klingy
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 591
Had a chance to get out for a long weekend with my Dad and a long-time friend over this past weekend (Oct. 13-15). The weather really cooperated all three days – 40s in the mornings, rising to the 60s or low 70s in the afternoons. Overcast all three days, except for some sun and more warmth Sunday afternoon. Stayed at a local state park to State College – close enough to frequent the Waffle Shop for our morning meals, and removed enough to enjoy the owls and fading crickets in the evenings.
Fall is my favorite time to fish, especially in Central PA. Nothing like the drive to Penn’s through the changing leaves. We had the streams mostly to ourselves on each section we fished. The exception was the Little J, which was PACKED on Saturday. So much so that we only fished one small stretch for about 15 mins. Driving across the bridge at Pemberton, we spotted four dudes upstream, and 5 downstream. Yikes.
Made our way around to some well-known waters (Penns, Bald Eagle, Frankstown, etc.), and some more out of the way spots. Ran into some nice hatches that brought a lot of fish up, and they weren’t that picky. Fished a Letort Hopper with a size 14 pheasant tail/hares ear combo off the bend for most of the more flat/riffle water, and nymphed with a green caddis pupa with the hares/pheasant as the trailer in the pockets.
I enjoy terrestrial fishing in the summer, but the sight of a colorful brown nosing a hopper drifting through a bright leaf hatch never gets old. We’ve done a very similar trip for the past three years in the fall, and I won’t complain if we continue it until my last autumn to fish.
Fall is my favorite time to fish, especially in Central PA. Nothing like the drive to Penn’s through the changing leaves. We had the streams mostly to ourselves on each section we fished. The exception was the Little J, which was PACKED on Saturday. So much so that we only fished one small stretch for about 15 mins. Driving across the bridge at Pemberton, we spotted four dudes upstream, and 5 downstream. Yikes.
Made our way around to some well-known waters (Penns, Bald Eagle, Frankstown, etc.), and some more out of the way spots. Ran into some nice hatches that brought a lot of fish up, and they weren’t that picky. Fished a Letort Hopper with a size 14 pheasant tail/hares ear combo off the bend for most of the more flat/riffle water, and nymphed with a green caddis pupa with the hares/pheasant as the trailer in the pockets.
I enjoy terrestrial fishing in the summer, but the sight of a colorful brown nosing a hopper drifting through a bright leaf hatch never gets old. We’ve done a very similar trip for the past three years in the fall, and I won’t complain if we continue it until my last autumn to fish.
