I ventured up to my favorite spot on Buffalo Creek yesterday with more than a little trepidation. From past experience that creek takes a long time to return to normal after experiencing heavy rains.
Fortunately, arriving at the stream it was certainly higher than normal but fishable with a nice tint to the water (not muddy). What I failed to notice until actually entering the water was the strong flow of the creek.
The water was moving so quickly that fly presentation was difficult. After trying a multitude of different flies and combinations in desperation I tied on a far to large Clousser Minnow and a trailing Elk Caddis. Rich has told me more than once he has never caught a fish on a Clousser, and he's a much better fly fisher than I, but for me it has been a very successful pattern for trout, bass, and I even caught that muskie on one last fall.
That 'far to large' Clousser ended up netting 6 trout and 1 smallmouth while I couldn't get anything to touch the trailer no matter what I tried.
Besides getting to spend a beautiful part of the day all alone on one of my select spots this guy decided to join the party.
A beautiful brown succumbed to the Clousser Minnow
Regarding the stream and fishability. Upon returning home I checked the USGS website and the Discharge = 229 with the Gauge Height = 4.78 at the Iron Bridge. I wouldn't recommend trying to fish the stream if the readings are much above these levels.
A short video of the days action