Fishing Creek, Centre, 5/9/2026

S

sam

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Took my annual Central PA trip this past weekend and hit a few streams. Overall, it was one of my best trips yet. I hit a bunch of different streams from Kettle all the way down to State College, but my highlight was hitting Fishing Creek. I've been to this stream a few times, but for some reason never had much luck. All previous times the water was high and off color. I actually wasn't planning on hitting this stream at all on this trip, but I took a pit stop for a cheesesteak at the Mill Hall Original Italian Pizza (highly recommend!) and ended up driving right past here so I turned around and decided to check it out.

Weather Conditions:
- 50's air temp
- first 60 minutes was heavy rainfall, last 60 was bright and sunny

Water Conditions:
- normal flows, water was mostly clear - good 2-3ft of visibility

Hatches/Bugs
- as the rain started to let up, there was an amazing sulpher and BWO hatch. Fish were rising everywhere.

Flies/Fishing
- Used several different flies with not much success though I was getting some hits on an 18 Adams w/ a hybrid rainbow warrior (dry dropper setup).
- As the sulphers started, I switched to a white/yellow humpy (14) w/ a very small brown perdigon (22) - also dry dropper setup

As stated, not a ton of action during the first half of fishing, but the suplher hatch made the stream come alive. Fish rising everywhere - and very large browns. This turned into one of the best wild brown days I've ever had and ended up landed my first 20" brown (no BS!). My way of measuring wasn't super scientific, but it went from the tip of my index finger to halfway up my bicep. When I got home that ended up being 22.5" exactly, but I'll lower it a bit 🙂. It wasn't the fattest one, but it was the largest wild brown I've ever caught.

Was quite the magical experience and my hand was shaking for a bit on the drive back to camp.
 

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Yea measuring can be a pain by yourself, especially if your net isn't big enough for the fish to lie flat, I've caught plenty big fish and couldn't measure them properly,that means catch another a try again,
 
sam said:
Took my annual Central PA trip this past weekend and hit a few streams. Overall, it was one of my best trips yet. I hit a bunch of different streams from Kettle all the way down to State College, but my highlight was hitting Fishing Creek. I've been to this stream a few times, but for some reason never had much luck. All previous times the water was high and off color. I actually wasn't planning on hitting this stream at all on this trip, but I took a pit stop for a cheesesteak at the Mill Hall Original Italian Pizza (highly recommend!) and ended up driving right past here so I turned around and decided to check it out.

Weather Conditions:
- 50's air temp
- first 60 minutes was heavy rainfall, last 60 was bright and sunny

Water Conditions:
- normal flows, water was mostly clear - good 2-3ft of visibility

Hatches/Bugs
- as the rain started to let up, there was an amazing sulpher and BWO hatch. Fish were rising everywhere.

Flies/Fishing
- Used several different flies with not much success though I was getting some hits on an 18 Adams w/ a hybrid rainbow warrior (dry dropper setup).
- As the sulphers started, I switched to a white/yellow humpy (14) w/ a very small brown perdigon (22) - also dry dropper setup

As stated, not a ton of action during the first half of fishing, but the suplher hatch made the stream come alive. Fish rising everywhere - and very large browns. This turned into one of the best wild brown days I've ever had and ended up landed my first 20" brown (no BS!). My way of measuring wasn't super scientific, but it went from the tip of my index finger to halfway up my bicep. When I got home that ended up being 22.5" exactly, but I'll lower it a bit 🙂. It wasn't the fattest one, but it was the largest wild brown I've ever caught.

Was quite the magical experience and my hand was shaking for a bit on the drive back to camp.
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Wonderful report and love the details. Please keep them coming. Glad to see you had a sulphur hatch and some really nice fish.
 
BTW I have always had a difficult time on F….ng Cr..k. The only other Creek that gives me more trouble is 40.8606 N - 77.0583 W. 😎 Shhhhhh!
 
salmo said:
BTW I have always had a difficult time on F….ng Cr..k. The only other Creek that gives me more trouble is 40.8606 N - 77.0583 W. 😎 Shhhhhh!
Click to expand...
For the coordinates to nine points you will have to Venmo me @imafugezzi. I accept Bitcoin, Russian Rubles and Iranian Rials.
 
I feel like I'm in the twilight zone right now. Every single thread in this section of the forum lists the stream name. It's literally called Stream Reports. I visited lots of other streams during this trip that are smaller and more "fragile" - obviously I didn't post those.

I think it's fair to say that any of the major streams in PA that have a famous history are inherently already well known.

You should send a letter to Joe Humphrey's and scold him for sharing his record brown trout out of Fishing Creek with the press in 1977. A total spot burn. What a jerk.
 
I rarely post in stream reports because I am a proud if not militant member of PETS, People for the Ethical Treatment of Spots. But this is the stream reports section after all, yo.
 
This report is about fishing creek, one of the big 4 in central PA, it's not a secret, hidden mountain brookie stream, It's one of the famous ones, being mentioned in books going back decades. There is a hatchery at each end, special regulation areas, etc.
If a person fly fishes in PA, there is a really good chance they have heard of fishing creek, if not already fished it.
That said, it IS a difficult stream, one of the hardest to crack. I've fished it a number of times and it's humbled me more than it flattered me.
So to complain that a report about fishing creek is spotburning? sorry, that's just bullshite.
 
bikerfish said:
If a person fly fishes in PA, there is a really good chance they have heard of fishing creek, if not already fished it.
That said, it IS a difficult stream, one of the hardest to crack. I've fished it a number of times and it's humbled me more than it flattered me.
Click to expand...
Yep. I've fished the Fishing Creek Narrows exactly one time. I started early morning and caught 4 smallish (10"-11") wild browns in the first hour. Couldn't buy a single strike for the remainder of the morning, not one. Go figure.
 
wildtrout2 said:
That's something I've yet to do. Not even with natives, which are usually more ravenous.
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It helps if you tip your flies with mealworms! 😉
 
Pictures tell the story, whether it’s of the fish, the bugs, or even the water conditions. Otherwise it’s all anecdotal. The pictures in this thread are not even close to a spot burn on a well known central PA stream.

Besides, the OP stated the brown is his new PB which from what I know about fishing creek is a great accomplishment as it’s a moody stream.

Pics or it didn’t happen as my buddies say 🤣
 
mszoke1802 said:
this is so silly to even think. Nothing is a secret anymore with the interweb. I've fished this creek a few times, humbled a few times and done very well other visits. sometime its all about timing. I live 3 hours away and don't see myself going there for holiday based on a post....
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Couldn't agree more. I've found more often than not, it's all about timimg.
 
Guys, there is a zero tolerance policy for spotburning discussions in the Stream Reports section. Period. Pretty straight forward and simple. I’m a little confused as to why this discussion is still going on after the site owner cleans up the thread and has very clearly explained his position on this. These kinds of thread derailments (spotburning specifically) serve to discourage folks from posting and utilizing the Stream Reports section, which flies directly in the face of the intended purpose of the Stream Reports forum.

To the poster who initiated the spotburning discussion: If you can’t respect and abide by the rules of the website, and specifically this sub-forum, then perhaps PAFF isn’t the forum for you. This has been explained directly to you, yet you continue anyway. You’re welcome to move along.

To everyone else who replied and allowed the conversation to continue: You know better, and use better discretion next time when deciding whether hitting “reply” and engaging is a good idea. If you think I’m talking about a post of yours, even if it’s been deleted and no longer visible, then I am.

To the OP: Please don’t be discouraged by how this thread turned out. No fault of your own, and there was nothing wrong with your initial post. Keep em’ coming.

Advice for everyone: Here’s a smart way to approach the Stream Reports section, or when a fishing report is posted elsewhere (usually without the stream name) on the site…If the original poster chooses to name a stream and share pictures, that’s cool. They shouldn’t be hassled about it. Similarly, if a poster chooses not to name a stream, also cool, and they shouldn’t be asked to identify where they were fishing. Respect the OP.
 
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