Manatawny, Berks Co. 06/08/14

[The_Sasquatch]

Many of you know that my game is small, wild streams. I rarely seek out new big waters to fish. However, in trying to plan an outing with my dad, he made the comment to me that his game is bigger water and he isn't always a fan of the small mountain trickles that I haul his arse up. So I sent a message to my buddy Sal to see if he could recommend any big waters that I might not be aware of in our area. He recommended the Manatawny. That got me digging around here on this site for tips on where to park.

I saw that Rick over at Sky Blue Outfitters posts quite a bit on this stream, so I sent him a PM just asking for areas where we'd find non-posted land, that sort of thing. What I got back was far more than I expected. Rick was quite generous with information and helped me not only with access, but gave me a head's up on hatches and that sort of thing. I didn't want to ask for too much info as I know he's tryin to make a living by guiding and all that, but as I said, he was extremely generous with information, going well beyond what I asked. Very helpful!

So Sunday I scouted out the water that Rick pointed me to. I picked the worst time of the day to fish, as I fished from 11am to about 1:30. Despite not being on the water at the most opportune time, I was able to pick up several fish, a mix of stocked and wild brownies, as well as one rainbow. There were a lot of caddis in the air, but nothing was rising. I fished a tan caddis with an olive caddis pupa dropped behind it. All the fish I caught were on the dropper. I didn't have a thermometer with me, but the water felt cool enough and the fish had plenty of fight.

After I fished I drove around a bit looking for more stretches. Got a few spots to try with my dad this Saturday. We plan on making a day out of it. Beautiful stream for sure. I forgot how pretty the Oley Valley is! Thanks again Rick for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[SkyBlue]

Thanks, just passing it on.
Just think about I did not tell you...

 

[mikesl]

Thanks for the report, let us hear how your "real" outing goes.
This is another on the list to try, glad to hear it's not too warm yet.

 

[Alnitak]

When I visited the Manatawny on June 28 it was already at 70F. Do any trout survive there in the summer without moving to the upper tributaries?

 

[steveo]

In addition to being an awesome Guide Rick is always very generous with sharing info. He is also is a great supporter of the local TU chapters. I've been on several of his trips and have never been disappointed!

 

[SkyBlue]

Don't know what section you fished but I had 64 degree a few days days back. Caught several wild browns. There are wild trout in the creek year round.

 

[Alnitak]

SkyBlue wrote:
Don't know what section you fished but I had 64 degree a few days days back. Caught several wild browns. There are wild trout in the creek year round.

We didn't fish because it was too warm. We checked it out right where Covered Bridge Road crosses.

Jeff

 

[jeremymcon]

Very nice. I'm glad to hear that there is a healthy population of wild trout in the stream. I used to fish it at a wastewater treatment plant in Oley with my dad. He claimed the trout liked to hold where the water flowed from the plant into the stream.

 

[Mike]

In my experience there are wild trout in the stream year around throughout most of its length during cool or wet summers, but the densities are low. Typical densities would amount to a handful of trout for every 300 yds based on early September electrofishing. However, there are a few go-to isolated stretches of varying lengths (one is about 75-100 yds long) that support moderately good wild trout populations year around, and the lengths of these stretches are probably extended during cool, wet summers. It would not surprise me if there are additional stretches like those that I have described; in fact I would be surprised if there aren't.