Hickory Run in the Fall

[rckrego]

Can anyone tell me what the fishing is like on Hickory and Mud Run in the fall. I've seen a lot of people talk about them as early season fisheries because they get too hot come summer, but I'm wondering what the fall action is like. I'd like to try some new water and am intersted in wild fish. Thanks for your help.

Regan Kenyon

TU Chapter # 123

 

[Chaz]

HR fishes very well until late fall, I was there a few years back there were flurries, probably from the ski area, and it was quite cold, but my fishing partner and I fished all day and caught over 100 trout. I've heard it took a pretty good hit during the floods and haven't been there for a couple of years.
Can't speak for Mud Run, I hardly ever go there.

 

[afishinado]

Hickory Run should fish fine. Mud Rud has a combination of holdover stocked trout and wild brookies. The other wild stream in the area is Black Creek (sometimes called Hayes Creek) just outside the park.

Be careful during hunting season, wear some blaze orange,since some of the park is open to hunting, and Black Creek runs through PA game lands. Good luck.

 

[FYfly]

I fished Hickory and Mud Run about a week or so after the flood this summer and they both seemed to be in good shape, the stream beds were a little scored but nothing to bad. Also afish is right you should definitely consider wearing some orange clothing if you intend on fishing anywhere where hunting is permitted.

 

[JackM]

I'm just curious-- I have never, and I mean never, heard of a fisherman being struck by a bullet during hunting season. Has/does this actually happen? I rarely wear orange and just am wondering how silly I am being.

 

[Maurice]

Jack,

I don't wear orange either but probably should. I think it is a law on SGL during hunting season...I could be wrong. I have a funny/strange story about an accidental shooting in Hunting season. I forget some of the details but it centers around a friend of mine and his brother each bringing a friend to his uncles farm to hunt turkey. Brother #1 arrives early with his friend and sets up in the field. Brother two shows up later with his friend and when going into the woods Brother #2's friend decides he is going to relieve himself in this stand of pines. Not knowing where the other guys are...he goes into the pines and squats. Before the paperwork commences he is wallopped by a 16 gusge shotgun in the buttocks and lower back. This guy is 280 lbs. Apparently the butt of a 280 lb male resembles a turkey in some way.

After the state police left and the guy, we'll call the shooter was being rung up by the warden...Brother #2 comes back to the house wondering what is going on. He didn't even know there was a shooting. Heard a shot but none of the screaming and cussing. The doctors said if Brother #2 had been shot (180lbs) he would likely be dead.

Moral of the story is if you are gonna take a crap in the pines during trukey season, make sure you are over 250lb. There may be folks in the woods exercising bad judgement while carrying firearms.

Maurice

 

[beeber2]

I had the tar scared out of me about 2 years ago in the fall fishing the Tully. I was crossing a field and spotted a hunter at the opposite end all set up. I didn't have any orange on, so I walked out in the open, waving my hands until the hunter waved back. I wear at least an orange hat in the fall now.

beeber

 

[troutbert]

The way I look at it, the fishing is just as good on Sunday as on Saturday and there's not lead flying around on Sunday.

 

[Stone_Fly]

Jack,
If I were you I'd not go around wearing blaze orange where people know you're a lawyer.

 

[afishinado]

I’ve been hunting for a long time and I think I’ve seen it all!

Fellas……anyone walking through the woods during huntin' season with brown boots, a tan vest with a white patch on it, waving a long rod through the woods, without blaze orange on, deserves what he gets. You just better hope they don’t gut ya out, and drag you da truck!

 

[JackM]

OK, so I deserve to get shot by a hunter that fails to adequately identify his/her target, that much I understand. But my question was whether anyone has ever heard of an angler catching well-deserved lead on stream. :-?

 

[tomgamber]

I have never heard of one, but my hunting friends always suggest to me that i'm wearing something orange. I do have a hat that i wear to hunt and have worn it while fishing. Frankly its such a short, cold period of time. Certainly, there are safer places to fish should you get a jones.

However, if its never happened, would you really like to be the first guy to get it? The headline would read something like,"Dumb@$$ gets shot while fishing!"

Probably wearing a tan, hooded wading jacket with a net hanging off your back, facing the water like a deer taking a drink would be inadvisable.

 

[afishinado]

Jack and everyone,

The PGC keeps records on all accidental shootings and fatalities. I believe they classify each one, i.e. mistaken for game, in the line of fire, etc. I’m not sure that they state or keep records of what the victim was doing at the time.

In all seriousness, I was hunting a few years ago, and heard a shot and then some screams from a young boy. Some deer flushed and the boy saw some movement on his right. It was his father and he shot him in the neck. The father wore camo outfit without any blaze orange showing (he had his blaze orange hat stuffed in his pocket). I and several other hunters tried to save the father. He died after about ten minutes before we could get help.

It was tragedy for the whole family as well as the boy, who was inconsolable. I’d venture to say that the young boy will never be the same. It was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed.

I know many of us are big burly guys and nothing can happen to us…..but it can! Wearing some blaze orange during hunting season is no big deal. If you afraid that it will spook the fish, at least wear it while you are walking to/from the stream or lake. Play it safe for the sake of your families, and for the sake of the person that may injure you, and have to live with it for the rest of their life.

As much as I love trout, I’ve not caught one that was worth my life.

 

[Wulff-Man]

I've learned 2 things from this thread:

1. Always wear orange when fishing on game lands during hunting season.

2. If you type Dumb@$$ it will create a link, and if you click on it, an e-mail will be created, and you will be able to send a message directly to "Dumb@$$".

P.S. I don't mean to trivialize your story, afishinado. That must have been a horrible experience.

 

[troutbert]

Afishindo,

Wow, terrible story.

A know a guy who got shot by his father while turkey hunting. He healed up OK, but they took a lot of pellets out of him.

I met a sporting goods store owner who walked out into the parking lot and took a stray bullet in the foot, during deer season. He still doesn't walk very well, and probably never will.

Stuff happens. Caution is advised. Wear blaze orange. And on the really busy days, like the opening day of buck season, I don't think it makes sense to go fishing in hunting areas.

Some fishing areas are urban/suburban and have little or no hunting. Valley Creek in the park, Yellow Breeches at Allenberry, Little Lehigh in the park, etc.

And if you are going to fish one day on the weekend, consider Sunday, when there's no hunting.

 

[JeffK]

I have been peppered with bird shot three times - once with a newbie I was hunting with, once when someone I wasn't hunting with shot at a bird I flushed, and once while walking along a road. Nothing serious, but it does hurt. Have heard bullets/shot whistle too close for comfort a few times.

When I was in HS one of my classmates caught a broadhead while working in his garden. Was in the hospital a long time.

Most hunters are OK, but there are nuts out there. Wear orange, fish Sundays, or go where hunting isn't allowed.

 

[tomgamber]

That's funny. I didn't even notice Did he email you back?

 

[Gone4Day]

First off, based on national statistics, recreational fishing is more dangerous then hunting. The injury rate is about 6 times higher and the fatality rate about 3 time higher for fishing. Furthermore, in most states hunters are required to take a hunter safety course before they can purchase a license. This small amount of training has had a significant effect in reducing hunting accidents. In addition, nearly all hunting accidents involve just hunters. The incidents of a non-hunter being involved are extremely rare.

That being said, its still not a bad idea to wear some bright colors when there are a lot of hunters in the area, like the opening day of deer season. Although anglers are not required to wear blaze orange, it is a courtesy to hunters to make yourself visible. Nobody wants to shoot someone by accident so its helpful for the hunter if they know where you are. Believe it or not, nearly all hunters have passed on a shot when it was not safe. There is no need to be scared to death because you see a hunter. Just remember, drive safely. Its far more hazardous then hunting, fishing and sky diving combined.

 

[Wulff-Man]

tomgamber: I didn't send "Dumb@$$" the e-mail. I don't need any more dumb@$$es in my life!

Gone4Day: Your point is well taken, but I suspect you are talking about numbers of injuries and fatalities, not rates. Rates would be based on, for example, number of hours engaged in the activity. I would think that sky diving would have a much higher fatality rate than the other activities. In other words, my risk of getting killed during 100 hours of sky diving would be much greater than during 100 hours of driving. This is pretty important as far as determining how hazardous the activity is.

(So much for Hickory Run )

 

[Gone4Day]

Wulff-Man wrote:
Gone4Day: Your point is well taken, but I suspect you are talking about numbers of injuries and fatalities, not rates. Rates would be based on, for example, number of hours engaged in the activity. I would think that sky diving would have a much higher fatality rate than the other activities. In other words, my risk of getting killed during 100 hours of sky diving would be much greater than during 100 hours of driving. This is pretty important as far as determining how hazardous the activity is.

I'll try to find the web site with the data, but you are correct, the rate they used is injuries or fatalities per million participants and not how long it takes a sky diver to hit the ground. For driving, there are about 40,000 deaths per year among 200 million drivers for a fatality rate of 200 per million participants. Hunting came in just over 2 per million, fishing about 6 per million. I forget the exact number for sky diving, but it was less then such daredevil sports as golf.