2015 North Central PA Summit Recap

[The_Sasquatch]

Back from another successful NCPA Jam. We had quite a diverse crowd of fishermen this year, and one fisherwoman! Great time!

Attenders:
The_Sasquatch
Jerry (Father o Squatch)
Afishin
Moosehead_Belle
Bikerfish
Skybay
Artifishal
Kelly (Artifishal's girlfriend)
Wetfly01
Les Trout
We were expecting a few others, but they never made it.

Yes, streams were low. We knew they would be, but we still held the jam, despite the dooms day reports prior to the events by certain members...There was still plenty of water to find fish.

Dad and I drove up on Wed. PM and we hit rain north of Harrisburg the whole way up to Denton Hill. It kept raining til some time in the early AM on Thursday, and then Thursday stayed overcast. Moosehead_Belle and Afishin arrived on Thursday. Afishin wanted a nap first, so the three of us went over to Lyman Run. 1 coyote was seen on the road! Some fish were caught. The overcast skies helped tremendously, although water was clear and low.

We went back to camp, picked up Afishin, headed to the Potato City Motor Inn for a quick drink and food, then went down to the West Branch for the evening. In hindsight, we should have gone above where Lyman Run dumps in. Fishing was pretty slow that night.

1 bear was seen by Moosehead_Belle and dad as they drove from the West Branch down to Galeton for supplies.

Thursday night Bikerfish arrived, as did Wetfly01.
Friday morning, Artifishal and Kelly were knockin' on the door of the cabin by 9:30. Blue-bird skies and low water were the order of the day, but fish were found. Some headed to lower sections of the West Branch, others went up to the Osweyo for a bit and then back to more wooded streams. 1 bear was seen on rt 49 on the way to the Osweyo.

Biker and I went back to the cabin around 3:30 to see if anyone else had arrived, and Skybay was there. So we grabbed Jared and hauled his butt up into a backwoods stream. Fish were caught. On the hike out, the coyotes started singing all around us. Just beautiful.

Les arrived Friday as well, with scrapple in hand and plenty of pipe tobacco and Scotch.

Saturday-RAIN!!! LOTS OF RAIN!!!!
Wetfly took half the group to Cross Fork, divided them up and had everyone fishing some nice beats. Dad, Biker, Skybay and I headed to the upper stretches of Kettle. Biker and Skybay had an epic day between the Oleona and rt 44 bridge, and dad and I had a wonderful time up in the WBTE of Kettle upstream of the 44 bridge. Despite getting rained on the whole time, the fishing and scenery was phenomenal.

Save the date now. the 2016 NCPA Jam, officially from here on out entitled the Denton Hill Summit (due to the cabin being on the summit of Denton Hill) will be some time between mid September and early October of 2016.

A few pics:

 

[troutbert]

The_Sasquatch wrote:

Dad, Biker, Skybay and I headed to the upper stretches of Kettle. Biker and Skybay had an epic day between the Oleona and rt 44 bridge, and dad and I had a wonderful time up in the WBTE of Kettle upstream of the 44 bridge. Despite getting rained on the whole time, the fishing and scenery was phenomenal.

In those parts of Kettle, what was the mix of wild browns vs wild brookies you were catching?

The reason I ask is that guy I know who has a cabin in the Kettle drainage and has fished there for many years says that in the stretch from Route 44 up to the next bridge (and further up) the population is shifting to more brookies and less browns as compared to years past.

I wonder whether you think that is true (and anyone else who fishes upper Kettle.) I think maybe I've seen that trend on upper Kettle, and on some other streams in the region, for example Francis Branch and Cushman Branch. But it's hard to tell.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

We caught nothing but brookies in there. I thought I had a brown on at the first big hole were the WBTE begins, but he got off before I landed him. Other than that, it was 100% brookies. Now that might have been because of the lower water, but it was raining steadily and the creek was going up, so browns SHOULD have been coming out. But we were using all dries, so maybe that played a role.

 

[troutbert]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
We caught nothing but brookies in there. I thought I had a brown on at the first big hole were the WBTE begins, but he got off before I landed him. Other than that, it was 100% brookies. Now that might have been because of the lower water, but it was raining steadily and the creek was going up, so browns SHOULD have been coming out. But we were using all dries, so maybe that played a role.

Thanks, that's interesting.

When three of us fished that stretch in 2000, we caught more browns than brookies.

 

[Swattie87]

Good stuff guys. Sounds like a good a time was had. I like fishing in the rain once in a while. Not all the time, but when you know it's gonna be a soaker and get in the mindset early that you're gonna get wet, it can be fun. The fish usually cooperate. Too bad I wasn't there with ya...I woulda taken one for the team and put a small streamer on to see if any Browns were there!

tb/Sas - FWIW my experience in recent years on the upper water in Kettle, above Oleona, is also that it is Brookie dominated. I've fished that area the last 3 years at least once per year and have not caught a wild Brown above the bridge in Oleona. I was also fishing dries each time. I've caught wild Browns from Ole Bull to the Oleona bridge, and in Little Kettle however.

 

[salvelinus]

troutbert wrote:

In those parts of Kettle, what was the mix of wild browns vs wild brookies you were catching?

The reason I ask is that guy I know who has a cabin in the Kettle drainage and has fished there for many years says that in the stretch from Route 44 up to the next bridge (and further up) the population is shifting to more brookies and less browns as compared to years past.

I wonder whether you think that is true (and anyone else who fishes upper Kettle.) I think maybe I've seen that trend on upper Kettle, and on some other streams in the region, for example Francis Branch and Cushman Branch. But it's hard to tell.

Over the last few years I have accomplished fishing the entire upper Kettle from Rt. 44 to the Billings Branch. I have yet to catch a brown. I've caught a few browns in the Francis Branch but none in the Cushman either.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

troutbert wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
We caught nothing but brookies in there. I thought I had a brown on at the first big hole were the WBTE begins, but he got off before I landed him. Other than that, it was 100% brookies. Now that might have been because of the lower water, but it was raining steadily and the creek was going up, so browns SHOULD have been coming out. But we were using all dries, so maybe that played a role.

Thanks, that's interesting.

When three of us fished that stretch in 2000, we caught more browns than brookies.

I'll be up there again in October, a few weeks before the spawn. I'll give you an update if anything changes. Most likely I'll be dropping a PN or something off the back of an october caddis. I usually catch more browns in October, in general, in Potter.

 

[Moosehead_Belle]

Thursday, one wild Brookie on dry on Lyman Run.
Friday, three wild Brookies and one Chub on Pine, all on streamer.
Saturday, on Kettle trib. four or five wild Brookies and one wild Brown on dries, at last hole missed two good size trout on dries and one large fish on streamer, not hooked, but no second chances.
Water was low but fishable.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Just to clarify, before someone craps a brick over fishing Pine (yes we all know it was too warm for trout fishing!), Moosehead_Belle means the West Branch Pine Creek.

His synopsis fits, though. Fishing got better as the weekend progressed!

 

[steveo27]

Good stuff

Cheers

 

[Wetfly01]

Well, another great North Central Pa Summit now known as the Denton Hill Summit from here on out. First I would like to again thank Andy & Jerry for opening up there camp to use as a base of operations for all of us. What a good group of fly fishers to spend a few days with again. It was nice seeing some new faces and of course the originals of the group. Great food, drink and conversation and some nice wild trout. Would also like to send special thanks out to Kelly, Chris’s girlfriend for attending. I am sure she thought what am I getting myself into when she walked into the camp that morning, but she fitted right in. Hell, we even had her eating raw jalapeno peppers now thats a tough lady. Hope you had a good time and learned some small stream tactics. I will so look forward to the 2016 Denton Hill Summit next year with you guys and hopefully some new faces. And for you guys that thought about coming, you missed a great time. Next year don’t think about it just come you’ll enjoy yourself.

 

[Camp]

Looks like it was an awesome weekend. Hope to make it next year. Kettle is on my list of "must fish soon" streams.

 

[Coudersportguy]

Wish I would have drove over the hill to attend now that I'm a resident of Coudersport (Sweden Valley). I know nothing about the fishing up here as of now, it would have been nice to learn some water from this seasoned group. You bet your Salvelinus Fontinalis backside I will drive up with this group next year!

 

[JackM]

Coudersportguy, you would not have to drive more than 15 minutes to find a fairly accessible stream with wild trout. If you are interested in pursuing this, consider a map of your radius of comfort (say, 15 miles) and you will be on good trout water.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Heck he probably has half a dozen w/in a 5-10 minute drive.

 

[afishinado]

+2

Click on this wild trout map , zoom in on your area and you will see that nearly every stream up there has wild trout in it. Just grab your gear and give any one of them a try.

 

[Artifishal]

Had a great time! The food, the company, the scenery...I couldn't say enough good things. Thanks to Andy and Jerry for having us all up at the cabin. Thanks to Dave for getting Kelly and I to some awesome fishing spots and making sure we made it back alive. We could not have had a better time. Thank you everyone that made this possible and thanks for accepting Kelly into camp. Since we got home she's been going on and on...and on and on (lol) about how great the trip was and how much fun she had. We're both looking forward to a return trip next year.

It was great to see some familiar faces and meet a few new guys. Thanks again.

 

[Coudersportguy]

Thanks for the map afishinado. I will check out the streams up here before the snow falls, maybe by next Denton hill summit I will be a seasoned pro up here.

 

[troutbert]

Stop at the DCNR forestry office or a state park and get the state forest maps for the region. And use those to explore.

Just fish a lot of streams. Don't skip the smallish streams, i.e. about 15 feet wide or so. In the headwaters and tribs is often where you find good wild trout fishing.

 

[purplewoolly]

I've got this on the schedule for next year. You mentioned a few guys ventured up to the Oswayo, anything happening? The Coneville area is my "home" water. I'm guessing it was very tough if even fishable. I was last there 2nd weekend in August and it was fishable but heading toward marginal. Anyone try the Allegheny above the delayed harvest? Sounds like a great time,Thanks for the great report.