Spring Creek Brown Trout

My Dad, Brother Steve and I headed out to Central Pennsylvania for our annual fishing trip with hopes of experiencing the Green Drake hatch on Penns Creek once again, but thanks to mother nature and all the recent rains and evening storms we had to go to plan B, which we made up on the fly.

We rented a great little cottage at Schafer's Country Cottages  located on Rt 45 in Aaronsburg, PA just a short ride from Penns Creek, Elk Creek and Pine Creek.  Daryl and Deborah Schafer own and operate these cottages and they were extremely helpful and responsive to our needs during our stay and the cottages were very clean and well stocked and offered up everything we needed.  We arrived around midday on Wednesday, a few hours before check in time, but our cottage was available and ready for us so we got unloaded, grabbed our fishing gear and headed out on a scouting mission to find some fishable water.   A quick stop at Penns Creek found the water running high and fast and way off color and Elk and Pine were no better.  We decided to head up over the mountain towards State College and check in on Spring Creek as this little creek is known for clearing up and getting back to fishable levels quickly and it was a good decision.

We made our way to the Fisherman's Paradise section of Spring creek around 4pm and it didn't take us long to strike up a conversation with a local fisherman who was more then willing to help us out.  He gave us some great information on the creek, the fish in it as well as bug activity.  He was so helpful and fun we spent almost an hour talking with him before realizing we needed to get on the water fast if we wanted a chance to land one of these Spring Creek wild browns.  This section on Spring Creek consists about a 2 mile stretch of river that is only accessible by walking in or taking your bike so even with plenty of cars in the parking area, we had no trouble finding a spot to fish. My dad talked my brother into doing some dry fly fishing, but I would have none of that and broke out the Euro Nymphing rig and about 3 casts into a little plunge pool I was hooked up and brought my first Spring Creek wild brown trout to hand.  I went on to land another 2 fish in a nice run just down river and even a  few branches as this little section was narrow and had me up against the brush and I quickly forgot I was swinging a 10 foot rod, but nothing could wipe the smile from my face.  We worked down river back towards the parking lot stopping at different spots to check out the water.  usually during these stops the rising fish would entice my dad and brother into a few casts which gave me the opportunity to pick the next open spot below them and to nymph up another fish or two. We finally headed back to the truck and off to find some dinner before heading back to the cottage for some sleep.

My first Spring Creek Brown Trout

Incredible colors and markings on these Spring Creek Trout

We got up Thursday and decided to head back up to Spring Creek for another run at those wild browns, once again parking at Fisherman's Paradise and heading up river.  This time I had talked my brother into doing some nymphing and stopped to fish a run that was just full of rising fish the night before only to get skunked in this run.  My brother was starting to second guess his decision to listen to me but he hung in there and was rewarded with a really nice brown that jumped out of the net before I could get a picture of it.  He claims I threw him back on purpose so there would be no proof of his fish, but that wasn't the case.  One thing for sure, when these wild browns are laying in the net all calm, it's just a ploy to get you to put the net in the water which causes them to explode out of the net as if they were shot out of a canon.  Well that is my story and I am sticking to it.  The best part of this fiasco was gentlemen taking a walk up the road stopped to see how we were doing and suggested we take up golf and just as they said that my brother was locked up.  They had a good laugh when the fish jumped the net and even were good sports and made sure to give my dad the business when they encountered him just above us. My brother and I continued to nymph up some additional fish while my dad stayed true to his desire to throw the dry flies.

My brother and Dad contemplating how to get their flies out of the trees.

Another spring creek brown that fell to a Frenchie style PT nymph

We headed out for lunch and a trip to one of the local fly shops - Fly Fisher's Paradise which is just minutes from Spring Creek were we were entertained by the shop owner and made sure to support him by making some purchases.  I told my dad that I bought him the secret flies that would finally catch him some fish, turns out they didn't work so well for him, but they worked fine for my brother and I.  See that evening they shamed me into working myself into frustration by flicking fleas and dry fly fishing.  I refused to leave my nymphing setup at the truck so I carried both just so I wouldn't explode from frustration.  I did nymph up a couple of fish, but I did put it on the bank just in time to take advantage of a spectacular sulphur spinner fall where I hooked into some nice browns, some when I couldn't even see my fly.  My brother and I landed some nice fish while dad missed about a dozen.  It was way too much fun.

Looks like this little guy survived something trying to snatch it up

one of three hefty little browns that couldn't resist my rubber leg stonefly

We woke up Friday and Penns was still high and off color so we decided to head to the Little Juniata, but dad wasn't paying attention and by the time I noticed we were in state college headed the wrong way so I had him bang a right and head back to Spring Creek.  Of course I was blamed for being a crappy navigator, but I was also blamed for giving my dad flies that don't catch fish.  I just can't win.  We decided to check out the stretch of Spring Creek by the Benner Springs Hatchery which offered up some wider stretches of water as well as some deeper pools and runs.  We walked a long distance down stream to get away from the parking areas and easy fishing access.  We can to an old bridge that ran across the creek and I noticed two large fish feeding below and it was long before I was down in the water trying to entice one of those two fish to biting.  My dad stayed up on the bridge and would give me a play by play and about the 4th cast into it, my coiled sighter jumped and I set the hook and new right away it was one of those larger fish and with in seconds, he came unbuttoned.    Man was I depressed and when my dad told me he saw the whole thing and it was a big fish I almost puked.  Oh well, we decided to work our way up the creek back towards the parking area.  I ended up with another 3 fish hooked up for short lived fight before they all came unbuttoned and I was starting to get discouraged but I stayed with it and just feet from where I lost my last fish, I set the hook on a beauty.  My dad kept telling me I was snagged on the bottom but he realized quickly that I wasn't.  I knew it was a nice fish and was expecting it to take me down into the rapids so I had my dad unhook my net and head down river.  He claims I was barking orders at him and expected him to sacrifice life and limb to net my fish and quite frankly I most certainly did.  Well i got calmed down a bit and concentrated on the fish and kept him locked up until the 17inch brown was in my net. Redemption felt good.  By this time we needed some lunch so we headed out.

This hefty brown was one heck of a fight - good net job dad

Love the colors of these fish

Another fish that couldn't resist the rubber leg stonefly

That evening we came back to the Benner Springs section and worked farther down river from the bridge to find even more great fishable water.  The sulpher hatch was one and my dad and brother starting throwing dries and proceeded to miss a few fish, so I jumped in and cleaned up a couple quick before they got frustrated.  We headed back to the truck only to stop and let my dad and brother fish to some rising fish.  My brother got into a zone and was hooking up while my dad missed a few fish.  When my brother caught his fourth fish I took my dads rod and decided I needed to get on these fish before he caught up to me and it wasn't long before I hooked into one on my dads rod with the same sulpher spinner that the fish were refusing just prior.  Needless to say my dad was not happy and almost drowned the two of us, but we had some good laughs over it later.  It was back to the cottage and a late dinner of venison burgers and bratwurst.

Saturday morning found us packing and heading down to Penns Creek to spend the last morning of our trip before heading back to my dad's house in the Poconos.  Penns was still high and off color enough that it was hard to see the underwater structure and it was like fishing blind.  There was little bug activity and no signs of fish and it wasn't long before the kayakers started showing up.  We left Penns with no fish, but we were not discouraged thanks to a little creek called Spring Creek.

Steve, Dad and I at the end of the trip before heading home

Can't wait for next years trip!

Penns Creek 2011

Me, Steve, Brendan and Dad on Penns Creek

I just got back from our 3rd annual family fly fishing trip & competition where we spent a few days fishing Penns Creek in Central Pennsylvania with my Father, Brother Steve and Son Brendan.  My brother and I started this little trip 3 years ago as we spent a few days fishing with my dad around his house in the Poconos, but last year we decided this little get together needed to move around to different locations and get away from the house so it we made it happen.  We enjoyed Penns Creek so much last year, we decided to head back there again this year.  Once again we stayed in the apartment at Penns Creek Angler which certainly serves it's purpose as a place to sleep, get showered and even relax when not on the water.

Green Drake - these things are huge!

Put the rod down for a bit and this Green Drake stopped for a rest

Last year's trip was just late enough for us to miss out on the famed Green Drake hatch and water levels running really low with hot dry weather.  This year we found a different Penns Creek with much more water then we needed and covered in Green Drakes.  I wasn't excited about the 1000cfs plus flows, especially seeing Penns offers difficult wading even at normal flows below 400cfs, but I was extremely excited to see the Green Drake for the first time ever and what a site it was.  Many of the Central PA trout streams are known for their prolific and variety of hatches and Penns Creek was no different.  At times we were just covered in Green Drakes as well as Sulphurs with some caddis and gray foxes thrown in for good measure.  With all these bugs hatching and creating just a mess for the angler trying to match the hatch, what was even more amazing was very few fish rising with any consistency.  There were a few that were consistent but knowing that there were many more fish in the water than what was showing up on the surface, I just kept nymphing away and picking up fish.


I've read so many different opinions about fishing the green drake hatch from suggestions on ignoring them completely to running up river with it and fish the heck out of it.   My normal fishing style is nymph until you die or until fish are rising consistently and you know what they are feeding on.  So we all pretty much nymphed away with the majority of our fish coming to net that way.  Matter of fact
most came on a stonefly nymph of some sort with a black stone being preferred, while a few came on green drake nymphs and a couple on a frenchie nymph made from partridge and turkey tail with a fire orange hot spot.

My dad and brother were using a typical indicator type setup for their nymphing.  I stuck to my Euro Nymphing setup of a 10' 4wt Greys Streamflex with my Jan Siman bicolor slinky style indicator.  My son was a different story.  Last years PC trip was his first time ever fly fishing and it started with a crash course in the yard the day before we hit the water.  He enjoyed the fly rod so much he kept at it last summer and once again he decided to use the fly rod for this trip but he didn't want an indicator.  His method resembled more of a high sticking method and it paid off for him as he caught the most trout out of the group, and he did so using all my gear.  Dang kids.

This little guy had a lot of fight in him

Brendan was the first one in the water on Day #1 and the first to hook up.  I was down river when he hooked up so I made it to shore and ran up river to get a picture of him with his fish and give him a high five.  It was a little wild brown that looked like a small toy football as it was short and chunky in the middle and narrow on the ends.  It had shoulders as it put up a good fight and I'm sure the raging water helped that fight.  We got him in the net and took two quick pics and back in the water he went.  Matter of fact, all the fish we caught were released to fight another day and at least one did as I caught him two days in a row.

First Fish of the trip

Brendan with the first fish of the trip

I hooked into a good fish for about a minute or two and then off he came but he still had my flies with him.  I guess I tied a crappy knot.  I was not happy but little did I know that this fish would make a difference in the end.  But that is okay I redemeed myself with a nice little brown to tie things up.

Later that evening my brother Steve lost 3 fish in a row.  Not sure what he was doing wrong, but I'm sure he wasn't setting the hook good enogh.  My dad was up there on the bank giving him the business, oops I mean instruction, and he hooked a fourth and finally landed that one.  It was his first ever Penns Creek trout - he got skunked last year - and no one up there had a camera.  Amazing..    My dad was 0-0 on day one but as Brendan put it "If he wasn't sitting on the bank playing Penns Creek greeter and in the water fishign he might have caught something!"  Well put son!

Steve and Dad taking a break on the bank

After a late night meal at the bar next to the apartment we got cleaned up, watched a instructional nypmhing dvd because it was obvious my dad and brother needed it, then off to sleep for an early wake up.  The alarm went off at 5am, I got up turned the coffee on and waited for the rest of the crew to start stirring.  I can be up and out in less than 20 minutes but that isn't the case with this crew.  We didn't make the water until 6:30am which was a little later than I wanted but still good enough.  We stuck to the same plan as the day before and spread out along a long run and fished away.  The water was still high but Brendan and I found a place to cross the night before so we headed across and back to working the same water as the night before.  I had watched a nice fish rise a few times just behind a rock the night before so I nymphed my way over to his hiding spot and just two drifts through there he smacked a stonefly nymph I had on  and the fight was on.  Not a hog by any shape of the imagination but he was a good one and turned out to be the biggest of the trip.  We banged a few more fish before the green drakes exploded around 9am.  We had little bug activity and then we were just covered up in Drakes.  It was really something to see.  Around noon we headed back to the aprtment to get some lunch and take a nap.

He should have stayed hidden the night before

Brendan getting his game on

That evening we were back on the same run nymphing away.  I hooked into a fish that turned out to be the same one I hooked the previous day.  Now that put a smile on my face.  The evening hatch was sulphur heavy but the drakes were lighter than the previous evening so I tried playing the dry fly game with no success.  I did get to watch two guys come in and hammer the fish on top using a large coffin fly.  By the time we left they had manage a dozen trout easy.  Lesson learned.

Feeling confident that he couldn't be beaten

Saturday morning was our last morning on the water and we planned to get out around 1pm, so we got up early again, packed the truck and hit the water.  At this point I was one fish behind my son, with my brother and dad way behind.  Brendan decided to leave me and move up river by himself and dad and I head down stream and Steve stuck to his comfortable spot in the water.  It paid off for all of us as we all caught fish, most of use caught trout but I promised my dad that I wouldn't mention that all he got was chubs.  Brendan was first to hook up and that put me two fish down.  I worked hard to catch up but I just couldn't.  I did roll one and land one but it wasn't enough to catch the kid.  Steve lost another but then landed his second PC brown trout and we got a picture of it this time because he made dad run up to the truck to get a camera while he was fighting the fish.  Good thing the truck was close by.

Steve with his second Penns Creek brown trout

We called it a trip around 1pm and got out of our fishing gear, repacked the truck and had a quick bite to eat before heading back to my dad's house.  There was a lot of snoring going on in the back seat of that truck and it was being done by the two youngest of our crew.  Dad and I were talking about catching an evening hatch near the house while these two were snoring away.  Amazing.

Lunch of champion wild brown trout fisherman everywhere

We landed over a dozen beautiful wild browns while losing about another half dozen or so.  We did get to see the famed Green Drake hatch which was worth the price of admission in itself.  We had plenty of laughs along the way and ran into a few characters, one of which was definitely my dad's doppelgänger .  We had way too many laughs and of course the country side is just incredible.  We did see deer, turkey and even a small hawk that my dad almost ran over as it struggled to lift its meal of dead squirrel from the road.

Dad almost getting taken out during the Kayak hatch!

With over 35 miles of creek to explore, I'm sure we will be back to fish Penns again in the future.  Matter of fact I suggested we make next years trip a week long as that will give us more time to explore all those wonderful Central PA streams surrounding Penns Creek and there are some beauties like Spring Creek and Big Fishing Creek that we have yet to explore.  I wish I lived closer.

Last fish of the trip

Dad presenting Brendan with the pin for catching the most fish

Got to finish off with a flower shot

They claim the only thing guaranteed when fishing Penns Creek is leaving frustrated and taking a bath during wading.  Well I didn't end up taking a bath, but my brother Steve did - twice.  I also didn't leave frustrated, but at times I was frustrated.  We did leave a little wore out from the wading, but nothing we won't recover from.  A good trip for me is not about numbers or even the fish itself, instead it is
about time on the water with friends and family so this one goes down as an award winner in my book.

Penns Creek Trip report

This is the second year that we put together a little fly fishing trip with my brother and my dad and we were fortunate to have my son along this year which isn't an easy task seeing everyone has busy schedules and we live in three different states, but we pulled it off.  Last year we fished locally around my dad's house in the Poconos of PA but this year I talked everyone into a trip out to Central PA to fish the famed Penns Creek.

Penns Creek is a limestone creek that is located in the Northern part of Central Pennsylvania, and is well known for its large Green Drake hatch in late May and early June when people come from all over the world to fish this hatch.  Penns Creek runs through three counties in Pennsylvania (Centre, Mifflin and Union) and divided into 3 main fishing zones which comprise almost 35 miles of fishing.  Our plan was to fish the Middle zone which is home to a 3.9 mile Catch & Release section that is accessible only on foot or by bike.  This middle section of the creek runs through some incredible mountains and through Bald Eagle State forest making for some breath taking scenery, lots of wildlife and some interesting fishing.

This was our first trip to Penns Creek and as any trip to a new spot it required stops into the local fly shops for some first hand information and expertise.  In researching the local fly shops I noticed most of them provide some type of lodging so I booked a small apartment on top of Penns Creek Angler fly shop which is owned and operated by Bruce Fisher.  Upon our arrival Thursday morning we stopped in to see Bruce and pick his brain for some starting points to fish and some suggestions on what to use.  Bruce gave us the low down and marked up the map with a few spots to park and we were on our way.   Bruce mentioned that the water is low and clear and the fish had been hammered over the past couple weeks due to the Green Drake hatch so fishing was going to be tough and tough was an understatement.

There is plenty of posted land around so it's important to make sure to respect the landowners wishes and to park and fish only from those open and designated areas.  There are many cabins and part time homes and many of these have signs posted allowing fisherman to access the river through their property with asking very little of the fisherman except to respect the property, don't leave trash and don't block driveway access.  Some even ask you practice Catch and Release even outside the C&R section and I don't think that is asking much for free access to the river.

We started out that morning just down river from the end of the C&R section and found we had  much of the river all to ourselves which was nice seeing we had no idea what to expect.  Even though my son had never fly fished before and only received an hour long crash course in my dad's backyard the night before he was going to start out using the fly rod so I would be his teacher and guide this day and my dad would help my brother out as he only started last year.  My son and I headed up river to find our starting point and then fish back down to the car while my dad and brother would start down stream and work back up.  We almost got run over by a whitetail fawn that was laying in the tall grass along the bank of the creek so we stopped and watched her for a bit but I only had the small camera and couldn't get a picture of her without chasing her down and I didn't want to do that.  At our first spot i was showing my son where to cast and how to drift the olive woolly bugger along and as it reached down stream to give it a few twitches and as I twitched it we saw a fish come up for it, but return back to the bottom so we twitched it again and up it came and our first Penns Creek trout was hooked up and back off in less than a minute.  ARGGHHHH.  Needless to say I was excited and actually had a little confidence going which I should've known better based on all the reading I have done about this creek.  The river held up to its reputation and was stingy at best with the trout.  We fished until 1pm and then headed out for some lunch and to unpack our stuff in the apartment.

We headed back out around 4pm and this time decided to hike into the C&R section for another adventure.  Once again we found some incredible water, fish rising and even more frustration.  We did run across these turtles laying eggs int he sand and gravel which was pretty cool.  We fished until just after 8pm and after a quick piggy back ride across the river for my son, who by the way is almost 20 and about 205 lbs, because he decided to wear his hip boats instead of chest waders.  So instead of making him swim it across I carried him.  I did refuse to give my brother the camera just in case this didn't work out as planned he wouldn't have any proof of the mishap.  Well we made it without getting wet but it was touch and go a couple of steps.

This river has some incredible food sources from some incredibly large crayfish and bait fish to so many different bugs and hatches (big stone flies, large black caddis, sulfurs, some left over drakes, blue wing olives small tan caddis to name a few that we had seen) it makes your head spin and makes it even more difficult to figure out what the heck the trout want.  You could sit there and watch 10 - 12  fish rise to the surface taking bugs in a 100 foot stretch of water but with the low and clear water conditions and the bright sun you just couldn't get close enough to see what the heck they were taking and many times you put them down and have to wait them out again.  I know for my brother and son this had to be really frustrating as it was frustrating me and I had done enough research to know what to expect.  Honestly i think we ended day one with one lost trout and one or two creek chubs.  I can tell you this much, I took more crap from the crew over this stellar trip that I had talked them into so I knew I had to get this figured out quick.

Friday morning brought another beautiful day to match wits with some Penns Creek trout.  Much of the middle section and C&R area is not stocked so you are fishing for fish born and raised in this creek and they have probably seen everything you can think of throwing at them.  The game plan today was for me to do some nymphing and to switch it up often to try and figure out what was going on.   I set my son up with some wet flies (orange & partridge) while my brother worked some wets and my dad kept stubbornly working the dry flies.  It didn't take long for my son to start hooking fish on the wet flies, except they weren't trout but instead some small mouth bass and creek chubs again.  We worked the same section of water just outside the C&R section with about the same results except that now my son was catching fish and really learning and having fun wit the fly rod.  My brother and dad continued to struggle but I started to also pick up some fish, just not trout.

I knew we were getting closer and it looked like it was time to downsize again which I did that afternoon while back in the C&R section and it paid off with a beautiful 14 inch brown trout.  I was fishing deep water with a indicator and a large golden stone fly with a size 18 pheasant tail with a orange hot spot as a dropper and this brown took the pheasant tail.  Needless to say it wasn't long before the rest of the crew were getting setup for nymphing and plucking those small pheasant tails from my box.  The only problem with nymphing is you are not doing it right if you are not ticking bottom but my brother and son thought that mean hooking bottom necessary to good fishing so I spent lots of time re-rigging their setups instead of fishing which was still fun in my book.  We finished the night with only that one trout a few more small mouth bass and ofcourse some creek chubs.  At this point my son was out fishing everyone.  First time ever with a fly rod and he was hooking into fish all over the place.  It hurts more when he takes your rod only to catch another one while you are re rigging his.  End of the day tally was 3 small mouth bass about a dozen chubs and one brown trout.  That trout made my trip and I could care less if I caught anything else but I knew we would have to work hard Saturday to get another.

Saturday morning was our last attempt and the good news was we had some rain the night before and cloud cover.  I thought for sure this would help and it did.  We headed back in to the C&R section where I caught my fish the night before, but instead of hitting this spot right away we walked up stream more to fish an island area my dad had seen the day before.  We fished it with only a couple of chubs to show for it so we headed down to the deep run and Brendan jumped right into a spot and before you knew it, it was fish on and a good one at that.  Now remember he has never fly fished before and never fought a good sized fish on the fly rod so I tried to keep him calm and talk him through it as his excitement grew with every scream of the drag.  At one point as I was down stream of him hoping to get a chance to net his fish as I found myself dodging the line as the fish was running circles around me.  I did my best to not yell at my son and keep my cool and he fought the fish like a seasoned fly fisherman as I netted his first ever Penns Creek Brown trout and first trout on the fly.  This beautiful 15 inch brown took the size 18 pheasant tail and spit it out as I lifted the net.  We hooted and hollered a little bit as we admired the incredible fish and figured we could get a quick picture before we release him.  My son said, take a picture of him in the net and ofcourse I didn't listen for some reason so as he lifted the trout out of the net, the fish gave one more jump and splash right back into the drink before we could get a picture of it.  I was heart broken to say the least but my son just kept on smiling, picked up the fly rod and jumped back in. He was hooked on fly fishing for ever now.

We continued to work down stream  as we headed back to the car.  At one point I set the hook on what I new was a big fish and I yelled out that we were going to need a bigger net.  After a short fight I finally got the fish up where we could get a look at it and wouldn't you know it was the biggest creek chub any of us had ever seen.  He was all of 20 inches and thick and that should give you some idea of the food that Penns Creek has to offer up to the fish that call it home.  My son had one more trout on and lost it and it was time to call it quits and start the trip home to my dad's house.

We only landed two trout, about 18 creek chubs and 4 bass but we had loads of laughs, some incredible sites and best of all time spent with family.  There are two things for certain, this was not our last trip to Penns Creek and we have created a new fly fishing monster, my son in the process.  We are already talking about next years trip and were to go so if you have any suggestions please share them.