Interesting turn of events: where to fish in western PA?

[Fishidiot]

Six-Gun wrote:
The good news is that long drives to fish (3.5-4.5 hours) have been the norm for me since I started this game, so that much time on a road to PA will feel like nothing much has changed.

I think you might find the driving you're looking at to get to trout/grouse in PA is gonna be tougher. The distances are greater. I'm not familiar with the drive to from Dayton to P-burgh but I'd guess probably at least 4-5 hours(?). Add to that a couple more hours to get into the better areas of PA and you're essentially looking at probably 6-8 hours on the road. Also, the roads in western PA just don't fly by like driving in the West where landscape can fly by in leaps and bounds - it can be a tough slog during the autumn and winter months for grouse in PA(Oct - Jan).
With that said, it's certainly doable for a weekend. I'd look into finding some dog friendly hotels or campsites/cabins in the areas that Pcray has described. Or add a couple hours and you can get up into north central PA - counties like Lycoming, Potter, Centre, Clinton etc. These areas are trout and grouse paradise.
Anyway, we look forward to your movement back East in the spring.

 

[Six-Gun]

Thanks for the clarification, Fishidiot. When it comes to these kinds of drives, I am not afraid to venture far, but as you suggest, it's a full-weekend proposition. Usually, when I drive into Utah, I may go 4.5 hours to start, but will often change spots, driving another hour or more into the state. That said, when I know it's going to be really far like that, I'm bringing camping gear and leaving the night prior for obvious reasons.

It's funny you bring up Lycoming, Potter, Centre, and Clinton counties. As a native Philadelphian, I didn't see my first pair of ruffed grouse until this year when I returned and made it a point to finally visit Clinton County. It took no time at all to see them (and a black bear to boot), and if that's any indication of what can be had out that way, heck, I'll definitely add a couple more hours to an already long trip.

The other big thing I need to figure out is where the state game lands truly are. I was pretty confused when I got to what looked like pure state game lands on a map only to find several sections of posted private land mixed in along with some for-rent hunting cabins.

 

[pcray1231]

Many state game lands are smallish lots with uneven borders, and "islands" of private land within. There are a whole bunch of them spread all over the state. And many are very different from one another, i.e. this one's mature forest, this one's a bunch of brush, etc. Overall, when compared to say, the National Forests and State Forest system, SGL's offer much more small game opportunities. Some state parks offer this too. But the state and national forests offer much larger plots of largely mature forest, with mostly big forest game (turkey, deer, bear, etc.). Also, there are large tracts of land owned by timber companies and other businesses, and hunting and fishing are generally welcomed and any exceptions often well marked.

Here's a map for SGL's. The little green areas are the SGL's. When you click on the map, it takes you to a zoomable google-maps type interface, and the SGL's are then orange. As you zoom in, they switch to black borders. Access points (official PGC parking) are also shown.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/state_game_lands/11363

Don't forget that we have an awful lot of private land which is open to the public as well. The state law is that if there's nothing indicating you can't go there, you can go there. But if a landowner tells you otherwise in any manner, whether it be signs, verbally, smoke signals, etc., then you can't. There's a lot of old wives tails about signs having to be signed, spaced

 

[PennKev]

Don't overlook the few trout options you have much closer to home in Ohio. The Mad River of course but also Clear Fork of the Mohican River and Clear Creek. I've heard enough about these streams to wager they are as at least as good as any stocked fishery in the western part of PA and in the case of the Mad River, on par with some of the better streams in all of PA.

Also, in regard to steelhead: If you stick to Ohio you'll have very few problems with crowding unless you fish the smaller waters. Ohio has several creeks/rivers that are much bigger than any of the PA tribs. The steelhead fishing and fishing culture is also much different on the bigger Ohio water.

Kev

 

[jdkinney08853]

I lived in Dayton for a number of years. Mad river indeed has good trout population but can be madden fly tough to catch. The state stocks five inch fish due to problems with opening day circus in years past. By the time they get big enough to be worthy of catching, they are very stream wise. Water is crystal clear much of the time as well. Little Miami is scenic and has smallmouth, but the Stillwater and great Miami have better fishing, IMHO.

 

[Six-Gun]

Thanks for the info on those bodies of water. I definitely plan on exploring the local water near Dayton, as the Mad runs right by the base and the other waters aren't terribly far away. I am definitely going to be down to tackle bass on fly tackle as it's something I've been doing a bit of here in Nevada (except that its the largemouth variety where I go).