March brown Hatch?

[drumat26]

Wanting to experience a March brown hatch for the first time. I've heard pine up in lycoming county gets them. Any other streams anywhere near Harrisburg get the March brown batches? Also, when should I plan on taking days off? Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[krayfish2]

Just to be clear, the MB hatch is a great hatch..... just not a very heavy hatch when compared to most. The fish often key in on the bug and will move to get one. There should be quite a few streams within 90 minutes of you with MB hatches.

 

[dc410]

Seen some pretty decent MB spinnerfalls on Penns over the years. Mid May through early June. Mix 'em in with all the Green Drakes, Sulphurs, Gray Fox, Caddis and Midges. It's a real mess! Penns is just a bug factory. Sometimes I do more bug watching then fishing.

 

[krayfish2]

Yep, that's one of the better places for MB hatches. You're just over the hill from me and it takes me 75 minutes from door to door.

 

[dc410]

drumat,

I would definitely consider Penns to be an option for you from your area. You're really not very far the Penns Valley. You're just not at the greatest location for crossing the river. You might want to run 147 up and cross over near Sunbury, it's either that or backtrack back down to Clarkes Ferry. I would definitely head north instead of south to get into some MB activity. Good luck.

 

[pcray1231]

You're just not at the greatest location for crossing the river. You might want to run 147 up and cross over near Sunbury, it's either that or backtrack back down to Clarkes Ferry.

Yep. The latter would be taking 322 N to Reedsville/Milroy area and then hit Penns in the Poe Paddy area. Bout an hour and a half from Millersburg either way, those two options hit entirely different access points that aren't easily accessible to one another (despite not being all that far separated in terms of stream miles). So the decision may come down to where else you want to hit on the trip.

Penns has reliable MB hatches. Late April-mid May. Hatch sporadically in the riffles throughout the afternoon and evening typically (nymphing is good in heavy pocket water, or throw dries to the edges and slow areas). Spinner fall in the evening if it's not too windy or rainy. Just look up, they look like B-52's hovering. The problem is that they hover for a VERY long time. You see em up there for an hour or more but they don't hit till after dark, usually.

If sulphers have started, be warned, despite seeing only MB's leading up to dark, the sulphers will suddenly appear at dusk and hit the water before the MB's come down.

 

[MattBoyer]

Just throwing it out there, but I'm 99% sure the Wiconisco gets a decent MB hatch. You could almost walk to the buggier stretch. Start about half way between you and Elizabethville and you will see some. If your timing is off there are always sulphurs and a crapton of caddis to avoid the trip being a wash.

Boyer

 

[Fuller24]

Fish on Penn's were rising nice to MBs, larger bug than I expected, got a few chunky fish on the imitation towards the afternoon

 

[albatross]

Fuller24 wrote

Fish on Penn's were rising nice to MBs, larger bug than I expected

Everything is bigger on Penn's. Wait till you see the Green Drakes, they are like small Pterodactyls....

 

[Fuller24]

Agreed albatross, fished the drake hatch on Penn's three years ago for the first time if I remember correctly, showed up with plenty of #12s and was blown away by the small birds hatching haha