Penns Creek?

[fishngun]

I just got a invite to stay at a buddies cabin and fish Penns the last weekend of the month. I have never fished this stream or this part of the state. I was wondering if anybody could give me tips on the fishing there and what flies should be in my box?

 

[pcray1231]

Well, the last weekend of April was AWESOME last year. Of course, streams were low and hatches were very early. In most years, it's blown out as often as it's fishable in late April/early May.

But as far as hatches:

Waning: Grannoms
Peak: Hendricksons
Could be starting: March Browns

Those are the big ones. Other possibilities include green caddis, quill gordon's, blue quills, various midges, etc. And there's always some stonefly nymphs around. If things are warm between now and then, it wouldn't be impossible to see sulphers starting up. But it's early for that.

It's big water. There's big fish if you hit it right. Some of the better pocket water is deep and swift and hard to fish. The pools can fish alright, or be tough. Fish are spoiled and turn on and off like a switch was thrown, you gotta figure out their schedule and meet them on it. And they can rise which makes it obvious, but often the feed underneath even when flies are on the surface, so it's hard to see when that switch was thrown. Be willing to walk. Pools are LOOONGGGGG, and moving up or down just a pool or two can be a bit of a hike.

Be careful about wading, there are lots of places where it's tough, and a big stream with heavy current doesn't help matters. It can also be difficult to cross, learn the crossing areas.

 

[McSneek]

Far and away my favorite stream. Hope for cloudy weather. Don't be afraid to nymph fast water. Assorted sizes of pheasant tails, with or without beads should produce. I like a big stonefly nymph for an anchor fly with a smaller pt or something similar dropped off it.

Last half hour or so of daylight can be really awesome although maybe not quite as much at the end of this month as later in the spring.

pcray's advise is solid.

 

[fishngun]

What are my other options if we get there and deem the stream unfishable? How do the fish respond to streamers there should the water be up and colored?

 

[TYoung]

Streamers can work well on Penns during high water conditions. During high water look for fish in slack water along the banks. If the water is really muddy, you can drive to State College and fish Spring Creek.

 

[fishngun]

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

 

[salvelinus]

If Penns is unfishable you could try Cherry Run or Weikert Run. Fish are small but wild.

 

[Frank23]

Cherry run is always a good nearby backup plan. Tough little creek to fish but its absolutely gorgeous.

 

[sipe]

I fished big streamers on Saturday in the C&R water and brought many good fish up but only hooked/landed one 17" brown. I know I had one fish breach that was 20". But nothing makes a fish grow like almost being caught

 

[pcray1231]

Spring Creek and Big Fishing Creek both seem to handle rain better than Penns (don't get as brown, and drop and clear much more quickly). Also, Elk Creek is a trib of Penns that can fish very well and will hold water color better. It's not too far to Tea/Kish drainage either and most of those streams handle rain better than Penns as well (just about everything handles rain better than Penns).

And there are a number of smallish waters that fish well. Cherry Run is only one of them.

Also, with the normal thunderstorm situation, storms are often either isolated, or if in a line, much more severe in one place than the next. It's not all about which streams handle rain the best, but which streams GOT the rain. One place can get over an inch of rain while somewhere a half hour away got less than a quarter inch. Watch the radar as the offending storms go by, look for places they missed or hit more lightly. And keep up on stream gauges.

 

[ryguyfi]

This will help too!


http://www.thefeatheredhook.com/index.php

 

[Hook_Jaw]

PCray described it well, Penns gets off color so easy it's a hit and miss thing if it rains its getting muddy quick. Elk Ck, Pine Ck, Cherry run, sinking ck, Rapid run, Buffalo ck, fishing ck, bald eagle ck, spring ck are other options. Penns is like a wicked mistress fish have so much food they eat when they want can be great to you or kick your tail. Good luck to you.