Hell Run; Lawrence County; 05/04/2011

[ryguyfi]

Here's a pic of the largest set of falls on the lower section that I took 2 years ago. I was lucky enough to have it be picked for the calendar we did that year on PAFF.

Scenic... YES!

 

[Troutbum82]

Great pic! I caught a couple from those falls.

 

[bikerfish]

here's what it looked like today. sorry for the poor cell phone pic, didn't take my camera

 

[tomgamber]

I know of lots of wild streams in western pa. I am however more likely to visit this one more because of the scenery than the number or size of trout I may or may not catch. With that kind of scenery, after nearly 30 years of fishing behind me, the effort I may put out toward catching will be far less than it would have been in the past. But I will enjoy the day.

 

[muskylund1]

I discovered this stream by accident one day, probably more than 15 years ago now, before wild trout streams like this were posted on the internet by the state of PA. I was all set to fish the mainstem of Slippery Rock one day with light spinning gear, but when I got to the stream I found that it had apparently muddied up overnight due to a local thunderstorm. As I worked my way up from the bridge I spotted this little tributary. On a hunch, I worked upstream from the mouth and quickly determined that there were fish in there. I had two follows in the first hole casting a small spinner. I only ended up catching one fish on that trip, but after that I always went back with my 7' for 3/4 wt.

I caught at least 2 browns in that stream that were over 17" as well as one that was 15". Many of the fish that I caught at that time were in the 8-12" range which is not too shabby for a stream that size. The fish were generally very spooky due to the small size of the stream and the clear water, but catching them on any well presented fly was generally not a problem.

All of the fish that I caught there were beautiful wild browns. The water was always cold, even on the hottest summer days. I never saw a whole lot of insect activity except for some yellow and green stone flies. I'm sure that there are probably caddis as well as a few mayflies, but basic attractor dries such as Wulff patterns always worked well for me. The best thing for me was that I never saw another fisherman there. I did see a few hikers and even a couple of folks on horseback, but never another angler.

I haven't fished it for at least 11 years now and have no idea what the current condition of the stream is. The last couple of times I fished there some sunfish had somehow got into the stream which I took to be a bad sign. Perhaps it was from an upstream farm pond that flooded. If there is going to gas well drilling nearby that cannot be good. I hope the drilling does not pollute this beautiful stream. I never kept a trout out of this stream and only ever used barbless hooks. What a gem!

Tom

 

[FarmerDave]

I hope to go to Hell this year.;-)

 

[BMarx]

A barbless hook actually increases your hookup rate. They don't have to punch as big of a hole in the fish, and they puncture the fish quicker.