Fishing around Huntingdon, PA

[JuniataKid]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the Forums, just joined. I attended Juniata College for 4 years, but currently live out of state. I am coming back to Juniata to visit old friends for the first week in May, and would like to fish some of the rivers around the Huntingdon area. I did not begin to fly fish until after college so I am unsure of what there is around the area. Raystown would have some fly fishing, I'm sure, but I don't know where exactly to go on Raystown. I'm looking to fish more for trout. I have also heard that Spruce Creek has some great fishing as well, but is completely private. Any advice you all could give me would be great, any places in particular on Raystown, access to Spruce Creek, other places around Huntingdon. Additionally, if you have any advice on what type of flies to use, or anything else, that would be great. I am open to either nymphing and fishing dry flies, but prefer fishing dries.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fishidiot]

Welcome Juniatakid.
There are many places to fish around Huntington. A couple good ones to check out would be Standing Stone Creek or Little Juniata River (this would be upriver from Huntington above Petersburg). You can also fish the Juniata River right in and around town for bass and panfish. If you check the upper right corner of this page, hit the link for Pennsylvania Trout Streams and there is a lot of info there.
There is a short but nice public stretch of Spruce Creek, about a half mile, where you can fish that is upstream from the town of the same name (look for the brown sign that says Penn State). Otherwise, Spruce is pretty much all posted.

 

[albatross]

Stop and see Alan at the Spruce Creek Fly Shop.
http://www.sprucecreekoutfitters.org/

 

[osprey]

Check out the upper end of the Raystown Branch around the town of New Baltimore , it's ATW and stocked but also holds wild/native brookies and wild browns. Also Yellow Creek near Loysburg.

 

[jeremymcon]

Idk how far you want to drive, but spring creek is within an hour of huntington. Also stone creek is near rothrock state forest toward state college. It has stocked trout, but I've caught some holdovers in it. Also some small mouth bass, I think.

As was mentioned, the juniata river has rock bass ans bluegill. I also saw a pretty decent sized muskie once.

 

[McSneek]

JuniataKid,

I am also a JC graduate! Class of 1986. I wish I was into fly fishing back then but if I was I may have flunked out of school. Little Juniata river is perhaps your best option close to Huntingdon. Standing Stone Creek is a put and take stream with some wild fish in the upper stretches. We used to fish that a lot off Warm Springs Road and further up in Alan Seeger SF.

I lived off campus on 19th street my senior year. We could walk to the Juniata River and catch smallmouth after smallmouth. This would be downstream of the cliffs and upstream of the prison. I'm guessing you can still access the river there. We fished for smallmouth in the fall. Also caught some walleyes in that stretch occasionally.

For the first week of May I would concentrate on the Little Juniata around Baree.

 

[klingy]

JuniataKid,
I too am a Juniata alum, and spent plenty of time fishing while in Huntington. I know you said you wanted to focus on trout while there. Without traveling over the mountain to the centre county streams, your best bet would be to head toward Alexandria. Besides being able to get a fine meal and drink at Main Street, you'll be in the vicinity of the best trout fishing near Huntington, IMHO. You've got the little j and spruce, but the frankstown branch should still be fishing well at that time. Also the tribs to frankstown (clover, piney, etc) are all well worth investigating.
Don't overlook the smallmouth in the juniata, though. That far upstream hasn't seemed to be impacted by the young of the year die offs like farther downstream. I've had 75 fish days up there within the last few years. A few of my favorite stretches are the prison stretch (park at the bottom of the levy in Smithfield and walk over it down to the river - once you get near the iron bridge, don't step out of the river, or they'll come after you...dont ask how I know that!), and around Mt. Union. Be aware that smallies may be starting to spawn around that time depending on the temps. If you see fish on redds, I'd pack it up and stick to trout.
Wherever you decide to go, good luck! I always love going back to Huntington - so many good memories.

 

[JuniataKid]

Thanks everyone, all the advice was great! I'll definitely check out the Juniata River and the Standing Stone Creek since I'm a bit limited on transportation and they are so close. Any particular areas of Standing Stone Creek that are good? I'm sure I could get out towards Alexandria and likely Raystown, so I will definitely check out those areas as well. A meal at Main Street is always welcome, and one of my favorite things to do is go to local fly shops! Any thoughts on dry flies vs nymphing around this time? I prefer dries, but will nymph as well if the fish aren't hitting dries. And though I've never fished bass on a fly rod, I am certainly open to it. Are there any different techniques I need to learn or any different flies I should buy or is it similar to trout?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Fishidiot]

JuniataKid wrote:
Any thoughts on dry flies vs nymphing around this time? I prefer dries, but will nymph as well if the fish aren't hitting dries. And though I've never fished bass on a fly rod, I am certainly open to it. Are there any different techniques I need to learn or any different flies I should buy or is it similar to trout?

This is a good time of year to fish dry flies. When you arrive at the stream, watch the water and look for rises, if you see fish feeding on the surface, go with dries. If there aren't any surface feeders, fish down with nymphs.
For bass, you can fish for them the same way and with the same equipment and flies.....that you would fish streamers for trout. Bass like large flies that move in the water - a Wooly Bugger is tough to beat. I personally don't do a lot of bass fishing in May due to the spawn as I prefer to leave them alone. However, not all fish are spawning at the same time. River bass usually spawn close to shore so if you're casting your streamer out away from the banks you probably won't bother the spawners much.