West Branch Pine Creek is a 17-mile tributary of Big Pine Creek in Potter County. The stream begins just east of Cherry Springs State Park, and West Branch Road closely follows the stream from its headwaters clear to where it joins with Pine to form Berger Lake in Galeton. The past year or so, […]
The Other Pine Creek: Fly Fishing West Branch Pine Creek Read More »
Back in March, I met my friend Justin Leidy on a local Class A stream. I met Justin last fall when he contacted me through this website and we soon began texting regularly about all things outdoors. I could tell through conversation that he was a talented fly fisher, and although this was the
5 Lessons Learned from Watching Others Fish Read More »
How much time does it take to make a difference? That’s a question I asked myself after my wife Natalie, our two kids, and I piled up four bags of trash and an old bed spring at a pull-off along Little Kettle Creek in a little over an hour. It was a small thing,
Cleaning Up (Literally) Along Little Kettle Creek Read More »
Heading down PA 144 past Ole Bull State Park, I could barely control my excitement. It was shortly after noon on a beautiful day, and it just felt like the trout in Kettle Creek would be hungry! Kettle Creek is a 43-mile tributary of the Susquehanna River. It has a long history of great fishing,
Fishing and Life: An Afternoon on Kettle Creek Read More »
The sunshine got the best of me and I had no choice but to leave work early and head down the First Fork Valley. I got suited up and made my first cast a little before one o’clock, noticing that a few Blue Quills were coming off. Not enough to get excited about, though,
Fishing First Fork Before, During, and After a Blue Quill Hatch Read More »
Broken fly rods are a fact of life, and sooner or later, everyone gets to enjoy the experience of having one of their prized possessions journey to the other side. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for the rod, either. Over 30 years of fly fishing, I’ve owned and used a number of
The Broken Fly Rod Blues…and How to Fix Them Read More »
Two of the stream guides that have only been available as digital downloads are now available in paperback in the online store. First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek and its Tributaries and Fly Fishing the Oil Creek Region have both been updated and expanded for these prints runs to include the most thorough information found anywhere
Two Stream Guides Now in Print! Read More »
The term “guide flies” describes flies that can save the day and put fish in the net but are ridiculously quick and easy to tie. The Mop Fly fits the bill on all accounts. What is a Mop Fly? A Mop Fly is a very basic design that incorporates strands of microfiber tied to the
How to Tie and Fish the Mop Fly Read More »
The first time I saw a Flybrary was on Kettle Creek, near the lower limit of the project area. Stuck in this little panel were numerous flies, some in a seriously chewed up state, and others that looked as if they’d just been plucked from a bin at the local fly shop. Although that
What is a Flybrary? Read More »
In Pennsylvania, dozens of streams are named Pine Creek, but there is only one “Big” Pine Creek, and that one is an 87-mile tributary to the West Branch Susquehanna River. Beginning southeast of Ulysses in Potter County, Pine Creek flows east into Tioga County to the town of Ansonia, and then south through Lycoming and
Fly Fishing the PA Grand Canyon: The Pine Creek DHALO Read More »