visting in may

H

hindry

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
4
got a guide book , but where do i go?

prefer solitude most of all

don't need the most or biggest trout

advice anybody?
 
Do you know how big the state is? Might help if you say what part you will be visiting.
 
Almost any mountainous area away from an urban zone will meet your criteria.
 
visiting entire state
10 days

mountainous, gotcha. are the allegheny's good?

i don't want to stand in some river running next to any state or national hwy. i hate traffic and would sacrifice fishing for solitude.

 
If I had ten days in May to fish, I would concentrate on the central portion of the state. All around State College is enough good water, and varying types to keep you busy. Be forewarned, lots of other fishermen would also agree, so weekends can see some pressure.
 
Are you looking to stay in one place for the 10 days, or traveling through?
Are you looking to hit the famous waters or looking for out of the way places?

If staying fairly localized, I would recommend Penn State area... numerous spring creeks, a fairly easy drive to Pine Creek area, a variety of water from big and brawling to little trickles, and any kind of trout wild/ stocked rainbow, brown, or brookie.

If you are looking to see the whole state, I would start you in the west at the Yough, move you through state college, slide you over to some famous waters around the letort, and have you finish off at the Delaware in the upper east side.

 
hindry wrote:
visiting entire state
10 days
mountainous, gotcha. are the allegheny's good?
i don't want to stand in some river running next to any state or national hwy. i hate traffic and would sacrifice fishing for solitude.

Hindry,
Your question is too broad.
There are thousands of places to fish in PA. A good place to start is to click the link in the upper right side of this page, "Where to Fly Fish." If you're mainly interested in trout fishing and since you want solitude, I'd recommend you stay away from larger waterways and focus on small, wild trout streams in center state. Get a map, look for large green areas (public land) and then identify streams that don't run along highways or that require hiking. This is the bets way to get started. Also, you can search this site's Stream Reports forum by county for fishing reports as well, although these reports mainly consist of well known waters.
 
For the remote woodsy type of fishing you are asking about, the best place is what is referred to as "Big Woods Country" in northcentral PA.

Look at a PA state highway map and you will see a big concentration of public forest lands in the region of Potter, Tioga, Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, Elk, northern Centre Counties.

Find a place to stay somewhere in the middle of that area. You might check for cabin rentals somewhere near Cross Fork, PA. Or camp at one of the state parks.

Get all the state forest maps for that region. They are free.

Then study the maps for stretches of stream away from the roads. You can mark those places with a highlighter pen. Go to those places, walk for 15 or 20 minutes or so away from the road access, and start fishing.


 
thanks guys i get the picture

is it a safe bet there is fish in all mountain streams, or do i have to investigate?

i would love to go in to a state park or forest, and start fishing.

don't need trophy trout, but do need fish.

if it is trophy water then there will be crowds, i presume?


to answer another question, i planned to drive around a bit. i naturally thought about allegheny mountains, but note your other destinations.

are alleghenies good?

also looked at map. that is very helpful.


 
Non-weekend, Non-holiday destinations

1. Fishing Creek in the Narrows near Lamar.

2. Penns Creek if not high and muddy.

Any time
1. Lick Run near Farrandsville

2. Kettle Creek between Rt 44 and Rauch Rd.
 
hindry wrote:
thanks guys i get the picture

is it a safe bet there is fish in all mountain streams, or do i have to investigate?

i would love to go in to a state park or forest, and start fishing.

don't need trophy trout, but do need fish.

if it is trophy water then there will be crowds, i presume?


to answer another question, i planned to drive around a bit. i naturally thought about allegheny mountains, but note your other destinations.

are alleghenies good?

also looked at map. that is very helpful.


The Alleghenies are in western PA. As others have posted, the best area to fish in PA is in the Central / North Central part of the state. http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/preview/map.ashx?layer=980 PA Wild Trout Map

As you can see from the map, many if not most streams in the region hold wild trout and the green areas of the map are State game or state forest land open to the public. Have a good trip.
 
Also depending on what 10 days you're travelling, The Spring Jam is in the middle of the month. There is a thread in the Events & Meetup section
 
PA has plenty of lists and maps and guides to help you find what you want. We have over 3000 wild trout streams, and plenty of stocked ones. Ranging from large to very small, wilderness to urban, etc.

This should help:

http://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/SearchResults.aspx?originator=Pennsylvania%20Fish%20and%20Boat%20Commission&Keyword=&searchType=originator&entry=PASDA&sessionID=311509504201416132558

Approved Trout Waters = stocked.

If after wild trout pay attention to the class A wild trout streams (population density above a certain amount of weight per surface area of water), and stream sections that support the natural reproduction of trout (a larger list that includes lower density streams, but still often very good).

Also the Wilderness trout streams. These are generally a pick of trout streams from our fish commission. This is a small minority of streams that fit this description, but generally they are smallish streams that offer good fishing away from roads and population centers, and are open to the public.

In general, PA has a situation where our freestone waters vary in water temperature. The bigger they are, the warmer they get in the summertime. This means, in the more mountainous parts of the state, nearly every little trickle stays cold and holds wild trout, so long as it mostly runs through forest. They run small (10-15 ft across is typical), and are often infertile streams. The fish likewise run small and are agressive. These are mostly brookies. As streams get larger, they get richer, and warmer, and tend to favor wild brown trout. Once you reach a certain size, it's too warm in the summer to support trout. These streams are generally stocked in the spring and are seasonal fisheries.

We break that mold in 2 ways. One is tailwaters, where we have a few bigger waters which stay cold enough for wild trout due to a bottom release dam. The other is probably PA's biggest attraction. In central, SC, and SE PA, we have some streams which are limestone spring creeks, and generally arise from large springs with a very rich water chemistry. You can get larger streams cold enough for wild trout in this manner. And they tend to have A LOT of trout, which have plenty of food available, and grow quickly. Due to the food availability, though, fishing can be tough. They are not very opportunistic and will be very picky. It's technical fishing.

I too suggest central PA, somewhere around State College. You have some of our best limestoners pretty close. Penns, Little Juniata, Spring Creek, Big Fishing Creek are the famous 4, but there are others as well. There's a few freestoners close as well, and it's not that far north (certainly day trippable) to where you get into a LOT of those freestoners.

Heck, if you happen to be in that area on the 24th/25th of May, this board has a large get together in that area centered around that weekend (many come a few days early or stay late). We like newbies and would be willing to show you the ropes. Late May is the peak of our hatch season.
 
He hates fishing around people.
 
As an all-around introduction, this is the best book on the subject

http://www.amazon.com/Trout-Streams-Pennsylvania-Anglers-Edition/dp/1879475022

It's be troutbert, here on the board. Who I only know through his posts- and before that, from reading and re-reading his book.
 
If you make it into NCPA, pick a stream and fish it. It's silly with wild browns and native brook trout. I agree about staying in the Cross Fork area. Tioga, Clinton, Potter, etc. are full of streams. You could spend a lifetime fly fishing and not scratch the surface. Small mountain streams with lots of solitude. Check out the Hammersley Fork area, and stop at Kettle Creek Tackle Shop. The owner knows the small wild streams very well and can get you on what you want.

I highly recommend the Hammersley Wilds though. It's pretty darn secluded. If you're willing to hike in a few miles, you'll find yourself isolated!
 
just come up here and I'll put you on some wild water with no one else around.
 
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