Bucket List of Streams in PA

B

BTflyman

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I am sure this has probably been covered and if so just point me to the link but I am curious if you had to choose 10 streams to flyfish in PA what would they be? I want to pick 10 and cover them with my son who has joined me in this great sport. We have fished:
Little Lehigh
Monacacy
Bushkill
Oil Creek
Just curious what the list would be and a couple of words "why" you would choose it.
 
I keep a running list of streams I have fished in this state, separated by region. Not sure if it's totally up to date, but a snapshot:

NW PA: 42
SW PA: 12
NE PA: 4
SE PA: 27
NC PA: 20
C PA: 16
SC PA: 7

Total PA streams: 128 (only about 3000 to go, lol).

Add 18 more outside of the state. I'm probably not quite to Dwight Landis numbers yet. I try to add 5-10 new ones each year.

Anyway, narrowing to exactly 10 is tough, here's a bunch off the top of my head that should be on anyone's bucket list:

-Penns, LJR - big water, wild fish, lots of hatches.
-BFC, Spring - loads of wild fish
-Lehigh, D, Allegheny, Yough - HUGE water, big fish
-Letort, Big Spring - as technical as it gets
-2 or 3 good freestone headwater wild brook trout streams - won't name em, but this is the REAL PA fishing, and as enjoyable as any of the above.
 
Pcray
Great post! I am assuming the number of streams you have fished in NW PA your from that area. I grew up near Oil City and have been in the Lehigh Valley area now for 17 years. I fished numerous wild brookie streams in that area when I was young and they were easy to find. So far not so easy here in the East. I believe I need to go further north to find those "sacred" streams. That is a very impressive list you have there! If you are from the NE I plan on making a trip back this summer/fall to visit my mother. Maybe we could work something out on the old stomping grounds.
 
I'm originally from SW PA, actually, bout an hour NE of the city.

I have a camp in the Tionesta area and fished away much of my youth there. Since then I've lived in Coudersport, State College, and Reading, and now reside in Chester County. Still have the camp in Tionesta, though.

Here in the SE, there are a few scattered brookie streams here and there, but you really gotta get north of Blue Mountain before they become numerous.

That bucket list is a hypothetical one, there are a few that I haven't fished yet. 2 to be exact. Big Spring and the D. And I have fished the Lehigh but haven't given it it's due.

Too many streams, too little time. I'm 32, I'll get to know those streams yet, and the big list should at least double by the time I retire.
 
I was too lazy earlier to type the PA Fish & Boat list, so here goes:



Stocked
Oil Creek - Crawford and Venango
Slippery Rock Creek - Butler and Lawrence
Neshannock - Lawrence and Mercer
Youghiogheny River - Fayette and Somerset

Not Stocked
Cedar Run - Lycoming and Tioga
Slate Run - Lycoming
Spring Creek - Centre
Fishing Creek - Clinton
Letort Spring Run - Cumberland
Monocasy - Northamton and Lehigh
 
I have two right now that I'm dying to fish, one of them will definitely happen and probably at the Jam.

Little J (that's the one); after spending a weekend w/ csoult, Daves, wetfly01, and Turkey, its definitely time to attempt this beast. They can't stop talking about that freaking stream!

The 'D. Muppet babies. That's all I got to say about that.
 
RC, that list is a bit laughable. I fish Slippery Rock and the Neshannock pretty regularly and they are by no means great fisheries. I enjoy them because they're close, but they don't hold a flame to other streams in the state.

Just goes to show the fish commish has no idea what it's talking about.
 
2 that are on my list will hopefully be crossed off sometime this summer.


Big Spring and Letort.
 
Ryan let me know if/when you come down for those. Maybe I can get out to Carlisle and fish them w/ you.
 
I found a 2009 Forbes article on the top ten North American trout fishing towns.

In Pictures: North America's Top 10 Trout-Fishing Towns

State College is ranked 4th. Here's the narrative:

The college football Mecca also has an abundance of trout in its spring-fed streams. The "limestoners," as they are known, provide excellent fishing for mostly brown trout all year long. Spring Creek is a local favorite that runs through town. The Little Juniata has excellent mayfly hatches. And people travel from all over the globe to fish the famous Green Drake mayfly hatch on Penns Creek
 
I just noticed the PFBC list is "Ten Top" streams, not "Top Ten" I guess you can consider Neshannock and Oil "Top" streams as far as stocked streams go, but they definitely aren't one of the top ten streams in the state(including wild streams).

Here's my PA bucket list....

Spring Creek
Penns Creek
Big Fishing Creek
Little J
Letort
Big Spring
The Yough
Allegheny

Planning on fishing half of them this year.
 
My list is shorter:

As many as possible! :)
 
Don't know about a top 10.
But I can easily pick a top 5 for PA -

Delaware
Little juniata
Spring creek
Penns creek
Fishing creek - (clinton county)
 
dryflyguy wrote:
Don't know about a top 10.
But I can easily pick a top 5 for PA -

Delaware
Little juniata
Spring creek
Penns creek
Fishing creek - (clinton county)
Click to expand...


+1....I'd be happy fishing DFGs top 5 above. Between the Jam and a D trip, I plan to hit every one in the next few weeks.
 
Any stream I haven't fished is on my bucket list, as long as it has wild trout. There are no stocked streams on my bucket list.
 
Little J
Penns Creek
Clarks Creek
Stony Creek
Wiconisco Creek (early season only)
Unamed southern York County spring creek
Yellow Creek
Lehigh River
Michaux State Forest
East Branch,West Branch of the Delaware, and Beaverkill River
 
damn it I forgot to add Spring Creek to my list. Guess I'm over my 10 stream limit
 
Something I've been meaning to do for a long time is tally up the streams that I've fished. I've got more than 250, but was surprised it wasn't more.
I've got to get out more.
 
Chaz wrote:
Something I've been meaning to do for a long time is tally up the streams that I've fished. I've got more than 250, but was surprised it wasn't more.
I've got to get out more.
Click to expand...

Dear Chaz,

Go off on a quest for a year or two, you won't be missed! ;-)

My bucket list is short, and it consists of places I've already fished.

The Lehigh River with Bob, Tony Jr. and the Gator.

Big Fishing Creek with Whitey, the Gator, and Lil' Junie.

Kettle Creek with Rolf and Nancy

The pond in Springtown with the Gator, Lil Junie, Peahead and Gramps.

There are other places I'd like to return to, but I last fished them with friends that have passed on. It just wouldn't be the same.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)


Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
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