Mayfly Sex Identification: Male or Female
Rolling thru my mayfly photos I was able to take many pictures at one of the Spring Jams two years ago. I wanted to demonstrate the differences between spinner (imago) male and female. These two coffin flies (Ephemera guttulata ) attached show these differences.
Male (left photo)
Long forelegs
Rear claspers or forceps at the rear of the body
Eyes on a male tend to be larger and more bulbus
Female (right photo)
Short fore wing
Forceps do not exist
Smaller flatter eyes
Try Some Winter Fly Fishing
With colder weather, many give up on angling, but with the fall clean-up finished it can be a good time to explore new fly fishing opportunities. December is the time to get a new fishing license and break out a map.
Where
No secrets, but there are plenty of streams across the region that are open year-round that are often stocked in the fall or have naturally reproducing trout. Some really good opportunities can be found in the limestone spring feed streams too. They generally hold good water temperatures and some of the more challenging fly fishing opportunities. Take a little time and do some research for something new there are plenty of places to explore here in the forums!
When
Any day works as compared to moving your old soccer trophies in the basement. No sense waiting for that late evening sulphur hatch because that ain't gonna happen. On mild winter days, your best bet is late morning through mid-day. Trout are going to be the most active when they get a chance to warm up a little (whatever that means when the water is 47 degrees). Certainly, it will not be at the crack of dawn so a little sun on the water often helps, but not required.
Flies
If you are lucky on a warm day you may find a BWO hatch or some stoneflies coming off. This is rare and will only happen on the warmest of days. So most of your time you spend chucking some lead. Everybody has their favorites and truly it depends on the stream. My approach to each stream is a little different. I often start with some streamers or woolly buggers. For stocked streams, I like San Juan worms, bead head nymphs and dare I say the dreaded green weenie when I get desperate (after standing in cold water that happens [IMG align="right"...
Where Can I Fly Fish?
The spectrum of opportunities is pretty remarkable. Generally, you can find streams across the state stocked with millions of trout every year by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC). There are hundreds of miles of fragile backwoods waterways with native wild brook trout. There are magnificent-looking streams teaming with natural reproducing brown trout. To add to the opportunity, the region is blessed with a mix of freestone and limestone streams with a wide variety of aquatic life that trout thrive on. Every part of the state has its own unique waterways.
To help, Paflyfish is chocked full of maps, tips, news, stories, and conversations already at your fingertips. Pennsylvania is a sizable state so starting with the Pennsylvania Trout Streams section under the site menu is a good place to begin. The map identifies all the special regulation streams that are ideal for fly fishing. Other types of streams are explained and linked to their locations.
The best advice I can offer for the site is to take the time to do a little research in the forums. Stream Reports can usually yield a string of information. There are plenty of guides, trout bums, locals, scientists, and enthusiasts who hang out here. Don't jump onto the site and make your first post, Where do I fish in Potter County? This approach does not build a lot of trust with other members. Take some time to participate and then ask some good specific...
Reflections: Paflyfish 25 Years Online (Part 1)
I think the Grateful Dead said it best, “What a long, strange trip it's been.” While it’s only been 25 years, it has been a very strange trip. December 1995 was when I first started up an old desktop Macintosh computer and turned it into a web server running a program called Webstar. The website was only capable of serving up a few pages of HTML code and GIF files for the 67 Pennsylvania county fishing maps that were on the site. The Netscape web browser was the latest thing for anyone that had dial-up access to the World Wide Web. At the time there was no Google, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) website or much of anything else for that matter.
I think the first month online in December of 1995 the site was overwhelmed with 200 hits. The fact anyone found the site and looked at a few pages was fascinating in itself.
The concept to create the site was more of a personal desire to share the locations online of many of the streams I had found across the state in my early days of fly fishing. There were many fine books written sharing great detail on the topic, but I wanted to experiment with my own effort of creating something more visual online. The early online maps were very crude with some limited information about roads and streams. Nothing anyone could print off and use as navigation, more of a high-level thing if you wanted to simply explore an area and then you had to get out your Delorme Atlas to plan your trip.
My early fly fishing experiences were spent running around the state with my friends Ron Kolman and Greg Sipos. The two of them took the time to show me where and how to fly fish...
A Fall Day on Big Spring Creek
I made it to Big Spring Creek for a nice day on the stream with Derek Eberly. It was mostly cloudy and we had a high air temperature of about 52 degrees. There was a break in clouds with some sun peeking through at about 1:00 pm. A nice day to be out.The water was gin clear and the trout could see us a mile away as we moved up the stream. A normal day on Big Spring Creek. We did obviously try to be stealthy about it, but it was rather difficult.
We did see some sporadic #22 BWO starting mid-day and then it turn into a pretty good hatch by about 1:00. The trout started rising and we switched over to dry flies to see if we could have any luck. I was able to get close to a few trout by crawling along the bank through the weeds but could get any takers.
The best luck for the day was a dry-dropper setup with a cress bug into the little pools. We did get a few dinks which for Big Spring Creek is a good day.
Multi Species in the Autumn Transition Zone
Below Ramcat Run (acrylic on canvas)
article and images by
Dave Weaver (Dave_W)
Large Pennsylvania streams and rivers in October and November can provide an interesting grab bag of fish that might munch our flies, and big weedless streamers are the way to go. For many Pennsylvania fly fishermen, October and November are months when they return to stream trout fishing, if they ever left. In particular, years such as this one magnify this effect as we have spent what seems like many months waiting for rain and cooler temperatures and are especially eager to get back out for trout. Some fly fishers gave the river bass game a go-round during summer, but soon are back on trout streams as the days get shorter and colder. Few die hard fly fishers stick with bass by late October. Try checking out a mid- sized or larger bass river in late October: a fly fisher is a rare sight.
Spin fishers, by contrast, know that late autumn fishes well on the big rivers. Bass are still active and walleyes, pike, and muskies are on the prowl. In addition, many of the larger streams and mid-sized rivers have transient populations of large, wild brown trout in the “transition zone” – that is to say the lower reaches of what normally passes for trout water (or where it is stocked) that transitions into a warm water fishery. These fish drop back downriver during the autumn, or migrate out into rivers from colder tributaries. To be sure, these trout are hard to find, cagy, often nocturnal even in colder periods, and are a specialized game. Nevertheless, they are part of the mix. Some very large browns fall to spin guys fishing tubes and swimming plugs for bass and walleyes during the colder months here in Pennsylvania every year.
[url=https://www.flickr.com/gp/alhazen/722935...
Going to be a Dental Floss Tycoon a Montana Trip Report
I figured it appropriate to name this trip report after one of my favorite musicians' work (Frank Zappa) and since this was in fact a mini recon trip on “moving to Montana soon”. The trip was with my lovely girlfriend Rachel to Bozeman, Montana, and the surrounding areas of Southwestern Montana including several of the large Gold Medal rivers and a handful of smaller lesser known tributaries. The plan was to camp at five different locations for a total of seven nights in the mountains and two nights in Bozeman proper giving us ample time to explore the area hiking and fishing as well as soak in some of Bozeman (which really means soak in a bunch of good beer).
We left Pittsburgh early Wednesday the 22nd and arrived into Bozeman around noon their time after a nice and stressful airport travel day. We rented a Toyota 4Runner and it was nothing but a dream the whole trip. If you’re on the fence on what to rent out there, opt for the full-sized SUV every time. We immediately headed North towards Fairy Lake and it really only ever takes about five minutes out of the terminal for me to remember why I love the West, the mountains are instant and the views incredible. After a ~45minute drive we arrived at Fairy Lake and found a site at the free campground just above the lake. I was able to sneak in an hour or two worth of fishing and landed my first ever Yellowstone Cutthroat on a size 16 gold chubby. My girlfriend and I had a really nice time pestering fish with chubbies and hoppers until the rain chased us back to camp for a light dinner. I’ll add that this night was the worst camping experience I might have ever had. The wind and rain was so strong that our...
We left Pittsburgh early Wednesday the 22nd and arrived into Bozeman around noon their time after a nice and stressful airport travel day. We rented a Toyota 4Runner and it was nothing but a dream the whole trip. If you’re on the fence on what to rent out there, opt for the full-sized SUV every time. We immediately headed North towards Fairy Lake and it really only ever takes about five minutes out of the terminal for me to remember why I love the West, the mountains are instant and the views incredible. After a ~45minute drive we arrived at Fairy Lake and found a site at the free campground just above the lake. I was able to sneak in an hour or two worth of fishing and landed my first ever Yellowstone Cutthroat on a size 16 gold chubby. My girlfriend and I had a really nice time pestering fish with chubbies and hoppers until the rain chased us back to camp for a light dinner. I’ll add that this night was the worst camping experience I might have ever had. The wind and rain was so strong that our...
Memories of Nelson and Armstrong Creeks
By Matt Hanist
I've met hundreds of guys and gals while fly fishing these past sixty years. Everyone I have met and chatted with has been pleasant and I enjoyed our break from fishing.
The person I remember most was at the time my fly fishing idol, Joe Brooks, author of many of the earlier books about fly fishing and he has had a column in Outdoor Life for many years. Two of my favorite books, that led me to my early adventures in Montana are: Complete Book of Fly Fishing and Trout Fishing.
I first fished the Beaverkill in July of 1965 after reading an article Joe Brooks had written in Outdoor Life. I vividly remember standing in Horseneck Brook riffle, the riffle above Cairns Pool, and tying on a #12 Hares Ear nymph and casting it across into the current and letting it swing below me. I didn’t know very much about the subtleties of a drag free drift then but I had the idea the fly needed to look natural. After a few minutes I was rewarded with a strike and I landed my first Beaverkill brown trout on a fly. That first brown trout got me hooked on fly fishing and Mr. Brooks’ books became my constant evening companions.
I used to live in Clifton, New Jersey and every Saturday morning I would drive up and fish all day until dark and then drive the two hours back to New Jersey. Later on, I started to rent a trailer on the Willowemoc and would drive up after work on Friday and spend the weekend on the Beaverkill and Willowemoc until after 4:30 then drive over to Kellam’s Bridge on the Delaware for the evening rise. I used to dream about Joe Brooks’ adventures in Montana on the Madison and all the Livingston spring creeks and...
I've met hundreds of guys and gals while fly fishing these past sixty years. Everyone I have met and chatted with has been pleasant and I enjoyed our break from fishing.
The person I remember most was at the time my fly fishing idol, Joe Brooks, author of many of the earlier books about fly fishing and he has had a column in Outdoor Life for many years. Two of my favorite books, that led me to my early adventures in Montana are: Complete Book of Fly Fishing and Trout Fishing.
I first fished the Beaverkill in July of 1965 after reading an article Joe Brooks had written in Outdoor Life. I vividly remember standing in Horseneck Brook riffle, the riffle above Cairns Pool, and tying on a #12 Hares Ear nymph and casting it across into the current and letting it swing below me. I didn’t know very much about the subtleties of a drag free drift then but I had the idea the fly needed to look natural. After a few minutes I was rewarded with a strike and I landed my first Beaverkill brown trout on a fly. That first brown trout got me hooked on fly fishing and Mr. Brooks’ books became my constant evening companions.
I used to live in Clifton, New Jersey and every Saturday morning I would drive up and fish all day until dark and then drive the two hours back to New Jersey. Later on, I started to rent a trailer on the Willowemoc and would drive up after work on Friday and spend the weekend on the Beaverkill and Willowemoc until after 4:30 then drive over to Kellam’s Bridge on the Delaware for the evening rise. I used to dream about Joe Brooks’ adventures in Montana on the Madison and all the Livingston spring creeks and...
The Small Warm Water Stream Summer Game
Mid summer into mid autumn is prime time for small stream, warm water fly fishing. While this summer (2018) has, so far, been unseasonably wet and cool here in southcentral Pennsylvania, mid-June has traditionally been the time I start to look to local creeks for bass and panfish. The main game are smallmouth bass, rock bass, and red-breast sunfish. Many of these creeks also have largemouth bass, carp, fallfish, green sunfish, bluegills, hatchery trout, crappies, even pickerel and walleyes. However, red-breasts, rockies, and smallies are prevalent in most of the creeks I fish, with red-breasts ruling the roost. Green sunfish are equally widespread and sometimes are present in numbers best described as swarms, but they’re generally too small to target.
Many fly fishers, if they’re not focused entirely on trout fishing, look forward to the summer bass fishing season. Wading or boating the Susquehanna or other bigger waters is indeed a great experience, but many of these anglers overlook the little local creeks close to home. While the rivers are a motivating place to fish in summer, if you don’t live near one, or otherwise are waiting for levels to drop and clear, something that can take several days after small streams have cleared, don’t overlook warm water creeks close to home. Most of these streams I frequent are typically twenty to fifty feet wide and comparable to what I’d consider medium sized trout creeks that one would fish with a 4WT.
Many of these streams are downstream sections of Approved Trout Waters. Agricultural valley streams can be productive too. Some are tributaries of bigger rivers and may play a role in bass spawning in springtime. One thing to note about access: land owners whose properties these creeks traverse, are often less familiar with anglers on their property as...
Many fly fishers, if they’re not focused entirely on trout fishing, look forward to the summer bass fishing season. Wading or boating the Susquehanna or other bigger waters is indeed a great experience, but many of these anglers overlook the little local creeks close to home. While the rivers are a motivating place to fish in summer, if you don’t live near one, or otherwise are waiting for levels to drop and clear, something that can take several days after small streams have cleared, don’t overlook warm water creeks close to home. Most of these streams I frequent are typically twenty to fifty feet wide and comparable to what I’d consider medium sized trout creeks that one would fish with a 4WT.
Many of these streams are downstream sections of Approved Trout Waters. Agricultural valley streams can be productive too. Some are tributaries of bigger rivers and may play a role in bass spawning in springtime. One thing to note about access: land owners whose properties these creeks traverse, are often less familiar with anglers on their property as...
