Penns creek camping

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PaulItaliano

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Hopefully this is the right forum.

The 3 hour trip to Penns in one day is getting old (or maybe I am just getting old) I want to start spending the night.
I see camping is available at Poe Paddy, can anyone share some opinions of the camping there (need reservations, full of meth heads, etc)?
Is there anywhere else to camp on the creek?

Thank you
Paul
 
Paul,
I highly recommend camping at Poe Paddy. It has been one of my favorite places to visit for two decades. Well water is available but bring everything else you need with you. It’s safe, quiet and right on Penns Creek.
Cheers
 
Do you need reservations at Poe Paddy?
 
mszoke1802 wrote:
yes you need reservations.

You do not need reservations.

"Campsite Issuing
Advance reservations are available for almost
all campsites. Unreserved sites are available on a
first-come, first-served basis. If an employee is
unavailable, read posted instructions, check the site
availability listing, and then proceed to an available
site and set up.
The appropriate fee must be paid to a park
employee or deposited in a supplied honor system
envelope before setting up on a campsite."

The only time I stayed there, there were many open sites. But I had reserved site 135, since it was out of the way and I was tent camping and I wasn't sure what kind of camper volume there might be. Sites 126 and 128 are little shelters, and it looks like they may have added a few more shelters south of Poe Valley Road.

Campground map and rules:

http://www.docs.dcnr.pa.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003316.pdf
 
mszoke1802 wrote:
yes you need reservations.

I HATE this reservation thing! When I was growing up my dad was a teacher and my mom worked at a University. They had summers off. We would always watch the forecast and if there were 3 or 4 days in a row that looked like good weather we'd pack up and head off camping. We didn't want to be stuck camping in a weeks worth of rain or temps above 90 degrees roasting. We picked and chose when we would go. When all these state parks started taking reservations is about the time we stopped doing it.
 
Thanks for the info folks, I will be going up next month to camp and fish.
 
PaulItaliano wrote:
Thanks for the info folks, I will be going up next month to camp and fish.

Penns is an exceptional stream to fish for wild trout, and Poe Paddy is a great place to camp along it's banks. But, the window for fishing Penns is generally begins sometime in April through mid-June. Usually by late June and certainly by July the stream warms to levels too high to fish for trout without killing fish.

I suggest you check the weather and conditions and not fish Penns when/if the water temps approach lethal levels for the wild trout of Penns.

As a guide Mike, the PFBC Fisheries Manager posted on here a guideline for high water temperatures for wild trout:

Mike wrote about temps:

The cumulative effects of sub-lethal temps are lethal. Such stress for RT starts at 68 deg F and the clock starts ticking, fifteen minute period by fifteen minute period over 68 deg, with mortality occurring based on an accumulation of those fifteen minute periods per month. Therefore, concerns begin at 68 deg F, not 78-81 F.


There are tailwater rivers as well as many spring creeks in PA that fish well into the summer.

Good luck on your trip.



 
Oh wow, I would never have thought Penns got so warm. I just recently rediscovered this creek and fell in love with it in April and May.
I will plan to go elsewhere in July and Aug

Thank you for the info.
. Paul
 
PaulItaliano wrote:
Oh wow, I would never have thought Penns got so warm. I just recently rediscovered this creek and fell in love with it in April and May.
I will plan to go elsewhere in July and Aug

Thank you for the info.
. Paul

Paul,

For the same 3 hour drive, you may consider the West Branch of the Delaware River for your camping / fishing trip. The tailwater temps are cold and the River is fishable for trout right through the summer.

The closest place to camp to Soaring Eagle, which is down a bit on the mainstem, but not that far of a drive to fish up at the west branch. Or you you can rent a cabin along the river in the WB at several places.

In addition you can choose to fish downriver for smallies for a day which is also fun.

Have a great trip, wherever you end up.
 
bigjohn58 wrote:
mszoke1802 wrote:
yes you need reservations.

I HATE this reservation thing! When I was growing up my dad was a teacher and my mom worked at a University. They had summers off. We would always watch the forecast and if there were 3 or 4 days in a row that looked like good weather we'd pack up and head off camping. We didn't want to be stuck camping in a weeks worth of rain or temps above 90 degrees roasting. We picked and chose when we would go. When all these state parks started taking reservations is about the time we stopped doing it.

You don't NEED reservations. You can show up to many state parks and pay right on site. Maybe some of them aren't that way but many still are. Also, if you decide to go, why not just book the site right before you leave for that stretch of nice weather or when you decide to go camping for a weekend. After all, would you rather not drive there to discover there are no sites available? You can easily check online and see if the sites are available and then grab one so your guaranteed. I think the reservations are very, very useful.

Back on topic. Poe Paddy is a great place to be. Beautiful location right on great water.
 
And Penns certainly gets warm. This year it can't be too warm yet though, right? We've had a lot of rather cool weather and a ton of rain. Anyone been back recently and taken a stream temp?
 
I fished there Friday and took a water temperature of 60 degrees. That is unbelievable for this time of year. Usually at 65 degrees or above by this time of year. However, I still would not give it beyond early July even with a high rainfall and low ambient temp year such as this.
 
Luke wrote:
I fished there Friday and took a water temperature of 60 degrees. That is unbelievable for this time of year. Usually at 65 degrees or above by this time of year. However, I still would not give it beyond early July even with a high rainfall and low ambient temp year such as this.

Agreed ^

The flow and temps are good right now. Here is the TCO report:
http://www.streamconditions.com/StreamConditions_Fishing_Report.cfm?stream=Penns%20Creek

Tough year overall with a lot of high water, but Penns fished well if you had a chance to fish it between high water events.

Warmer weather later this week may spell the end of trout fishing at Penns this summer.
 
afishinado wrote:
Luke wrote:
I fished there Friday and took a water temperature of 60 degrees. That is unbelievable for this time of year. Usually at 65 degrees or above by this time of year. However, I still would not give it beyond early July even with a high rainfall and low ambient temp year such as this.

Agreed ^

The flow and temps are good right now. Here is the TCO report:
http://www.streamconditions.com/StreamConditions_Fishing_Report.cfm?stream=Penns%20Creek

Tough year overall with a lot of high water, but Penns fished well if you had a chance to fish it between high water events.

Warmer weather later this week may spell the end of trout fishing at Penns this summer.

Oh well, time to chase other gamefish until September when things start cooling down again. The autumn through early winter is my favorite time of year to trout fish anyways.
 
jifigz wrote:

Oh well, time to chase other gamefish until September when things start cooling down again. The autumn through early winter is my favorite time of year to trout fish anyways.

I went trout fishing today and the water temperature was 54F in mid-afternoon, and the fishing was good. (It wasn't on Penns Creek.)
 
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