Penns creek, poe paddy

[maffetaj]

Booked a camp site at Poe Paddy camp ground for the next 2 nights. I have never been. Where is the best spot to park to fish? Can I walk from my capsite? I've read fishing from where cherry run dumps into Peens and heading upstream is best. Will my cell phone work with maps? Any pointers and help would be great!? The maps I found online aren't great.

 

[raftman]

No cell reception. You can walk to the stream from your site. Head up, head down, stay right where you step foot in the water, it's all good.

 

[salmonoid]

You can get apps for your phone to store maps offline. I recommend Galileo if your phone is running iOS, or OruxMaps if it is an Android. I use the latter and have cut custom maps and layers for most of the places I fish, from the USGS topo map server.

Pretty much what raftman said about the fish. You can leave your vehicle at the campground if you want and wander upstream or downstream, or you can drive upstream until the road dead ends and park there and then work upstream, or use the tunnel and end up downstream of the campground.

 

[PocketWater]

Just camped there Friday and Saturday nights. Around the campground fished well. Caught my largest wild trout to date this trip, an 18" brown.

 

[pcray1231]

1. Since you've never been, be ready for a fairly long travel on dirt roads in there. Not such a big deal but always surprises first timers. No, you didn't make a wrong turn (well, you may have, but even if you didn't, it feels like you did as you just keep going).

2. You can fish from your site. Penns runs right by it. But many will opt to drive up the road a mile or so and park at the end. From there, the road upstream (straight) is gated and you can go up that way towards Ingleby. Or the tunnel path also comes off just down from the dead end, and angles downstream, quickly crosses a walking bridge, and then goes into a tunnel. Through the tunnel then puts you 2-3 miles DOWNSTREAM of where you just were, and 1-2 miles down from the campground! You can go up or down after passing through the tunnel too. Downstream is the ALO section.

3. Zero cell signal in there. If your lucky, you can get enough coverage to get texts just on the other side of the tunnel. That's about the best spot in the valley I've found. Otherwise, you gotta jump in the car and go up over the hill again, which is a bit of a hike.

4. Cherry Run is park at the end of the road, go through tunnel, and go left (downstream), walk 2-3 miles to get to Cherry Run. There is an access at Cherry Run. But it's nearly an hour by car, as the roads go WAAAYYYY around. It's quicker to walk.

5. Through that tunnel, a nice, crushed rock walking road parallels the stream (same road as the bridge and tunnel itself). If you have the setup, a bike greatly eases getting around in there.

6. Remember to carry a flashlight! On sunnier days, the bulk of the action happens right at dusk and just after dark. Expect to come out by flashlight.

 

[steveo]

salmonoid wrote:
You can get apps for your phone to store maps offline. I recommend Galileo if your phone is running iOS, or OruxMaps if it is an Android. I use the latter and have cut custom maps and layers for most of the places I fish, from the USGS topo map server.

Sal,
I love this idea as most of the places I fish have no cell signal. How do you add the topo maps?

 

[franklin]

steveo wrote:

salmonoid wrote:
You can get apps for your phone to store maps offline. I recommend Galileo if your phone is running iOS, or OruxMaps if it is an Android. I use the latter and have cut custom maps and layers for most of the places I fish, from the USGS topo map server.

Sal,
I love this idea as most of the places I fish have no cell signal. How do you add the topo maps?

I don't have those particular apps but I have several on my tablet. Usually you use the app where you have service, select the map area you are going to need, and store the selected section on the device.

 

[PAgeologist]

Most of the newer hand held GPS units have topo maps downloaded on them as well. And you can get a micro SD card with more detailed ones as well. They are typically much more durable and water proof than a phone and don't need cell reception to function.

 

[franklin]

PAgeologist wrote:
Most of the newer hand held GPS units have topo maps downloaded on them as well. And you can get a micro SD card with more detailed ones as well. They are typically much more durable and water proof than a phone and don't need cell reception to function.

True. But I find as my eyes get older an 8" tablet does the best job for me.

 

[Sylvaneous]

There is a great, low energy and sustainably produced app that can help you. It's called a map. But seriously, a map is good. Networking with the indigenous population works too. So don't be afraid to ask somebody how to go to where ever or what road to take. It's not unusual to find new people that need some information at Penns or other deep-in-the-woods places. So people are pretty helpful.

Using the walking bridge and RR tunnel is a good idea. But don't fish every tiddle of water you find. Look for the best spots that you can wade and get your nymph near the bottom in current. I see people here nymphing water that is about 3 feet deep. If they were hoping to get near the bottom, it won't happen with anything they're carrying. There is a lot of water. Inspect it, upstream and down get the context of the run. Find the best looking places and spend time picking it apart.

One warning: When you drive in, you will go from gravel to a butter smooth paved section. It ends about where Poe Valley park ends. And if it has been wet and well traveled, a serious rut develops in the dirt right where the pavement ends. Take it slow. you won't remember this until right after you hit the rut at full speed and then think, "Oh, there's that rut".

 

[salmonoid]

franklin wrote:

steveo wrote:

salmonoid wrote:
You can get apps for your phone to store maps offline. I recommend Galileo if your phone is running iOS, or OruxMaps if it is an Android. I use the latter and have cut custom maps and layers for most of the places I fish, from the USGS topo map server.

Sal,
I love this idea as most of the places I fish have no cell signal. How do you add the topo maps?

I don't have those particular apps but I have several on my tablet. Usually you use the app where you have service, select the map area you are going to need, and store the selected section on the device.

This technique works for Galileo, Google Maps and OruxMaps, at a minimum, but requires that you browse all the tiles you are interested in and at the zoom level you want to see. And most apps have a limit to the amount of data they will cache, before they start recycling old tiles and replacing them with newer ones.

I use Mobile Atlas Creator (MBAC) to cut custom maps on my PC, save everything in a SQLite database, then copy it to the external SD card of my phone. Much cheaper than what the handheld GPS manufacturers try to extort for more details maps and since I've already bought the device (phone), no additional outlay for hardware. Not waterproof, but I don't need cell reception to function.

Once upon a time, before one of the big map vendors sent a cease and desist order to the author of OruxMaps, access to many other mapping sources (i.e. Google satellite, Bing data, etc.) was included in the default config. As a precaution, the author removed all the configs that could remotely be construed as private or proprietary, but you can use your GoogleFu to find out the necessary data to add back to the XML file if you need those data sources.

 

[LetortAngler]

Pcray is right. I was at middle Penns this past weekend (first trip to this specific area) and took the gravel road that gos up and over the mountain at Woodward. It's one hell of a drive, but very beautiful, just stay straight, and be sure you have a full tank of gas. Def wouldn't want to get stranded in there.
Little cherry run that paralleles that road is a fine Brookie stream in its own right.
I got ATT and lost signal sook after going up the mountain.
Also, if you stop at the fly shop at Coburn, they will give you maps for specific areas where you like to fish which was extremely helpful for me when I was there.