Flying Smallmouth

Fished both Friday and Saturday nights with different results but one big problem exists on Penns. Friday night was a Johnson's and the trout were up and eating, first in order was Iso spinners follwed by the Drunella spinner and finaly at dark and small tan caddis. I took a position in the mid pool and had the water to myself, let the guys in the riffles try to imitate the spinners movement, not so much! There are are few really good trout feeding, not hard to spot them but every once in a while some of the rise forms result in a smallmouth bass! I'm not against bass but not in my trout stream. The night was a very fullfilling one with good company on the bank and hatches that are consistant, so much in fact I decided to go Saturday night.
  I arrived at the parking lot with ten other cars but soon discovered as we have seen a few of the cars are walkers and people riding bikes. I wanted to check the Fish Comm. Cabin pool because you can always find a few good fish on the bank, not so much as I waded and took a few small browns off the bank, got above the cabin and decided to go down stream and fish the Hepner Hole, off I went. The fish were taking Olive spinners in the roffle feeding the pool and remember the beating wings? I went to the tail out where there were a ton of fish up, one really good trout on the far bank in the back water all the rest- 12 were smallmouth- if this trend keeps up they will creat hell on the small trout and we will have a popluation of a few large trout and a ton of smallies. I wanted to see if they know how to fly and tried a few out, poor fliers and I could not find them to lead them to the water, I guess maybe everyone should try it. This is a direct result of the warm water conditions that have been the norn in the past years and they usualy don't actively feed on top till May & June, the problem is getting very apparent, at the bottom of the Cabin Pool there are at least 8 of them feeding! Hey it's our beloved Penns and if we can't do anything about the barbary maybe we can teach some bass to fly.

Drunella, Olive Spinners

Saturday night I fished Penns Creek in the Coburn area to make sure the Olive spinners were on and all is right with the world, well they are and world is right. The spinner fall really did not get started till about 6:45- 7:00 PM a bit on the late side. In a 40 yard area there we at least 30 trout activley feeding. The conditions could not have been better, water volume and tempearture are perfect, air temperature was perfect in the hight 70's to low 80's, birds were active but so were the cabin people and that road was a busy as it always is, not really sure were all those cars are going to! The trout were picky but catchable, saw a lot of spinners still beating their wings (females trying to expell their egg mass), hard to imitate it, name of the game is rhythem, get them timed and make a cast. Took a good amount of fish but only found one good on that I hooked and after a clear the water jump and head shake- gone! The event was over by 8:30PM, time to go, did see a fair number of light cahills and very large stoneflies become active. Some of the takes on the stoneflies in the riffles were violent and impressive but with no large patterns and not really wanting to cut my leader back, I just watched. Fellows you have at least 3 weeks of Drunella spinner active falls in the evening and a good morning hatch. Look for the small Olives around the 4th of July if we have cloudy days, the trout key on them and really but on the feed bag. Ant and beetle actively will beging to heat up.
  For a side adventure walk the old railroad bed and look for the wood turtles that are actively laying their eggs, it is a wonderful sight to see. I'll also try to get a picture that a friend took of 2 rat snakes mating and post it.

Cornuta of Old now Drunella Lata

The other guy is telling us that Cornuta is on Penns, well that's just not the case, the name was changes a few years ago the correct name is "Drunella lata". I love all that has been written about this hatch and spinner falls, not a lot, seems as if most all authors do not think the spinner stage is of any importance nor are the duns! Having fished this hatch for the past 40 years and having the creek to ourselfs I think this might be a good case of not telling anyone about it. During the mornings it is a great hatch, not a blanked one but a good steady one here and one there but the duns have a bad habit of changing colors with the amount of time that they are on the water. The nymph actualy starts hatching within the last 12" of the water column, the duns float for a long time due to the matted wings, they emerge as a pale greenish yellow then change to a medium olve and finaly to dirty dark olive body and the trout do key on the color. We did experiment with a floating nymph with one wing as a loop the other as a spinner wing position and the trout loved them but it was always the body color that is the key to success. This a lovely hatch to just wade upstream and key on the feeding fish above you, if the day is cloudy they will come all morning.
  The spinner stage is what we all wait for, actual body size is really a 15, the actual fly has a crook in the last 1/4 of the abdomen and is really apparent to the total length of the body. The body color is really a very dark olive almost black, I have at least 4 colors that I use and I select according to how I feel at the moment with no scientific basis for my choice only do not fish these guys in the riffles. The spinner has a habit of beating their wings as they fall in the riffles in order to eject their egg mass, a hackled fly would do better in this area. It is best to key on the mid pool to the tail outs for the active feeders. This is a hatch/spinner fall that will last 3-4 weeks, no hords looking for the Swarm!
  Next will be ant and beetle fishing.

The Swarm????!!!!

Look's as if Green Drake feaver has taken over for another year, can't wait till it's over and the swarm is gone, no that's what some kook is calling the main hatch. I suggest this fellow read and absorb the proper terms and try to use them in his report or as we call it rental and fly sale site.
  As soon as the Drakes are a memory we will have at least 3 weeks of great Olive fishing both all day dun and the best spinner fishing of the entire season in complete solitude! The old Cornuta now called Drunella is the best spinner fishning to be had on Penns, a real gentlemens fall 6:30 to 8:00 PM and done for another day. There are some real keys to picking the best location for the spinner fall, not every section of the stream will have them, long riffles that feed into a large pool will be the best locations. Be careful because they have a habit of beating their wings for a few moments as they fall in the riffles, this is very hard to imitate, best to fish where the riffle tails out. Any questions just ask.
  Tight Lines!