As the weather starts to cool down and Fall begins to set in, the shoreline fishing for Trout at Round Valley begins to heat up as the water cools down and the Trout come up shallow and start swimming the shoreline. Last year was my first year fishing at Round Valley during that time, as opposed to previous years where I’d either be too preoccupied with school or fishing at Spruce Run. Though last Fall at Round Valley definitely got me hooked on going back and fishing there every Fall almost exclusively.
This was back before I started writing for this site, and I just happened to be looking through some of the articles and came across one that Rob had posted about shore fishing in October using slip bobbers, which got me curious about trying it out. However, I wasn’t fully convinced to get out until I heard from Lebanon Bait & Sport (This was before they closed down of course) that people were starting to get into a few Trout from the shoreline, so then I decided I would go out the next morning and see how I could make out. That decision ended up being one of the best I made to this day in terms of fishing and ended up being the beginning of almost three weeks of beautiful Fall weather, and some phenomenal fishing, some of the best I’ve ever had the entire time I’ve been fishing!
I remember my first day out there last October like it was yesterday, I stopped and grabbed 2 dozen Shiners from the bait shop, and was out at Round Valley putting my first lines in the water not too long after 6:00 a.m. I cast out my first rod, which I had rigged up with a slip bobber 10 feet down, and before I even got a chance to turn around to bait my second rod, my bobber was gone, and the first fish of the day for me was a 14-inch Chain Pickerel.
After releasing that, I cast my rod out again, and just as I finally get my second rod out, my first bobber goes under again. This time it was a 15.5-inch Rainbow Trout! After putting that one in the cooler, I cast my second line back out, and not even 5 minutes after that I was into another fish, this time a 15-inch Brown Trout. Now what was all within a time frame of 10-15 minutes or so, pretty good start to a day if you ask me. I ended up going back to the bait shop two more times that day because I kept running out of bait! After that, it only got better for me as October went on. I had a good amount of days that I was able to land 100+ fish, all of which were released perfectly healthy, except for my daily limit of two Trout whenever I felt like keeping a few for dinner. Nearly everyday I got a mixed bag of fish as well, between Chain Pickerel, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Largemouth Bass, and the occasional Smallmouth Bass. While most of the Bass were on the smaller side, nearly all the Trout were 15+ inches, which is keeper size at Round Valley for those of you that may not know.
Last year, I got nearly all my fish on Shiners fished under slip bobbers, with a small percentage caught on artificial lures; Rapalas and small spinners. Though with the amount of fish swimming the shoreline that time of year,
you’re pretty much bound to get something eventually with whatever it may be that you’re using. I’ve been eagerly awaiting for this time of year again since last year, and I’ll be sure to be out there nearly everyday come October. So if you haven’t tried Fall shore fishing at Round Valley, I suggest you give it a try, and if you see me out there feel free to come say hi! Overall, Fall at Round Valley to me means; beautiful weather, awesome Fall scenery at Round Valley, and not to mention lots of fish … Who could pass that up? I know I couldn’t!
Sept. 24th- Weather has cooled down considerably, especially nights, so I decided to see if the trout had moved in close to shore yet. Stopped at Behr`s for bait, and he said they were starting to get some fish. Got to the valley, the water is very high, cast out M & M`s on a long leader in case of high weed growth. 10 minutes later, got my first fish of the fall, a 14″ Rainbow. I had two more, both doing acrobatic jumps, and both 15 1/2 inches. As is my custom, I took my keepers and left. Don`t believe in fishing for trout and trying to release them unharmed. A great start to fall fishing, even tho` it was a short day. Be back soon.