Fishing Near Harrisburg / Carlisle

[Tyke]

Hi
I will be in the Harrisburg / Carlisle area from May 12 through May 18. I live in California and have never fished in PA. However.......I will have quite a bit of free time and I wondered if there are any trout streams close by that are in season. I am looking to dry fly / nymph if possible - I never really got the hang of wet flies. Any advice will be most welcome.
Thanks

Tyke

 

[mr7183]

Search "LeTort" or "Big Spring" or "Falling Springs".

There are literally hundreds of topics on these streams.

 

[salmo-trutta]

If you want to fish close to Harrisburg and Carlisle, fish the Yellow Breeches in Cumberland County and Clarks Creek in Dauphin County. Both of those streams have Catch and Release sections with better quantities of fish. You should take at least one or two days to fish some of the streams north of Harrisburg. You can get on some blue ribbon water within a 2 hour drive of Harrisburg. I would recomendations Penns Creek up stream from the town of Weikert in the catch and release area. Look for a small trib called Cherry Run and start there and fish up stream. Also take a look at the Little Juniata. Get on line and get a copy of Charley Meck's book Pennsylvania Trout Streams and There Hatches and have it overnighted to you so you'll have it in time. That will put you on the catch and release water on any trout stream in PA.

If you want to talk more send me an email at stevenrsnyderesq@gmail.com and I'll give you my number. If I can get away from the office and you want a fishing buddy I'll join you

Steve Snyder.

 

[Fishidiot]

Tyke,
Check the link "Where to Fly Fish" in the upper right corner of this page. You may also wish to check the Stream Reports forum - Carlisle and Harrisburg are Cumberland and Dauphin Counties and the towns are about a half hour apart depending on where in Harrisburg you start). The are a lot of options in the area and May is prime time for hatches.
Good luck with your trip.

 

[Tyke]

Thanks for the advice. I ordered the Meck book - $2.00 new from Barnes and Noble - what a deal! I looked up the streams mentioned and I certainly have quite a few to choose from. My son is hiking the AT and will be in that area the third week in May - so that is the purpose of my trip. He might want to fish with me for a day - I can't pass up that opportunity. Are any of these streams stocked and do any have room to cast. My son needs a little more space to make his casts. It seems we will be there at the right time.

 

[moon1284]

If your son is new to fly fishing yellow breeches is a good bet. It is stocked and also has wild fish If you are coming all the way from California, you should really fish Letort Spring Run, and probably Big Spring Creek too. They are not stocked but both are destination streams, as is Yellow Breeches.

They (Letort and Big Spring) are not easy to fish, but there is a lot of history there, and if I could only fish one stream in the state of PA, Letort would be it.

 

[Fishidiot]

moon1284 wrote:
If your son is new to fly fishing yellow breeches is a good bet. It is stocked and also has wild fish

Agree. In fact, the Appalachian Trail actually crosses Yellow Breeches in the town of Boiling Springs which is the popular special regulation section of the stream. It is stocked and has room to cast.

 

[STONEMAN]

Hire one of our local guides the first day to show you the ropes- Baltz, Heck, Giza, Dranzo. Well worth it.

 

[McSneek]

Also a nearby stream called Mountain Creek that flows into the Breeches. AT midpoint in Pine Grove Furnace is nearby.