Jeans Run Intel?

[jeffroey]

Thinking about taking a ride up to Jeans Run by the weekend and walking in with a rod in-hand. Looks like the kind of stream I'm after: accessible, on public land and (hopefully) solitary.

This'll be the first time I'll be heading to it. Anyone spend time there recently and willing to share any tips? I'll be driving about 1-1/2 hours so I want to be prepared terminal tackle wise and such. Be OK with a PM if you prefer - Thanks!

 

[Prospector]

You can really get by on most days with just about 10 different fly types to be ready for anything.
Dry - Caddis, all purpose mayfly, beetle/ant
Wet - a natural and an attractor
Nymph - PT nymph, prince, green weenie
Meat - Woolly Bugger and streamer

Carry 6 to 8 of each possibly in 1 box

You will catch something with that lineup.

 

[Swattie87]

This is sort of my standard advice when this stream, or several similar Poconos remote high gradient streams, come up...

Plan carefully and take a good study of the topo maps and have a good plan before you fish it. It's not as simple as fish upstream til you decide you're done and walk back on a nice trail to where you parked. Other than at the very bottom, or the very top, the only way you can navigate a stream like that is in the stream channel itself. Coupled with the gradient, this amounts to something closer to climbing in many spots than walking, and the gradient can turn relatively modest flows into more water than you can safely deal with. There's a particularly hairy spot on Jeans that involves a sideways traverse across a narrow rock ledge along a waterfall 20 feet above the streambed.

Short version...Be careful, tell someone where you're going, and when to expect you back. Better yet, fish it with a buddy. Jeans is probably #1 on the roughest small stream in PA I've ever fished. Once you get into the middle section, you're kind of committed to either climbing up to the top, or back down to the mouth. Getting out sideways isn't an option. Not trying to discourage you from fishing it, but just giving you the info I'd want if I was going there for the first time. (I fished it for the first time with someone who had been there numerous times and told me what to expect. It was way rougher than what I would have thought on my own going in.)

Figure on taking a shorter rod if you have one, with a relatively short leader. It's relatively open in the higher gradient spots, but it has a lot of rhodo along it, which becomes an issue in the few spots where it levels out. As far as flies...It's July and they're Brookies... Anything that floats well and is easy for you to see.

 

[wildtrout2]

I believe this is the ledge Swattie was referring to. Yea, Jeans Run isn't to be taken lightly.

There's only two ways to get on Jeans, from the top, or from the bottom. The top requires about a mile walk/ride (mountain bike) to the stream from the parking area off of Rt 93.

Getting on Jeans from the bottom is tricky at best. You can come down from Rt209, which is steep, then cross the Nesq to Jeans. Or, as I do, walk the RR tracks (1 mile) from the Glen Onoko trail, down the embankment to the Nesq, and upstream to Jeans.

Be mindful of the flows on the Nesq, it can be tough wading that stream when levels are up.

 

[jrj]

Agree with all the above. Something on the surface that you can see will do the trick. If coming in from the top, its pretty thick and narrow so a short rod is best.

It's a fun little stream but you will be working to get to them. Have fun.

 

[afishinado]

Besides traversing some really rough terrain in a very isolated area, you picked a weekend with both temps and humidity levels well into the 90's.

Take a lot of water.

Maybe a hydration pack?

If the terrain doesn't get you, don't let dehydration put you down for the count.

Good luck.

Post a report.

 

[Swattie87]

Yes, that's the ledge I was referring to. The picture doesn't show it, but there's a drop off down through the rhodo on picture right to the bowl of the waterfall pool below. Roughly 20 feet. The scariest part for me is actually pushing yourself up over the rock ledge on picture left and getting your first couple steps into the pool above in. That flat, wet slab rock is very slippery, and if you slip back, you're not catching yourself on that little narrow ledge. Be careful and take your time.

Also, coming in from the top, it's very difficult to know how far down you can go before you get cliffed out and can't get down to the stream. If I wasn't there with someone who knew what they were doing on my first trip I would have had no clue.

On a normal small stream in PA I cover a mile of water in about 2 hours, fishing at a normal small stream pace for me...Fairly quick, a couple casts to the likely spots and move on. For Jeans, figure it'll take you double or triple (or more even) the amount of time. It's that rough. Factor that in to your plan for the day when fishing it. If you plan to fish up from the bottom, all the way to the top to where you can get out of the ravine, that's roughly 800 ft. of elevation gain you're covering, and you'll need all day. (You'll also need a second vehicle at the top, or plan for a long walk on fairly busy public roads to get back. I wouldn't try to hike down the ravine to get back, going down is way more dangerous than going up.)

 

[Swattie87]

This picture gives some more context of what you're dealing with on Jeans. The ledge mentioned, and shown in wt2's earlier photo, is in the orange circle, and is the standard/easiest route for passing this waterfall. You traverse left to right in the picture and climb/pull yourself up over the ledge when you get right far enough. This is after a very steep climb up through the rhodo on stream left (out of the picture) to get to the entrance to the ledge - vantage point shown in wt2's photo above.

Just understand what you're getting into if you go to fish there, bottom line.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Don't forget to watch out for rattlesnakes as well. I have never been on Jeans Run personally, but they are a common site in the Lehigh gorge and the surrounding ridge tops.

 

[jeffroey]

Truly valuable feedback by all. Thank you very much. Just demonstrated this forum is absolutely worth the price of admission!

My original plan was to drive up from Delaware County and meet up with a longtime friend coming into it from Clark's Summit (we both grew up in/around Pittston). He now doesn't think his work sked is going to support and based on your feedback, I'm going to put a pin in Jeans until I can double up.

That is of course unless one of you are going to be on the Jeans tomorrow and are looking for a second My car could be the one we leave at the top!

Pretty confident in my ability to navigate what the SGLs can throw at me but to ignore advice like yours feels a little arrogant and unnecessary risk-taking. My wife who thinks most of this is kind of foolish anyway fully agrees.

Flipping the conv quick, I am trying to get out and do as much of this as I can - Last week it was the upper stretch of Black/Hayes. Walked in off of 534 by the GC. Only one fish to the net but thoroughly enjoyed the solitude.

Unless one of you PM's me with a time for Jeans in the morning, I'll look to something a little flatter for this trip.

Thanks again!

 

[Millsertime]

If I lived in Del County and wanted to trout fish this weekend; the only place I would go is Pohopoco tailwater. Even closer to you than the Poconos.

 

[Swattie87]

Your report on Black/Hayes mirrors much of the conversation on that stream in recent years from those who fish it. (And my personal experiences.) Recent PFBC surveys have indicated there are plenty of fish there, in certain sections anyway, but they're not easy to catch. I've largely given up fishing it. I've hit the stretch from 534 to I80 several times in dialed in conditions, and only caught a few fish each time over all that good water. For whatever reason, many of its neighbors fish much better. It's a pretty stream though.

I fished it once last Spring, on a warm day in perfect conditions and largely struck out...I think I caught 3 or 4 from the Fourth Run confluence to I80. It's mainly Browns, and sometimes they're just off. But I then fished a nearby stream that same day (in the same conditions) in the afternoon and had a banner day, catching mostly Browns there. That was the final straw for me for Black.

 

[wildtrout2]

Had a BIG mother bear (300-400lbs) with three cubs run right in front of me at 20yrds on my way out of Jeans this afternoon. The trailing cub almost ran over to me! lol I was quick enough to get my phone out and got some really good video of the procession. That made the day!

Stream level was perfect, water was 58F, but the fishing didn't reflect the conditions. I fooled only 8 fish, which were small. I just wasn't getting strikes in those spots where you traditionally get one. That water temp should be fine, I don't know what the deal is.