Kishacoquillas Creek, Mifflin Co, 5/16-5/17, 2026

[Taimenpala]

Fished the Kish twice this weekend as the streams in SCPA were a little too low for me to want to bother with them.

Saturday 5/16:

Weather was sunny to start the day and became overcast around 2:30 pm as a front began to move in. Lots of sz 16 black caddis were hatching, and while the trout weren't looking up for them, I caught several nymphing olive caddis pupae. Fishing slowed down when the front moved in. Not too many sulphurs hatching.

Best catch of the day weren't the fish, but the food and milkshakes at the Reedsville Creamery Ice Cream Stand. They have incredible smash burgers. I got the "Revival" burger, which had smoked cheddar, morel mushroom salt, a sauce kind of like big mac sauce with ramps and hatch green chilis in it, lettuce, and tomato. Highly recommend stopping by there when fishing the Kish. Be advised that it is not open on Sundays.

Sunday 5/17:

Totally different weather, same pattern of trout behavior. Fishing started off well like Saturday, with black caddis hatching and being caught on pupae, but around 3 pm, the water started to warm and the fishing noticeably slowed. I decided to hop from spot to spot to find cool water. At my last spot of the day, I hooked a massive fish that ran upstream for about three minutes, then dug under a rock and broke me off. I suspect it was a carp, my 3wt 10ft was powerless against that freight train with fins.

 

[Jemoca75!]

Kish brown from Saturday

 

[DaveKile]

Thanks for sharing your report. Love that brown trout from Saturday.

 

[jifigz]

Kish brown from Saturday

That brown has some signs that it might be a stockie. Which stretch did you catch it in?

 

[Nymph-wristed]

That brown has some signs that it might be a stockie

100%

 

[jifigz]

100%

100% to your 100%.

 

[wildtrout2]

That brown has some signs that it might be a stockie. Which stretch did you catch it in?

150% 😉 As far as stockers go, it is a good looking trout.

 

[Jemoca75!]

That brown has some signs that it might be a stockie. Which stretch did you catch it in?

I assumed it was a holdover, looks like one of those big pine browns

 

[nymphingmaniac]

I assumed it was a holdover, looks like one of those big pine browns

nice fish anyway. Don't get caught up in wild or not

 

[jifigz]

nice fish anyway. Don't get caught up in wild or not

It's not meant to get "caught up in." I pointed that out to understand the origin of the fish. Historically, the PFBC would stock browns in Kish, but to the best of my knowledge, this practice was terminated years ago. For the last several years of stocking, these browns were all placed below the Mill Street bridge.

Was it leftover from the big trout tournament? Did it migrate in from Coffee Run Trout Club? Is someone else privately dumping their own fish in? I'm just curious.

 

[Jemoca75!]

Here is 2 more from the same area, 2nd Pic has very similar markings as the original. The other browns were smaller and pretty obviously wild

 

[Nymph-wristed]

That first one is a recent stocked fish based on the tail, 2nd is wild, the third may be a holdover IMHO. It's not the lack of eye spot or red spots, more the fused black spots.

It's a good fish and no disrespect intended. I just hate seeing stocked browns in creeks that can sustain a Class A wild population.

 

[wgmiller]

I just hate seeing stocked browns in creeks that can sustain a Class A wild population.

Agreed. In looking at the stocking info for the Kish (upper and lower stretch), they only list stocking rainbows and goldens, so I'm not sure where the brown would've come from. With all the feeder tribs to the Kish it's really hard to say. At least "on paper" they're not stocking hatchery browns over wild browns.

 

[salmo]

Fished the Kish twice this weekend as the streams in SCPA were a little too low for me to want to bother with them.

Saturday 5/16:

Weather was sunny to start the day and became overcast around 2:30 pm as a front began to move in. Lots of sz 16 black caddis were hatching, and while the trout weren't looking up for them, I caught several nymphing olive caddis pupae. Fishing slowed down when the front moved in. Not too many sulphurs hatching.

Best catch of the day weren't the fish, but the food and milkshakes at the Reedsville Creamery Ice Cream Stand. They have incredible smash burgers. I got the "Revival" burger, which had smoked cheddar, morel mushroom salt, a sauce kind of like big mac sauce with ramps and hatch green chilis in it, lettuce, and tomato. Highly recommend stopping by there when fishing the Kish. Be advised that it is not open on Sundays.

Sunday 5/17:

Totally different weather, same pattern of trout behavior. Fishing started off well like Saturday, with black caddis hatching and being caught on pupae, but around 3 pm, the water started to warm and the fishing noticeably slowed. I decided to hop from spot to spot to find cool water. At my last spot of the day, I hooked a massive fish that ran upstream for about three minutes, then dug under a rock and broke me off. I suspect it was a carp, my 3wt 10ft was powerless against that freight train with fins.

Nice fish.

 

[Taimenpala]

Agreed. In looking at the stocking info for the Kish (upper and lower stretch), they only list stocking rainbows and goldens, so I'm not sure where the brown would've come from. With all the feeder tribs to the Kish it's really hard to say. At least "on paper" they're not stocking hatchery browns over wild browns.

Looks like they stocked Browns in Honey Creek twice this year, so he probably moved down the stream at some point.

Do they not stock Browns in the Kish to protect the wild Brown population?

 

[troutbert]

Has anyone seen Green Drakes on Kish Creek in modern times?

According to old accounts there used to be a good Green Drake hatch, but water quality problems eliminated it. I've experienced decent sulphur hatches on Kish Creek, but never saw a single Green Drake.

This year someone told me there are Green Drakes on Kish Creek. If so, that's a good sign regarding water quality.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

Looks like they stocked Browns in Honey Creek twice this year, so he probably moved down the stream at some point.

Do they not stock Browns in the Kish to protect the wild Brown population?

the stocking, I beleive, is up above where the creek enters the ground. The upper section around Reeds gap to Milroy. I don't belive fish can move between sections and down to the lower.

 

[Taimenpala]

the stocking, I beleive, is up above where the creek enters the ground. The upper section around Reeds gap to Milroy. I don't belive fish can move between sections and down to the lower.

Ahhhh that makes sense. And unless there is a massive rain, those fish wouldn't be able to move down from the upper section to the lower.

 

[wgmiller]

It looks like most of the streams in that region are stocked with rainbows and goldens. I'm not sure what year the PFBC switched over to that model, but it's possible that brown could be a legacy stocking from several years back.

 

[JeffP]

Ahhhh that makes sense. And unless there is a massive rain, those fish wouldn't be able to move down from the upper section to the lower.

Havice, Treaster, and Upper Honey all end up going underground to form lower Honey. I often wonder if fish make it through the underground tunnel.