Springtime in Pennsylvania

The nasty winter/early spring weather has finally broke here in central Pennsylvania. From Carlisle to Coudersport the stream conditions were at long last ripe for the onset of the big three of the April hatches; the blue quills, hendrickson's and grannoms. Greg and I selected a small limestoner somewhere in between where we hoped to meet and fish the blue quill mayflies -aka Paraleptophlebia adoptiva- on a sparkling sunny day under cerulean blue skies.

Everything pretty much went according to plan except for the fact that most of the duns that rode the surface this weekend went unmolested by the trout. Possibly due to the water temps that were still a little on the chilly side and the fact that this stream is so rich in fish food that the trout simply don't have to expose themselves to predation on such a bright sunny day in order to have a good meal. Water temps were 45F at 11:00am and 52F around 3:00pm, air temps were between 70-75F, hatching insects - lots of blue quills & midges.

A handful of fish were taken on imitations of adoptiva duns but, as is usually the case on these limestone streams, nymphing the riffles, runs and pocketwater proved to be the order of the day. Just about every good lie produced a beautifully colored Von Beher brown trout.

In the above photo Greg is getting his first look at the fecundity of this stream from his kick sample net. The good news is that the creek harbors impressive populations of march browns, grey foxes, bwo's, blue quills, sulphers and green rock worm caddis. The bad news is he found very few hendrickson's, grannom caddis or perla stoneflies.

When he's not busy establishing baseline data for macro-invertebrates on Watson/Mill Creeks near his home Greg likes to see what a sample from a real trout stream looks like. Anyone who thinks that Greg is uni-dimensional in his pursuits couldn't be further from the truth. He also enjoys creative cooking with venison, hanging out at REI and on-demand digital cable television.

Springtime trout fishing in Pennsylvania -it's a natural elixir! As you can see, the trees have yet to leaf out here. That, combined with the sunny skies, kept the big boys from coming out to play. If you could locate a short stretch where there was some slow water shaded by the hemlocks you could usually find a couple of rising fish in the early afternoon before the sun got too high in the sky.

We caught lots of these Von Beher wild browns, mostly on small nymphs.

Parting Shot: Greg demonstrating his short-line pocketwater nymphing technique. Shortly after this photo was taken, he was chased off the water by a family of grizzly bears who were intent on doing a little fishing of their own. We were surprised because we had figured all the grizzlies would be rolling rocks and feeding on army cutworm moths up on top of Shriner Mountain at this time of the year. Boy, were we wrong!

Trout Town - USA

Roscoe, New York? For some people, maybe. For me it's the village of Coburn, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the village of Forks, it was strategically situated for early 19th century commerce at the junction of three spring fed streams that eventually drained into the Susquehanna River after flowing through the rugged mountains below the town. It's name was later changed to it's present one in honor of James Coburn, one of the original directors of the Lewisburg & Tyrone Railroad that was the early lifeblood of the town. Once a thriving railroad town complete with sawmills, gristmills, bottling works, planing mills, creamerys, cannery's & general stores it now supports only a handful of small businesses including the best little fly shop in Central Pennsylvania: The Feathered Hook Inn & Fly Shop, owned and operated by the competent and affable Jonas Price.

Not unlike the early village of "Forks", the Feathered Hook Inn has a fortuitous location at the confluence of Elk, Pine & Penns Creeks -three "class A" wild limestone trout streams- that make it the perfect location, not for commerce, but for the modern day trout fisherman looking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The original building dates back to the Civil War and has a long history of serving the town as a succession of general stores under various owners before being converted to a fly shop/inn back in the early 1990's. A curious mix of the old and new, the Feathered Hook is a modern and forward looking fly shop while at the same time embracing the rich history of fly fishing in the local area highlighted by their affinity for bamboo fly rods and vintage tackle.

Looking west down Main Steet towards the iron bridge over John Penns Creek on a sleepy morning in early March. Coburn has produced it's own share of local angling legends over the years but, unlike their more famous brethren of the Catskills, Pocono's and Cumberland Valley, they never really achieved the same level of notoriety since they rarely ever produced any published works. Expert local fisherman such as the Kerstetter's, Musser's, Auman's, Leon Smith, J. Pearce and Les Rote mostly operated under the national radar and off the literary map. Charlie Wetzel, whose writings are most often associated with Penns Creek lived further downstream in the hamlet of Glen Iron.

The confluence of Pine & Penns Creek as seen from Coburn Park on the Opening Day of the 2004 trout season. The combined flow of Elk and Pine Creek comes in from the left and joins Penns coming in from the right. At one time, the town had it's own baseball team and this was their home field. Many a foul ball must have sailed over the backstop here and then had to be retrieved from the Creek. Today Coburn park provides covered picinic pavilions, ballfields and easy access to both creeks right in town.

Greg Glitzer, fly tier and fisherman extraordinaire, from Doylestown, Pa. plies the fertile flats of Penns Creek just downstream of Coburn on a soggy, drizzly early summer day during a protracted hatch of Drunella lata mayflies. One of the finest summer hatches on these local waters.

Your typical central Pennsylvania farmhouse on the outskirts of town. The limestone/Karst topography of Penns & Brush Valleys still contain some of the richest and most productive farmland in the world today. Replete with sinkholes, subterranean caves and limestone springs they make for an interesting mix of Amish farmers & modern day fly fishermen.

Upper Penns Valley and the village of Coburn on a hazy summer day as seen from Penns View located on the north flank of Big Poe Mountain.

Andy Reed of Maryland's Eastern Shore nymph fishes the Narrows of Elk Creek upstream of Coburn in late March. Elk & Pine Creek are the life blood of the blue ribbon water on Penns. Even on the hottest summer day, water temperatures here in the Narrows seldom exceed 60 degrees F due to the presence of the limestone springs in Brush Valley.