but this is worth it.


Last but not least, time for this week's blog love (which, by the way I'm thrilled to read is going viral in places like THIS & THIS).  It goes to a blogger who received the love here once before, but I fear has truly gone off the deep end this time and needs all of our support and best wishes.

So our friend Howard...aka Cofisher...aka the Wright & McGill guy...evidently unleashed some person, object, or the way things in blogdom are going, probably his cat, on us.  I don't actually know what it is, (hopefully not one of his body parts), but he calls it "Auntie".  According to one of the voices in Howard's head, Auntie is evidently is some sort of expert on something or other and will answer all your questions if you ask nicely.  Kind of like an outdoor blog version of Miss Cleo...I think...but more likely an excuse for Howard to dress up like a woman again.

I beg you, reach out to Howard in this time of crisis and assure him
everything will be okay...and that he looks much better in the blue bikini.

First Fish of 2011

If I didn't say so yesterday, Happy New Year everyone!

That bit of business out of the way, I was actually able to sneak out for a few hours on New Year's morning and do some fishing.  Yeah, that's right, I do fish every now and then...

2011 License...Check!

Let me start by saying what a beautiful day yesterday was.  50 degree temperatures in Pennsylvania in January is a rare treat, and it was fortunately on a weekend to be taken advantage of.  With a little bit of a later start than usual, I hit Valley Creek running around 9:00 AM.  Upon arrival, most of the snow from last weekend had melted, leaving footing a bit squishy, but flows in good condition.  A quick check of the water temperature showed the creek at a brisk 36 degrees.

Valley Creek Winter Wonderland

I was planning on finally fishing the new Fountainhead 330 Caddis Series tenkara rod, so it was the weapon of choice this AM.  Wanted to get a few good hours of water time, so I could give a better "review," and finish off what I started a few weeks back.

Fountainhead 330 Caddis Tenkara Rod & Arsenal of Flies

Well it took about a half an hour, but my first fish of 2011, a wild 8" brown, was landed at about 9:30 AM.  It felt nice to start the new year off on the right foot.  A size 16 zug bug was its meal.

Bet he didn't know he'd be an internet celebrity this AM

I brought a few more fish to hand after that, and particularly liked this spirited little guy.  Lot's of wiggle in a 4 or so inch fish.

Another Valley Beauty

At around 11:30 AM I decided to pack things up and head over to Stony Creek (about a 15 minute drive) and christen my new Redington Classic Trout 3-weight fly rod (an unexpected Christmas gift from my awesome wife).

This rod casts like butter.

Unfortunately, unlike Valley which is spring fed and stays relatively ice-free, the majority of Stony looked like this...

Anyone got a pair of skates?

I did find a few ice free runs, but the fishing was non-existent.  There were to be no fish for me at Stony on this day, a big difference from New Year's 2010, when I did very well.  I will say that Redington rod casts like a dream.  It's graphite, but has a slower action and loads like a gem.  Was dropping casts 25 feet and in on a dime.  There may be better fly rods out there, but at an MSRP of $150, I'd sure like to see them.

So that was my New Year's Day.  I'm at home now typing up this post and watching some bowl games.  I was out fishing while Florida beat Penn State in the Outback Bowl so I missed that one.  But I did see TCU squeak by Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, and it looks like Oklahoma just posted a 7 spot on UConn in the Fiesta.

Joe Pa should have punched a little harder.

On the water catching fish by day, watching College Football bowl games by night, I even think I'll run out to the beer fridge in the garage and grab a few cold ones.  I'll take another 364 days just like this one please.  Life is good.

Not A Trout

After my morning of Black Friday e-commerce crisis management came to a close yesterday, I thought I'd shoot up to the Stony Creek after work to check in on the morning's trout stocking.  By the time I got there the fish were already in the water and a different type of "doorbuster" crowd had assembled.

Not being one to be near the water & not get a line wet, I grabbed the spinning rod from the back of my SUV and tossed out a rooster tail.  After catching & releasing a few stockies - nothing to write home about - I caught this guy, (chub, shiner, whatever....) that actually put up a better fight than the trout did.  Usually don't catch these unless it's the summer so I was kinda surprised to not see a trout on the end of the line when I reeled it in.

Yeah, not the pretty little brown trout you usually see on here, but I figured this "trash fish" deserved its share of the spotlight today.

A Sure-fire Way To Get a Bump In Traffic

I wasn't sure why I saw a very large increase in local visitors to my blog around noon yesterday (Friday). Thanks to the magic of Facebook & the Pottstown Mercury, I now know.

Want website traffic?  Add some T...a little A...and then stir.

Excellent choice of picture by the Pottstown Mercury. (It was taken from a heat-related post I made last week). Hopefully nobody will be disappointed if the "Women in Waders" don't show up for the Adopt-A-Stream project this morning.

I should probably take this up with the board of the Stony Creek Anglers at our next meeting; with the proper marketing, the ladies' attendance would clearly create record turnouts next year...

2010 Stony Creek Anglers Adopt-A-Stream Project

This Saturday, July 31st, the Stony Creek Anglers are hosting their annual Adopt-A-Stream Project on the Stony Creek in Norristown, PA.  This year's stream bank restoration project will involve the construction of a log deflector reinforced with stone to decrease erosion and provide additional habitat for the trout near the "Meadow Bridge" site.

2009's Adopt-A-Stream Project on the Kepner Creek

This year's project will again be overseen & managed by Karl Lutz, Habitat Manager from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

If you're interested in helping in this project, the meetup time is 7:30 AM at the Stony Creek Anglers trout nursery in the Norristown Farm Park. Any and all assistance is welcomed. Tools and work gloves will be provided, however please bring adequate waders or wading boots as most of the project will take place in the water. Food & beverages to be served afterwards.

For more information on the Stony Creek Anglers, including maps of the park and directions to the nursery, visit their website HERE.

Stony Creek Anglers 2010 Trout Tournament

Last weekend was the 13th annual trout tournament on the Stony Creek, hosted by the Stony Creek Anglers.  As a member of the club, I didn't do any fishing, but instead helped with setup & stocking, as well as worked in the merchandise booth on both Saturday & Sunday.

A view from below the step dam

Saturday was an awesome day, the weather was beautiful & sunny, and the turnout was great.  Sunday...well, not so much.  It was rainy & chilly for most of the morning, and only the die-hard of anglers showed up.  Those that did show up either day were treated to some well stocked water - as almost 2500 trout were stocked in total, several over 20" in length.  The largest fish of the weekend was 26.5" and almost 9 pounds!

The kiddie pool was a hub of activity all weekend

Despite Sunday's rain, all was well that ended well, and the we raised a nice sum of money to help support the club's trout nursery, streambank improvement projects, and initiatives within the community.

Several physically challenged groups from the area also participated in the fishing fun

Last but not least, here's a short video I took of some of Saturday's action.


Note: All of the photos & video above were taken with my new Kodak Playsport video camera.  I'll probably do a full write up on the camera later, but for only $150, I think it's a pretty nice little HD camera...and yes, it's waterproof too!

2010 Trout Tournament on the Stony Creek

Kind of surprised I didn't post anything about this yet considering it's less than a month away.  However, here's all the info on the 13th Annual Trout Tournament on the Stony Creek.  There's always a good turnout...now let's just cross our fingers for good weather.

(Click to Download PDF)

Saturday, April 24th - 8 AM to 5 PM

Sunday, April 25th - 7 AM to 4 PM

Norristown Farm Park & Norristown State Hospital Grounds

Enter Gate #5 (Stanbridge Street)

Adults (16 & Over) $15.00

Teens (12 to 16) $12.00

Children (Under 12) $5.00

Breakfast/Lunch & Drinks Available

Bait, Lures, & Tackle Available - Fishing Poles for Kids

Handicapped Section & Children's Section (Special Pond for Kids 6 & Under)

1st, 2nd, & 3rd Place Trophies for Longest Fish

Trophies awarded for Adults, Handicapped Adults, Children, Handicapped Children, and Kids 6 & Under at the end of each day (30 trophies total)

Proceeds will be applied to the operation of Montgomery County's first co-op trout nursery & children's programs

For more information (including downloadable maps & trout sponsor forms), visit the Stony Creek Anglers website.

A Successful 2010 Stony Creek Clean Up

Yesterday, I was among a group of volunteers who took to the Stony Creek in Norristown as part of a mass clean-up effort in anticipation of next Saturday's opening day of trout season.

Despite the cold morning temperatures, there was a really nice turnout.  Several community groups including Boy Scout troops and a group of students from Temple University also came in to lend a hand.  Thankfully, the creek and it's surroundings was much cleaner than in year's past; we (only) re-claimed a dumpster's worth of trash from the creek.  Most of what I found on my stretch of the creek were empty beer cans, snack wrappers, and bait containers, but a group did come across an entire backseat bench from what appeared to be a mini-van.

Following the clean up, the Stony Creek Anglers brought some helpful folks back to the trout nursery to assist with the stocking of the Stony & Kepner Creeks.  The Stony should be well stocked for opening day weekend.

Senator John Rafferty also stopped by the nursery during the stocking efforts to visit and take a spin in the club's new John Deere Gator, which was obtained through a grant he helped the club obtain.

Photos courtesy of Ray Duff:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577155957HLHQPK