Penns Creek 4/19

Everyone's got their own thresholds and it depends on how well you know the stream so I can't say exactly what the upper limit is. I know some folks fish from the bank in really high water (like 2K+). The highest I've ever fished it is around 1150. It jumped from 800 to that while my brother and I were out there one afternoon. Personally, I go elsewhere when I know it's gonna be that high though. Been catching a lot of brookies lately (lol).
Thanks! This will be my first time there. I’m hoping for 1000 or less by then. Seems like I need to start coordinating plan B streams to fish. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for months and have been doing decent planning. I’ll be heartbroken if I have to cancel lolol.
 
Thanks! This will be my first time there. I’m hoping for 1000 or less by then. Seems like I need to start coordinating plan B streams to fish. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for months and have been doing decent planning. I’ll be heartbroken if I have to cancel lolol.

We’ll be there the same weekend and it’s really not looking good. Fishing creek might be a better option or small streams for brookies.
 
We’ll be there the same weekend and it’s really not looking good. Fishing creek might be a better option or small streams for brookies.
Yep I just realized I need to start putting together a backup plan. I’ll be solo at Poe paddy. Hopefully it will be my first time on Penns🤞
 
Everyone's got their own thresholds and it depends on how well you know the stream so I can't say exactly what the upper limit is. I know some folks fish from the bank in really high water (like 2K+). The highest I've ever fished it is around 1150. It jumped from 800 to that while my brother and I were out there one afternoon. Personally, I go elsewhere when I know it's gonna be that high though. Been catching a lot of brookies lately (lol).
It’s less so about the raw CFS rate (recall the gauge is actually well downstream of the special regs water in the village of Penns Creek PA) and more so about the coloration. If it’s blown out at 1500 cfs from a storm the day or two before I’d go elsewhere, but if it’s on the steady drop with a bit of color at 1300 cfs you can have a lot of fun out there still. I wouldn’t cancel waiting for perfect conditions or you might never get out this spring. This week is going to be warm, the trees are leafing out which will suck up lots of water, and the fish are hungry.

We had a blast last week bombing reach casts like 75 feet to the far bank casting to risers. Hooked a few real nice fish on top and a pile more nymphing. It’s like runoff season out west, certainly not for everyone but it will fish. Plus you’ve got a bunch of awesome brookie streams, BFC, kish, spring etc within a 30-45 min drive if things really turn to ****.
 
How did you make out? Sounds like it might have been somewhat fishable this weekend...

I was at Poe last weekend for what I had hoped would be my first time fishing Penns, but with the flow around 2000 cfs and some decent wind, it we decided to hit the tributaries and got into a few little brookies instead. Still had a great time camping with some great food, and I'm already trying to plan another trip for the fall to try for Penns again.
 
Well we had a great time. I caught nothing. I moved a few each day on buggers.The other guys caught a handful with the largest being a beautiful 18. Buggers, stoneflies, grannom wet, and a march brown emerger took at least 1 fish each I would say it was fairly fishable. It certainly a challenge to wade. There were a bunch of caddis in the air when we got there Thursday evening. Friday had a heavy dampness about it. Saturday started nice but heavy gusty winds made fishing difficult. We didn't fish at all today. Water temps around 52 each day. There were very few fisherman until Saturday. We did see a few caught some by spin fisherman. A couple were upper teens. There were only a handful of rises the whole time. I'm not that familiar with the grannoms but if the caddis were grannoms they were pretty small. Despite being shut out, I certainly didn't go home unhappy. On a side note, Thursday evening I caught in a tree and somehow, when I broke it off, my rod tip section shot into the middle of the raging stream. This was the rod I build for my father-in-law and I got after he passed away. Well when I was sitting on the cabin deck, guess what? My buddy finds it in the home pool! Happy ending to that story!
 
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Well we had a great time. I caught nothing. I moved a few each day on buggers.The other guys caught a handful with the largest being a beautiful 18. Buggers, stoneflies, grannom wet, and a march brown emerger took at least 1 fish each I would say it was fairly fishable. It certainly a challenge to wade. There were a bunch of caddis in the air when we got there Thursday evening. Friday had a heavy dampness about it. Saturday started nice but heavy gusty winds made fishing difficult. We didn't fish at all today. Water temps around 52 each day. There were very few fisherman until Saturday. We did see a few caught some by spin fisherman. A couple were upper teens. There were only a handful of rises the whole time. I'm not that familiar with the grannoms but if the caddis were grannoms they were pretty small. Despite being shut out, I certainly didn't go home unhappy. On a side note, Thursday evening I caught in a tree and somehow, when I broke it off, my rod tip section shot into the middle of the raging stream. This was the rod I build for my father-in-law and I got after he passed away. Well when I was sitting on the cabin deck, guess what? My buddy finds it in the home pool! Happy ending to that story!
great news! its really beautiful down there and im glad you had a safe and good time!
 
That's really amazing that you gout the rod tip back. You didn't miss much on Sunday (at least if you were fishing near me). It was cold, a little windy, and pretty slow. Some parts of the day really felt like winter - no bugs, gray skies, cold hands, etc. There was a decent olive hatch but fish just weren't rising much. And they didn't want my nymphs either. All the fish I picked up came on a streamer. Still good to be out there, even at 900cfs.
 
That's really amazing that you gout the rod tip back. You didn't miss much on Sunday (at least if you were fishing near me). It was cold, a little windy, and pretty slow. Some parts of the day really felt like winter - no bugs, gray skies, cold hands, etc. There was a decent olive hatch but fish just weren't rising much. And they didn't want my nymphs either. All the fish I picked up came on a streamer. Still good to be out there, even at 900cfs.
Hi Discomidge! What stretch were you on? I was at Ingleby at the last cabin right on the stream. I really fished mostly upstream. All the fish out party caught and saw were downstream. Bruce from Penns Creek Angler seemed to suggest the fishing was great this weekend and even before it. The black bugger usually does me well, but not this time. Moved a couple nice fish but that was it!
 
Hi Discomidge! What stretch were you on? I was at Ingleby at the last cabin right on the stream. I really fished mostly upstream. All the fish out party caught and saw were downstream. Bruce from Penns Creek Angler seemed to suggest the fishing was great this weekend and even before it. The black bugger usually does me well, but not this time. Moved a couple nice fish but that was it!
Heyo JeffP! I was downstream in the C&R - I practically live there and BFC, lol. Agreed on the effectiveness of the black bugger (the jig streamer that I got some on yesterday is a bugger variant), but man it was tough out there for me yesterday. I found a bunch of fish stacked up in some heavy water that saved the day. That cabin looks awesome. Glad you guys had a good time, even if they weren't jumping into your net.
 
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