State College

flyfishingNZ

flyfishingNZ

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Joined
Jul 7, 2008
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Hello Fellow Fly Fishing men/women,

I have just moved to State College from New Zealand and have been missing getting out fly fishing knowing that the New Zealand trout season has just opened up again. At present I am without a vehicle so I am just inquiring about where good rivers are that would be close to the University and near bus routes.

I have been meaning to head out to http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/ to get some info and a license but have been tried down with work. Hopefully by the time I have watched by 6 DVD collection from http://www.fishingvideo.co.nz/ I will be back on the water catching some USA trout this time.

I look forward to any information you guys may have.
 
I'm sure others will chime in later but in the mean time, THIS THREAD just covered much of what you are asking. You won't have to wait for responses. Welcome!
 
ffNZ,

Welcome to this site and to Pa. tomgamber gave you a good link and also go to the shop you linked and you'll be on your way to some good fishing. Good luck.

JH
 
flyfishingNZ,

You landed in one of the fly fishing hotspots of the east coast. Compared to NZ, that may not be saying much, but its pretty good. You wouldn't by chance be in materials, would you? Friend of mine just went to NZ on a post-doc. His advisor and someone over there worked out a trade, so his "replacement" was coming to State College from NZ and I haven't met him yet, just thought it could be you.

Flyfishersparadise is a great place to get advice and gear, I strongly recommend it. But just as a warning, they don't sell licenses. You can do that at Walmart, Dicks, or you can order online and print it out. Just google the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and go from there.

The closest big name stream to you is Spring Creek. And its a good one. It runs from Oak Hall to Milesburg, kinda circling the end of Mount Nittany. It's absolutely loaded with wild brown trout. While it has numbers, the size of the fish isn't spectacular. And the number and variety of hatches is underwhelming. Sulphurs (spring), BWO (fall and early spring), and tricos (July-August) are the 3 major hatches, right now I'd count on nymphing, but have some BWO's and midges handy just in case you run into some topwater action.

Closest access point:

Spring Creek Park in Houserville: Might be a bus stop nearby. If not, its walkable, and easily bikable. Slab Cabin Run meets it here, which is a small trib which also has wild fish. Though the stream is much more popular and bigger downstream, this is the closest access to you, and the only one you won't need a car for. With a car, the entire stream is under a 15 minute drive, and you're options open up considerably.

Other streams in the area (just the famous ones):

Penns: Big stream, wild beautiful country. Bout a 45 minute drive to Coburn, the upper end of the famous canyon section. Mostly wild brown trout, though a few sections are stocked. Known for tons of hatches, big fish, and technical and difficult fishing.

Little Juniata River/Spruce Creek: 45 minutes to your SW. LJR is big water, and stocked with fingerlings which grow up in the stream. Spruce is a spectacular medium sized stream, but has issues with public access. Rainbows and browns in both.

Big Fishing Creek: 45 minutes to your NE. Kind of a smaller version of Penns, but still pretty big. Wild browns and brookies.

Any number of mountain streams: Look at a good map, all those little blue lines up in the mountains, they are very small streams that mostly hold wild brook trout. These fish average pretty small, but they can be a lot of fun just because they take you to some beautiful places, require tricky casts through brush, hold extremely skittish fish, but if everything goes right they are amazingly aggressive. If the stream doesn't come out of a dam, its a good bet it has them, nomatter how small it is.
 
You'll find the area around State College to be as near a trout paradise as one could find in the eastern U.S. There is every type of trout stream you can imagine in the area, from tiny brook trout streams to large rivers. You can probably walk to Spring Creek from the campus if you are so inclined, I don't know about the bus routes, but some of the locals may chime in and get you where you want to be. I rarely go to spring creek and get skuned, or course now that I've said that I will. Another place you should check out is Fishing Creek it has a greater diversity of habitat than Spring Creek and it has brook trout and rainbows. Spring Creek is almost all browns, though I caught a rainbow this year that may have been wild it doesn't have many bows.
 
NZ,
What the previous posters said. When I lived in State College in the late 80s as a student, there was a prominent fly fishing course on campus and a pretty significant fly fishing community in the area. You could probably network some friends and coordinate carpooling. Flyfishersparadise is a good place to start and would have info on local clubs, TU chapters, etc. It is near the Nittany Mall off Benner Pike - if you could get a bus ride to the mall you'll be in business.
 
Chaz wrote:
You'll find the area around State College to be as near a trout paradise as one could find in the eastern U.S. There is every type of trout stream you can imagine in the area, from tiny brook trout streams to large rivers. You can probably walk to Spring Creek from the campus if you are so inclined, I don't know about the bus routes, but some of the locals may chime in and get you where you want to be. I rarely go to spring creek and get skuned, or course now that I've said that I will. Another place you should check out is Fishing Creek it has a greater diversity of habitat than Spring Creek and it has brook trout and rainbows. Spring Creek is almost all browns, though I caught a rainbow this year that may have been wild it doesn't have many bows.

Chaz

I just read your reply to this gentleman about being near a trout fishing paradise in Pa, but you never come to the jamboree's when we have them at Coburn. You say you dont like the fishing in that area and the streams aren't that good, and there are no good small brookie streams. So why all the praise now?

PaulG
 
Dude your lucky one great spot to another. What they said. I make the 3 hour drive there several times a month it seems. Good luck and enjoy.
 
Stop by the TCO shop they have a bunch of local info and one guy there is on the US fly fishing team.
 
Fishidiot wrote:
NZ,....if you could get a bus ride to the mall you'll be in business.

I think the M Line bus is the one that leaves from campus and heads to the mall several time a day including weekends. $1.25 or so for the fare.
 
Paul,
I haven't changed my mind, if I had my choice I'd always rather be fishing on brookie water, I just don't like browns and it is an abomination that all of the best limestone streams have browns in them.
I really have to hook up with you next spring and do some fishing with you.
That said it doesn't mean that the streams in State College aren't good, but they don't hold much appeal to me because there are no natvies. Or very few.
 
flyfishingNZ wrote:
Hello Fellow Fly Fishing men/women,

I have just moved to State College from New Zealand and have been missing getting out fly fishing knowing that the New Zealand trout season has just opened up again. At present I am without a vehicle so I am just inquiring about where good rivers are that would be close to the University and near bus routes.

I have been meaning to head out to http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/ to get some info and a license but have been tried down with work. Hopefully by the time I have watched by 6 DVD collection from http://www.fishingvideo.co.nz/ I will be back on the water catching some USA trout this time.

I look forward to any information you guys may have.

Yes you should check out TCO. George Daniel has fished New Zealand as well being born and raised fishing the local streams near State College. If you can't learn anything new from him or his staff, you just aren't listening. Have fun fishing and welcome to Pa.
 
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