Centre County in late May

[MA_fish]

I’m a relatively new member who lives in New England, but earlier in my life I spent about 15 years in State College so I know the central Pennsylvania area quite well. However, that was at a point in my life when I wasn’t fishing, and I’m looking forward to returning to central PA for a week of fishing in late May this year. I’ve rented on Airbnb near Bellefonte and had a few questions I hoped you could help me with:

(1) I’m planning to mostly focus on Spring Creek, but also plan to fish at least one or two of the other famous streams in that area. Which of the other area streams would you most strongly recommend? For what it’s worth, I’ve been fly-fishing again, after a long hiatus, for a couple of years now, and would classify myself as an advanced beginner, or early intermediate in terms of my skill set.

(2) From what I’ve read, it seems like I can probably fish Spring Creek without a guide, but I’m planning to hire a guide for at least one day to fish one of the other local streams - in connection with question (1), are there places where it would be especially helpful to have a guide?

(3) Any other specific advice about how fly fishing in central PA might differ from fly fishing in New England? Or just general advice about fishing in the State College/Bellefonte area in late May (e.g. fly patterns to be sure to pack, etc.)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HopBack]

Late may is a great time to fish central Pennsylvania. Spring creek hatches are primarily going to consist of caddis and sulphurs so I would have dries in 14-16 for both and emergers in 16-18.

Penns creek is going to be slammed at the end of May because of the green drake hatch. The spinner fall won’t happen until after dark. This would be a good place for a guide if you wanted to fish Penns. They will put you in the best position to catch fish but there are no guarantees .

I would personally check out Bald eagle creek and some other small streams around spring creek as they are more friendly for beginners.


Have fun!

 

[jifigz]

Yo, MA-Fish! Late May is a perfect time to be in central PA. On Spring Creek, take smaller fly patterns, and make sure you have lots of scuds, sow bugs, etc. I haven't fished Spring in years, but I used to often. You definitely want to have midges (both dries and nymphs), scuds, sow bugs, and some type of caddis dry.

If I were going to be in Bellefonte, I would go fish Penns as my alternative. Penns is, in my opinion, vastly superior to Spring Creek in basically every way. The streams are very different in characteristic, but both are jam-packed with trout. On Penns, hatches of anything and everything are possible, and fish could rise or totally ignore them. Penns Creek can be temperamental. On Penns, you should carry lots of bigger flies, especially stoneflies. Having a guide on Penns would be a good thing, but certainly not a necessity. I have never personally hired these guys, but I have heard good things about Jonas and his guides at the Feathered Hook.

HopBack gives good advice about streams such as Bald Eagle, and Bald Eagle is very, very close to Bellefonte, but you really should make it to Penns for a full day. You can fish Bald Eagle and Spring Creek in the same day.