Loyalsock

[Scratch]

I am planning on fishing the Loyalsock creek at Sandy Bottom next week (week of 5-9), and I was hoping some one could let me know what flys I should have with me at this time of the year, Or what hatch activity could I expect to see.

 

[duckfoot]

Most likely tan caddis, #14 black stoneflies, TBWOs, Hendricksons.

 

[Reeder]

Add March browns to that list.

 

[Reeder]

You might even come across some early slate drakes. If you don't see them on top, the mature nymphs are certainly down below...

 

[duckfoot]

Yeah, I didn't want to add March Browns to the list because of the rains, high water, and cool temps, but pack a couple just in case.

The sun does shine well in Sandy Bottom.

 

[Reeder]

I have been seeing occasional MB duns floating by me on Lycoming all week, in spite of the rainy weather. I think the first couple nice days we get might kick things off. Maybe even this weekend.

A friend of mine keeps a few stockies here and there for the smoker, and he has been photographing the stomach contents and sending them to me. Last week he had a few that were full of March Browns, big black stoneflies, hellgrammites and several "stick caddis", casing and all. He got them on lower Loyalsock towards Montoursville.

 

[Luke]

I fished at Sandy Bottom early last week for about two hours in the late afternoon/early evening. The water was cold and high from the rains. It was still quite clear. Some fish were rising and I saw the following in reasonable numbers: Sulphers, Tan Caddis, and March Browns. Unfortunately, the water was too high for me to reach almost all of the rising fish.

I managed to get out and perch on a flat rock with water still almost to bottom of my vest. A fish had only risen once, but I decided that I did not wade out there to not at least throw one cast. So I gave one cast and drift with a CDC Sulpher Emerger. A big trout rose and slammed it. Was a great fight and I did land him on my perch. He was a fat 18 incher. I was cold and the crotch of my waders was leaking, so that was enough success to call it a fun day and go home.

 

[wbranch]

I have never fished the Loyalsock. Is there any DH or special reg water on this stream? Thanks!

 

[krayfish2]

You should try it Matt. Pretty creek up near worlds end.

 

[wbranch]

I looked at Google Earth and it appears Hillsgrove is about 2 1/2 hours and 140 miles from my house in York. Another 45 minutes and you know where I could be.

My Dad was born in Lopez in 1913 and he used to tell me just awesome stories of what he did when he was a boy. There was no electric in the house and he loved to read so he read by a kerosene lantern.

He told me in the winter he and his cronies used to take wooden barrel stays and strap them onto their shoes and ski all around Lopez. He also told me the Loyalsock would freeze over and he would skate for miles down river.

It was coal mining back in those days and he told me many of his friends lost fingers and eyes playing with blasting caps that they found lying around.

There is a tiny tributary to the stream called Pigeon Creek and he said when he was a boy it was just full of little wild brookies. I only fished it once with him when I was just getting interested in fishing. I remember clearly standing on the bridge in Lopez and having a spinning rod and a worm and catching a brook trout that at the time seemed to be about 14" long.

One story he told me that was funny in telling but most likely it wasn't very funny when it happened. The town dentist had an office on the second floor of a building. Back then they used natural gas in those Bunsen burners that used to be attached to the round tray adjacent to the seat. Well I guess the dentist didn't realize that the flame had gone out and some time went by and a spark, or open flame, set off a huge explosion and blew the dentist right out of the 2nd story window into the street. I don't remember if he was seriously injured or worse.

Lots of great stories about his life in the wild outdoors in the early part of the 20th century until he turned 16 and moved to Newark, NJ.

 

[duckfoot]

Lopez is still there, and so is your bridge.

Hillsgrove is wonderful. The Little Loyalsock and the Loyalsock fork just down the road at (you guessed it) Forksville, and there's prime fishing in three directions for miles.

Fun fact: Lopez is the coldest part of PA, nearly every day. Geological oddities and whatnot.

 

[MattM]

Thanks for posting that WB, I enjoy hearing about the "olden" days.

 

[MattM]

I caught my first trout, on one of my own ties, on the Loyalsock in Worlds End. It was a 14" rainbow that hammered my yellow stone fly nymph in a deep run right down from my cabin. That trout jumped 100 times, ok maybe 5, and then went deep in the current until he succumbed. I was shaking when I landed it and I will never forget that moment. Beautiful park! I have not been there in close to ten years and realize that I miss that place.

 

[duckfoot]

The park hasn't changed in at least 20 years. It's the same way you left it.

 

[salmonoid]

duckfoot wrote:
The park hasn't changed in at least 20 years. It's the same way you left it.

Visitor Center is new and the Cabin Bridge has washed out twice. But other than that, spot on. Some of it has not changed much since the 30's

 

[Reeder]

That entire stretch of creek from just below the park up to the haystacks holds a lot more trout than it gets credit for.

 

[troutbert]

Reeder wrote:
That entire stretch of creek from just below the park up to the haystacks holds a lot more trout than it gets credit for.

Wild or stocked, and if wild what species?

 

[Kilgore_Trout]

The Sock is almost exclusively stocked. It's hard to believe that it wasn't once a vibrant wild trout fishery. There are looong deep pools that tend to bake and it warms up during the summer, but there are plenty of tribs that flow in to keep it cool and provide respite for the fish.

I'm sure that there are holdovers and even some wild trout in the stream, but, by in large, you'll be catching state-raised trout. There is a DHALO stretch that is part of the PA select waters program.

It's a really beautiful place, though, well worth the trip.

 

[duckfoot]

troutbert wrote:

Reeder wrote:
That entire stretch of creek from just below the park up to the haystacks holds a lot more trout than it gets credit for.

Wild or stocked, and if wild what species?

Stockies that have gone native. There are native brooks to be found everywhere, but there's now wild rainbows and some wild brookies.

I have yet to see a wild brown, but I wouldn't doubt they're in there. I know this stretch well, but I think it'll take me a lifetime to learn it.

 

[duckfoot]

Kilgore_Trout wrote:
The Sock is almost exclusively stocked. It's hard to believe that it wasn't once a vibrant wild trout fishery. There are looong deep pools that tend to bake and it warms up during the summer, but there are plenty of tribs that flow in to keep it cool and provide respite for the fish.

I'm sure that there are holdovers and even some wild trout in the stream, but, by in large, you'll be catching state-raised trout. There is a DHALO stretch that is part of the PA select waters program.

It's a really beautiful place, though, well worth the trip.

Yes, from I'd say Hillsgrove downstream to Montoursville it is exclusively stocked fish. There's a lot of action to be had in those...25 miles of water, including Sandy Bottom.

Anything upstream of Hillsgrove, and I think the stockies start to dwindle. There's holdover fish and maybe some buckets of fish are thrown in for the campers in Worlds End and a couple pools near Rt. 220, but for the most part it's nature doing its thing.

I'd say that spring floods also level out the fish and send them downstream, so there should be plenty of holdovers. I've seen fish in some odd places through this creek, and it's odd how some parts of the creek can get to 75 degrees in the summer, then 2,000 feet away it's back to 65.