I was checking the weather forecast every evening last week looking at Saturday and Sunday and hoping it was going to stay dry. Unfortunately, every day that passed, the percentage chance of rain, thunderstorms, and high winds kept increasing. By Thursday I decided I’d need a plan B for Saturday and I started exploring my options. After an exhausting search I couldn’t find a safe forecast anywhere in Pennsylvania or any state bordering it. State College streams were out, Erie steelhead was out, Pulaski steelhead was out, wild Maryland trout were out, there was no where to go. Then I remembered a place I’d read about a couple years ago. In southern Virginia, nestled in the Alleghany Mountains is a place called Escatawba Farms. This is a privately run trout fishing destination on a section of the Dunlap Creek. The place caught my attention because of the way the owner had kept the stream and property in its natural state. While I was eating lunch on Friday afternoon, I made a phone call to Escatawba Farms. I spoke with owner Derrick Barr and he filled me in on how his operation worked. He said no one else would be fishing the property on Saturday and I was welcome to come down. He mentioned that he did fresh stockings in March and April and that if I wanted to see a lot of fish, that’d be the time to visit.
Read moreEating Humble Pie On Penns Creek
Fly fishing is a pursuit that provides endless opportunities to learn. You can learn about the subtleties of the way a fly rod moves, the lifecycle of mayflies, the feeding habits of fish, and characteristics of a body of water. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, you discover a new layer to peel back. And so it was for me this past weekend on Penns Creek (“Penns”) when this amazing trout fishery served me a big piece of humble pie. This wasn’t the first time Penns Creek served me. I still remember my first several visits to Penns Creek during my time at Penn State. I remember hearing about how amazing the trout fishing was, how large the brown trout were, and how prolific the hatches could be. On my first three trips, I didn’t catch a fish, let alone hook up with one. Penns has a funny way of either giving you the greatest day on the water, or grounding you and reminding you that even the most experienced fly fisherman can’t tame it.
Read moreMop Flies, Green Water And Winter Erie Steelhead
I’ve wanted to get back up to the Erie tributaries to chase steelhead for a few months. I hadn’t been in Erie since October 2016 when I took my annual fall run steelhead trip. Anyone who has been reading my blog since that time knows that October was a terrible month for Pennsylvania steelhead fishing. The creeks were low and clear and the fish didn’t have the water required to move in large numbers. Because of the poor conditions, I lost interest in steelhead and moved on to chasing lake-run brown trout in western New York. I followed reports from November through January and things improved during that time. Pennsylvania creeks received much needed rain and I occasionally heard from anglers that were fortunate enough to hit a good day on steelhead alley.
Read moreOld Friend, Wintertime On Spring Creek
Ask any serious Pennsylvania fly fisherman what the best trout stream in the state is and they are likely to answer Penns Creek or Spring Creek. I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time fly fishing both of these bodies of water while attending college at Penn State University. I spent considerably more time on Spring Creek because of its proximity to the campus. I have many memories spending spring evenings and weekends on a limestone riffle of Spring Creek trying to fool a rising wild brown trout with a Sulphur Dun. Spring Creek has one of the highest densities of wild brown trout per square mile of any stream in the state. And it al has miles of fishable water that is accessible to the public. It is truly a fly fishing gem of the east and probably the entire country.
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