Spur of the moment fishing trips are the best. Like when my friend Brian Pitell called up on a Tuesday and asked if I’d be available to go fishing that weekend. “I have a reservation at Trout Haven to fish Spruce Creek,” Brian said. Long story short, another guy was supposed to go but canceled, […]
24 Hours on the “Real” Spruce Creek Read More »
Think of fly fishing and most anglers envision casting to rising trout or drifting egg patterns to finicky Steelhead. While I enjoy those moments, too, once summer rolls around, I have a different species that I love to target: the mighty Bluegill. Like many anglers, the first fish that ever tugged my line was
Bluegills on the Fly Read More »
A handful of palomino trout circled the pool in front of me. They went round and round, all five of them, searching their watery confines for a cool place to rest before eventually stationing themselves in fighter plane formation where the riffles dumped into the pool. A few minutes later, they repeated the process.
Getting Skunked with Dignity: Early Summer Midges Read More »
The evening began on the lower end of First Fork’s Delayed Harvest section. The afternoon rain had cleared into a beautiful evening – a little too beautiful, in fact, as the sun beat down on the water, and at times it felt downright hot. I picked up two fat rainbows on a Sexy Walt
A Tale of Two Streams: Chasing Drakes Read More »
Like many excursions, I ended up on a different stream than I set out for. My target had been Kettle Creek, and I had every intention of giving it a shot, but as I drove down past Ole Bull State Park, and past numerous vehicles squeezed into any and all available parking areas, I
The Cross Fork Experience Read More »
I caught two trout on my first two casts before I realized there was a full scale Blue Quill hatch going on and trout were rising all around me. The rises were subtle, which is why I hadn’t noticed them when I first waded out into the stream. And then I was distracted by
April Showers Bring…Blue Quills on First Fork! Read More »
By 1840, Pittsburgh had grown into one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mountains in large part due to its production of iron, tin, glass, and brass products. In 1875, entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie opened the Edgar Thomson Works mills in Braddock, PA, along the shores of the Monongahela River. For the next century,
Steel City Trout: 3 Pittsburgh Area Streams Worth a Visit Read More »
I’d wager that the First Fork Valley in northcentral Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful parts of the state. That is, after all, one of the reasons my wife and I decided to move here, so we could enjoy the mountains and this valley that always seems to take my breath away. Within
George B. Stevenson Dam: Fishing, Family, and Fun Read More »
The right fly can produce a banner day. The wrong fly can leave you fishless and frustrated. A few years ago, I was having a rough outing on Buffalo Creek Delayed Harvest in Butler County. Buffalo Creek is a mid-sized stream with a strong early spring flow. The stream had just been stocked two
Choosing and Using the Right Fly Read More »
When fishing for fall trout or Steelhead, an assortment of egg patterns deserves a place in every fly box. Eggs make up a huge part of the diets of these fish this time of year. At times, trout and Steelhead will gorge on them almost to the exclusion of everything else. Luckily for anglers,
Tips for Tying Killer Egg Patterns Read More »