Rocky Mountain Native in PA - An Intro

Raff

Raff

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
77
I am new to PA, to the boards, and to fly fishing on the East coast. Some guys from a board I frequent out west said this was the most informative and civil board around, and I'm excited to learn as much as I can searching the archives and discussing PA fly fishing with you.

So here is a little about me.

I just moved to West Chester, PA from Salt Lake City, UT. I'm a rocky mountain trout chaser through and through. I'm not a purist - meaning dry fly only - that I run into out west. I'll throw whatever the fish are eating; nymphs, soft hackles, dries, or streamers (especially some gnarly Kelly Galloups articulated stuff!). Because of the move, I haven't had opportunity nor time to do more research about fishing around the Philadelphia area, although that will come with time.

So I have a couple of questions for you all to help me on my research of the area:

-What are the best publications out there for fly fishing in PA? Philadelphia?

-Where can I learn about public access points? I've heard the private property laws can really cramp your style if you aren't in the know.

-What kind of flies do I need to start tying that differ from the Rocky Mountain flies I'm used to?

Any info that you fine folks would be willing to impart would be much appreciated. Thanks and hope to see you out on the river (or not if solitude is what you seek).

Raff
 
Hi Raff,
Welcome to Pennsylvania and to this Board; you will find lots of neat people and much useful information here. Regarding publications, there are several out there you will find helpful: one I might suggest is the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide. This is published ten times per year and is free at many fly shops. One can subscribe to it to make sure you receive every issue. The reason I think this may be helpful to you is that it discusses the various regions of the state and mentions the good streams in each region with the hatches. This would help you become familiar with the many good streams of PA. They have excellent writers giving tips and information that will be helpful. They can be reached at P.O. Box 46, Mt. Holly Springs, PA 17065. The magazine also covers parts of other states as well e.g. NY, MD, NJ, DE, and VA. Phone: 717/486-8246. E-mail:maffguide@live.com
I hope this helps. Again welcome!

Sockman
 
Raff,
Welcome to PA and welcome to the PAFF forum - you've come to the right place. I'd suggest that, in addition to searching this site, that you visit the PA Fish and Boat Commission website at:
www.fish.state.pa.us
for rules/regs. There is also a good listing of trout waters there. The term "Class A" implies a good population of wild trout and no stocking. There is a lot of discussion on this site regarding Class A and fish management issues. Feel free to ask questions. As for flies, start with what you've got and you'll do fine. My PA box suited me fine on the Green and Provo and your flies will get fish here too.
 
You will miss the powder, Ruth's diner and the Cotton Bottom. Other than that you have a really great place to explore. .

I got my butt kicked on Falling Springs today. I mean kicked !
 
Thanks for the welcome notes. It will be a bit of an adjustment fishing out east. I'm stoked to get searching.

Fishidiot, the Provo has been running at whitewater rapid strength the last couple of months. They are doing some damn surveys on Deer Creek that requires they fill the reservoir to capacity, hence the MP is running at about 800-900 cfs right now. The green is pretty sweet though! I was strippin streamers there a couple of weeks ago before I left. Epic fishing!

Bruno, you are a man of fine tastes! Breakfast at Ruth's is the best in the country, and the garlic burger at Cotton Bottom rivals that of anywhere in the country! My mouth is watering just thinking thinking about it!
 
Make sure you wear a hat you can dump in the water
I grew up a few miles south of West Chester and spent a lot of time in Utah
The East is like fishing in a sauna-lol
Flies are smaller of course and so are the fly eaters.
Scrapple is the great breakfast treat.
West Chester is actually centrally located
Don't overlook the other fishing
Saltwater in Delaware and Chesapeake bays
bass fishing
shad fishing
 
Welcome to the east. I would recommend you get the following books:

1. Trout Streams of Pennsylvania by Dwight Landis
2. Delorme Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazeteer.
If you want more guide books (although there is lots of duplication between them and Landis) I would try "Pennsylvania Trout Streams and Their Hatches" by Charles Meck and/or the PA guide (I forget the title) by Dave Wolf.

As you may be learning, the Philly area is not a center of trout fishing although there are places nearby. I am no expert on those and lots of folks here are, so I will let them help you there. Consider getting to know the area of Centre/Clinton/Potter counties, as well as the limestoners of the Cumberland County area and the Lehigh Valley. I suspect the latter is the closest to you. Also the upper Delaware.
 
Welcome to PA and to West Chester. I'm right around the corner from you. I'm envious of your former residence and try to get out there once per year. I've fished the Middle and Lower Provo. What a sweet river. I've also fished the Green (the brown in my pic is a Green River Brown).

Hit me up anytime and I'll gladly show you around the area.
 
Welcome! Great site with tos of good folks and good info.
 
MrChuck, I'll take you up on that offer. I am always game for some fly fishing quid pro quo.

The Middle Provo is running at Noah levels, the LoPro is fishing well, and the Green is a bit high.

For anybody making a trip to Utah, let me know and I can add a few spots to get you into some nice fish.
 
Welcome Raff. Will gives you great advice. That Pa Atlas & Gazeteer is an absolute MUST! You have to know where you're going and this guide gives great detail. Don't forget Dwights book! ;-)
 
You and I ended up going in reverse: I grew up in Chester County and now live in Montana. There are some pretty stocked streams in your new area, and with a little digging and hooking up with the right guys, even some wild brown streams close by. Everyone knows about Valley Creek in Valley Forge, give that a try.
The stream I grew up on is in western Chester county, near New London and is called Elk Creek. This is a pretty stream with some hatches. If you want to drive about 3 hours you will be in central and north central Pa, right in the middle of some really great wild trout water. The stream that helped keep me sane after living in Montana for a year before college was Penns Creek, which is up near State college. My fav part is up from Wiekert, and it will be worth the trip.

As for flies you will find that overall the flies in the east are tied in a much more realistic way than the attractor flies out west. When you fish a stream in Pa with wild browns do not hesitate to throw those big Gallop patterns. Big streamers are rarely fished in Pa for trout and man, the do work.

As others have said, do not overlook all the great small mouth water in Pa. And by all means, get your hands on as many back copies of the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide.

One more thought: Brookies are native to Pa and are very highly regarded and beloved. (Many in the west think of them as transplanted junk fish.) For the most part they will be much smaller than the ones we have in the west, but they live in some of the prettiest water in Pa.
 
Raff - welcome to a pretty fine locale for ffishing, year-round in the case of spring creek trouts. The Valley Forge TU, which meets in Exton (except summer) is full of friendly and knowledgable folks that can tee you up and keep you current on what's hatching, etc.

This summer, give Tricoing a try; the Little Lehigh an hour up Rte 100 has an excellent and predictable hatch. Learning to catch trouts here will make you a better angler.

tl
les
 
The Pa Guide Book by Dave Wolf is titled:

"Fly Fisher's Guide to Pennsylavania", by Dave Wolf.

That one and,

"Trout Streams of Pennsylvania", by Dwight Landis

There is one or two others dealing specifically with streams, locations and tactics, but those are the two more popular books as far as the entire state goes, at least in my oppinion.

I've talked with Dave Wolf, seems like an great guy, knows his stuff. I've used the Dave Wolf book since I began fly fishing as a good reference source. Other than maybe a few of the regulations being out of date or changed, the general info on streams, locations and descriptions have been helpful to me in finding good general locations to start off a fly fishing adventure.

Dwight Landis is on the board here as a member and hits on a lot of topics, And I can say that he must know an astonding wealth of knowledge about the streams in the state because I've gone to less popular streams and had him send me a message about an obscure location asking me how I made out, or what shape it's in, and describing places as if they were in his back yard.
The guy brings a wealth of info to the site so it's no wonder his book so popular.
 
flybop, I would gladly take your sequence of moves... Anyone that moves from a Rocky mountain state to West Chester that fishes and/or hunts needs some checking into...:)

Just kidding Raff, it makes the trips to these destinations that much more enjoyable and appreciative.

Flybop, Shoot me a note - would love to hear the Bighorn report. Packing my stuff tonight!
 
Raff....Dude, the Red Iguana!??!!!! That place is the best! Won't find mexican like that out here. Nor that Utah cold smoke pow!

Welcome to PA! For truly big wild trout, you need to hit up the Upper D! Some pigs in there.
 
Oooh the Red Iguana. I spent many lunches there. Best mexican food, in Utah, if not the country. THAT place is on my first eats when I fly back.

I've heard about the upper D. I would love to go up there and throw some gnarly articulated streamers and see what the piggies are like.

Also, I have passed a river over by Telegraph Rd. & Downingtown Pike in West Chester, which I think is called Brandywine Creek (I and google earth may be wrong), that looked trout-worthy. What's the story there?
 
Welcome to PA Raff. I live in Chester County not too far from you. I don't know much about Broad Run, except it is on the FBC naturally reproducing trout stream list, from headwaters to mouth. Here is a link to the list. Scroll down the Chester County.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/trout_repro.pdf

Being on the list is no guarantee of great trout fishing, but it is a good place to start your exploration. If you haven't found it yet, the FBC also has a google map of stocked and Class A trout streams. Here is a link to the map for PA. Just click on Chester County to check out the local streams.

http://pfbc.state.pa.us/CountyGuide/County_Guide.htm

Perhaps we can get out fishing some time. Good luck on your search and again, welcome to PA & Chester County.
 
Also, I have passed a river over by Telegraph Rd. & Downingtown Pike in West Chester, which I think is called Brandywine Creek (I and google earth may be wrong), that looked trout-worthy. What's the story there?

Yep - that's the Brandywine. Main stem I believe. The main stem is unfortunately not known for trouts, more for smallies. It's a pretty good smb fishery. I think it runs too warm generally. The branches of the Brandywine are more tolerable for fish and support wild fish in some areas.

The East Branch is probably the more well known. There is a special regs section in Downingtown off route 282 which is heavily fly fished year round. The open water is also very good but gets fished out most years. I fished the open water hard last weekend and caught double-digits in trout one of which was a wild brown which was a pleasant surprise. I also caught a honkin fat SMB that was pushin 12 or 14 inches and ran all over the place with my olive bugger.

The West Branch generally runs through Coatesville and below. I don't like the water as much but it is pretty popular. I doubt that there are as many occurrences of wild fish there and it does tend to warm a little faster than the East Branch.
 
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