In my limited travels to Pennsylvania for hiking and or
fishing I have always held it in high regard for its natural splendor. All the
old timers’ stories I have ever heard and the stories I have ever read. Some of
my friends who have passed away talking about the old days it was nice to be
back.
I would be tent camping from 17th - 22nd
at Hemlock Campground in Potter County. You can find them here https://www.hemlockcampgrounds.com.
The campground has all the basic amenities a little camp
store, amazing hot showers, and two little fishing ponds that are catch and
release.
There is a town with other places of business where you can
find pretty much anything but remember you are in the country and it’s
remote. The town I am talking about is
Austin, but the Potter County Pub in Austin for food and drinks is a good choice
for food.
I will not name streams that I fished while I was there out
of respect for others.
How I found out of the region was from a book by Dave Wolf
that I had purchased in 1999 called “Flyfisher’s Guide to Pennsylvania” a
wilderness adventures flyfishing guidebook.
For those who know me and to read I have a book I know your
laughing (lol).
I arrived in the region by mostly State Park roads to have
that feeling of isolation and adventure.
The forest roads were in great shape because of the efforts
of others.
I arrived at camp around noon and the campground allowed me
to set up my campsite early.
I could hear the creek clearly from the site. I knew she
would be running a little hard because of the rains and the dam releases.
I canceled the smallmouth trip on the shorelines of the Great
Lakes because of all the rain and the colder temps. Because I canceled my trip and my fishing
buddy had family matters to attend to is how I ended up in Potter County.
I would choose to swing some flies this evening. I had brought
with me my lighter switch rod a Deer Creek series 11’ 5wt – 4pc. I lined it
with a 375-grain compact short Skagit head. The leader set up was not the best.
I had a 10’ sinking leader (1.5”/second) with 2 feet of 8# floro followed by 2
feet of 4# floro. The leader I should
have used was the 8 foot version and kept the rest the same.
I realize that my equipment was on the heavy side for this
style of fishing, but it’s all I have. I was hoping I could find areas to swing
flies, and I really did not care if I hooked a fish. This was an adventure and
if fate would grant me success with hooking a fish it was meant to be.
I tied up dace/minnow streamers in sizes 12’s and 10’s. The
12’s went fast in trees and got torn up by fish. I also brought my soft hackle
box. These soft hackles worked in Maine
and Montana so why not Pennsylvania.
They are tied on 12’s with tungsten and brass beads.
Day 01
I walked out into the valley from camp and I felt so relaxed.
Feeling the high grass brush up against my waders to welcome me to the area.
As I got closer to the water I was getting increasingly
excited. I saw the riffles and would witness mayflys hatching. This area is so pristine and clean. Because
the stream lacked exposed dirt, clay, and sediment in general it was a deep
green color.
I took my first step into the creek that is a tributary to
the Susquehanna River and looked at a small pool of standing water. I saw minnows
there. The minnow’s maximum of 1.5” long.
As soon as I saw the minnows and their size of them, I knew
I would start with the dace patterns in size 12.
I looked downstream and could see a beautiful pool that had
multiple current breaks and slicks. A slick to me is flat water aka this is
created when two currents come up and meet and make the water flat.
A slick is also normally a feeding lane for trout. I also
tried to read the water and look for color transitions between colors. The
colors were in this case between the deep emerald green and clear. I would be
attempting to fish from deep to shallow trying to find a trout that would take
my fly.
There was also a large BFR “big fugging rock” in the river
and I thought that should have a trout or two around it on the downstream side.
I decided to go upstream first to try my luck. After a few
casts and no love, I moved down to the riffle. Here in this riffle you can see the main
current if still a few feet from the far bank, and the near bank has a pool.
The pool in this case has a lot of eddys on the surface of the water.
I looked at this as a nice holding pool for a trout and great
to swing a fly through.
After snap t casting over and over I had a hook up. It would
turn out to be a feisty rainbow.
This dude had not learned from its lessons. It had damage to
its mouth from previously caught. The fly was right in front of it mouth and
normally I believe this means took it from behind and nailed it.
I called it a day because another fisherman showed up and moved
on.
Day 02
I got to the creeks edge at about 10 and had it to myself. I
was swinging my flies in and out of the shadows in hopes a fish would be
enticed to take the fly.
I thought my fly would be near some submerged tree roots. I
thought I could do two things, retrieve my line or take two steps down stream
and see if anyone is home and maybe lose a fly. I have always said if you’re
not losing flies you’re not going to catch fish.
So here we are I stepped down stream and as soon as my left
foot took the second step it happened.
The take was harder than I anticipated and go the fish on
the feel as soon as possible. I kept reeling which seemed like forever. As the
trout was brought up stream and to the net aka trout corral.
I needed the trout and thought it was brown trout at first
but saw its markings were different than anything I had personally seen before.
The hook was right in the front of its mouth and after I removed the hook it
decided to relax at the bottom of the net. It was one of the prettiest trout
releases I have ever witnessed.
I have just caught and released my first tiger trout.
I then decided to go downstream and find the water I had chosen
from some aerial imagery I had marked on my GPS.
The scenery here was as close to Montana as you could get without
being there. I was hoping to see maybe a
few Elk, but that was not to happen.
I crossed the pristine creek and began to give it as much
attention as I could in the search for a trout.
I saw a few other fly anglers upstream about 500 yards.
After nearly three
miles of water covered and because of the heat I headed back to camp.
Because I want to keep this post about fly fishing I will
skip Day 03.
Day 04
I had chosen a different body of water to fish today and to
also fish my single hander today. The creek I had chosen was a little bigger
than the other and immediately below a dam.
With the hot as the sun temps, I had placed bets trout would
be stacked up below the dam close by.
I would still be fishing streamers here and when I arrived,
I found the parking lot empty. I thought that was strange since the outfall at
the dam was the lowest it has been in weeks!
I took a little hike up and across the top of the dam to
fish the other side of the dam.
I arrived at the other side, and I did bring a full sinking
line it would be a lot to try and double haul with the high bank behind me.
I stuck with the 6wt line with a heavy short head made for long
cast with heavy flies.
I swung my flies in the same manner down and across the creek.
The deep inky green currents were strong.
It was not long before a rainbow trout took the streamer. I also
want to point out I had chosen n number 8 streamer here and it was 1.75” long
and sparse. What I am trying to make is bigger water sometimes calls for
slightly larger flies.
I decided to start heading back to camp and call it a beautiful
day on the creek!
Day 05
I took much of the day off to reflect and fish later. I
would stick close to camp and just walk up into the creek valley in search of
different waters to fish.
I have learned to read water from my great grandad, and I
will always cherish that. I am always amazed when finding water to fish and pulling
it apart with the knowledge I gained from Pap.
