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Trout Fishing on the Tulpehocken CreekOn the Tulpehocken Creek, on an early February 2011 morning, for this trout fishing report. The air temperature was 42 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water temperature on the Tulpehocken Creek,at a location a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Schuylkill River was 38 degrees.I was near a historic mill on the creek, which is a major tributary of the Schuykill River, which winds its way through Southeastern Pennsylvania from the Coal Regions to Philadelphia, whereit dumps into the Delaware River. My bait was a nightcrawler on a No. 6 Eagle Claw hook, and I fished the swirls underneath a waterfallunder an old concrete bridge. No bites for at least two hours under an overcast to partly sunny sky,fishing the swirls near the falls and all the way out to the tailwaters of the runs. I was fishing for holdover rainbow trout and native browns, so I switched to orange BerkleyPowerbait, but to no avail. Nothing, not even a rock bass (which I've caught here before), was biting. 
Around 10:30, the sun was getting a bit higher in the sky. So I decided maybe I needed some flash.I had brought along a silver metal spoon bait, shaped like a minnow with a mother-of-pearl inlaidside. Kinda looked like a piece of jewelry, actually. And I tipped the treble hook with a nightcrawlerand started to fish it in the same spots. Bang! I had a hit, and I pulled to set the hook. It was a heavy fish and I saw a long silver form nearthe surface of the water as the rod bent. Blimely, I thought, it's a big one. Then, just as fast,I saw my lure leave its mouth and the line went slack. The big trout had had the worm in its mouth and then let it go. More casts to a spot that in the past summer had contained an underwater weed bed. This time I broughtup two brown trout, one around 11 inches and the other, pictured here, around 13 inches. Next time, when the water is cold and the browns lethargic, I will remember to bring the flash alongwith the meat. 
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