Hell's Run, Lawrence Co, 07/03/09

[ryguyfi]

Got to the stream around 4pm and fished till 8. Water was up from all the rain. That stream usually doesn't rise too much, but it was flowing pretty quick. Didn't take a temp, but fairly cool. I always see a few caddis coming off usually sz 16-18, and a few yellow stones sz 14. I had a "good" day on the stream. Fished up probably father than I have before, atleast a mile if not farther. Little bit of color to the stream, which helped in keeping stealthy. Caught 3 small browns, and missed 2 large fish for that stream. Both in the 12-14 inch range. Had one hit a nymph twice but not take, so knowing he was big I put on a sz 10 long shank stimulator. He took on the 3rd or 4th cast and spat the hook on the set. Def the biggest fish I've seen in that stream. Took some nice pics of a few of the falls too.

I packed light and just shoved my dry fly box, camera, tippet, and floatant in my front pocket of my waders. On the 3/4 mile hike back to my car I realized half way back that my fly box was missing. It was getting dark and tried to retrace my steps but couldnt find it. I was ticked. Ironically I told myself towards the end "man I only lost 1 fly today to the trees"... yeah lost them all. I was thinking all that time and money for one little piece of equipment. I went back the next day early in the morning, walked the whole way to the stream, and on the way back knew of 1 spot I probably dropped it. Was a sharp climb to the path, and lo and behold it was there right up against a tree. Boy was I glad I found it. Well... here's some pics of the trip.



Ryan

 

[PennKev]

The tree in your last pic must have just fallen in the past couple weeks, wasn't there last time I went in there.

Biggest fish I've gotten in there was around 14", quite a way's up from the falls in the last pic.

Kev

 

[ryguyfi]

yeah my largest is 12"... both of the larger ones I saw were up a ways too.... I actually caught that 12" 2 years ago at the bottom of those falls. Cast from above when I saw him and he hit it on the first cast.

 

[8weight]

Hello I am new to this forum. I live about a 5 min. drive from the precious little stream that you guys like to fish. This is one of the only wild trout streams in the area. I know it listed on the PFBC site and probably several other places as a wild trout stream.
My question to you is. Do you think it is responsible or necessary to post the Name of the stream. It can stand little pressure, especially in a dry summer. It can easily be overfished. Also why would you want someone to be up ahead of you on such a tiny stream when you arrive? That is exactly what you are going to bring to this wonderful little stream.
Show off all the pictures you need to. Just don't think it is a good idea to post the names of streams.
For those of you wandering why this bothers me. It is not that it is a great Trout stream. It is far from it. It is just that there are not many places left, and this was one of them.
If you do plan on heading in there. Let someone know where you are, do be in good shape, and plan on doing a lot of climbing around. This is one place you do not want to be if you become in need of medical attention.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully understanding.

Regards,
Anthony

 

[bikerfish]

couldn't have said it better myself 8weight, I too live close to the stream, I hate to see it mentioned here on the web. the fishing has gotten worse and worse since I first fished it 20 years ago. I always fish it once a year, in the spring during good flows. I NEVER fish it during the summer. too few fish, too small of a creek, it really can't take the pressure. I have no problem with stream reports about the larger area streams, these can handle the pressure, but little jewels such as this, just mentioning the name on line could send who knows how many anglers rushing there the following day, you know who you are!!!
alan

 

[MattBoyer]

8WT and Biker, when somebody wants to build a Walmart next to it, don't ask me to sign any petitions or help in any way, it's your stream. See how that works?

Boyer

 

[Acristickid]

Matt- if that is indeed the case where are all of your stream reports? You know so you can protect the streams.

For the record- I have never fished Hell's Run.

And I never would based on this thread.

 

[MattBoyer]

acristickid wrote:
Matt- if that is indeed the case where are all of your stream reports? You know so you can protect the streams.

For the record- I have never fished Hell's Run.

And I never would based on this thread.

I have a 1 year old, these are my stream reports 🙂 Honestly, I've never been inclined to post reports, but I've also never poo-poo'ed anyone else for posting about "my" streams. On the contrary, any time anyone has asked about streams in my area I have provided as much info as I can and tried to be as helpful as possible. I've surely been guilty of PMing them rather than posting in a public forum, but I feel it is the poster's prerogative to do so if they choose. That was the basis by which this site was formed, so you can't very well tell someone it's wrong to do it.

Boyer

 

[Acristickid]

Matt- gotcha.

Hehe- for the record, you are a good dude.

 

[greenghost]

I've been struggling with issue too. My decision is this: If somebody wants to post about a small stream that's their right. Personally, I never will. I've seen quite a few small streams get hammered and the quality of fishing go down.

BUT that being said, I've never seen the ecology of a watershed ruined by too many fishermen. I have seen the ecology ruined by development, sprawl, mining, etc countless times. And that is far worse than my self-centered desires to have a better fishing experience.

The more people who care about a stream and willing to take action when the water is truly threatened, the better.

 

[MattBoyer]

acristickid wrote:
Matt- gotcha.

Hehe- for the record, you are a good dude.

Thanks Paul, I try! ;-)

Boyer

 

[dryflyguy]

Interesting to hear from those of you that have been fishing it for a long time.
I 've just started going there lately - fishing it once or twice a year.
It just doesn't seem to have many fish IMO - lots of dead water.
And I've never caught anything over 8"- 9"
It is a bear to get to.

 

[PennKev]

It just doesn't seem to have many fish IMO - lots of dead water.
And I've never caught anything over 8"- 9"

I think a lot of people see Class A and think they are going fish the hatchery outflow at Fishermans Paradise. Not the case. Class is determined based on a ratio of weight of fish and area of stream. When a stream is this small the ratio might be high enough for a Class A rating, but the size of the stream and amount of fish are still small.

Kev

 

[David]

It seems to fish the same to me now as it ever has...there is a fish or two in every pool. Not many big ones, but a few. It's kinda always been what I'd expect of a stream that size in a popular park.

 

[jaybo41]

450+views and counting. At the end of the day, its an individual choice whether or not to post stream reports for wild streams. I absolutely believe in exchanging/sharing specific stream information because someday you'll be rewarded with information from another angler, but I prefer to be descrete about it. PM me or talk with me on the stream and I am likely to help as best I can if you ask. However, you will not find me making posts for anyone with internet access to see on such a fragile watershed. I can appreciate everyone's passion for this stream as well as any other wild trout stream, they are special and should be always treated as such.

Clearly this stream has its share of supporters, look how many of us have chimed in so far. I'm sure there are others from this forum who have not posted on this topic, and likely others who don't post here who fish it. Before posting stream reports on wild trout streams, consider the impact an increase in traffic may have on your next fishing experience there, not to mention how it may impact others. Its widely known that if you get there 2nd, you may as well go someplace else in most cases.

I would submit that packing an extra rod suitable for fishing Slippery Rock Creek is very much advisable when you attempt to fish Hells Run.

 

[JackM]

Yes, lots of page views. Consider this:

A small great wild trout stream in my area, which was recently added to the Class A list has been mentioned on this board recently as well. no one was asking for information, which I would have supplied, they were just bragging about it. I didn't post a word and neither did the 3-4 other anglers that I know knew about the stream either from me or on their own. The thread quickly drifted off the board without much discussion of the stream.

 

[GreenWeenie]

I think mentioning a stream also has a lot to do with the fishery itself.

If Hell’s Run were a relatively unknown and unpublished stream that was unique and held massive numbers of 15+ streambred trout I personally wouldn’t post about it. If someone else did I would personally thank them and immediately get into my car and drive 3-4 hours to fish it and probably run into 200 others that did the same. I think a stream like that (if one existed) should not be brought up on this board.

But the fact is Hell’s Run appears to be nothing more than a class A stream that is not much different from any other class A stream so I can’t believe many people would venture more than 30 minutes out of their way to give it a shot based on a stream report. It sounds like a nice stream to fish but this posting hasn’t caused me to consider making plans to fish it.

 

[Acristickid]

Jack- I hear ya.

There a few others I would really like to say the same thing about but I keep my mouth shut as not to draw further attention.

But I figured since I will never fish at this one I would speak up and further support the prior posters point of view.

 

[Fishidiot]

8Weight,
Welcome to the forum. I, and many other posters on this site, understand your concern and many of us agree with it up to a point. Since you're a new poster, I'll suggest that many members of this board forum tacitly accept that posting stream reports is a matter of personal preference as every member must decide for him or herself which waters to discuss and which not to (for whatever reason). Personally, as I've pointed out many times, I don't care to discuss or "name" small wild trout streams, local ATWs or bass creeks on the internet - with an ocassional exception. I do post reports about well known waters or big rivers but even in those cases I reserve the right keep a few things off limits or otherwise low key. Of course, what constitutes "well known" or "big" is debateable. I'll admit that I cringe at some reports, including some recent ones "naming" brookie creeks in my neck of the woods. However, since I've participated in this forum I've come to be (a bit) more tolerant of these reports. Ryguyfi is a good fellow and conscientious fisherman and I respect his right to discuss this stream. Again, this is a matter of personal philosphy. When does providing info and raising awareness of a particular stream become "kiss and tell?" Each forum member must decide this for themselves while being respectful of others who might not see it the same way.

 

[pcray1231]

There's a big, gray line for me.

I think the problem of crowding isn't too many fishermen, its too many fishermen in too few of places. Our state can handle this many guys, and more, provided they don't all fish in the same place. A thousand stream reports on Penns Creek, and none on the lesser known waters, only hurts matters, it makes it seem like Penns is the only game in town. Despite the fact that I don't do it publicly (again, selfish), I think posting names of the smaller streams can be a good thing. I'd rather more people were willing to try new places instead of going to their old, overcrowded standby's all the time. Even among flyfishermen, I don't think many realize just how much is out there, and encouraging people to widen their horizons is an overall positive.

So my approach is a compromise between selfishly keeping streams to myself, and doing what I think is right. Like everyone else, I name the bigger, well known waters. For the smaller streams, I don't name them, but try to give enough information that if someone cared enough, they could probably figure it out. This means saying something along the lines of

"a medium sized non-class A wild trout stream in the X-drainage. Parked at the mouth and walked up to the first forest-road bridge, which is about 1.2 miles."

The people who care to do the research and figure it out, or just take the time to PM me, aren't typically the ones I'm worried about damaging the fishery. In PM's, I'll name the streams, but rarely just 1, give them a lot of choices and if they do travel to your area, they'll only hit each stream once or twice a year, at best.

I'm a bigger fan of the tell-all books like Landis (thanks Troutbert!) than I am of a book or article gloating about a particular stream. The former spreads fishermen out = good. The latter concentrates them=bad (but selfishly I'll read them and take the info like anyone else).