Penns Creek and the Bale Eagle

Fished Penns Creek last week and was treated to a companion who was just watching me, a mature Bald Eagle sat in a stream side tree and observed me all the while bitching at me, only when I moved upstream did it leave. I fished below Coburn, just above Stan's bridge using #12 Chez nymphs and a #18 Pheasant Tail nymph as a trailer, took fish on both and neither seemed to out fish the other. Moved upstream to the next soft riffle and it became apparent that this was sucker heaven. None of the fish were in bad post spawn shape and seemed to be on a moderate feed, more typical of mid December.
  I did forget to mention last week that Spring Creek is filled with wood debris from Sandy which will help the survival of our juvenile trout for the winter. The amount of wood that is held in the stream as been shown to greatly effect small trout over the winter season, this gives them somewhere to hide and feed in peace, not worry about what flies or swims and has them on the menu. Looking at Penns I see the same debris and hope that we do not have a blow out to move this material out, the next time your out take a look at this and observe the amount of small fish using the cover. I need to take a look at Cherry Run but feel this also has received a good amount of storm debris.
  I did notice that most of the Penns browns were in the softer seams and not in the mid riffle lies that we normally find them, this is a normal winter pattern and will become more of a factor as the water cools. For now lets leave them alone and have a good holiday season with our families.

Dec 2012 Post Spawn not quite yet

State College 68 degrees on Dec 4th, Spring Creek @ 51.8 degrees and the fish are still spawning. Looks as if the 2012 spawn has been a very good one by the number of redds you can see and the pairs still going strong.Did not see any really big pairs but enough of the 12 thru 15" class fish that makes it worth going. At 10:00 AM the midges and olives were going strong and the fish also. Not the typical winter olive hatch but they were eating them, midges seemed to be less important. If you floated it to them they would eat not any really nice fish but still for Dec 4 not bad at all. I used one dry fly a #24 loop wing olive emerger, did not have any refusals! I do not think that the trout have taken their typical winter lies at this time but it also does not appear that they are on the post spawn feed. I did take a few skinny males that really needed some extra calories! Did not bother to fish scuds, too dam many people in the good nymph water- just too nice! I'm looking for a nice drizzle or soft snow fall to bring the olives in mass before the Jan/Feb turn off occurs.
  Heard a few reports that Cherry Run was full of really nice 12-16" sized browns from the new Cherry Run bridge to the new bridge at Ole Mingle, we had a good flow of water that allowed them to ascend and spawn. I hope none of the locals took any of them, they are our future!

Nov.2012 The Spawn?

Fished Spring Creek Wed. & Thursday of this week, Olives were the name of the game not strong but they ate everyone that passed them by even moving a few inches to intercept them. I used a #20 1/2 loop emerger in olive, if I got the float right they ate it, not big numbers but just the same they made me smile. Did see quite a few tan caddis around and also noticed a few big rises to Oct. caddis, all in all a nice few days. Checked the known spawning locations for redds but did not see them, looks as if they are just starting to dig a few but not the numbers that Spring Creek usually has, maybe a week to 10 days will be about right. Normally around Thanksgiving is the perfect time unless we have a real early flush and cold snap?
  Resisted the urge to fish streamers, just to dam much work, might try Penns this weekend with a large purple bunny pattern.

East vs. West Fly Shops

It's easy to compare the East and West from a customer view point of fly shops. The West has much more to offer, Headhunter tippet, leaders and a wide varity of other leader material. Craig, MT is home to "3" fly shops, The Orvis shop is typical of the company, rods made in American and everything else made in China, one word shooty. Headhunters is a new comer to the scene but their web site is wonderful, filled with a very candid snapshot of current fishing conditions, they speak the truth. The coffee is always on as is the Yeti cooler on the front porch filled with beer, nice touch. This shop has girls in the store and they can fish, not here in the East. The Trout Shop also in Craig is large it has almost everyting that you could want or need, Patagonia, Simms, Headhunter, Rio to name a few. The Trout Shop also has a small deli that serves a wonderful selection of made on the spot sandwiches, try the "cuban" (had 3 of them in the 10 days), they offer Starbucks coffee- who knew. Moving up the river to Wolf Creek you'll find MRO, a full service shop with motel and cabin rentals, Tim is still there and will go out of his way to help. All of these shops give good solid advice but never oversell the river or the trout and they never insult customers with boasting of their skills?
  We did the 5 shops in Bozeman and found they offered the same type of laid back underselling of the resource, each shop had it's nitch but they all got along, a far cry from the shops in our area who seem to enjoy bickering about one another, to the point of vengence.
  Stopped in Ennis at the shop and found the same wide selection and wonderful service. West Yellowstone offers 3 shops Arrick's know for matedrials, Montana River Outfitter had a great guy in the shop, Chris Daniels the brother of TCO manager George Daniels, Chris has some of the best photography that I have ever seen, innovation seems to run in the family. Stopped in at Blue Ribbon a wonderful shop, just to stand in front of the deer and elk hair bins and pick the perfect piece for your tying needs is wonderful.
  The last shop was George Andersen's in Livingston, same wonderful service and wide selection, makes we want to stay in the West.
  Our local shops have limited selections and seem to want to tell everyone about how well the do and not give a shit about their potential customer, out West the set the customerrs expectitations lower and deliver far more in the end. If you want to tell everyone how great you are don't do it to customers and don't oversell the resource.
  When was the last time you saw the wide product offering in our area, we do have the anglers but not the single store to serve them

Montana October 2012

Time for my annual trip to Montana in October in hopes of a strong Baetis hatch on the Missouri, well that did not happen the first two days, normal Pesudo's- those little devils! On the Missouri the fish will take a bigger imitation if you present it well on the first float, they did. I fished with Arti Newman from Sunbury who now lives in Craig, MT "Trout Town USA", we used a drift boat and really could not get in position to work the pods of rising fish, still did well. Had reservations on two spring creeks, took off for Bozeman. A good friend of mine from FL and I tried Milesnick's Benhardt Spring Creek (3 miles of heaven) in Belgrade, MT, 406-388-7001 but the first day we had winds of 45 MPH not good for casting or for that matter getting out of a portapotty! We took off South and fished Three Dollar Bridge and Slide in area of the Madison and did very well- still not the Missouri.rainbows. We tried Milesnick's the next day arriving with Mary saying "You two are certainly determined" go ahead and try it and come back and pay if it's ok. We did well but with the winds at only 30 MPH we could not stand it more that an hour, we'll be back in the future. Wed. I had reservations for Nelson's Spring Creek, Paradise Valley, MT 406-222-6560, arrived at 9:00 AM,walked the entire 1.5 miles of the stream and took a few browns before a truly wonderful Pesudo hatch took place, the entire stream was alive with rising trout from 10 to 20+", just what we wanted! We noticed when signing the guest book no one was there since mid Sept., we had steady rising trout till 5:00 PM, truly heaven. Give either of these spring creeks a try at least once in your life, the video below is from Nelson's.

  Back to the Missouri, fished 2 more days in the drift boat and could not get any steady rising fish due to the winds gusts, this was the week for WIND! Took fish but I really do not like indicator or streamer fishing from a boat. Saturday came and I was determined to wade fish the old way. Drove to one of my favorite spots and just watched the river, saw fish working the tail out off a gravel bar, they never broke the surface but were eating. Used the same rig that has worked well the last 20 years in the fall, a #16 soft hackle wet, biot body, fur collar and med dun soft hackle. They ate it but I had a heck of a time keeping them on, hook ups only lasted 15-30 seconds, finally I had a break off and tied another one on using 4X, same crap happened but this time I looked at my hook- the gap had opened. Did not take long to determine that Tiemco 2487's we not the answer, quickly knotted on a 2457 #16 and landed 16 big rainbows, still had the typical MO break offs, at take and run and break off. A truly wonderful morning, gos to show you if some thing worked before don't be stupid do it again till the fish tell you otherwise. The picture is of one of the 16 that morning, 20+" , heavy with no marks in her mouth.

Iso's in Sept.

Fished Penns Thursday Sept. 27 below Cherry Run, no not in some one's personal riffle! Got there about 10:00 AM and watched the stream and saw a few fish rise, put on a tan Iris caddis emerger, floated it over at least three good solid rising fish but no takes? I saw a Iso coming off the surface and decided to put one on, that was the last fly I put on, fished it all day and it accounted for 20 fish, 2 big rainbows, 3 big browns and the rest smaller but in very nice shape browns. The only problem was I forgot my dry fly shake material and it was hard to get it back in shape after each fish, I'll remember next time. My Iso emerger is just a smaller version of the one I use in the summer those tend to be very large size 10/12 and the fall guys are about 12/14- depends on your hook choice. I use Tienco 200 #14 with a dark olive grizzly shuck, dark red brown Aust. opossum body, a full looped old grey poly wing and light ginger hen hackle. Just treat the wing loop and float in to them, the fish took it all every way possible, splashy, head & tail or down stream, all good indications that they were locked on that insect. No one else around till I was leaving, some young dude started to fish in the riffle and I bet he did not have a pass to do so?

Carp, Caddis & Rio Line

I have been trying and trying to find a good spot in the local river to try and catch carp on the fly but just can not find a spot where they are in sight, you can not blind fish for them. You stalk carp the same as you do bonefish. The only spot that I have found them and have caught them is near the Chinese resturant in Lewisburg just off Route 15 N., we call it Bull Run but I know this is not correct. I use a bead head crayfish like pattern and cast it lightly ahead of them and just give it some action and 3 out of 10 time they will take but in this small area it is dam hard to land one, give it a try next summer.
  I have been fishing Spring and Penns Creeks with success using any tan caddis pattern, Iris (emerger) or a Bubble Back adult pattern with great success. My killer black bead caddis wet emerger has had limited success but it is very early in the pattern testing to throw it away. Saturday Sept 15 I was at the junction pool of Penns & Elk/Pine a bit early, got dressed and decided to walk down the bank and come in from below, as I was dressing I could hear an Eagle in the area but could not see it. As soon as I came out from the stream side vegetation I waded to a rock to rig up well just below me in a stream side tree was the Eagle just looking at me, well got the camera out and turned it on- Message Battery Exhausted *** dam he flew off and I was just thrilled to be that close to him. Had a hell of a time trying to get a fly to the fish, every time I cast the leader would just fall on top of itself, cut it back and rebuilt it with limited success. I had to cast maybe 6 times to each rising fish to get the dam fly where it should be, the line was a Rio Gold WF3F and it will be burned this week, I tried a t least 3 different leaders and they all sucked. I did use the line before and had limited time with it but it's gone now. Any suggestions on leaders will help but please no Geo. Harvey formulas, they just are not accurate for me. I'm using Rio Trout leaders and have become more familiar with them and have had some good days with them but this was not one of them, the rod was a Winstion 8'6" BIIX- god figure.
  Anyone looking to buy or sell quality equipment might want to use either of these guys, they are far and offer a lot of rods and reels;
www.tradenstuff.com or www.ricksrods.com Dave at Traden Stuff has a huge inventory and it fast, Rick's is more for the high end stuff but worth a look.

No Trico's?

Fished Spring Creek this morning 8/9/2012 and found no Trico's but did find a lot on tan caddis, just had to watch and pinpoint the rises- only missed 4 fish all the others took well. The attached video is a very nice brown that was tight against the bank. Sorry about the "3" copies of the same video- duh!

The White Fly

Yes I know this is to be about trout but at this time of year if you want something to do close at home, try this - carp on top! I was in Athens the other day and found the entire surface covered with rising carp taking spent white flies (Ephoron Lukon, spell), heck they were not more than 5' off the bank and taking last nights spent flies like little pigs. Today I was in Berwick and Bloomsburg interviewing fishermen and they informed me that at the Berwick "Test Track ramp" and the Bloomsburg "Riverfront Park" has thousands of rising fish every night, some really big carp! I'll be out looking for fish above the dam in Sunbury and on Wed night in Bloomsburg checking the evening rise. Do not underestimate the power of these fish when you hook one, a 7 wt and a reel with a good drag will be necessary. Pictures to follow after the catch.
  We did this for years below the dam in Sunbury for bass but sadly that event just does not happen, the flies are there but not the fish. I wonder if this is still going strong on the Yellow Breeches?

Just fine

Stopped at a shop on Penns and heard doom and gloom from one of the guides, he looked like Opie with a tight fitting hat, he was wrong. Told me not to fish Spring Creek or Bald Eagle (it is Spring Creek below Milesburg) but he fished it that morning- go figure. Above Bellefonte please check the water temp but below town the temp was 59.1 @ 11:30 AM!
  The Trico spinner fall was short but very good, tried something new today, I used a poorly tied fly shop spinner #22 on 6x and by dam they took it but all down stream and across presentations, so much for my flies. The tan Caddis was among the Trico spinners and after the main fall I used a Iris X caddis and had a dropper on it but I soon took it off because no one took it but they did eat the Iris big time. Ended the morning with 25 trout from 5" rainbows that were fat up to a few browns that were at 12-14" (all bankers) BUT they ate the caddis maybe not the first float but by the 4th float the killed it. Three of the browns were tight to the bank and just rolled on the fly, nice to see. I'm not telling everyone to fish but if you must go and have a ball but land the fish fast, no GP death fight! This year has been a typical Trico year, not what it used to be, maybe some water problem because the numbers are not there.

Light Tan Caddis tandem

At this time of year and most of the rest of summer I use the following light tan caddis tandem. The best dry fly caddis emerger is the Iris X from our friends at Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone, MT, if your not using it during caddis emergence you should be! The pattern is a short shuck of Zelon and a rough body of your favorite dubbing with a white Zelon lopped wing over the back 2/3 of the fly, Gink it up and hit the rise head on and hold on, trout just love them, easy to tie and the materials are not hard to come by. It is very important to get the wing correct, just a slight twist before you bring it forward. The other pattern that I use is a black metal or tan plastic bead with a short wing of 3 CDC feathers to match the body and the body of bleached pheasant tail. I also tie these in olive, black and standard pheasant tail red brown with wings to match as best you can, use as a dropper and the results are great.

Short Trico Fall, Light Tan Caddis & Beetles

Fished Spring Creek the other day and found that the Trico did come but it lasted a total of 45 min's, you really have to look and determine what fish that you want to cast to very quickly if you want to catch a nice fish. All during the Trico spinner fall I was seeing the #18 Light Tan Caddis on the water and the fish really keyed in on them, of course my caddis box was in the car! During this time of year I wear a small chest pack and just did not take the caddis as I should have, had Trico's & Terrestrials- next week I'll be armed. I'll use a caddis emerger with a bead head dropper.

Tricos are on! and the Beetles are on the table

Fished very early this morning and at 7:30 AM the trout were up and feeding well, only a few Trico's in the air and not many on the water but feeding they were. You could see the larger fish were in a rythm and all you had to do was line it up and hope it was time for them to eat. Took every fish on a #24 olive Trico spinner, some on top and others wanted it below the surface? It appeared as if they were eating nymphs at the surface but I was just to lazy to rig a two fly set up but the next time I will. As soon as I got in the water there were three large fish feeding not more than 20 yards away, 2 very nice rainbows and a very good brown. I was more interested in the fish that tend to feed near the banks in the shade- they were there! Took 7 more fish moving up the bank but could not take "3" really snooty guys. One fish made me float my fly 14 times over him before he ate it! Funny thing when the actual spinners made the water the fish stopped! The actual size of the spinners was a 26, go figure. Sometimes the fish tend to get into a feeding rythn before the actual spiiner fall but this will even out as the days go by. Made it to the top of the run and there were a few spin guys at the head of the pool, time to get out and find more fish. Checked Spring Creek at one spot that has always been great, a small amount of spinners in the air and not one rise, stood in the tale of the pool and waited for nothing to happen. This is typical when the Trico's are just getting started, you need to find them and make certin they are hatching or falling on the specific pool you intend to fish or have fish actualy feeding.
  At 11:00 AM began to prospect with a #10 black foam beetle, they like it a lot. If you intend to fish a beetle make sure you can plop it on the surface, it's like the dinner bell. Cast it in shallow water, on edges geez just about anywhere and hold on, sometimes you'll see the wake coming for your fly.
  This is the start of the most pleasant time of the year, early morings of Trico's and early afternoons of beetle fishing, doesn't get much better.
  Saw a picture of a rainbow a fellow caught & released on Bald Eagle, well over 23", nice fish!

Iso's & Olives are still on tap

Fished Coburn Tuesday June 26 and found the North side of the stream below the junction pool to be very dirty, seems as if Donnie Beaver secured a permit to do extensive stream improvement on both Elk and Pine Creeks! I must say the work in progress looks great and will only help to improve the overall trout habitat in that area.
  Iso's and Olives were emerging and the trout were eating Iso nymphs, nothing large but very nice brown's. This area seems to have trout that as I said before fight very hard and will not give up and come to the net. Not sure about a large olive spinner fall at night due to the strong wind that was blowing all day long. Air temp was 73 and the water was still in the low 60's not bad for the end of June. The cold nights really help to keep the water cool and the lush stream side vegetation helps. I have been at it again with my planting of yellow water Iris, I'll keep it up as long as there are some mud banks to plant in.
  Now will the perfect opportunity to get your small pack of Terrestrials out and have a great day pounding the shore and shallow riffles with a size 10 or 12 black beetle!

Olives still going on strong

Fished at Johnson's Sunday night, the olives (Drunella lata) are still going strong maybe not as heavy but there non the less. Air temp at 71 and water temp at 62.1, I think that the heavy winds and low humidity a good heavy spinner fall might be pushed to today. I have looked at all the other web sites and they are telling everyone that the olives are size 14, bull crap! Drunella spinners are a solid 16 (you could use a 18 long shank hook and be fine but if you fish a 14 your out of the ball park. I sampled 10 spinners and compared them to my pattern and they are an exact length match for a Tiemco 101 #16, so much for the experts. We had to fish just below the riffles (not a good area to fish these guys because of their wing beating habit) but the old Johnson's cabin had a ton of kids swimming and enjoying the water. Spotted one wonderful very large brown on the far side and did get him to take but I had too much line out and was not in control of it. I gave the spot to Tom B. and he had a go at him also- no hookup. At about 8:30 we saw a lot of light cahill's emerging but did not stay to see if the trout fed on them. They are not called ginger quills!
  Yes there are stoneflies,caddis,craneflies and Iso's but not enough to get them going on any of them, read the other web site very carefully, just because they tell you they are there does not mean the fish are on them. Almost beetle time, if the raspberries are ripe it's beetle and ant ti

Bad Choice

Penns on Sunday 6/10/2012 looked to be fine for Drunella spinners but when I got to Doc's the gate was locked and I was just to lazy to walk down the road, a very dumb decision! Decided to fish behind AFWREO, water was at 600+ cfs and temp was 66, not bad but a very poor spinner area. The amount of very large stoneflies and fish flies that were crashing into the surface made me want to have a #6 dark stone fly to cast at the rising fish. A good spinner fall but just not the best area to target larger fish in the tail out, chubs and smallmouths every where to be seen. A few nice trout but just not the same as Doc's or Coburn, will have to remember that for future use. Saw a ton of Iso's still coming off along with the PE Duns, all the browns that I took came on the PE Dun emerger.
  Should have taken a nymph rod and used a commercial rig to clean the riffles out!

What to do now?

Tie flies that's what to do. You know that you need Iso. nymphs, emergers and spinners, Drunella spinners, ants and large black beetles- so get to it. I've been tying some new expermintal scud patterns for the Winter months along with some Iso. emergers for use when the water does go down. This week it will be White Deer or any other mountain stream, for me it will be some of the smaller limestones in the State College area not big fish just really nice conditions and it you tone down your rod selection to a 2 wt. the smaller guys give you a great fight.  Had to break down and not use the Sharkskin lines for a time, they just overload the rod if you use the same weight line the rod is rated for, they are one strong line size overweight. I do not like to mismatch lines and rods- going back to SA Mastery Trout lines and know how they work with the rods that I have.
  I'll report on the small streams but will not name them. Yes Jim Penns has larger fish but how much time do you really have on it with our 2 year weather pattern of rain?

Bad Advice

Decided to fish Friday evening, read the stream gauge for Penns and at 850+ it seemed to be a fair idea. Hey the swarm guy has been down playing his exploits but still tells us that he fished till 2 AM- sure hope not in the FFF area? Stopped at a fly shop and heard "Do you want the good news or the bad news", told the callers that The Drake is coming off along with Sulphurs, PE Duns, Caddis, Drunella, Stone Flies and Crane Flies but did not tell anyone that none of these were strong enough to bring fish up. Questioned him about seeing Drunella and he admitted that they have seen "1" dun, to say it's a stretch is about all I want to say. Decided to fish an area that I have not fished for 20 years, checked the trees for duns and spinners- picture attached. Water was high and not safe to wade, all I did was look and saw dinks taking a few? There was nothing of merit to talk about, then the heard came 1st one guy then another and another, all wanting my spot- not so much. No Green Drake duns and no spinner clouds, nothing, stayed till 8:00 PM and walked up along the bank at Stan's pool and saw a huge brown take 2 duns? then he stopped, a good mark for a mouse later in the season, it is truly a giant fish. Long story short I do not see anyone telling the entire truth about the conditions and the hatch was a bust in Coburn Friday night. That said lets get on with the Slate Drakes and the Drunella spinner falls of June and say goodbye to the non fisherman that showed up that night.

What to like about the Green Drake

Any new fly fisherman or woman for that matter need and should experience at least one full blown Green Drake emergence in their fly fishing life, it is a spectacle. The sight of seeing insects that are 2" + in body length and the entire surface covered with them is a spectacle that one can simply not convey to anyone with words alone. If you look at the surface of the stream it seams as if every square foot has at least a dun on it and the trout simply gorge on them, that is the problem. In a world that demands the trout eat as much as they can with the least amount of energy necessary to eat it seams as if there is no rhythm to the feeding habits but step back and pick the fish that pushes the most water as they feed and key on the timing of their rises, cast to that one fish till you get it lined up or you miss em. All this coaching is a mute point to some anglers that get into a funk and really never pick just one fish, these guys seem to broadcast to every fish they see rise and therefore never really catch anything. I'm not one for fishing late into the evening, just can't see that well and the frustration is too much to take when you hear some of the boys feeding! This is an experience that you need to take part in and see for your self but the biggest problem is the crowds that the hatch brings, not the kind of anglers that have good manners, you have to pick a spot and guard it well or you will have a clone fishing along side of you in your pocket. Go enjoy the sheer numbers and sight of mother nature at her best feeding our beloved trout.

Are back to 2011 Weather Patterns?

After a long and wonderful prolonged pre Spring and actual Spring it seems as if the Green Drake has raised it's ugly side and given us a return to 2011 weather patterns. Our streams were so nice this year, low and fish able with cold nights to keep the water temperature down, great complex hatches to test our skills now Penns is at 2700 cfs and it might go higher. Yes the Drakes hatch in very high water and the trout are easier to catch but any attempt to wade is foolish at best. Our beloved Sulphurs are on hold till the water returns to a descent level. Penns is not a straight up and straight fall down like Spring and Bald Eagle, it is a long slow process that can be helped with strong winds to achieve maximum evaporation, not seeing that pattern develop. Looked at Spring Creek on Saturday and it was packed with people just waiting for the Shulphurs to hatch, not till 6:45 PM, sad to say grab a spot and hold off all comers, we need more water for all of us. Has anyone tried to park in the FFF parking lot at Penns, you need a number on the weekend.  We need the Drake to come and go so we have a return to the water without the crowds.

Guess Where?

Attached is a photo of a 23 1/2" Brown that I took Saturday May 5th, down deep and no indicator was used- any guess where he came from?

Rainbow Mystery Solved

Fished Penns Wed May 2 at GP's secret spot, "Korten's" both below and above, the rainbows are there also. Talked with a fellow that has a cabin and he informed me that the Fish Comm. is the one who stocked them, all in the 15 to 17" range and few larger but most in that slot. They seem to have spread out and really like the food factory that Penns offers. All that I saw was a sparse hatch of Gray Fox (this is what all the fish took), small and large stone flies, yellow crane flies and Invara & Rotunda (large sulphurs), most of the fish would come at least a foot to take a Gray Fox emerger. The sun came out and I drove to Johnson's to find rising fish, not many but 1 large brown and "2" rainbows, the bows have taken up residence mid pool and head and tail everything that floats to them, line the emerger up and they ate! The clouds came and the Invara/Rotunda hatch became more evident but sorry to say my time was up. Did see a few small sulphurs but it was too early for a good emergence. Summary is, if it's cloudy they are up all day if not it's an evening game, The entire stream is getting very crowded so be patient with your selection of where to fish, think a small not well know section to find peace and quiet.

A Wonderful Day

Fished Coburn area Thursday April 26, in a long tail out section of one of the larger holes, the fish were taking Gray Fox/March Brown emergers, no one around for a 100 yards and rising fish everywhere, on the bank and mid stream. Took every fish but 3 that rose, those guys were close to rocks and I think the drift was way off, good ones to mark. Took some very nice fish, they seem to fight really good in this section. The wind came up and I moved upstream to a section that I have looked at but never fished. As soon as I got in the water I saw rising fish everywhere, #16 Tan Caddis were dancing on the water, like shooting ducks in a barrel, just hit them and they took the fly. The fly of choice was a Iris Caddis, I talked to some young guy at the fly shop and he never heard of the fly or for that matter Craig Mattews at Blue Ribbon, don't they require a history course? He questioned that amount of fish that I landed based on the time I was on the water, silly kid! We talked about CDC and he asked where to get it, I said Rene Harrop, again another blank, don't these young guys know anything out of their area? Sad to say we might just have to have them read a certain number of books and take a history lesson if they want to join our club or better yet have them take their I phones on the golf course and stop taking up space on the water.

Rain for the spring

According to my backyard rain gauge we received 1.55" of much needed rain, the wonderful thing is it's cold. With our spring about 3 weeks ahead of time we have been very lucky that our night time temps have been on the cool to cold side which has helped to keep the stream temps well below 53. I was at Penns below Coburn on Saturday on a guiding trip and the Gray Fox/ March Brown emergence was in full swing, never an overwhelming number hatching at one time but more than enough heads to cast to, some very nice heavy fish! I'll check the streams today for any dirty water and report back.

Earth Day 2012

Good morning on the day before Earth Day 2012. We are very lucky to have the amount of great trout water at our door steps that we have. Within 45 mins we can be at any of the limestones and have a wonderful wild trout experience but if you look around some of these areas have become  trash dumps, look at "Rock Road" on Spring Creek  see the amount of litter that has been thrown out of passing cars, it makes you sick to see all of it. We as anglers have been doing a great job of keeping our parking areas clean, it is not us but we need to help clean up. I'm asking that if you see any trash please pick it up and take it home with you, you and the overall experience will benefit from your efforts.
  April 21 is out annual R.B. Winter Trout Unlimited Penns Creek clean up, 9:00 AM in the Union County Sportsman's Club parking lot, please help if you can- then go fishing.

Wow they are all on now!

April 11th found me on Penns again from 1:30 till 5:30 PM, wind, rain, sleet/hail and snow all day long, water temp of 49 , air temp of 49/54 and the fish ate big time. Hendricksons, Gray Fox, March Browns and Yellow Crane Flies take your pick. They ate Hendricksons then Gray Fox but seemed to avoid the March Browns which is typical when they first are on the water, did not see any fish take the Crane Flies. When the wind was blowing is was best to get out and stand on the bank but when it was calm they ate, the wind drove the duns to the shore and the South shore was just full of rising fish. Took 11 good browns, see attached video of the largest. Yes the big guy under the tree was up and I did get 3 good floats over him but no takers. Looks as if the "3" week early is holding. We will see Sulphurs in about 2 weeks then the stupid Drakes (brings too many people) after that the Summer Olives will be on about May 30th boy will that mess with a ton of people. Was going to stay for the spinner fall but the rain and hail just rolled in about every 15 mins.

  Enjoy the video and be safe on the first day on the open water

Rainbows in Penns Creek?

Fished Wed April 4th from 10:00 AM till about 2:00 PM, Grannoms were heavy in the morning, typical of them sporadic rising fish but nothing really to target. Took a few fish by hitting them on the heads just after they took a natural off the surface, most all the fish are really nice size, about 11:00 AM started to see some head and tail rise forms and the Hendrickson were just coming off from mid stream over to the far bank, line the fly up and time it correctly and they ate it. I took 3 really fine fish, 1 brown not far off the bank that was a solid 19", another brown of 17" and a rainbow at 17" all were in great shape with no mouth marks! At about 1:30 the Hendricksons were gone and so were the fish.
  The wife told me to get out of the house on Sat while she prepared Easter dinner so off to Penns, arrived about 10:00 AM the the Grannoms were still in the air and the fish were up, same as Wed. This time I took a few nice browns and 2 more rainbows, I'll attach a video of the larger bow. I barley could get my hand around the fish to hold it a solid 18" heavy fish and that was the second of the day. OK where did all the rainbows come from, I have heard that many more have been caught and they do not appear to be hatchery guys, our best guess is that they came from Dr. Lewis and Russ Bowersox's ponds because of their body weight and great shape. You do not see hatchery trout in that shape with the massive body weight these guys have, well thanks guys for the thrill.

  The Hendrickson are now coming off at about 3:00 PM and the spinner fall occurs about 45 mins before dark, OK Tuesday we shall see how well they are taking them.

2012 Brings early Grannom on Fishing Creek

Thursday March 22, Fishing Creek, tried the area below the bottom concrete bridge (totaly not legal!) took one really big brown on a #18 Olive emerger before I got the heck out of there- not the project water, it starts above the bridge.

  Drove upstream and found a entire pool of rising fish, at first glance I thought it was black stones or olives- NOT it was Grannom's, about 2 to 3 weeks early. They came for the next 2 hours in waves and the fish ate them well. No it was not Chimara (the little black early caddis), they were all over the underside of the bridge. The funny thing about the hatch is that there were no mass cases along the shallows to give them away. The body is about a 16 or a 15 on length, black with a shiny green hue to it, the winds are a strong size 14 with very distance mottled markings. I used a Sid Neff style caddis with a black bead head emerger as a dropper but the key to any caddis hatch is persistence- keep hitting the same fish over and over till you either miss or catch them. Your drift is the key, if it doesn't float like a natural they simply will not eat. I was using 6x Trout Hunter tippet material and a Winston 8' 2 wt rod, thinking that the smaller fish will provide good sport, I was under prepared by the size of the fish that were up, I counted 19 in the pool I was fishing, all but 1 that I landed were 12" plus fish, fat and in great shape, that proves that Fishing Creek still holds good fish it also proves that they are not easy to catch unless there is a good hatch! Attached is a GoPro video of one of the browns that were typical of the day. As is normal a caddis hatch it was over by 12:30- 12:45 PM, I'll bet the spinner fall was good as well last night! Expect this to go for about a solid week, none on Penns yet?

New is the way to go

Have been trying a few new flies this spring and have come to the conclusion that on our pressured waters you will have to practice innovation if your going to fool our residents. Check any of the fly fishing magazines and see the new styles and colors of nymphs the guys are using, read George Daniel's new book and take a look at what he uses. The days of chucking a bead head pheasant tail and expecting a high catch rate are over. I looked at a magazine the other Sunday and saw the new 10 best patterns the guys are using, not in a hundred years would you ever use them but you need to now. A few years ago on the Missouri I watched rainbows swim away from a well presented bead head nymph, that comes from seeing them over and over just like our fish! You might get away with the same stuff on Penns because of it's size but for the most part they learn to avoid familiar patterns. A very well presented dry fly seems to work well provided it is the size and color of the naturals, the float is the key but not the case with nymphs in our heavy pressured waters, Spring Creek and Fishing Creek you will have to change pattterns and get a bit wild with them.

People Every Where

Fished Spring Creek Thursday March 8th, took 10 nice fish on "Top" again with "1" fly #18 BWO Emerger. As soon as it began to mist the hatch started to become sparse? The real problem was with people, I looked downstream and there were 3 guys in the hole, a guy just pulled over at the next hole above me and waded right in and put them all down- so it was time to leave. When I got the pull off, I only left room for 1 additional car but there were 2 parked ahead of me, the entire stream was covered with anglers and not the kind you want to see on a good stream- minnow chuckers and hard wear guys were out in big numbers- one can only imagine what the fish must think.
  Took off to Fishing Creek, it was not full of anglers and as I stood looking for risers, they were there! The same small Olive was in full swing, not was heavy as Spring but they were taking them- took 6 more fish. The rain came hard and I decided to call it quits, very satisfied with the rising fish, as it is a sure sign of spring time.
  This is the time of the year that brings everyone out in numbers till the season opens then they will migrate to open waters, might just be best to stay home and tie flies.

Yet Again, I told you

Drove to State College Wed afternoon and was worried about the 1/2" of rain and the effect it would have on Spring Creek, arrived at 4:00 PM and checked the stream, it was 90 CFS before the rain and was at 180 CFS after the rain, the color was a bit off but not muddy and with the low water conditions I was optimist about the next day. Arrived at stream side Fisherman's Paradise, the color was wonderful as was the level, maybe a bit high but more than fish able, drove downstream looking for risers and pulled in at "The Pines", Mark Antolosky pulled in behind me and we watched the water for signs of action, they were up and really eating, as Mark said "you could hurt them" I got ready and never had to move more than 35 yards and took 16 browns before lunch, I figured that I also missed at least another 10 fish in that time- yes Olives! The morning session lasted from 10:15 till 12:00 PM, then lunch at Sheetz, they don't care if you come in with wading shoes on and the hot dogs are the best deal in town. Wanted to try and location below town that has always been a great Olive section, it's below "The Shit Plant", when they took out McCoy's Dam it really made this section faster but still holds a ton of fish,and still does, they ate the Olives, took another 10 fish there before the hatch petered out. All fish were in the 8" to 12" class, healthy and colored up. Saw a wonderful 16" plus brown that only raised once but I have him marked and saw another very large guy eating behind a bridge pier, I'll remember both of these guys. Not too many guys on the stream but did see one dude in shorts and a spinning outfit- dumb!
  Only had to use "1" fly all day a #18 dark olive emerger on the new Trout Hunter 6X tippet material, works very well and holds a great knot. Used a Winston 8' #2 for the morning fish but had an issue with the line not tracking well, maybe I'll change the line. In the afternoon I used a Winston 8'6" #3 BIIX with a new Rio Gold Trout line- hate it- anone want it?
  If you guys want to stand on the banks of Penns and bitch so be it but Spring has the Olives and the trout are eating, not on in every hole, investigate then fish but not on the weekends.

Soap Box, Fishing Creek "The Narrows"

Just had a story relayed about Fishing Creek (Clinton County), as we all know or I hope you know, the Narrow's Section is closed to Sunday fishing but have you read the additional note on the posters. Closed to Sunday fising or if cabin is occupied, the PA Fish Commission was called and asked for an explanation on this point and confirmed that they agreeed with this request! By the Fish Commission agreeing with this they are in fact rendering sections of this stream closed off to you and I thereby making it private water, if a cabin would rent out for a long term rental it would in fact become private water, interesting isn't it. I ask you how in the heck can you know that the cabins are occupied until you either walk up or down to them and see in fact there is someone there. I'm having a hard time with the total lack of coperation the Fish Commission has given us about the lack of fish below the Tylersville Hatchery and the water conditions comming from the hatchery. The pool below the hatchery has always been called the "Sippin Pool" and it did contain about 150-200 trout at all times of the year, not any more you'll be lucky to find more than 20 and the water condition has become so terrable no one ever wants to wade across and step into the black line on the bottom, how can they continue to operate this way. The Federal Hatchery in Lamar does not have the same foul discharge or the rocks and bottom covered with the slime that the State Hatchery has. I wonder how well the Commission would take to someone else posting their land and in effect converting a stream to private water, don't give Donnie Beaver any ideas but it looks as if the PFBC signs on to it. We are loosing the battle every day. Any comments?

Olives over and over again but not the Big One

The Olives are still getting started (they have been on for months), we have not seen the main blanked hatch but with Spring Creek at 51 degrees and the air temp matching it, not long to wait. I'll bet it will be on Saturday Feb 26th, it's to snow,rain and generally be a bad day, just perfect. They were going strong at 11:30 and lasted till 2:30 PM on Thursday Feb. 23 some flashy takes and some good head and tail risers the kind of hatch that makes you really appreciate your day. Again only needed "1" fly, just had to line it up and float it over them till they wither took or I missed. Attached it a short video showing the perfect Olive water, enjoy it. This has been going on for months but not stream wide, it has been on very specific areas and you'll have to look for them and not expect that the hatch will occur where your at.

Penns & Stoneflies as usual Feb 18,2012

Fished Penns below Coburn on Saturday Feb 18,2012, water and air temps were at 40 and they were not going up all day log. Fished a tandem nymph set up #12 Yellow Perla Stonefly with a #14 Copper John trailer. The only hitch is we were using Thingambobbers, what a pain in the ass they are, difficult to cast and you will have a least one very bad encounter with a total leader mess. Not that I don't like them it's just they have a place, that is 100% upstream or total down and away seems to be the best for them. Trying to target pocket water from the slightly upstream and side will give poor results in hookups, the fly gets to the bottom quickly and the strike will not be detected as it should, yea you catch fish and you loose quite a few, if your getting fish to come up when you feel or see the strike indicator move and you loose them as they turn you simply did not have a good set and that is a result of not knowing that you did in fact have a strike. Call it what you may but all the hype about European nymphing is not new nor is the 10' rod fad, it's nothing more than high stick nymphing! We tried the 10' rods years ago and came to the conclusion that you could not land a fish if your by yourself, unless you carry a long handled net, that's too much shit to carry. The best method to catch fish on nymphs on Penns is target the pocket water, wade slow and quiet, get close and roll the nymphs in and get the rod high to either feel or detect the take. As far back as 30 years ago we used Doug Swished flor. green/yellow flat butt leaders, tied a short 4 or 5x tippet section with a shot or two above the knot and caught a ton of fish, not a pretty method but very effective. As we grew older we stopped wading these areas but below Coburn there are areas that are not that tough to wade. I looked and Doug Swisher does not carry the leaders but you can get them from http://www.flyriteinc.com/ a Michigan company that has been supplying materials and leaders for many years. I caution you this was the leader that we used for all our fishing per Barry Beck but some time ago they changed the butt section and made them just a bit to soft to effectively turn over a dry fly (especial the new Shark Skin lines) but for this kind a non casting they work well and are easy to see with out using any indicator (read bobber).
   The trout did cooperate but as I said the good fish were not effectively hooked and that was a disappointment, two of them were in the 16" class but all the fish taken were in great shape, no skinny fish here. I did try to upload a short video on one nice fish but the thing stalled out and I lost the entire post last night! Next time I'll take some pictures and try them.
Jim

Feb 15,2012 Olives, Ass Hole & Midges on Spring Creek

Sorry for the title but as the Olives were in full swing (10:00 AM till 3:00 PM) I had a two hole section all to myself and the trout lined up and began to eat Olives not big fish but nice fish 6" to 12" class, very dark brown and healthy. The normal feeding lanes were taken up by these guys and the larger ones were in the back flow areas. I tied on a #20 Half Loop thin body dark olive emerger and took or missed every feeding fish in the first hole. As I took the largest fish from the back flow a guy in a black Ford F-250 drove by and saw me, low and behold he pulled over as I landed the fish and he started to cast in the pool above me, off the bank high above the feeding fish- the result- fish DOWN! He then walked down the bank and spooked the fish that were feeding in my pool, the ones that I was going to cast to, "Catching any?" was his question and it was all I could do to not say "I was ass hole till you put them down when you stepped on em". How the hell can these guys be that stupid, take up golf and get the hell off the water because you have no manners!
  The next Olive hole that he screwed up holds at least 10-12 nice fish but I saw 1 in the far bank back flow that he did not put down, took him and was at least happy about that. No more Olive areas to fish and it was a bit late for them to continue. Time to find a Midge pool, the Swimming Pool Hole was rocking and rolling in the back flows, a #26 black down winged midge was the ticket. If they are on Midges you can expect that if there was no other hatch they will take them in the flows but if the Olives are done expect the better fish to feed on Midges in the back flows, 100% upstream presentation is required and a great float will get you fish. The only problem with this presentation is that you have to wade deep to get to the back flow current seam to get the float that you need, that results in very cold feet and legs. I have seen times when the trout will take a Griff's Gnat but that's usually when they are taking Midges in the current feeding lanes.

  Enjoy the attached video, you'll see the bank he walked on to put the fish down Did talk to Steve from Fly Fishers Paradise and he commented that the trout were very active today, that means he had a very good day also, sometime you need a traslator to understand what has been said.

WInter 2012 @ Fishing Creek

Fished on Saturday Feb 4, 2012 at Fishing Creek, Lamar, PA between the bridges at the Federal Hatchery, a very tought wading adventure! When the wading became difficult it was on to brush busting and briar bending. Given the fact the water was a bit on the high side and Fishing Creek is just plain tough to wade, fishing from 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM was a great work out. Order of the day was tandem nymph rig with a flash back pheasant tail lead and plain PT on the dropper both in size 16, the browns took the top fly about 90% of the time, some very nice 12- 15" guys and a few of the smaller ones tossed in. This is not water for the faint of hearth, tough and fast with only a few defined holes to pick on, have never fished it in the season but could be a really good spot to go back to BUT getting out at night would be a big problem. Came up to the large hole below the top bridge (it has the dam on the bottom of it) and found a few rising to midges but in the bottom half of this pool if you wake em their down- well we waked them. This hole has been a pain in the ass for the past 35 years, have only ever had 3 good rising hatches on it in that time, twice early season olives and one late season olive other than that a big fat zero and it looks soo darn good.
  Did see a ton of little black stoneflies, midges everywhere (size 28's) and a few 18 thin BWO's. After we stopped fishing we drove up the road and checked a few of the popular holes and they all contained rising fish, not a ton but enought to keep you busy. Most of the rising fish were midging but there were some defined olive risers there- if it's nice get there before the word gets out BUT the water is only 40 degrees so if you wade past your knees be prepared to get cold. Get out there.

Midges & Olives for 2012

Yes they are still on maybe not as heavy, Saturday morning was nice but at noon a front came thru and the wind picked up as the temp. fell. There were a few fish working on Midges, used a #24 down wing midge with a #24 glass bead brassie dropper off 4" of 7x flouracarbon and they had no problem eating them. All the fish were in the back waters or just off the seams. The Olives started about 1:30 PM but with the wind there was just no repeat risers but at least we know what to expect. Last Friday would have been the day to be on the water and I'll bet this Wed will be just as good- maybe a sick day?

Happy New Year 2012

Hello, I got my new PA 2012 Fishing license, it is a Senior version of the real one, lifetime with a trout stamp. I'm an old fart. Will be fishing this Saturday Jan 7th on Spring Creek, it's still at 150 cfs as of this morning and falling ever so slow, nothing else looks to be in good shape yet. I would love to fish Fishing Creek but will not take the chance till I hear from someone that the level is down, this stream has been up all year and I'm sure the trout are in great shape at this time. I'm excepting to see Midges, olives and Little Black Stones on the water, so we'll take 2 or 3 rods rigged up and wait and see what the trout tell us they want. I'll post on Monday, maybe with pictures.
Have a great year, I'll never have to worry about not having a license again