Best brookie waters near SE PA?

[afishinado]

I dunno. On my computer I keep my pictures organized by stream. There’s about 300 I have pictures stored of. There’s probably some more that were total duds that I didn’t take any pictures on and wrote off. 350-400ish total would be my guess.

I tend to get an interest in an area, explore all of those, then pick a different area. For instance, this past Fall/Winter, I explored the Delaware Water Gap streams. Fished probably a dozen or 15 of them. Day trips, fished one or two a day, one day per week. Most were duds, lots of hemlock damage, but a couple would be worth fishing again. Before that it was the Sullivan/Bradford/Wyoming County area. That took me about two years to work through.

Most of that 350 or 400 total, I’ve only fished once. There’s probably only 40 or 50 that I found good, or interesting enough for some reason, to seek out and fish again. And there’s probably another 50 or so that were good enough to fish again if I was in that area for some reason, and needed a quick stream to fish, but I wouldn’t necessarily specifically make a trip for.

There’s probably only 15 or 20 that I’d call my favorites, and I try to fish fairly regularly…every year, or every couple of years. If I find one or two new ones to add to that list in a year of exploring/fishing, that’s a good year.

My unexplored horizons are ANF, most of the Laurel Highlands, and the Quehanna/Moshannon area. So that’s what I’ll probably be working on for a while. Those are all pretty much out of range for day trips for me right now, which makes it more difficult. But, we’re moving to Harrisburg later this Summer and that will chop an hour each way off those drives, so figuring to get to them more starting in the Fall.

^ You're my hero!!!

 

[callmestu]

Excellent!!!

BTW - There are ALWAYS cars parked at the LOT for Hawk Run but almost 100% are people hiking the trails to look at the falls or Mud Run. Did you encounter another angler?

FWIW - Speaking of encounters, I never encountered a snake of any kind in Hickory Run Stare Park...

...but then again most things avoid me.

I figured I'd have the streams to myself or almost to myself, I assumed the rest of the park would be a zoo though with the holiday weekend. I didn't see anyone fishing either steam which was nice.

Nice! Congrats!

On a scale of 1-10 in terms of rough/remote streams (for PA anyway) I’d call Hickory Run about a 4, and Hawk about a 5. Those Jim Thorpe area streams you were probably thinking about are 10 or 10+. Again, relative to what else is out there in PA.

That's good to know, thanks. I didn't have a hard time navigating either, although Hawk Run required a bit of scrambling in some spots. I remember one of your posts about Jeans and that definitely sounds like more than I'm ready to tackle.

If I had more time at the end of the day I had hoped to walk down to the water at Stony just to see how it looks, but that'll be for the next time I'm up there.

On an unrelated note, I was kicking myself the second half of the day for forgetting my neoprene wading socks at home. The morning was chilly and between temps and how deep some of Hawk Run was I was glad to be in waders. I was pretty swampy by the time I got done on Hickory Run though, wet wading would have been the way to go.

 

[Swattie87]

I figured I'd have the streams to myself or almost to myself, I assumed the rest of the park would be a zoo though with the holiday weekend. I didn't see anyone fishing either steam which was nice.



That's good to know, thanks. I didn't have a hard time navigating either, although Hawk Run required a bit of scrambling in some spots. I remember one of your posts about Jeans and that definitely sounds like more than I'm ready to tackle.

If I had more time at the end of the day I had hoped to walk down to the water at Stony just to see how it looks, but that'll be for the next time I'm up there.

On an unrelated note, I was kicking myself the second half of the day for forgetting my neoprene wading socks at home. The morning was chilly and between temps and how deep some of Hawk Run was I was glad to be in waders. I was pretty swampy by the time I got done on Hickory Run though, wet wading would have been the way to go.

Yeah, Jeans is steeper than Stony gradient wise, but both are steep, much steeper than Hickory or Hawk.

Stony’s bottom end is similar to Jeans and is probably more remote, and Jeans has relatively clear water, where Stony is very tannic, making seeing the bottom difficult. Overall they’re both as rough as it gets for PA. They both make Hawk seem like a walk through a manicured park.

Also, if you’re looking for Brookies, Stony is nearly entirely Browns. I’ve never caught a Brookie in it anyways. Jeans is the opposite, almost all Brookies.

 

[wildtrout2]

Yeah, Jeans is steeper than Stony gradient wise, but both are steep, much steeper than Hickory or Hawk.

Stony’s bottom end is similar to Jeans and is probably more remote, and Jeans has relatively clear water, where Stony is very tannic, making seeing the bottom difficult. Overall they’re both as rough as it gets for PA. They both make Hawk seem like a walk through a manicured park.

Also, if you’re looking for Brookies, Stony is nearly entirely Browns. I’ve never caught a Brookie in it anyways. Jeans is the opposite, almost all Brookies.

Agree. Of the 40+ times in 14 years I've fished Stony, I've caught maybe 5 brookies. They're in there, but very few and very small.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I dunno. On my computer I keep my pictures organized by stream. There’s about 300 I have pictures stored of. There’s probably some more that were total duds that I didn’t take any pictures on and wrote off. 350-400ish total would be my guess.

I tend to get an interest in an area, explore all of those, then pick a different area. For instance, this past Fall/Winter, I explored the Delaware Water Gap streams. Fished probably a dozen or 15 of them. Day trips, fished one or two a day, one day per week. Most were duds, lots of hemlock damage, but a couple would be worth fishing again. Before that it was the Sullivan/Bradford/Wyoming County area. That took me about two years to work through.

Most of that 350 or 400 total, I’ve only fished once. There’s probably only 40 or 50 that I found good, or interesting enough for some reason, to seek out and fish again. And there’s probably another 50 or so that were good enough to fish again if I was in that area for some reason, and needed a quick stream to fish, but I wouldn’t necessarily specifically make a trip for.

There’s probably only 15 or 20 that I’d call my favorites, and I try to fish fairly regularly…every year, or every couple of years. If I find one or two new ones to add to that list in a year of exploring/fishing, that’s a good year.

My unexplored horizons are ANF, most of the Laurel Highlands, and the Quehanna/Moshannon area. So that’s what I’ll probably be working on for a while. Those are all pretty much out of range for day trips for me right now, which makes it more difficult. But, we’re moving to Harrisburg later this Summer and that will chop an hour each way off those drives, so figuring to get to them more starting in the Fall.

You sound like me 😂

 

[sixfootfenwick]

The pair on the left are from Rocky and were my first pair from 20 years ago. They leak now and the extended lug tread made creek crossings slippery. I still use them occasionally.

The pair on the right are my newer ones, Cabelas brand (10 years old?). The less aggressive tread is better for creek crossing. You don’t “skate” with them. They are still waterproof.

I find both to be comfortable to hike in and they are knee high.

View attachment 1641230753

I was looking at these online today. I see what you mean by the Rocky's having a extended lug.
I think I might make a trip out to Bass Pro or Cabela's and handle a few different brands of these rather than just ordering online. I do like the idea of these over my Korkers with snake gaiters.

Just as everything else is, they are expensive, so I want to make sure I get something I want.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I'm thinking the "slack" in waders would give enough protection to prevent a bite from actually penetrating to your leg. This is coming from someone who doesn't wear snake protection.

Also, I've read that rattlers usually don't inject venom when they bite a non-prey item. They prefer to save it for killing something they intend on eating.

Baby rattlers cant choose prey vs defensive bite, i think they empty their sacks no matter what. Could be wrong

 

[lycoflyfisher]

As far as snake protection goes, in my opinion almost all of the snake proof boots are as hot as gaiters. I'd rather wear comfortable hiking boots and gaiters any day as opposed to a dedicated snake proof boot. I have not worn any of the higher end dedicated snake boots though and the rubber snake boots are very hot as well.

I am not concerned walking in a stream about snakes. In higher snake prevalent areas I try to stay in the water working upstream. Between higher wading boots and the thicker simms g3 waders I think they offer pretty decent protection. I do also wetwade some with snake gaiters.

I have gotten stupid close to several snakes in the past year, one in archery season last year scared me lot and I am reconsidering my past choices of not wearing gaiters in early October. I was walking on a thick deer trail in mtn laurel, not in a real rocky area and not that close to obvious denning locations. Several miles away from cell reception. It was a cool morning early October in the 30s and the high was in mid 50s. I had one rattle as my foot was about 6in from it, while only wearing ankle high hikers and quick dry pants as I was planning to walk and scout a good distance. With the cool weather and non obvious snake habitat I had let my guard down. Wearing gaiters gives a peace of mind and I will make a more frequent habit of doing so.

That said I have had several close encounters the past 2 years and none have struck at me without being provoked. Even when being obviously upset at my presence all have tried to retreat or avoid contact as opposed to striking or getting closer to me. All my super close encounters have came near logs or down tree tops that the snakes were using as ambush locations.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

As far as snake protection goes, in my opinion almost all of the snake proof boots are as hot as gaiters. I'd rather wear comfortable hiking boots and gaiters any day as opposed to a dedicated snake proof boot. I have not worn any of the higher end dedicated snake boots though and the rubber snake boots are very hot as well.

I am not concerned walking in a stream about snakes. In higher snake prevalent areas I try to stay in the water working upstream. Between higher wading boots and the thicker simms g3 waders I think they offer pretty decent protection. I do also wetwade some with snake gaiters.

I have gotten stupid close to several snakes in the past year, one in archery season last year scared me lot and I am reconsidering my past choices of not wearing gaiters in early October. I was walking on a thick deer trail in mtn laurel, not in a real rocky area and not that close to obvious denning locations. Several miles away from cell reception. It was a cool morning early October in the 30s and the high was in mid 50s. I had one rattle as my foot was about 6in from it, while only wearing ankle high hikers and quick dry pants as I was planning to walk and scout a good distance. With the cool weather and non obvious snake habitat I had let my guard down. Wearing gaiters gives a peace of mind and I will make a more frequent habit of doing so.

That said I have had several close encounters the past 2 years and none have struck at me without being provoked. Even when being obviously upset at my presence all have tried to retreat or avoid contact as opposed to striking or getting closer to me. All my super close encounters have came near logs or down tree tops that the snakes were using as ambush locations.

^This has been my experience in the Mid-Atlantic and Dirty South (SNP, BRP, GSMNP). I've stumbled upon some super cranky rattlers that just didn't want to move from their basking spot. Only a few never rattled, but none ever struck at me. If the snake didn't move away, I did...it's really that simple. Copperheads are another story and can be real peckerheads at times, but I still fear Wasps/Hornets (highly allergic) more than anything else when I'm out.

 

[Mike]

All my super close encounters have came near logs or down tree tops that the snakes were using as ambush locations.

+1…That’s what radio telemetry shows and crossing logs in the woods is the one of three times that I really think about them since I don’t wade through ferns or thick blueberry patches. I look (both sides) before I cross smaller logs. The second time is when I’m climbing south or east facing boulder fields, slides, rocky power line cuts, and boulder out-crops. The third is when walking down woodland dirt roads at night to and from night fly fishing spots…as a result I turn on my head lamp. In all of the fieldwork that I did in Pa rattlesnake country, I never saw one. Finally saw one when hiking in Berks Co and had seen a good number as a result of telemetry used in a rattlesnake research project conducted for a few yrs by a good friend.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I fish too much on RS country (PA, WV) to not worry about them. Especially in WV. The region is thick with them, with enough ground cover you won't see them.

Gaiters IMO are a pain. I use them but like the idea of protection without using them. It isn't the heat that bothers me about gaiters, so it isn't in the equation.

 

[falcon]

There was a article written by a PA Naturalist/Biologist about how rattlesnakes orient to logs to more easily feed on small mammals using fallen logs to traverse the forest floor.

 

[troutbert]

There was a article written by a PA Naturalist/Biologist about how rattlesnakes orient to logs to more easily feed on small mammals using fallen logs to traverse the forest floor.

Rattlesnakes like woody debris on the forest floor.

Trout like woody debris in the stream.

 

[Swattie87]

Added one to my tally today. First one in Elk County for me. Black phase. Photo has little to judge scale on, but it was the biggest one girth wise I’ve personally ever seen.

Right foot was about 12 inches from it, and it buzzed for about 1 second, and I stopped and located it. Definitely heard this one before I saw it. Left foot would have come very close to stepping on it, or directly over it at a minimum. Wear your gaiters.

 

[jeffroey]

As far as snake protection goes, in my opinion almost all of the snake proof boots are as hot as gaiters. I'd rather wear comfortable hiking boots and gaiters any day as opposed to a dedicated snake proof boot.

Speaking of gaiters vs boots, based on recommendations coming out of another post here I invested in a pair of Turtleskins. Not cheap new but I was lucky to find a pair second-hand at a fraction.

They're a good addition to my kit and I'm really liking their flexibility. They fit over my waders or over my pants if I'm just wet wading. Wet waded Friday, left them in my bag until I walked off the pretty open gameland road, and took them off on the way back to the car.

Added this pic to another post I started about long exposure photos the shows me wearing them over my waders a couple of weeks ago.