Cross Fork, Potter County, 9/5/11

Whats better, is that not only does every single one of those have wild fish, most of them also have numerous tributaries that have wild fish. There is probably 50ish wild trout streams within a half hours drive. You've got everything you could want, big water, medium water, small water, stockies, wild brookies, wild browns, etc. Gotta love the northern tier of PA!!!!

BTW, I'd love to go to this, heck, I'd love to see THE JAM hosted in that immediate area. But it's way too far out for me to commit....
 
I can tell you, I've been fly fishing that area my entire fly fishing life, and I feel like I've hardly scratched the surface! Its just awesome. Pat you got it. Its endless fishing.

Man I want to go NOW.
 
Pardon my jumping in here, but is there a date discussed or set? This is my favorite area and I'd love to get involved.

Please keep me posted.

thanks, Mike
 
pcray1231 wrote:
Whats better, is that not only does every single one of those have wild fish, most of them also have numerous tributaries that have wild fish. There is probably 50ish wild trout streams within a half hours drive. You've got everything you could want, big water, medium water, small water, stockies, wild brookies, wild browns, etc. Gotta love the northern tier of PA!!!!

BTW, I'd love to go to this, heck, I'd love to see THE JAM hosted in that immediate area. But it's way too far out for me to commit....
Click to expand...

I love that area too. Endless miles of cricks to fish. But "Quill Gordon time" is not the best time to fish there, at least from a fish-catching perspective, and particularly from a dry fly perspective.

It's better after things warm up a bit. Last 2 weeks of May, first week of June, in most years. Of course those are the glory days for flyfishing other parts of PA, too.
 
I've done very well mid-May fishing caddis and yellow sallies. Of course, that depends on the water levels & temps. As long as things are "warm enough" the tribs should be good anytime in May.
 
The idea was originally that this shouldn't interfere with the traditional jamboree in central PA (on limestone), which usually happens in mid-late may.

The whole point is to have it in April due to that. If you're looking to maximize participation, I'd keep that in mind. I know that I would not attend if it conflicted with the official jam, and many others would do the same.

Regarding NCPA v CPA for the official jam, limestone country wins in voting time and again. Given that those that organize the event seem to prefer it, as well as our newly minted relationship with seven mountains CG, I don't see it moving. I'd campaign incredibly hard against it, but that's just me.
 
For the official JAM (in caps for you Jay), I wouldn't, and didn't, campaign against NC PA. That said, the arguments for central PA are plenty valid as well, and I think 7 mountains campground works real well for us.

So, I'll stay away from taking sides in those debates, and I'll be there wherever it may be.

But yeah, I'm not sure April is the best time for this NC area. May-June would be the best, but if it's not the main jam, that's too close in timing to the main jam. I'd go with, like, October, over April. This could be a big event, second in size to only the JAM.
 
Just for my point, we've heard of people talk of a NC JAM for years, but no one takes initiative. The QG is an enigmatic bug, and somewhat rare for most of us, but the greatest chance of catching it is in NC (IMO) around mid to late April. You want a JAM for other purposes, you are probably correct, a different time of year would be better. If you want a Quill Gordon SUMMIT, then you gotta do it when they hatch, even if that means possible nighttime lows in the 40s. But that is just my singular view of things.

And, yes, some people will want to discourage this just as others discourage a group invading Penns at GD time.
 
Jay is right that you wouldn't want to make it close to the Penns Jam, to avoid competition.

How much time seperation you'd want to avoid competition with the Penns Jam, I don't know.

But when choosing the time, keep the water temps in mind. Late April is better than mid-April, and the first week of May is better still from a water temps & fishing perspective.

A lot depends on the weather of course. But just on average it's warmer in the first week of May then in mid-April. Even 2 or 3 weeks can make a big difference.

 
JackM wrote:
And, yes, some people will want to discourage this just as others discourage a group invading Penns at GD time.
Click to expand...

WHAT'S FUNNY IS THAT THE ONLY TIME I'VE EVER HAD SOLITUDE DURING THE GD HATCH WAS DURING THE jam. I HAVE HIGH AND MUDDY, BUT FISHABLE CONDITIONS TO THANK FOR THAT.
 
Without outting all water with QGs, a later JAM would be better, but will we find the bugs or will something else be inderway by then? If so, what? Because, I know I want to fish a QG hatch one day, but not sure how enthusiastic I feel about Olives or Henricksons. Something there is about large bugs to a dryfly enthusiast.
 
bugs, I'm not sure. But if you're a dry fly enthusiast, to feel more confident about catching fish on top, the warmer the water, the better.
 
JackM wrote:
Without outting all water with QGs, a later JAM would be better, but will we find the bugs or will something else be inderway by then? If so, what? Because, I know I want to fish a QG hatch one day, but not sure how enthusiastic I feel about Olives or Henricksons. Something there is about large bugs to a dryfly enthusiast.
Click to expand...

Slate Run Tackle has a good hatch chart on their website. It's for Pine Creek, and Slate and Cedar, but it's pretty helpful for the whole region.

Quill Gordons and Hendricksons are of roughly similar size, BTW. Neither is close to Green Drake size, but they aren't tiny either, they're plenty big enough for the trout to notice.

You are more likely to hit a good Hendrickson hatch than a good Quill Gordon hatch, in my experience. I think there are just a lot more of them and more widely distributed.

The early season hatches transition into the mid-season hatches. I wouldn't worry about a bugless gap in between.
 
Yeah, I thought I was missing something there. Hendricksons are big bugs by my standards, and I know exactly where and when to find them. QGs, not so much.
 
jayL wrote:
Yeah, I thought I was missing something there. Hendricksons are big bugs by my standards, and I know exactly where and when to find them. QGs, not so much.
Click to expand...

I guess I didn't think of just the size comparison when I chose Hendricksons when I used them in contrast. The contrast that I wanted to make was between the "when and where to find them" which with Hendricksons is "alot of places" whereas, as prior threads on this board have demonstrated, with QGs it is "not alot of places," hence my greater intrigue.
 
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