Curious about July options within 1 hours ride of Phoenixville

[Prospector]

My son got out of college and moved to Phoenixville exactly 1 year and 1 day ago and hasn’t fish there yet. My father and I are heading out over the 4th of July weekend to visit and, more importantly, help him explore and fish some new water. It will be new water to us too.

We plan to fish the 4th, 5th and the morning of the 6th within an hours ride of Phoenixville (we have Yellow Breeches penciled in for the July 6th spinner fall). On the 2 full days we will hit 2-4 streams each day.

We have decided Valley and Tulpehocken are our top 2 choices so we will likely get those out of the way on July 4 unless the streams are unfishable due to water height or temperature.

Our plans for July 5th are not so clear. We have the following thoughts:

Option 1: Lehigh County - Head to the Little Lehigh and maybe also try Monocacy, Cedar or Saucon (or fish all four). The proximity of the streams seems to make this doable.
One issue that jumps out from the PAFF stream reports, many reports indicate the Little Lehigh has experienced a terrible decline in fishing quality. My father and I are anxious to fish the LL but is it so bad we should we avoid it?

Saucon is also described as having a sharp decline.

Monocacy seems like it will hold the temperature and it has some tricos.

Cedar creek doesn’t have many posts and the latest one I could find was from 11-12 yrs ago. Cedar is either a big secret or not a good spot.

Seems like all of the streams in the Lehigh valley have a decent to good trico hatch, does that push it to a valuable place to try?

Option #2 Jordan Creek - Mike has been pumping out some good reports for the last 5 years but has cautioned that the temperature will soon rise to intolerable levels. Does anyone think it will stay cool enough to fish well next weekend?

Option #3. Staying close to Phoenixville, will Pickering Creek or East Branch of Brandywine be cool enough to fish? Which of the two streams is better or will have more active fish? These streams might fit well into our plans early Saturday morning. Hit them when they are coolest and have a fairly quick drive to each. However if fish have already started to expire then we need to avoid both streams. Thoughts??

Option 4: West Valley creek seems like another option that might be cooler. I’m assuming this creek is limestone, so it should have good temps. Is it too small for 3 people to fish comfortably in close proximity?

Option 5: Are there a couple streams that compliment each other well? For instance, one creek may be great at daybreak fishing subsurface until about 930am when the sun hits the water and then another stream a short distance away has ample shade to make fishing terrestrials from 10am to noon a real fun time.

Any help you can provide is appreciated!! One thing for sure is that we will enjoy ourselves. Just getting a chance to try some limestoners will be a treat and hopefully 3 generations of anglers can somehow figure out a way to land a few fish without getting sunburned. Oh and I’m sure we might eat a cheesesteak or two.

 

[shakey]

in my honest opinion , the only streams cool enough for trout will be valley , the wiss ,ridley and the lehigh.

otherwise, july is SMB time.

you could easily spend two days on valley though.

good cheesesteaks will be within 40 minutes of you.

 

[Wharfrat24]

I fished Pickering in the delayed harvest section just outside of Phoenixville twice in the last 7 days. Water temp was the coldest I have ever experienced on that stream in the month of June. That will change with the heat waive this week, but it may still be good for a little while. Plenty of healthy fish still there . Not much in the way of risers but nymphing was consistent.

 

[sgrim]

The Brandywine is put & take trout water and generally runs warm. You'll clean up on fallfish and sunnies but I wouldn't expect too much in the way of trout fishing.

 

[gozu]

The Pohopoco is another option, not much further than your northern choices. Valley has had temps in the lower 60's this past week with decent flows, you may encounter more people because of the holiday.

 

[sarce]

Prospector,

Shoot me a PM and I can send you a couple lesser known options that would be good for your son to be aware of, but most streams in that area don't fish well in July unless you get a cooler, rainy period. FWIW there is a break in the heat forecast so it's not out of the question that you get a window of good fishing.

East Brandywine will be too warm, not certain about Pickering. East Brandywine USGS gage used to have a temp reading but they took it offline due to bridge construction. My parents live right up the road. Flows are being posted still but not water temp. West Valley will be borderline too warm, it has some limestone influence but a lot of it is cancelled out by the effects of urban runoff. The cooler stretches are pretty narrow and tight casting but I think you could spread out over a section and each have fish to cast to.

 

[afishinado]

Hey Prospector,

The weather forecast is for a heat wave the 4th thru the 6th with high temps in the 90's and low temps in the low to mid 70's with T-storms possible on Friday and Saturday > Area Weather Forcast

It may be hard to recommend anywhere to fish until next week in order to see what actually develops with the t-storms and weather.

That weather forecast screams wet wading smallie fishing. The Schulkill River anywhere above Reading usually gives up some nice smallies in both numbers and decent size if the River flow and clarity is good.

I would stay tuned on here closer to your fishing trip for more up-to-date info for planning your trip.

 

[kb3lms]

I'm very interested in this thread because I'm in the same general area, too. It looks like the Manatawny will be too warm as well, except maybe in the upper parts near Oley. Does anyone have any thoughts on it?

I'm not familiar with the Pohopoco but I see the temps are still pretty low. Where is a good spot to start on that creek?

 

[bradtheflyfisherman]

Cedar is just tough to fish. It is low and clear this time of year and the fish are extremely spooky. But they are in there.

Saucon and a few other Lehigh Valley streams get described by others as "in decline" simply because anglers aren't necessarily catching as many fish as they used to (as one angler recently told me, like in the good ol' days)...mostly because those fish have become extremely selective and harder to catch due to them getting pounded on the regular. Don't be mistaken, there are still plenty of fish in there, just don't expect to be slamming wild browns left and right. If you like a challenge, go for it.

Don't overlook the Bushkill and Martins either.

You are mentioning a lot of "big name" streams. There are plenty of other smaller wild trout/class A streams that don't get fished nearly as much as these in the vicinity. Use the PFBC interactive map.

https://pfbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=65a89f6592234019bdc5f095eaf5c6ac

 

[klingy]

After the heat we’re having, several of those streams will most likely be out of trout range. If you’re heading west to the breeches anyway on the 6th, you could always do other Cumberland valley streams on the 5th/6th. There are numerous options that will be plenty cold enough. I know it is outside of your hour range, but there won’t be any question of thermal issues on the true limestoners. Shoot me a PM if you’d like some pointers on locations. Wherever you decide, it sounds like a fun trip - good luck!

 

[Dave_W]

Agree with klingy and Afish^

WW fishing closer to home and/or the Cumberland Valley for trout. I'm not sure about drive time, but I don't think P-ville is much beyond an hour from the Cumberland Valley, maybe 90 min or so(?).

 

[Mike]

Jordan will not be a good choice. I was thinking about fishing it last evening, but figured the temp would be marginal after an 89 deg day. Thought about it again this morning, but it would have been a mission of mercy. I would have kept each fish up to five that I caught because of the forecasted heat wave. I am not sure that you could catch any trout there in a few days, if not sooner, as the flows go down and the temp goes up. I will probably now switch to Coplay Creek and Hockendauqua Creek, with a possible Ltl Lehigh morning on occasion.

I have occasionally fished Cedar in the Class A stretch, but have not given it enough attention when flows are more suitable. It has always been dead summer, gin clear, middle of the afternoon, lower flow, and 95 deg. I have only caught small browns on ants. I should hit it after a storm as it starts to clear.

Manatawny has tricos, but will probably be warm except in some isolated, very short stretches within the long stretch between Rt 562 and. Rt 73.

I have no reason to believe that there is a lack of fish in the Little Lehigh or Saucon. As an example, even when Saucon's numbers are down, it is still Class A. When they say that the big fish have been poached, electrofishing still finds big fish in the limited big fish habitat. What has been lost is not fish, but big fish habitat due to stormwater runoff. As for the Little Lehigh, I have heard complaints of less fish ever since escapement from the hatchery was brought under control, yet electrofishing showed, as usual, that there were plenty of wild trout present in that particular stretch. Numbers of trout vary considerably with year class strength in many streams. It has appeared to me that such has been the case at times on Bushkill and Saucon, and I assume that such is true on the Ltl Lehigh.

There are a fair number of Class A wild trout streams in Berks Co within an hour or so of Phoenixville, but access to the vast majority will require doing some door-knocking by a single individual for starters and would best be left to time periods when there is less of a rush to knock out a bunch of waters.

Tricos should be on at the Tully DH Area. Have not checked flow or temp lately, but the lake was high recently so they will need to blow off that water if they have not done so already. Better check the gauge for temp and flow.

 

[SteveG]

Another CV option for the day of the 6th would be for warm water fish on the Conodoguinet or lower end of the Breeches (from Mechanicsburg water works down to the mouth). Assuming we don't get any more rain, they'll be at an easier level to fish. The mountain streams in the area will be too warm.

 

[JackM]

Go here https://pennhurstasylum.com/daytime-attractions/, eat at Burger King, then fish the Skullkill for junk fish.

 

[poopdeck]

Valley is to small for 3 to fish anywhere near each other especially with the holiday and the potential of other anglers. Valley gets hammered anytime outside of winter. I agree it's smallie time. Your choice of WW creeks is endless.

 

[Acristickid]

Can’t help with the area but- the first time I went to the breeches it was on a Fourth of July, I was geared up and in the water by 5am- by 7:30 am there were anglers every 40 yards in the Allenberry stretch. Not to be a cold bucket of water but that was my experience.

 

[HopBack]

Can’t help with the area but- the first time I went to the breeches it was on a Fourth of July, I was geared up and in the water by 5am- by 7:30 am there were anglers every 40 yards in the Allenberry stretch. Not to be a cold bucket of water but that was my experience.

15 miles of stream to fish or something like that, but hey I'm glad they all stay bottled up down there in that frog water.

 

[Prospector]

acristickid wrote:
Can’t help with the area but- the first time I went to the breeches it was on a Fourth of July, I was geared up and in the water by 5am- by 7:30 am there were anglers every 40 yards in the Allenberry stretch. Not to be a cold bucket of water but that was my experience.

I definitely understand where you are coming from, but at this stage it’s less about a quality experience. The angler spacing was even worse than what you describe the last time I fished there with my father 27 years ago. Joe Humphries was within casting distance of me and Ed Shenk was within casting distance of him. He even sat on the bench with Ed for awhile. Yes quarters are going to be tight, but he is 80 and we are close by. My father will make the final call but his eyes lit up when I broached the subject of fishing the Breeches again. I don’t think he would settle for fishing any stretch other than Allenberry. As long as we can cast to a few rising fish I think he will be thrilled. He hasn’t gotten on the water many days the last 3 years.

 

[Prospector]

I’d like to thank everyone for all of the great information you provided. I am concerned about the well being of the fish and realizing we may be at a temperature threshold I wanted to leverage the collective knowledge of the membership in an area of the state I’m unfamiliar with. This is a fabulous site with obviously many accomplished a dedicated individuals whose opinions I truly value. I’ll continue to monitor this thread through July 2 then pull together our itinerary. Thanks again for your willingness to provide input.

 

[afishinado]

Prospector wrote:
I’d like to thank everyone for all of the great information you provided. I am concerned about the well being of the fish and realizing we may be at a temperature threshold I wanted to leverage the collective knowledge of the membership in an area of the state I’m unfamiliar with. This is a fabulous site with obviously many accomplished a dedicated individuals whose opinions I truly value. I’ll continue to monitor this thread through July 2 then pull together our itinerary. Thanks again for your willingness to provide input.

Good luck at the "Britches."

Someone mentioned it in an earlier post, the Pohopoco is a tailwater just below the Beltsville dam and is sure to be fishable for temp and likely flow next week. Plus easy fishing access and easy wading for your Dad as well as close to an hour drive from Phoenixville area. It;s loaded with fish both stocked and wild.

Po Flow