Curious about July options within 1 hours ride of Phoenixville

[Dave_W]

For those thinking about the Cumberland Valley, be aware that physical conditions along Big Spring and Letort are very tough right now.

Was at Big Spring last night and Letort last week- the meadow grass is at peak height (over head high) and the strong flows have put water well up into the meadows. Last night, for example, I could not get through a meadow section on Big Spring that is normally just mud - the water was deeper than my hip waders and I was probably 30' from the stream.

It is very difficult to get into some of the well known spots right now (although the fish are active if you can get in). Carry a wading staff, and take it slow and careful if you're heading to the classic sections of Big Spring and Letort.

 

[SteveG]

With the hot temps we've been having right now, most areas of the Breeches shouldn't be fished for trout if you're c&r. Those fishing should be stacked up in the c&r stretch because of the lower water temp.

 

[vealboy]

You could try Six Penny and its UNT in French Creek SP,small stream brookies,along with Hay Creek just down the road.Wild browns and holdover stockers along with some nice water with good access from White Bear Rd downstream.

 

[KGStine]

I have not been to Allenberry yet this year, but over the last few years, crowds seem to be way down from 5 to 8 years ago. Maybe someone else will come in to let you know for sure.

 

[Prospector]

I really appreciate all of the feedback in this thread and in some PMs. As I checked out the recommended streams in the literature I have, it was clear there are a lot of really good options. If this was an 8 day trip instead of 4, I would go to them all. But as it stands it was really hard to narrow the field. I tried to plan time of day to coincide with water temperature trends on each stream over the last few days. The Lehigh area streams didn’t have temperature readings so we will just check temps before we start. I just put those in sequence of next closest stream.

The itinerary looks like this although we likely won’t leave a stream if things are going really well. Heat may also be a factor that slows the pace.
July 4. Valley to Tulpehocken to Pohopoco
July 5. Little Lehigh to Monocacy to Saucon to Bushkill
July 6. Repeat a stream or 2 that we enjoyed the most and finish the day on Yellow Breeches and then drive toward central PA
July 7. Hopefully catch a central PA stream or 2 on the drive home

If there are any really good fly shops near our travel route, let me know. We will likely stop. I already know about French Creek Outfitters near Valley and the shop in Boiling Springs.

Thanks again to all!!

 

[Millsertime]

Holy cow...Those first 2 days are hardcore. I typically don't fish for more than 3-4 hours a pop, nonetheless 3-4 streams a day!

I might be fishing Pohopoco Thursday as well. Good luck!

 

[outsider]

Don't bother with the Tulpehocken. The current flow is 839 cfs, much to high and fast to fish.

 

[Prospector]

outsider wrote:
Don't bother with the Tulpehocken. The current flow is 839 cfs, much to high and fast to fish.

Thanks for heads up. I obviously was too focused on the temperature this morning when I checked because I wrote down 741 cfs and just kept going on like everything was great. You did give me that link to the release info and I thought about checking their plans. Was it mentioned that it takes the fish a full day to settle down after a simulated monsoon?

 

[Prospector]

Millsertime wrote:
Holy cow...Those first 2 days are hardcore. I typically don't fish for more than 3-4 hours a pop, nonetheless 3-4 streams a day!

I might be fishing Pohopoco Thursday as well. Good luck!

There could be a mutiny by my father and son. They don’t push as hard as me and that’s not necessarily a bad thing on their part. We’ll see how it plays out. Good luck to you too.

 

[Dave_W]

Prospector wrote:

If there are any really good fly shops near our travel route, let me know.

Check out Precision Fly Fishing (they also have lodging) in Mount Holly Springs. It's right by Yellow Breeches.

 

[Prospector]

Well the trip is over and it was a great time. In 98 hours we trekked across 22 PA counties and fished in 6 different counties. The streams were cold and we learned some national history at Valley Forge and some fly fishing history on the Little Lehigh based on the exploits of Al Miller and Jim Leisenring. I can't believe the fish there feed in volume on those small bugs. On my side of the we use the big stuff. The people we met on the streams were very friendly and helpful, just confirming again that fly rod toters are good people.

We ate cheesesteaks every day and were caught a bit off guard when 2 of the 3 restaurants added tomato sauce as part of the standard offering. Never heard of that before, but it was good.

On the disappointing side the insect activity was bare bones. The constant heat was partly to blame. We saw no tricos anywhere, the spinner falls were a bust 2 of the 3 days. Due to lack of insects and our unfamiliarity with the streams, we spent an inordinate amount of time driving around to confirm where we could park and fish so that ate into our time on the streams. In the end we did not catch many fish. That seemed to be case for most people since the most anyone would admit to catching was 4 in a day. I think we caught 26 total between the three of us. We did catch some dandies though. My biggest fish on a dry this year, about 17" from Saucon, and my dad had the largest fish of the trip from the Little Lehigh pushing 20" (his largest this year, also on a dry).

The biggest disappointment was the huge storm that came down the turnpike on Saturday night when we were 30 miles from Yellow Breeches. We still pushed on after pulling off the turnpike for 20 minutes to wait out the worst of it. But of course YB was muddy and unfishable. We did look at several spots just for old time's sake. The biggest ray of good fortune also came from that storm that extended from the NY border down into MD. We decided to stay at our already booked hotel in Huntingdon, PA on Saturday night, instead of just driving home, and when we woke Spruce Creek was fishable and the Little J was clear. So we capped the long weekend on a good note.

My stream reports should be posted later tonight although there is not a lot to say. I usually have several insect photos but there were very few available to catch. I guess the reports could be most useful in future years when people want to look up stream temps for dates in July.

Once again, thanks for all of the advice and assistance

 

[bradtheflyfisherman]

Both impressive fish from the Saucon and Little Lehigh. Nice work!

 

[Wild_Trouter]

I'm most interested in the cheesesteaks. Where did you get them from?

 

[HopBack]

Marinara is standard fare on cheesesteaks in the valley and anywhere else that doesn’t know how sling a decent hoagie. You won’t find that sh** on the main line.

 

[Prospector]

Wild_Trouter wrote:
I'm most interested in the cheesesteaks. Where did you get them from?

We went to V&S in Reading. They were voted the "Readers Choice" for best cheesesteaks in Berks county.

In Allentown, we went to Queen City at the recommendation of a walker on the Little Lehigh FFO trail

We got the third one at Wawa and it was actually really good too, although no marinara.

 

[CLSports]

I don't understand when people say that many of the LV streams will be too warm to fish.

In summer, go EARLY. the temps are fine in the early morning hours and from now through the rest of the summer months there will be Tricos. Other than that is is basically a terrestrial game. Ants and beetles. There may be some caddis around and will always fool a fish when blind casting even if they are not.

I fish these streams in the very early morning hours and will be off the water by like 11:00.

 

[Prospector]

One thing that I forgot to add to my recap post above was how talented the fly tyers were who fished the Little Lehigh. Their flies were very tiny and every one was perfect.

I can tie flies that catch fish but I can’t tie flies that catch fish and anglers. However, the 3 guys that opened up their boxes to us were tying at a superb, commercial level. Not sure if the Eastern side of the state had better teachers or if these folks were just more patient and paid more attention to detail, but their product was high quality.

So anyone heading to the LL should know the trout regularly see some amazing flies every day.