Jim Thorpe Suggestions?

[Alnitak]

I'm heading up to Jim Thorpe tomorrow for a few days "get away" with my wife. She's given me permission to take a fly rod and do a little fishing, especially at locations where she can come along and enjoy a hike.

I've already searched all of the published stream information from PFBC, so I've got a few ideas, but I thought I'd check here and see what the crowd here might suggest. We're willing to drive a bit, roughly 30 minutes or so. The best spots would be ones with trails nearby.

If you're not comfortable sharing in a reply, that's fine, I understand, but if you can PM it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[vcregular]

A couple of suggestions. You could fish Mauch Chunk Creek. Drive up the hill from town toward the Mauch Chunk lake/campground and park where the stream crosses under the road - fish upstream. There are wilds there, and I imagine they've done well this year.

Or you could rent a boat at the lake and take it out for warm waters... Just some thoughts.

 

[Millsertime]

Jim Thorpe? Duh. Fish the Lehigh or any of it's tributaries. I prefer the east side tribs.

 

[Chaz]

Drive along Nescahoning Creek and fish the tributaries.

 

[Smike]

Fish Downstream of the bridge where the main road crosses Mauch Chunk Creek. Basically it's right along the road for a 1/4 mile. Bring a small rod, tight casting in there, but well worth the trouble. I take my wife and she hikes the section above the bridge to the dam.

The Po is 10 min back at the turnpike exit. Always good and cold over the summer.
Just before the dam on thr Po is Saw creek, nice productive water and a great trail (very pretty back in there) you both will have a great time in there.

 

[Alnitak]

Thanks guys! Now I've got options for tomorrow and Tuesday morning. Today we did a quick hike in the Lehigh River gorge and I dapped a Royal Wulff in two different UNTs and had plenty of luck. The water was cold--62F--and the brookies were eager and feisty. I caught one nice big male, just over 9" and great colors. Total of about 20 fish in just a few short spurts of fishing while my wife rested from hiking.

Tomorrow I'm taking Chaz' advice and hitting some of the tribs on the Nesquehoning. Gorgeous up here.

Jeff

 

[salmo]

Great looking fish.

 

[Alnitak]

I managed to fish a few streams while I was there, but all only briefly while I was hiking with my wife. As can happen, some of the streams fished poorly--like Hickory Run, where I only caught one 8" wild brown and didn't even see another fish (even though it is Class A and recently surveyed to confirm that status). Meanwhile, I hit several UNTs and had tons of luck there catching lots of brookies. The biggest of the trip was the one I showed earlier, but there were plenty of 7-8" fish to be caught. Pretty much every little UNT I tried off of the Delaware had plenty of brookies, except the ones where you could see obvious AMD problems.

Thanks for the advice, and I'll post something with more photos and details later.

Jeff

 

[Millsertime]

Streams are low in that area making fishing difficult. Are you talking about UNT's to the Lehigh or Delaware? Nice fish BTW...

High gradient UNT's are the ticket this time of year with low flows. Plunge pools allow you to get closer and snag a few brookies out of each pool.

 

[Alnitak]

Oops, my bad--I meant UNT to the Lehigh. That's exactly what I did--I hit the higher gradient streams and worked the pools. The water levels in the Lehigh River Gorge area were actually pretty good, not low. I'm guessing they had some recent rains.

The big one was in a "private pool" of his own that was nearly inaccessible. I knew it had to hold a fish, so I blindly cast to the front of the pool, which was hidden by a boulder, and just as my fly drifted into sight near mid-pool he took it. The whole pool was about 2 feet by 6 feet and maybe 6-8" deep and he clearly was the boss.

Jeff

 

[AFISHN]

I know this is stupid but what is a "UNT"

 

[afishinado]

UnNamed Tributary

 

[Chaz]

Hickory Run can be a tough stream especially on a bright sunny day. It usually fishes better above Rt. 534 than below.

 

[dmthomas26]

Pohopoco Creek is a good bet, as well as the feeder stream that comes in right below Beltzville. I've caught a million little wild brown trout in there.

Not sure if there's any wild brookies in either Po or in Sawmill creek though. Maybe someone on here knows?

 

[dmthomas26]

So you ended up fishing a few native brook trout streams around Jim Thorpe? Would you be willing to share where you found fish? I hiked Glen Onoko once and just looked in the creek, but did not see a single fish. I'd like to try fishing there -- or Hickory Run -- this fall. Have you fished much in this area?

 

[mikesl]

Glen Onoko is usually crawling with hikers, so i wouldn;t exepct to see many fish anyway.

IMO, best way to "see" brookies in those small, rocky streams is when they come up and hit a dry. Meaning, just fish it... maybe starting in a spot more suited to small fish - if there are fish in the creek, my meager experience has been that getting the first take from a little one is a matter of just a few minutes, maybe even first cast.

 

[Alnitak]

I agree with Mike, the best thing to do is just start dropping a dry fly on the water. I use a Royal Wulff or a Royal Humpy. Brook trout will hit almost anything if the stream is a classic freestone with low amounts of aquatic invertebrates for food, but they seem to have a special affinity for red. I also tend to use a size 14 fly. Some people think smaller is better for the smaller fish, but I've fished side by side with a friend using a 16 while I used a 14 and I consistently got more fish. I've tried both sizes on the same stream and had the same results. I think the fish are more prone to strike a larger fly thinking its a larger meal.

Glen Onoko has plenty of brook trout, but the hikers tend to keep them down. You will not see them, or if you do, its already too late as they've seen you. Actually, that's typical of any brook trout stream. Anyway, in Glen Onoko, just use a dry fly that floats really well and toss it right up into the edge of the white foam where the water tumbles into the pool. You'll get a strike right away from the big fish, and if you miss you won't get them to hit again, but you might get some of the smaller ones.

Pretty much every little stream I tried had brook trout up there. Just avoid the ones that clearly have acid mine pollution (called AMD) as they will be dead.

Jeff

 

[dryflyguy]

I recently spent a couple days around Jim Thorpe with the wife.
Couldn't do any serious fishing, but I did manage to sneak in a few hours on the Lehigh River one evening by Glen Onoko.
There was a sparse hatch of light colored mayflies, that looked like sulphers - although I wasn't able to catch any to confirm. Anyway, I found some fish rising to them. And caught some nice size holdovers - that were in the 15" range - on sulphers.

We had planned on hiking up to see the Glen Onoko falls. But couldn't find the trail.
Several other people were also asking where in the heck it was. It doesn't seem to be marked very well

 

[mikesl]

I also recall very little marking. But I was there on a crowded weekend (not to fish)
To get to Glen Onoko falls from the parking lot/D&L Trail,, you have to go down and under the railroad bridge. From there, the trail is pretty easy to find. It is not far from the west / downstream side of the railroad bridge.

 

[dryflyguy]

mikesl wrote:
I also recall very little marking. But I was there on a crowded weekend (not to fish)
To get to Glen Onoko falls from the parking lot/D&L Trail,, you have to go down and under the railroad bridge. From there, the trail is pretty easy to find. It is not far from the west / downstream side of the railroad bridge.

Yeah, we walked under he RR bridge - past the large sign that warns about the dangers of hiking that trail - (apparently several people have slipped and fallen to their deaths up there - and that made my wife pretty squeamish about doing it)
And we then walked along the river bank to where the stream enters. There were quasi trails there on both sides of the stream, that were quite steep and choked with rhododendron. And the little lady said no way, and we turned round.

I found out later - after some online research - that we should have turned right after passing under that bridge, and walked parallel to the RR tracks for a little stretch. And then the trail cuts up the mountain from there somewhere.
But there were no trail maps anywhere on the poster boards in that big parking area. I kinda got the feeling that they really don't want to encourage people to hike it