What is Dark Skies Fly Fishing? What does it mean?

I get this question from time to time from folks who wonder how the name of the website, and now the magazine, came to be. Here’s how this all came about.

I grew up in Butler County, a stone’s throw from Buffalo Creek. Throughout my teens, I spent countless days on Buffalo Creek, learning how to catch trout with spinning gear. When I was 14, I hit my first mayfly hatch, the Hendricksons, on First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek in Potter County. It was literally the first day I’d ever walked the stream with a fly rod in hand, and it changed my life forever.

My family started fishing First Fork sometime in the early 1960s, although I believe my great grandfather probably made it to this valley many years before then to hunt grouse. Throughout high school, we made frequent trips to Potter County to fish, but they were never long enough. We hit some great fly hatches and caught a lot of fish. Eventually, I started dreaming about moving here so that I could fish these streams every day of my life, and then high school graduation came and went, and years ticked by.

It took 25 years, but eventually the dream was realized. In November 2021, my wife came into my office where I was tying flies and said, “I think we should move to Potter County.” I quickly said okay! Her reasoning was simple. We had a camp near Prouty (headwaters of First Fork) where I was spending so much time hunting and fishing anyway that she figured we may as well move there so she and the kids could see me more. I wasn’t about to argue.

Two months later, our house in Butler was sold and we were living in northcentral Pennsylvania, with First Fork, Kettle Creek, the Allegheny River, and a whole host of premium trout streams within an easy commute.

I started the fly fishing blog/website back in 2018 and mainly posted articles that I’d had previously published in magazines. At that time, I was writing columns for Pennsylvania Outdoor Journal, Ohio Valley Outdoors, and Ohio Valley Times and publishing articles and photos in too many publications to list here. Eventually, I started writing content specifically for the blog and began a newsletter.

The first newsletter I ever sent had only 42 subscribers! But over time, it grew. And kept growing.

A few years later, I started selling flies that I had tied. This wasn’t a new venture, by any means, as I had actually tied for two sporting goods stores while still in high school. And even though things have grown substantially since then, I still personally tie most of the flies that are sold through the online store today.

The blog started out under the name Keystone Fly Fisher. I never liked that name. It was too similar to other businesses. I wanted something more unique, and in Fall 2022, I decided to rebrand everything.

If you’ve spent much time in northcentral Pennsylvania, you probably know that stars are a big deal here. Because Potter County is so sparsely populated, and we lack any major urban hubs, we have very little light pollution, which means that you can view the night sky as it was meant to be viewed. Only a few minutes from my house is Cherry Springs State Park, where it has been said that the Milky Way shines so bright that it literally casts your shadow. In fact, some sources claim this to be the best place on Earth for stargazing. For this reason, the area is colloquially known as the “dark skies.”

In fly fishing, we have other reasons for preferring dark skies. On dark days with lots of cloud cover, for instance, the fishing tends to improve, big trout move, and even many mayfly species get more active. In short, dark skies typically means better fly fishing.

And so Dark Skies Fly Fishing was born. To me, it wasn’t just the perfect name for a fly fishing blog, but also for a regional fly fishing magazine. And here we are!

Many people call the outdoors their passion, their obsession, or whatever. But for me, it’s always just been how I’ve lived my life. When I was only 13 or so, I knew I wanted to be an outdoor writer. I sold my first articles to national magazines shortly after high school graduation and have never stopped.

I’ve worked on numerous magazines over the years and dreamed of someday starting one. A few times, I tried to get something going but quickly got discouraged. I learned very early on that it takes a team of people to accomplish anything good in life. My team begins with my wife Natalie and our two kids, Sophia and Jude, and our faith in God, without which none of this would be possible.

I’d also like to send a special thanks to Justin Leidy, friend and fishing partner, whose contributions have pushed Dark Skies Fly Fishing to new heights. Also, thank you to everyone who has contributed articles and who is as excited about this magazine and website as I am.

– Ralph Scherder (from the Editorial printed in Issue #1 of Dark Skies Fly Fishing Magazine)