I like adventure. I like fly fishing. I like to explore new bodies of water, small towns, states I’ve never visited. I like driving in the middle of the night to some destination I’ve never been to. Ironically, with all the exciting experiences I’ve pursued, there are still places close to home I know little about. One of these places is the Donegal Creek in western Lancaster County. I grew up in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and the Donegal Creek was just a short drive from my home. Friends and I would frequently fishing the all tackle water off of Rt. 772 during the spring trout season, dunking worms or PowerBait® on spin rods. We would often walk down to the boundary where the fly fishing only section of the stream started and that’s where we’d end our day. For years I’ve known there was a fly fishing only section on the Donegal Creek. I’d met many fishermen who’d tell me about it, I had friends that would fish it regularly, but I never visited. That is until May 29th, 2017 on Memorial Day.
Read moreThe Brown Trout Buffet On Ninemile Creek
Heading into Memorial Day weekend I had my sites set on traveling across the border into Canada to fly fish the Grand River. I had all my planning done and was ready to roll and then Friday afternoon I called Grand River Outfitting & Fly Shop. I found out that water levels on the Grand River had been raised due to high water in the reservoir and in five minutes my weekend plans had to change. Fortunately I had a Plan B ready to put into action. Plan B consisted to heading to New York to fish Ninemile Creek, just east of Syracuse. Ninemile Creek is a 22-mile tailwater that begins at the Otisco Lake and runs east to the Onondaga Lake. Within these 22 miles of water, there are approximately 5 miles of accessible water with Public Fishing Rights (“PFR’s”). The stream intrigued me because it has a wild population of brown and brook trout, but is also heavily stocked by the Carpenter Brook Fish Hatchery. This hatchery puts a lot of fish in the river. I’ve read numbers from 18,000, all the way up to 24,000 annually. I figured if I headed here there was a good chance I could get into some fish.
Read morePine Creek, The Muncy And Talking Barred Owls
Last week two of my fly fishing buddies that live near Williamsport, Pennsylvania confirmed that Pine Creek was finally shaping up for a weekend of good fly fishing. High water from spring rains had kept large numbers of fishermen from catching the trout that were stocked in the water that runs from Slate Run to below Black Walnut Bottom.
Read moreThe Neshannock And Lost Hookups On Buffalo Creek
Would you be surprised if I told you the forecast for most of Pennsylvania this past weekend was rain? I just read a USA Today article that said April 2017 was the wettest April in 60 years in the United States. And yet again, heading towards the end of last week, I started searching for a place other than eastern Pennsylvania to fish on Saturday. From what the forecast said, it looked like the rain was going to miss the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. Friday evening I was scouring the USGS site looking at water levels and I zeroed in on the Neshannock Creek near Volant, Pennsylvania. The water levels looked great and the Neshannock Creek Fly Shop’s website was saying that the fishing had been good. I decided I’d continue my Keystone Select series and head west!
Read more