Penns Week

[JeffP]

We headed up to Penns for 4 days this week. Went with my brother Riverwhy and a friend. We really didn't intend to fish Penns but temperature weren't bad. We got 62-69 at various times we checked. We limited our time to early mornings and late evenings. The hatches were great with tons of rising fish and we caught about 10 each over the 4 days. We saw BWOs, Blue Quills, chills, Sulfers, slate drakes, and huge stoneflies. We never made it to the fly stretch but fished mostly around Swift an the trestle bridge up a ways. Poe Paddy was almost pretty deserted. Some advice: don't take the site near the rest rooms. The smell and no shade were the problems. Unfortunately since my friend got the site for tonight as well, there were only 2 sites left.

We had a great time and got a chance to just relax. Despite thinking Gum Trail sounder like a little meander in the woods, it was not.The lake was nice and we spent time on the beach and kayaked on the lake. Fishing was not good. Missed a couple small bass between us and saw a few bluegills and a couple trout up the channel. We saw lots of wildlife including 2 types of turtles, snakes, deer, an eagle, an otter, mink, 12 turkeys, but no bear or rattlers. The beauty of the area never ceases to amaze me. Interestingly we did catch 2 native brooks in Penns. Saw a lot of brooks above the lake and a few on lower Swift. I really wanted to hit Havice or Treaster, but we never made it. I need to find a couple days to take the family and dog up. Truly an awesome place.

 

[Dave_W]

Awesome indeed and always worth a visit.
And of course, for someone only interested in fishing Penns, there are better times of the year. . . but there are other attractions to that region that you mention besides just Penns.

 

[McSneek]

My last trip up there until cool weather returns had plenty of slate drakes and willing trout in the riffles. My hope is always that Mother Nature is kind to Penns over the summer months. Saw a lot of wildlife on my trips up there this year but the most interesting thing to me was an immature skink. Don’t recall ever seeing one before.

I’ve only camped in Poe Paddy once and that was in a truck camper in a fairly private site away from the pit toilets. I marvel that people use the sites in what is essentially a gravel parking lot right beside the toilets. As you said Jeff, has to be rather smelly.

 

[riverwhy]

My brother forgot to mention the river otter in the trestle pool! Also, the turkeys were two adults and many poults. Also, saw a deer tick that was unfortunately embedded in the back of my leg.

 

[jifigz]

I was just camping at Poe Valley from Friday until today and the fishing in the lake was lousy. I caught a couple of fish on Penns at Poe Paddy Saturday morning. The water was cooler than I thought it would be. How far away do you live from the area?

 

[JeffP]

I am from Lititz so it's maybe 2 hours give a take a Sheetz stop.