Central PA Limestone

[Berks]

I may have the chance to get out near Carlisle and State College in the next few days and wanted to hit some streams. I’ve never fished Penns or Letort and would like to at least hit both if I have time. I’m concerned about access to Letort from what I’ve read on previous posts and I’ve got my blaze orange for Penns.

Can anyone offer some general advise on fishing these streams this time of year? Access, flies, etc., anything would help. I’m not expecting much but am excited to at least see some new water.

 

[JackM]

Find every access to Letort on a map and then visit and see how it is marked. There is a lot of un-posted waters on private lands. If you are respectful, quiet and unobtrusive, you will not encounter issues. Avoid lands that are clearly posted and you are OK. As for Penns, just do a search. Again most is open private land.

 

[allan_s]

I can't speak much for Letort but Penns Creek will treat you well.

Have size 6-8 golden stones, green weenies, peeking caddis and smallish pheasant tails and hold on.

They were hitting better on the caddis and pts on Sunday. Although i did pick up a few on golden stones as well.

Good Luck!

 

[LeTortAngler2]

Fishing the Letort this time of year is a little tougher than other seasons imo, but its has its days in the winter that can be comparable to the best days of spring or summer. Spawning is about done and fish are starting to head to there winter lies. Like the usual winter advice, slow and deep. Whatever speed you normally would fish, cut that in half. As for flies, Sorta can't beat fur scuds, cress bugs and a couple wolly buggers. Keep an eye for little blue winged olives and midges, they can pop up at anytime during the day. Also during the winter there is less vegetation to get hung up in so a longer rod will help.

 

[troutbert]

Don't try to fish both the Letort and Penns on the same day, they are too far apart.

A pretty long section of Penns is on public land, i.e. PFBC and state forest land, so there is no access issue there.

Unless you get wintery conditions, i.e. snow and ice, when the forest roads can be bad.

 

[Fishidiot]

Either is a unique experience. Penns is a more traditional stream in terms of its structure: wading in riffles, pools etc. Many FFers find this sort of stream easier to fish and more familiar. This is especially true if you're a conventional nymph fishing guy.
Letort, on the other hand, tolerates rough weather better. If we get a lot of rain or snowmelt before your trip, you might opt for Letort.

As T-bert pointed out, they're too far apart to fish the same day (roughly two hours drive time from each other).

 

[Berks]

Thanks for the advice. I ended up at Penns on Tuesday morning (the only day I had available) and fished the Poe Paddy SP area. It was cold, 24 air temp and the water was 36 and clear. Didn’t see another fisherman, which I took as a bad sign right away, the more experienced were somewhere warm. It was neat fishing the creek for the first time with no one else around. I had a couple of takes but didn’t land anything. Saw some nice-sized fish but they weren’t interested. Fished for about 2 hours which was all my feet could take of the cold temps. Decided to walk along the creek to scout for next time and to get the blood flowing again.

I fished in cold weather before but this was the first time I really experienced everything freezing up. The rod guides needed to be cleared every few casts and I had to put away the fingerless wool gloves for the full lined neoprene. They’re annoying to fish with, but they’re extremely warm and waterproof. And getting my frozen boot laces undone was more trouble than I thought possible.

So much nice water out there. and the small tribs that I was driving past looked so nice. I’d be back out there tomorrow if it was 2 ½ hours away. The drive itself for me was an enjoyable one, even the 6-mile dirt road leading into the park. I was happy it was dry, no snow, couldn’t imagine negotiating that terrain with snow on the ground. Drove past so many hunting camps all closed up. Didn’t see a hunter or hear any shots the whole trip. I wore my orange hat anyway…. Especially after my close call last month at Clarks Creek (nothing like hearing the shotgun blast and then 3 seconds later having the shot land all around you…).

 

[HopBack]

The only thing open now in that part of the state is flintlock and archery and they are not required to wear orange. Not a lot of people hunt the second season but it's always a good idea to wear orange even in the late season.