johnstevens5462
Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2014
- Messages
- 85
Finally having very nice weather (and now time to write this report of my exploits), I felt it would be fitting to pay my respects to the Cumberland Valley limestones revisiting the Letort Spring Run, and christening Big Spring Creek, Falling Spring Run, Middle Spring Creek, Green Spring Creek, Alexander Spring Run and Trindle Spring Run.
I started my journey Saturday morning at Falling Spring Creek in Chambersburg. It was a beautiful morning, brisk but refreshing, a wonderful day to be out on a limestone creek. Upon arrival, I must say that I was unclear as to what is fishable and what is private. I find it hard to fathom that development of residential houses could be allowed to encroach so close to this gem of a stream. As I found out, most of the landowners graciously allow fishing but it is an eerie feeling fishing in someone's backyard.
I started searching with a small black ghost streamer and immediately brought a small bow to hand. Several more casts and another small bow. Even though I had success, after 30 minutes of fishing I just was not warming up to this stream and its setting so I left.
I next travelled to Middle Spring Creek near Shippensburg University. This stream is better than it appears at first glance. At first glance it appears to be a small, featureless stream but upon investigation the stream holds small, isolated pockets of deeper, productive water and in an hour of prospecting I picked up several nice browns all on the same black ghost streamer.
From Middle Spring Creek I then stopped at Green Spring Creek and fished the section between the two bridges. This stream provided quite the surprise and I caught several of what appeared to be wild bows and hooked into a really wonderful brown that was hiding under a cut bank. I managed to get him close enough to gauge he went somewhere between twenty to twenty-four inches. Unfortunately I failed to land him for a true measurement. I managed several other bows and brook trout but these appeared to be stocked. There is a lot of bank erosion on this stream.
Next was Big Spring Creek. I am not sure what to make of this stream, as it is a limestone creek but looks man-made especially in the section nearest the spring source. I did spot several nice bows but had my best luck much closer to the little village of Newville where the stream looks much more natural. I did not see any success on the black ghost so I switched to a large olive matuka and was immediately greeted by a nice bow that measured fifteen inches. I found one section where it seemed like every cast I was getting a hook up of either a bow or a brook trout. The brook trout I caught had the most remarkable colors, almost a charcoal black body with a golden belly and golden spots. These brooks were definitely not stocked. The largest brook measured about eighteen inches.
I finally spotted one large bow holding just behind a sprout of weeds and switching to an olive colored scud I drifted my fly right into his open mouth and proceeded to land a nice twenty-seven inch bow. In the course of battling this brut I, and the fish, stirred up quite a good amount of debris and in the process ruined much of the stream in my general vicinity so I knew I had to relocate. Behind schedule, I stopped by the spring source, which I think they call the ditch, and was not impressed and didn't bother fishing.
Taking some back roads while heading back east brought me to a small little limestone stream called Alexander Spring Run, about halfway between Big Spring Creek and the Letort Spring Run. While most is located on private property, I did knock on several doors and managed access at two locations. This stream has some nice browns - it is a mini Letort Spring Run. None were exceptionally large but all were extremely fun, since I switched to my two weight.
From here I planned on fishing my favorite body of water - the Letort Spring Run - but as daylight was quickly expiring, instead bypassed my beloved stream and fished Trindle Spring Run. This was a huge disappointment and I should have fished the Letort Spring Run instead.
I cannot complain about my day in the Cumberland Valley, I only wish I could live here full time. Each and every one of these streams offers a unique experience and I plan on visiting these streams often.
I started my journey Saturday morning at Falling Spring Creek in Chambersburg. It was a beautiful morning, brisk but refreshing, a wonderful day to be out on a limestone creek. Upon arrival, I must say that I was unclear as to what is fishable and what is private. I find it hard to fathom that development of residential houses could be allowed to encroach so close to this gem of a stream. As I found out, most of the landowners graciously allow fishing but it is an eerie feeling fishing in someone's backyard.
I started searching with a small black ghost streamer and immediately brought a small bow to hand. Several more casts and another small bow. Even though I had success, after 30 minutes of fishing I just was not warming up to this stream and its setting so I left.
I next travelled to Middle Spring Creek near Shippensburg University. This stream is better than it appears at first glance. At first glance it appears to be a small, featureless stream but upon investigation the stream holds small, isolated pockets of deeper, productive water and in an hour of prospecting I picked up several nice browns all on the same black ghost streamer.
From Middle Spring Creek I then stopped at Green Spring Creek and fished the section between the two bridges. This stream provided quite the surprise and I caught several of what appeared to be wild bows and hooked into a really wonderful brown that was hiding under a cut bank. I managed to get him close enough to gauge he went somewhere between twenty to twenty-four inches. Unfortunately I failed to land him for a true measurement. I managed several other bows and brook trout but these appeared to be stocked. There is a lot of bank erosion on this stream.
Next was Big Spring Creek. I am not sure what to make of this stream, as it is a limestone creek but looks man-made especially in the section nearest the spring source. I did spot several nice bows but had my best luck much closer to the little village of Newville where the stream looks much more natural. I did not see any success on the black ghost so I switched to a large olive matuka and was immediately greeted by a nice bow that measured fifteen inches. I found one section where it seemed like every cast I was getting a hook up of either a bow or a brook trout. The brook trout I caught had the most remarkable colors, almost a charcoal black body with a golden belly and golden spots. These brooks were definitely not stocked. The largest brook measured about eighteen inches.
I finally spotted one large bow holding just behind a sprout of weeds and switching to an olive colored scud I drifted my fly right into his open mouth and proceeded to land a nice twenty-seven inch bow. In the course of battling this brut I, and the fish, stirred up quite a good amount of debris and in the process ruined much of the stream in my general vicinity so I knew I had to relocate. Behind schedule, I stopped by the spring source, which I think they call the ditch, and was not impressed and didn't bother fishing.
Taking some back roads while heading back east brought me to a small little limestone stream called Alexander Spring Run, about halfway between Big Spring Creek and the Letort Spring Run. While most is located on private property, I did knock on several doors and managed access at two locations. This stream has some nice browns - it is a mini Letort Spring Run. None were exceptionally large but all were extremely fun, since I switched to my two weight.
From here I planned on fishing my favorite body of water - the Letort Spring Run - but as daylight was quickly expiring, instead bypassed my beloved stream and fished Trindle Spring Run. This was a huge disappointment and I should have fished the Letort Spring Run instead.
I cannot complain about my day in the Cumberland Valley, I only wish I could live here full time. Each and every one of these streams offers a unique experience and I plan on visiting these streams often.
