Dry fly fishing in October??

[TroutBum48]

Greetings! New member here and hoping I’m posting in the correct forum. I have the opportunity to fish in PA this fall and have a bunch of questions that I hope some of you can answer and steer me in the right direction. I’ve never fished in Pennsylvania but regularly fish the Farmington River year round, it is my home water in Connecticut. Also have fished on trips to Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho. Please don’t judge, but I pretty much exclusively fish dry flies as I enjoy the search for rises and targeting those trout. However, if needed, I can get by with a 2 nymph rig. But I'd rather dry fly it!
My daughter is doing some clinical rotations starting late September through late October. She’ll be staying near Spinnerstown and commuting to Allentown Hospital. I’ll be with her for the first 4-5 days to help her get settled in and it seems like the Little Lehigh is within driving distance, no?? Would this be a good fly fishing stream late September? Any others I should consider in that area?
After staying with her a few days, I would like to stop somewhere on my way back to Connecticut for 3 or 4 days to camp and fish. To be honest, I’m completely overwhelmed by all of the different “creeks” in PA! Some I’ve heard of such as Penn’s, Yellow Breeches, Letort, Delaware. I’ve also read that there is some good fishing around the State College area and although it’s a 3 hour or so drive west of Allentown and in the opposite direction of CT, I’m not adverse to driving to good fishing. I do not have a truck or 4x4 and will most likely be doing tent camping or see if any cabins are available. So what I’d be looking for is a campground on or near a stream or two that would have decent dry fly fishing around the second week or so of October. Are there any good hatches in the fall in PA? And I would think that most spawning has not occurred yet but could be wrong? Any suggestions, intel, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

 

[jgish92]

There are dozens and dozens of options in the area where you will be. Depending on which hospital she's at, the Little Lehigh Fly Fishing Only section very close. If you're down this way and want a challenge, try the West Branch of Delaware River.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Hatches aren't a requirement, but lots of places have an October Caddis. Otherwise, just use any terrestrial since they're all busy getting ready for the warm weather to end.

 

[riverwhy]

I still have some October caddis from years ago waiting to be fished! And I have been out on Penn's a number of times in October but never experienced anywhere near a fishable hatch.

 

[jifigz]

I'm not familiar with the Lehigh Valley, but lots of dry fly fishing still to be had in October. Pack big orange Caddis, ants, beetles, crickets, parachute Adams, etc.

Fish are very willing to rise in early Autumn.

 

[JeffK]

Lehigh Valley has a number of spring creeks that should have some olives in October and terrestrials are good if weather is OK. Most popular Lehigh Valley limestoner is the Little Lehigh, but Saucon Ck and Monocacy in Bethlehem and Bushkill in Easton (some dewatering issues - see Bushkill posts) are popular as well. Near Little Lehigh is Cedar Ck if you want a challenging small stream with tricky little brown trout.

On way home I would say Delaware system may be the best bet. Just check regulations since NY season ends 10/15 so you need to find special regs - which isn't hard. Good fall olives up there if you can avoid blue bird days.

 

[Swattie87]

I'm not familiar with the Lehigh Valley, but lots of dry fly fishing still to be had in October. Pack big orange Caddis, ants, beetles, crickets, parachute Adams, etc.

Fish are very willing to rise in early Autumn.

This.

I routinely catch fish from late September through October or so on just standard attractor dries (Stimulators/Humpy’s/Wulff’s/etc) in conditions (low/clear) where I typically struggle in Spring and Summer. Usually by early November or so, this peters out. But yeah, don’t worry so much about specific hatches. If it’s still relatively warm out, and you wanna fish dries, you’ll probably catch fish.

Not exactly sure why this is, but I like it, and really enjoy fishing that time of year. One hypothesis I have is that much of the major insect hatch activity is done for the year, and terrestrials are beginning to wane too. Fish have to become more opportunistic and eat whatever they see? I’ve had Browns act basically likes Brookies for sloppy, draggy, dry flies this time of year, when no way they’d hit that presentation earlier in the year.

 

[Bamboozle]

Greetings!!
My daughter is doing some clinical rotations starting late September through late October. She’ll be staying near Spinnerstown and commuting to Allentown Hospital. I’ll be with her for the first 4-5 days to help her get settled in...

The streams have been covered so I'll cover some restaurants and other stuff:

The Spinnerstown Inn, the Brick Tavern Inn, the Jamison Public House and the Limeport Inn are all super close to where your daughter is staying. They are all locally owned and in historic buildings that were former inns.

If "Allentown Hospital" means the former Allentown Hospital on 17th Street & Chews Streets (now Lehigh Valley Hospital-17th Street) there are some nice places to eat and explore in the area known as the West End of Allentown. In addition, the nearby Allentown Farmer's Market at the "Fairgrounds," open Thursday - Saturday is one of the nicest anywhere.

If "Allentown Hospital" means the former Allentown Osteopathic Hospital at 18th & Hamilton Streets (now St. Luke's-Allentown Campus) I'd still explore the nearby West End as downtown Allentown leaves a bit to be desired.

If "Allentown Hospital" means the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest Campus at Cedar Crest Boulevard and I-78, take some time and explore the town of Emmaus.

Also, if you are a beer drinker you MUST pay a visit to Shangy in Emmaus. They have at LEAST 5,000 varieties of beer available by the case, 6-pack, individual cans & bottles and growlers and they sell slushees. They call themselves "Beer Heaven and the Beer Authority" and I would venture to guess you've never seen a place like it anywhere.

Finally related to fishing, it's within the real of possibilities that you could still find Trico activity on just about any of the local streams in the early morning.

Enjoy your visit!!

 

[Tigereye]

Where to stay, where to eat, where to fish, what to use. All offered to a new member without judgement, fanfare, or cost.

The people here are the best you will meet anywhere, bar none.

Good luck and safe travels

 

[Bamboozle]

It's all good as long as he doesn't use a stomach pump or litter...

 

[krayfish2]

From mid September through the end of october, tons of options and quite a few hatches. The problem with fishing that time of year is the hatches are very hit and miss. When you catch it right you can stack up some pretty big numbers of fish.

That time of year I would be looking for stenos which will vary in color from a creamy white to an orange or even a chartreuse. You'll also have a cinnamon Caddis which I'm not sure of the name and the October Caddis which is the monstrous one. Olives are almost a sure bet on any given day and hebes will run for about 4 weeks starting in mid September. You also get the second brood of ISO which is a 14. You should see those running for a month and a half or two months.

There's a lot of talk about October Caddis but unless you're out in the pitch black, you'll probably never see one. I have heard that they eat the pupa during the day though 😁

 

[bringthepain]

It's all good as long as he doesn't use a stomach pump or litter...

Cant be a flatlander either

 

[Swattie87]

Wait, do you have front license plates in CT? That may be a problem too.

 

[Bamboozle]

Yep, and he'll have to drive through at least two other states that require front plates before arriving in PA, the land of the free(dom) from front plates.

 

[hooker-of-men]

On way home I would say Delaware system may be the best bet. Just check regulations since NY season ends 10/15 so you need to find special regs - which isn't hard. Good fall olives up there if you can avoid blue bird days.

Essentially all of NY is open for catch and release Oct-April as of a few years ago.

 

[CLSports]

October is my favorite time to fish that area. Try a tan EHC or similar even if nothing hatching. Many of the streams up there have Tricos all summer, but probably waning by October but a long warm summer can prolong the hatch. BWOs will be going good and be sure to use those if it is a rainy or overcast day.

As others said, hit the Delaware on your way to/from. I usually try to get up there in October myself to drift it. I love October fishing.

 

[TheBlackSheep]

Greetings! New member here and hoping I’m posting in the correct forum. I have the opportunity to fish in PA this fall and have a bunch of questions that I hope some of you can answer and steer me in the right direction. I’ve never fished in Pennsylvania but regularly fish the Farmington River year round, it is my home water in Connecticut. Also have fished on trips to Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho. Please don’t judge, but I pretty much exclusively fish dry flies as I enjoy the search for rises and targeting those trout. However, if needed, I can get by with a 2 nymph rig. But I'd rather dry fly it!
My daughter is doing some clinical rotations starting late September through late October. She’ll be staying near Spinnerstown and commuting to Allentown Hospital. I’ll be with her for the first 4-5 days to help her get settled in and it seems like the Little Lehigh is within driving distance, no?? Would this be a good fly fishing stream late September? Any others I should consider in that area?
After staying with her a few days, I would like to stop somewhere on my way back to Connecticut for 3 or 4 days to camp and fish. To be honest, I’m completely overwhelmed by all of the different “creeks” in PA! Some I’ve heard of such as Penn’s, Yellow Breeches, Letort, Delaware. I’ve also read that there is some good fishing around the State College area and although it’s a 3 hour or so drive west of Allentown and in the opposite direction of CT, I’m not adverse to driving to good fishing. I do not have a truck or 4x4 and will most likely be doing tent camping or see if any cabins are available. So what I’d be looking for is a campground on or near a stream or two that would have decent dry fly fishing around the second week or so of October. Are there any good hatches in the fall in PA? And I would think that most spawning has not occurred yet but could be wrong? Any suggestions, intel, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Excellent question my friend, thank you for asking.

 

[TroutBum48]

Thanks for all the replies! So while I'm with my daughter for a few days (she's at Lehigh Valley), it looks like I'll do some research on the Little Lehigh and maybe a few of the others that were named. And thanks for the restaurant suggestions, very helpful, and I do enjoy IPA's so will certainly be stopping at Shangy that was recommended.

Connecticut does have front plates. Littering is bad karma. And I've never had my stomach pumped😉

It seems like the consensus is to hit the Delaware system on my drive home. Did a very quick search and many options as well....West Branch, East Branch, Main, Upper, Beaverkill, etc. A little overwhelmed. Any thoughts would be appreciated and I'll start reading up on the Delaware. Assuming there are campgrounds and/or cheap motels for fly fisherpeople.

Would be great if there are still some tricos around early October. I just had a great morning today on the Farmington fishing size 24 Needhami on 6.5X tippet. I find it super rewarding to not just catch, but land an 18 inch trout on such small tackle. Thanks again everyone, much appreciated!!

 

[TheBlackSheep]

Thanks for all the replies! So while I'm with my daughter for a few days (she's at Lehigh Valley), it looks like I'll do some research on the Little Lehigh and maybe a few of the others that were named. And thanks for the restaurant suggestions, very helpful, and I do enjoy IPA's so will certainly be stopping at Shangy that was recommended.

Connecticut does have front plates. Littering is bad karma. And I've never had my stomach pumped😉

It seems like the consensus is to hit the Delaware system on my drive home. Did a very quick search and many options as well....West Branch, East Branch, Main, Upper, Beaverkill, etc. A little overwhelmed. Any thoughts would be appreciated and I'll start reading up on the Delaware. Assuming there are campgrounds and/or cheap motels for fly fisherpeople.

Would be great if there are still some tricos around early October. I just had a great morning today on the Farmington fishing size 24 Needhami on 6.5X tippet. I find it super rewarding to not just catch, but land an 18 inch trout on such small tackle. Thanks again everyone, much appreciated!!

Noted the Shangy's mention. Thoroughly enjoy IPAs like you had mentioned but....

Wanted to drop a mention for summer to try Buffalo Bills Orange Blossom Cream Ale. On a hot, humid summer day - pouring one of those ice cold into a Pilsner glass - makes it all worth it.

Just a rec outside the IPA

 

[Swattie87]

Connecticut does have front plates. Littering is bad karma. And I've never had my stomach pumped😉

Ehhhhhh, it’s not New Jersey or New York. We’ll let it slide. Saddle up partner!

And if you come to a jam (annual site weekend get-together) bring a stack of New Haven pies along and a lot of things can be overlooked. 😜