Fear and Loathing in Central Pennsylvania

The Upper Spruce Creek Valley

The wide limestone valley of Spruce Creek & Warrior's Mark Run with their attendant geometric pattern of farms, seen here from the summit of Tussey Mountain, serves as the northern gateway to the upper Juniata Valley. The landscape here reflects what many people feel to be the classic Pennsylvania image -a well blended scene of farms, forests, mountains and fertile trout streams all blended together in a way that makes you feel good again, like you've witnessed a part of the older Penn's Woods and not a land that gets remodeled every 20 years. Indeed it's a peaceful scene for the folks who live in Graysville, Pennsylvania Furnace or Seven Stars. The village of Pine Grove Mills is discretely tucked behind the trees in the foreground of the photo and that's Bald Eagle Mountain & the Allegheny Front in the background. Bald Eagle Mountain forms the western boundary to the geographic feature known as the Nittany Arch which extends in an arc from Williamsport to Bedford. As far as I know, no Bald Eagles inhabit their namesake mountain today but at one time it must have been purty good Bald Eagle hunting.

Looking Upstream From The Barree Bridge

Once again, it's sulpher time here in central Pennsylvania. Persistent high water (fear of) and cool ambient temperatures so prevalent during the past 2-3 weeks combined with $4/gal. gasoline (loathing) to keep the usual throngs of dedicated hatch-matching flatlanders at home and in close proximity to they're backyard barbeque's on this holiday weekend.

Little Juniata River

After enduring a soggy, wet & cool spring so far this season the weather gods have finally smiled on us. Intoxicatingly beautiful, bright sunny bluebird type skies, warm temps, low humidity and dropping river levels all set the stage for a few days of productive fly fishing before the next round of moisture laden fronts sweep through the region.

The Little J in the Rothrock State Forest

Left over spinners from the previous evening along with a smattering of emerging & egg laying caddis and morning hatching sulphers greeted the early morning angler and nymphing the various riffles, runs and pocketwater sections proved to be a good way to while away the afternoon (at least for some guys), but my heart just wasn't into it. All I could think about were the waves of sulphers and Cahills that would come pouring out of the riffles later this evening.

Below the Village of Spruce Creek

After pulling up to the river on Sunday morning and glancing around I had to double check my calendar to make sure it was in fact a holiday weekend. Around 7 pm the sulpher and Cahill activity increased substantially and rising fish could now be spotted in places of moderate current flow. This was the first dry fly fishing I had done since back in mid-March so I was a little rusty and put down the first two fish I spotted rising in a long, thigh deep seam of mixed currents. After those two miscues though the fishing became fast & steady right on into the night. What a treat to be fishing dry flies again to big, strong, powerful fish in a river that was bank full of ice cold water. While it wasn't the heaviest sulpher hatch I'd ever witnessed on the Little Juniata River, it was heavy enough to bring up a lot of nice fish. I was on cloud nine as one fish after another sipped my CDC sulpher emerger, Cahill parachute and rusty spinner when I suddenly realized that I was now enveloped by darkness and I still have to find my way out of here.

Barree Gorge

It's amazing how quickly a man can find religion when he's wading the Little Juniata River in the Barree Gorge as night falls while he's preoccupied with fishing the sulpher hatch /spinner fall and flows are still pushing +450 CFS. Twice I almost topped my waders while I struggled along the trail-less bank to locate the fisherman's path up the steep hill to the main bison path that would lead me out of the gorge, was briefly rimrocked by the active railroad line and I swear I was being stalked by huge man-eating grizzly bear with big red eyes and a voracious appetite but, in retrospect, that may have just been just been my fishing buddy Greg who was having his own difficulties getting out of Gorge without the benefit of a full moon to light the way. A small wave of fear swept over me and I briefly considered what it would be like to be stuck in the gorge overnight with no food, no matches and very little potable water to drink then pressed on, carefully feeling my way down the river bank in sheer darkness. Once I hit the railroad trestle bridge, which would be impossible to miss, I was sure I could find the trail -and thankfully I eventually did.

RBF Pro Staffer Senior Field Tester & world class fly tying artist, Greg Glitzer of Doylestown, Pa. dynamically nymphing a small productive limestoner in the Penns Creek Watershed.

March Browns trickled off here during the afternoon hours, so did the sulphers & caddis with only sporadic rising activity throughout. Water levels were still slightly high and the clarity was still a little stained from the previous weeks of high water. Water temerature was a chilly 53F at 4pm.

Despite the lack of consistent rising activity Greg put his beautifully tied March Brown nymphs to work and pounded up a bevy of fine wild browns while this angler spent most of his time changing flies & tactics.

This was a fairly common scene for me this weekend. Pretty much every time I looked over my shoulder Greg was into another fish. He had obviously been devouring his personal copy of the Chief's best selling novel & literary tour-de-force "Caddis and a Bead" and was now putting it to good use.

The following fish pix were captured & provided by Greg:

Greg's Limestone Brookie

Yes it's wild, and no it's not from Big Fishing Creek. Although there is a small private hatchery located on one of the spring branches that feed this stream, it has not been officially stocked in over 25 years.

Greg's Limestone Brown
That's one of Greg's afore mentioned March Brown nymphs appended to the mandible of this lovely wild brown. Yup, the guy is a fishing mo-chine!

Greg's Spring Creek Rainbow

Greg had spotted this honkin' fat rainbow aggressively feeding on sulpher emergers & stillborns beneath a low hanging hemlock bough and figured that with behavior like that there was no way it could be of hatchery origin. I couldn't have agreed more :^)

Parting Shot
Coffee Creek in the Big Valley - Decoration Day, 2008

Big Spring Creek Heritage Celebration

Barrel Factory - Springfield, Pa.

It looks like this summer will be a busy one for the Big Spring Watershed Association and their friends. They've already recently jumped into the Blogshere with both feet and a redesigned website that will give them the opportunity to throw up real-time updates as they happen. Click on over and take a look for yourself.

The long anticipated stream restoration work is scheduled to begin this summer on the upper part of the creek with the help of $411,600 in grant money and much needed renovations to the Barrel Factory in Springfield will begin with the addition of a new roof and repairs to the front porch and masonry work. That should help restore the glow to this faded fieldstone link to the creeks recent past.

Also on tap for May 31st and June 1st, 2008 is the Big Spring Heritage Village Faire in the historic settlement of Springfield on the headwaters of Big Spring Creek. This event is hosted by the BSWA, the Newville Historical Society, Big Spring United Methodist Church and the Great American Rendezvous and is free to the public. Walking tours led by long time residents, BBQ's, displays and exhibits by the BSWA, early American encampments with period dress in Springfield, shooting demos and music are just part of the fun. Just click on the highlighted linky links for more information on the event.

Idiot Joy!

Honey Creek

Draining the eastern end of central Pennsylvania's Big Valley, Honey Creek takes the combined flows of it's upper tributaries like Havice, Treaster, Laurel and upper Honey Creeks only after they've disappeared into the valley floor, traveled underground through limestone conduits and reemerged to the surface as Mammoth Springs at the mouth of Alexander Caverns. At 14,000 gpm it discharges 3 1/2 times the flow of Penn's Cave and is the second largest spring in the state. Then, after running hard against the northern flank of Jacks Mountian for almost 4 miles, it adds it's flow, as does tiny Tea Creek, to the Kishacoquillas Creek in the small town of Reedsville just north of the Mann Narrows.

Honey Creek Wild Brown Trout

This section of Honey Creek from the cave to the confluence is rated Class "A" wild brown trout water by the PFBC. Due to recent rains the water levels were slightly up this weekend and in perfect fishing condition. Water Temperature on Friday was 53F at 5 pm about a mile below the source. Weather was mostly cloudy, overcast & warm with only a slight breeze and 70F.

Below Alexander Caverns

Penn's was not the only see-it-by-boat cave in Pennsylvania. Prior to 1954 Alexander Caverns had a tour boat operation. The small number of spelunkers who have seen it, and the even fewer number of tourist who remember it, claim it was one of the most awe inspiring caves in the state. Today the cave is privately owned on property that is now a dairy farm and is not open to the public.

Honey Creek Wild Brown

Decent numbers of olive caddis & Blue Quills were seen in the air but not on the water. It took an old reliable pattern like Clayton Peters' Woven Perla Stonefly Nymph and a couple of split shot to save the day by producing a few chunky wild browns like the one pictured above from sections of riffles & pocketwater like the one pictured below. Three large sulpher mayflies were also seen riding the placid currents of the creek so their activity should be cranking up real soon too.

A Limestone Spring Creek

Honey Creek may be rated Class A by the PFBC but the only special regulations you'll see on the creek will be over the cold dead bodies of the landowners along the stream. Most of whom would rather post their land than allow special regulations to hamper the fishing.

Amish Farms fill the green valleys and gorges of the Seven Mountains.

Jacks Mountain East
An immaculately maintained Amish farm on Honey Creek that graciously allows access to their section of creek.

Healthy Wild Brown Trout

The lack of special regulations while being managed under general harvest regulations may be limiting Honey's ability to reach it's full potential as a wild brown trout fishery but the up side is that access is good along it's entire length with only a few short stretches that are closed to Sunday fishing.

Kauffman's Dairy Farm
Just below Alexander Caverns, Honey Creek flows through a short, beautiful gorge for the first few hundred before entering the Kauffman Dairy Farm property.

Jack's Mountain West

Electric streambank fencing; the sign of a healthy riparian steward - with the possible exception of the overzealous landscaping right down to the streams edge.

Despite the lack of surface activity today, one wild brown after another fell victim to Clayton Peter's stone and while none of them were particularly large they sure were healthy and colorful and provided a pleasant diversion from more famous & crowded waters just over the Seven Mountains to the north.

Around Spring Mills
Saturday morning at the general store in Penn's valley.

The Shriner Mountain Narrows

Another little brown trout factory where impressive numbers of German browns also showed a fondness for Clayton Peters' woven perla stonefly nymph on Saturday afternoon.

Around Zerby Gap
Where the flip am I???

Penns Creek
Penns Creek has been a harsh mistress for me so far this season. It is now rather obvious, to me at least, that the big limestoner has placed some sort of voodoo hex on my fishing soul. Although I have made fewer trips so far this year, I've never before had to work so hard for such scant rewards.

Around State College
Inspiration for this trip was provided by Clem's BBQ and Brewsky's Bottle Shop of State College, Pa.