Slippery Rock FFO

[Kingscott]

I ventured out to the FFO section of the Slippery Rock Creek yesterday. I live about 15 minutes away and cut my teeth on dry fly fishing about 40 years ago on a great light cahill hatch.

I suspected that the grannoms might be hatching given the warm weather. I was right. They were everywhere and with medium wind they were on the water. Over a 2 hour period I saw just one rise.

This section of the stream has gone to hell! I used to come out here a couple evenings a week. Not as much last couple years as I have seen it go downhill. Where I park at closer to the Heinz camp there is a FFO poster on a tree thats at least 10 years old, and so washed out that if you were not familiar , would never know this section is FFO. I saw one other sign down by the bridge in similar condition.

I must admit the stream looks better and a lot of the algae that prohibited descent subsurface fishing has washed away. NO fish and no signs. Its a mess and apparently not a priority for the fish commission.

I did leave and drove over to the Neshannock and had a great 2 hours of fishing, landing 9 trout all on deer hair caddis. An equal amount of grannoms but a whole lot more fish. Risers everywhere.

I would love to hear the experience that others have had with the ROCK. For now its on my don't go back list!

 

[sam]

I was there yesterday afternoon and witnessed the same thing. I hooked into something that may have been a Pike - certainly not a trout. I'm pretty sure they only stocked right by the bridge this year and it was elbow to elbow in that section. No thanks.

 

[PAFLYBOY]

Over the past week or so I've had some success swinging a soft hackle wet fly(partridge hackle/black body) just under the surface trying to imitate the black stoneflies that had been coming off. Strangely, I had better success, and saw more rises, in areas outside the FFO. I agree, the catch and release area has become a bit crowded for my taste...

 

[PennKev]

Kingscott wrote:
I would love to hear the experience that others have had with the ROCK. For now its on my don't go back list!

The FFO section has never impressed me and my experiences match yours.

On the other hand, I've done OK for trout on other sections of SRC and found fish very late into the season and sometimes even gotten trout while targeting bass in downright hot conditions. There are definitely nicer and more productive stretches on Slippery Rock. Heck, the area around Harris Bridge just up the road from the FFO area can be pretty good too.

The Neshannock DHALO is definitely a much better choice for special regs stocked trout fishing. Between the state, TU, and the local fly shop stocking, the special regs area is absolutely loaded with fish. Also, in the last decade the grannom hatch has improved to the point where it is as good on Neshannock as it is anywhere. Caddis where everywhere in downtown New Castle today.

 

[Kingscott]

The Neshannock has some nice stocked trout in reg waters. I really prefer area about a mile up from dam or down closer to Eastbrook. If you are willing to walk a bit there are some nice holding areas

 

[dryflyguy]

I used to fish the rock a bit back when I was new to this sport, in the '80's.
Being just a 45 minute drive from my house, it was a convenient spot to go wet a line for a bit.

I never saw any great hatches on it even then.
Just enough caddis, BWO's, and midges to get a few fish working on top sometimes.

Then things seemed to really go downhill 15 to 20 years ago.
And I just stopped going there altogether

When the pandemic started last year, and we were all urged to limit travel, I tried it again several times last year.

Once in the spring.
And after reading a few posts about the white fly hatch by another forum member, a few more times in august.

I caught zilch every visit.
An have pretty much sworn off it again.

I did catch a few fish in several of its tribs though

 

[greenghost]

I fished that section often in the 80's into the early 90's. The hatches were better. Good caddis, excellent light cahill, and some sulfurs. Fish were typically spread well throughout. Many risers, when water levels were lower. I loved it. It did get crowded back then, too. But the fish were there and were often feeding.

Then things changed in the 90's. Hatches became sparse. So did the fish. Not sure why. Also, it seemed the water levels were consistently higher until well into summer when temps would become too high for trout.

I still go there every now and then. But for bass, not trout.

 

[Prospector]

Kingscott,

You mentioned the SR FFO was not well marked. A few years ago in mid June, I was there with my father just down the steps from the main parking lot. The fellow above him was using a spincast rod and red worms. He caught 2 trout and released them. He was pretty old (75?) and his wife sat on the bank watching him fish. He wasn’t trying to hide anything. I don’t think that fellow had any idea he was breaking the law and we didn’t ruin his day.