On Sunday morning I met up with my friend John at 6:30am and we drove west to Cumberland County to fish the limestone spring fed waters of Big Spring Creek. John is relatively new to the sport of fly fishing and this was his first time fishing Big Spring. I figured I’d introduce him to the good stuff! We arrived at “The Ditch” parking lot a little before 8:00am. The sun was still low and rising on the horizon and there was a slight fog hanging over the creek. I tied on a new 9-foot leader and 6X tippet. I stood and watched the creek for a bit and didn’t see any bug activity on the surface. I decided to tie on my Big Spring standby, the #16 Hunchback Scud, which imitates the freshwater crustacean known as the scud, common in the Big Spring Creek. John headed upstream and I stayed on the lower portion of “The Ditch” closer to the parking lot. There is a concrete wall there that you can sneak up on and observe trout that are cruising on the bottom. I saw maybe a half-dozen wild brook trout moving about in the gin clear water and there were a few wild rainbows mixed in as well.
Read moreTechnical Water And Rusty Spinners On Penns Creek
This past week I decided to make the trip to central Pennsylvania to fly fish Big Fishing Creek for the first time. Big Fishing Creek is a stream I’ve known very little about and it’s a stream I’ve rarely heard much about when talking around campfires with fishing buddies. The only time I hear the name of this stream is when someone is retelling the story of the state record brown trout that Joe Humphreys caught at night in 1977.
Read moreEarly Summer, Low Water And Lost Trophies
After several weekends of long road trips to chase trout in western and northern Pennsylvania, I decided to stay close to home and focus on the eastern side of the state. As the year transitions from spring to early summer, the cooler air and water temps and easily accessible creek and riverbanks slowly start to disappear. Morning drives to the water are made with the windows down, waders become an oven by 10:00am, and trying to get a fly rod through Japanese Knotweed is like trying to thread a cow through the eye of a needle.
Read moreKamloops Rainbows On Big Moores Ru
Yesterday I continued my late spring fly fishing tour of Pennsylvania. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to fish a private stretch of water on Big Moores Run in Potter County, Pennsylvania. I was out of bed and on the road by 2:30am on Saturday morning and headed up Rt. 322. I enjoy driving early in the morning because it is quiet and there are no distractions. I typically listen to the Orvis Fly Guide Podcast Series when I have a long drive. Tom Rosenbauer is a wealth of knowledge and I’ve learned more than my share of tips and techniques from him and his guests. It was a trip down memory lane heading north as I drove the same route as I used to take with my father when we would go to my uncle’s deer hunting camp in Sproul State Forest when I was a teenager. I used to think Snowshoe was the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, that is until I drove to Big Moores Run. This drive takes you along Wykoff Run and eventually along the First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek. I lost cell phone service just over 3 hours into the 4-hour trip. I arrived at Big Moores Run around 7:00am.
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