Big Hunting Creek Stream Summary
Big Hunting Creek is my favorite place to fish within an hours drive of the city. There are trout everywhere, and they are not shy to the fly. They can be caught year round, almost anwhere between the dam lake and to well above the visitor's center. Much stream improvement has been done to create spawning beds, specifically dams and channels being placed in the stream. This create incredible pools that will sometimes hold dozens of fish. During the winter and spring, it can be very difficult to see the fish, but they are there. During the summer, with the low water and high sun, the fish are exposed, and in some pools, up to twenty fish can be seen at once, ranging in size from about 8" up to around 20". I have not yet caught a brookie here, although I have been told they do exist in the stream.
To fish Big Hunting Creek, you must be very stealthy, and must have a good pair of polarized glasses. Because you can see the fish, they can see you as well. There are many hatches on the creek, but wet flies take the vast majority of the fish. Dry flies, though, are the most fun to fish by far. Watching a highly visible #16 caddis float down a glass smooth pool, then the miniature explosion on the waters surface, and then the realization that a trout now has your fly is quite enjoyable. Midges also work very well, year round. It is not hard to maintain a drag free drift, but it is hard to cast without catching your fly in a tree. Be very careful of overhaning trees and bushes, and in the cases of those lazy among us (who, me?) who sometimes like to fish sitting down, beware of tall grass that can steal flies in an instant. It is torture to watch, on a day of sporadic rises, several trout spontaneously go crazy and rise promiscuously for those few moments it takes you to untangle your fly, or tie on a new one.
Other concerns: the various poisonous or itchy inhabitants of the stream. I have sat on a log that later revealed a copperhead living within it, have walked within four feet of a small rattlesnake, have been bitten by 10 different kinds of bugs in a five minute period, and have been standing near the waters edge, and then realized that the harmless grass at my ankles is poison ivy. But I forgot about all of that about 30 seconds later when I hooked and landed a beautiful 12" brown trout.

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