Destinations

  Although I’ve lived my whole life less than 45 minutes from Volant, PA, I’d never fished Neshannock Creek until last fall. I tried to once. About three years ago, I stopped at the covered bridge on the lower boundary of the catch and release area but the water was borderline flood stage and muddy. […]

According to the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, there were 151 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps stationed in Pennsylvania between 1933 and 1942. An estimated 29 state parks benefitted from CCC projects that provided jobs to hundreds of thousands of workers in the midst of the Great Depression. In collaboration with the Works Progress Administration, the

  Located in Indiana County, Yellow Creek Lake encompasses the historic Kittanning Path once used by the Delaware and Shawnee nations as well as early settlers. Created in 1969 with an earth and rock dam on Yellow Creek, the 720-acre lake has become a popular destination for fishermen in search of musky, northern pike, crappies,

  My first success with nymphing came on Little Sandy Creek some 20 years ago, when I discovered this scenic little freestone stream less than an hour from my house. Its diminutive size made it easy to get my fly in front of fish and learn the basic skills of casting in tight cover. But

  If a stream were judged by scenic beauty alone, East Hickory Creek would rank high on anyone’s list. The combination of wilderness setting and solitude make it a pleasant place to visit. Throw in trout stockings by the PA Fish and Boat Commission, good populations of wild and native trout, and abundant mayfly hatches

  Every angler has what they consider their home waters, those streams or rivers where large chunks of their fishing life were spent learning their craft. For me, that place is Buffalo Creek, specifically the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section. It’s where I spent many evenings after school as a teenager learning how to

  Looking at the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh, it’s hard to imagine that several hundred miles upstream, that same body of water is small enough to jump over. It’s rare that a river of that eventual magnitude has such modest beginnings. Take the Ohio River, for example, which is formed by the merging of the

I’ll never forget our first night spent in a tent on the fringe of the Gettysburg battlefield. Around three in the morning, I heard a series of cannon-like booms in the distance and what sounded like screams. Not just any screams, though. These were screams of agony, and unlike any I’d ever heard before. I

  The day started with a plan to fish East Branch of Tunungwant Creek. I’d read an article boasting the stream’s wild brown population, and like any self-respecting addict, I felt obligated to check it out. Unfortunately, I had my dog Charlie with me, and navigating a stream with brush crowding the banks all the

  Online I read a blog post by a well-known fly fisherman who has visited Letort Spring Run half a dozen times and has yet to catch a fish. The Letort doesn’t give up her bounty without a fight. If the weeds don’t foil your efforts, overhanging branches will. But if you can get your