Great information. Get out and fish this hatch!
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Bellefonte Named the Best Fly Fishing Town in Pennsylvania
- Category Paflyfish
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We gave a great Pale Sulphur hatch on the Clinch River in Eastern TN above Knoxville. I like yellow sally liqui lace plus one other nymph better then a PT. Now, the purist's will be on my case, but; nymph fishermen catch a lot of trout,too.
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Great article, but more pictures would have made it epic.
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Bellefonte, Pennsylvania – June 19, 2009 - Bellefonte proudly proclaims to be “Central Pennsylvania’s Victorian Secret” with it’s charming homes in a modern world, but it is no secret to anglers that it also holds a charm all its own when it comes to fly fishing. Nestled in the Nittnany Valley of Centre County, Bellefonte is home to some of the premier fly-fishing waters in Pennsylvania. The members of PaFlyFish.com have selected Bellefonte, Pennsylvania as the Best Fly Fishing Town in Pennsylvania for 2009.
Anglers enjoy the world-class fly-fishing waters of Spring Creek that meanders through the town. Other prominent streams such as Penns Creek, Fishing Creek, Spruce Creek and the Little Juniata River are all in close proximity too. The mountain fed and limestone streams provide cool productive waters through out the year that are a delight to fly fishing enthusiasts.
Members of the Pennsylvania fly-fishing community at PaFlyFish.com resoundingly selected Bellefonte in a recent poll as the Best Fly Fishing Town in Pennsylvania. Selected for not only the close proximity to the many wonderful streams in the area, but its hospitality, shops, dining and accommodations. With a lodging named the Riffles and Runs Bed and Breakfast how can this not be a wonderful fly fishing town.
Bill Simmeth, member at PaFlyfish.com adds, “If I would ever move somewhere close to good fly fishing, Bellefonte would be at the top of my list. The town has all the amenities a fly fisherman could want with good restaurants, accommodations and two great fly shops nearby. Yet it still has that nice small town feel to it."
Walt Goldman, Mayor of Bellefonte, commented, “We are thrilled to hear that Bellefonte has been recognized for this wonderful designation. Bellefonte welcomes all fly fishing anglers to come and visit out wonderful town."
Thanks to www.VisitPa.com for the Bellefonte picture.
Anglers enjoy the world-class fly-fishing waters of Spring Creek that meanders through the town. Other prominent streams such as Penns Creek, Fishing Creek, Spruce Creek and the Little Juniata River are all in close proximity too. The mountain fed and limestone streams provide cool productive waters through out the year that are a delight to fly fishing enthusiasts.
Members of the Pennsylvania fly-fishing community at PaFlyFish.com resoundingly selected Bellefonte in a recent poll as the Best Fly Fishing Town in Pennsylvania. Selected for not only the close proximity to the many wonderful streams in the area, but its hospitality, shops, dining and accommodations. With a lodging named the Riffles and Runs Bed and Breakfast how can this not be a wonderful fly fishing town.
Bill Simmeth, member at PaFlyfish.com adds, “If I would ever move somewhere close to good fly fishing, Bellefonte would be at the top of my list. The town has all the amenities a fly fisherman could want with good restaurants, accommodations and two great fly shops nearby. Yet it still has that nice small town feel to it."
Walt Goldman, Mayor of Bellefonte, commented, “We are thrilled to hear that Bellefonte has been recognized for this wonderful designation. Bellefonte welcomes all fly fishing anglers to come and visit out wonderful town."
Thanks to www.VisitPa.com for the Bellefonte picture.
Great article and timely as well. I spent a couple hours on a favorite section of French Creek this past weekend watching a sporadic hatch of Sulphurs. When the trout began chasing the emergers I tied on a PT bead head in front of an Olive Emergent Sparkle Pupa (I did not have any Sulphur Emergers in my box) and the fun began. I caught a total of 9 trout in the next few minutes. The last two of the trout were caught on a small dry Sulphur. I couldn't stay very late so I imagine the hatch really got started after I left.
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I've been fly fishing for like 3 years now, and have never once fished anything resembling a hatch. I always find myself going whenever I have time, which almost never corresponds with a hatch. This year though I'm absolutely making a point of fishing the sulphurs! I have a bunch of sulphur patterns tied up including comparaduns, hackle dry flies, emergers, nymphs, and rusty spinners. I really like the looks of the sulphur emerger pattern that was posted as a fly of the month a couple years ago. Here's the link: sulphur emerger
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Got on a sulphur hatch last year on the upper reaches of the perkiomen here in Berks county. Never been in the middle of anything like it before in my life. The water looked like it was literally boiling with all the topwater action. Some of the most fun flyfishing I've had so far for sure.
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Great article!
From a fishermen's perspective, it's fine to leave rotunda and invaria separate because it highlights the range within this species. But as a technical correction, entomologists have now determined that they are in fact the same species. The sulphers are down to 2, and rotunda was left out of the mix. Invaria range in color from olive to brown to yellow, in sizes ranging from 12-16, and inhabit generally medium current areas. The spinners are generally "rusty" colored, but more grayish red than say, March Browns. The dorothea's are indeed smaller, inhabit slower water, start a week or two later (but overlap), and a pale yellow or white as duns and also paler as spinners, sometimes with a yellowish orange tinge.
It is somewhat important to distinguish between the above "sulphers" and the other yellow mayflies. Hatching behavior is very different. The above sulphers do swim to the surface as nymphs, and emerge from their shucks on the surface. This makes emerger patterns extra important, and brings floating nymphs, trailing shuck patterns, and the like into the equation. The cahills of the maccaffertium genus, on the other hand, are clinger nymphs and thus emerge primarily in or near heavy riffs. They crawl along the bottom to slow, shallow water (usually edges) before emergence. So you fish them in different areas, with different tactics. Epeorus vitreus (pink lady) is yet another clinger, which emerges on the bottom and "flies" to the surface as a dun. This makes floating nymphs unimportant, but swung soft hackles very effective.
True sulphers have 3 tails, not 2. If the hatching bug doesn't have 3, focus more on riffs, because it's a cahill or a pink lady, not a sulpher.
From a fishermen's perspective, it's fine to leave rotunda and invaria separate because it highlights the range within this species. But as a technical correction, entomologists have now determined that they are in fact the same species. The sulphers are down to 2, and rotunda was left out of the mix. Invaria range in color from olive to brown to yellow, in sizes ranging from 12-16, and inhabit generally medium current areas. The spinners are generally "rusty" colored, but more grayish red than say, March Browns. The dorothea's are indeed smaller, inhabit slower water, start a week or two later (but overlap), and a pale yellow or white as duns and also paler as spinners, sometimes with a yellowish orange tinge.
It is somewhat important to distinguish between the above "sulphers" and the other yellow mayflies. Hatching behavior is very different. The above sulphers do swim to the surface as nymphs, and emerge from their shucks on the surface. This makes emerger patterns extra important, and brings floating nymphs, trailing shuck patterns, and the like into the equation. The cahills of the maccaffertium genus, on the other hand, are clinger nymphs and thus emerge primarily in or near heavy riffs. They crawl along the bottom to slow, shallow water (usually edges) before emergence. So you fish them in different areas, with different tactics. Epeorus vitreus (pink lady) is yet another clinger, which emerges on the bottom and "flies" to the surface as a dun. This makes floating nymphs unimportant, but swung soft hackles very effective.
True sulphers have 3 tails, not 2. If the hatching bug doesn't have 3, focus more on riffs, because it's a cahill or a pink lady, not a sulpher.
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