Oct/Nov fishing, and beyond...

[greenlander]

This Oct and Nov will be my first year fishing during the autumn months.

Although I know it is kind of vague, what can I expect from autumn fishing in PA? and winter?

Does fishing remain strong through the fall, or do activity and successful trips slowly taper off?

Does fishing go completely subsurface? What types of patterns are most successful in the autumn and winter months?

Are certain areas of the state or certain types of streams better than others during the upcoming seaons?

Any other relevant information, advice, etc are welcomed.

 

[dryflyguy]

I fish strictly dry flies, and am always looking for risers when I go fishing. Autumn has become one of my favorite times of year to be on the stream, and I usually find the kind of fishing I like, provided the streams haven't been blown out by heavy rains.
I've noticed over the years, that the best time for hitting fall hatches is when the weather starts cooling down - usually mid sept - until the end of oct. But the leaves start dropping during the last 2 weeks of oct, and can cause obvious problems. In fact, I just came back from 5 days fishing on most of the central PA limestoners - Penns and Spring creeks, and Little Juniata river.
I always was able to find some fish rising on all 3 streams - to mostly BWO,s - with caddis hatching on the little j also.
I also caught some fish on terrestials.
However, the last 2 days of the trip, the wind blew pretty good and brought down quite a few leaves.
If the weather stays warm, I have had good dry fly fishing in Nov, but usually the fishing is pretty much subsurface by then.
One other nice thing about fall fishing - you usually have the stream to yourself. I ran into maybe a handfull of other fisherman during my 5 days out - mostly on spring creek, which gets pounded pretty much year round.
Hope this answers your questions and good luck!

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Midges are around pretty much all year long. I'd rather fish the bottom, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It gets tough to ignore rising fish!

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Greenlander,

Try streamers in the Fall.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[Fishidiot]

I think you'll find fall fishing a great experience - I find there's usually fewer fishermen than summer. Perhaps they're hunting or watching football, whatever the case, the weather and scenery are beautiful and the fishing is usually quite good. Oftentimes you will have to deal with low clear water. The USGS map on the homepage belies the conditions here in Adams Co, the creeks are very low and clear. Also keep in mind spawning. Here in SC PA most brookies are on the spawn by mid Oct and browns mostly in Nov. If you haven't already - you'll need to develop a philosophy on this issue. I prefer not to harass spawning trout (and bass) and leave them alone. Some fishermen refrain from any fall trout fishing over this issue but I think that's too much. Wild browns and brookies develop exagerrated colors with richer, darker, darks and bright orange flanks in the fall. Seeing, wild trout in the fall really gives me the urge to run to my easel!
I too use a lot of streamers in the fall. My experience has been that once water temps drop below about 42 degress F that the efficacy of streamers really declines and nymph fishing takes over. A streamer crawled very slowly over the bottom will however get fish even in really cold conditions with ice on the water. Areas with current often have fewer problems with leaves. Large, slow pools, while great for dry fly action , often have the most problems with leaves. Good luck.

 

[MKern]

You should be able to catch fish all year round on dries. Fall is a great time because there are very few fishermen and the scenery is the best.Within the past 2 weeks I have caught a hand-full of fish on every outing (from about 3p.m. -- 7 p.m.). Most of these fish have been on dries. Fall is also a great time to fish because the fish are stocking up for winter and feed more regularly. During fall I would stick away from colder than normal days and days when there is a lot of wind.
Winter is a great time to fish. However it is totally different than summer. In summer, the most preductive times are morning and evening, but in Winter, mid-day takes the cake. During winter, fish days that are 5 degrees warmer that previous days, fish near structure (bridges, large rocks) that are in deep pools. Most fish retract and hold in deeper pools to conserve energy form swimming and large structures absorb heat from the sun and transmit it to the water. Fish from 10 to noon on sunny days, and don't be surprized to see an extensive hatch and plenty of fish rising. You will have to fish you flies alomost directly infront of the fish, because they are sluggish and don't more much for tiny insects (hence why streamer are so effective). A lot of 20" fish are takin in Winter next to bridges and large rocks, becuase they must eat more frequently that 10" fish to sustain their bulk. Plus, you are almost garrenteed not to see other fishermen during January.