Opening Day 2026 - Who Else Out with Fly Rod?

Letort

Letort

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Carlisle
Who was out with the fly rod? I saw 2-3 others around me, which is unusual.

Hit open water on the Yellow Breeches, Cumberland Cty today. Water was perfect color and good depth, maybe a little low for this time of year. This stretch of creek is owned by the township on one side, has road access along its entire length (3/4 mile, perhaps) and is heavily fished.

Landed one average rainbow, lost two others. Saw one other fish caught and rumor of a third. It would appear that the stock truck took a dump in only one area and certainly made no effort attempting to stock at multiple stocking points. I know F&B have changed their stocking routine and dumping trout is the prime objective, versus creating a better fishing experience by spreading them out.

A lot bug activity - March browns, heavy caddis activity, some BWO and what appeared to be light Cahill. A few fish began feeding on the surface and I hooked but lost one on a splashy rise to a paranymph. Could not move any on a caddis.

All in, a great day to be out.
 
I'm not in Pennsylvania presently, but I left yesterday morning and the trout streams in northcentral PA were all rocking and rolling. Even when I AM in Pennsylvania, I tend not to hit the trout streams (it will be a wild stream on those rare occasions when I do). I simply have less than any interest in being on a stocked trout stream on opening weekend. More power to those who enjoy it though.
 
I drove along the Breeches to see the sh*tshow. An amazing hatch of fisherman and the absolute nonsense of combat fishing. I normally wait at least a week after opening, by then most have caught and frozen thier trout bounty for the year.
 
I was out this morning from about 8:00-11:00 in south central PA. Saw more than normal amount of fly anglers.

It was a zoo. Lots of people grilling, drinking, etc.

I caught 3 stockies in the 12” range. Two rainbows and a brown.
 
Letort said:
A lot bug activity - March browns, heavy caddis activity, some BWO and what appeared to be light Cahill. A few fish began feeding on the surface and I hooked but lost one on a splashy rise to a paranymph. Could not move any on a caddis.
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Vert early hatching. All the old fly hatch charts are busted.
 
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I have been doing opening day since I was very young. It represents all that I would typically despise in a fishing outing (people and stocked trout), but it’s just something I have to do.

Someone was grilling bacon. Dang, that was distracting.

There was a big kayak hatch also - never saw this many on opening day. They blissfully went down through the middle of the stream, waving to everyone. Talk about not being able to read the room.
 
Off topic but here goes anyway. Out with spinning gear as I have been for over 50 years for PA opener. I fish the farmland streams of Lancaster and York. I raised 3 boys and they all are sportsman due to their early years on these creeks. It was once a vibrant time of year and so many enjoyed it. The youth day is totally unnecessary in my view. My boys enjoyed it fine as it was. Everyone looked forward to ONE opening day. Worst year ever this season. Stocking has turned into a real joke. I volunteered for years and still have my float box. I haven't been called in over 5 yrs to help. Was always called in the past. They prefer to just dump the very small fish at bridges and bucket a few here and there. Every year less miles of streams are stocked due to landowner issues I guess. The quality of the fish was awful.1980s they said they would stock fewer but bigger. Another lie. PFC probably needs to be shaken up and reinvented. What a shame. I place the loss of this recreational opportunity squarely on the back of our Fish Comm. Disappointed families leaving in droves from our streams in Lancaster and York today. Many streams were almost empty by noon. I am so sick of hearing how our youth are not interested in hunting and fishing. There is a reason but not what the game and fish comms think.
 
I have no problem with the concept of mentored youth and fully support the idea.

The implementation, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For many, it is a day for adults to catch two fish that they put on their kids stringer. Or restrict it to certain sections of streams in each county.

Or do what we did in the past, mentor them on the opening day of trout.

Whatever is happening now in terms of stocking is not working and seems like it has rapidly fallen off since COVID. Since PFBC is convinced that stocking trout is the key to license sales, they need to take some corrective action or that is going to go away also. I mean, from my position on the Breeches today, I could see 20-30 other fisherman and I saw two fish caught in two hours.
 
Letort said:
I have no problem with the concept of mentored youth and fully support the idea.

The implementation, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For many, it is a day for adults to catch two fish that they put on their kids stringer. Or restrict it to certain sections of streams in each county.

Or do what we did in the past, mentor them on the opening day of trout.
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Couldn't agree more.
 
Letort said:
I have no problem with the concept of mentored youth and fully support the idea.

The implementation, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For many, it is a day for adults to catch two fish that they put on their kids stringer. Or restrict it to certain sections of streams in each county.

Or do what we did in the past, mentor them on the opening day of trout.

Whatever is happening now in terms of stocking is not working and seems like it has rapidly fallen off since COVID. Since PFBC is convinced that stocking trout is the key to license sales, they need to take some corrective action or that is going to go away also. I mean, from my position on the Breeches today, I could see 20-30 other fisherman and I saw two fish caught in two hours.
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If they reduced the number of hatchery trout stocked over native brook trout and wild brown trout, they would have more trout to stock in the streams that have no wild trout.
 
troutbert said:
If they reduced the number of hatchery trout stocked over native brook trout and wild brown trout, they would have more trout to stock in the streams that have no wild trout.
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That makes perfect sense to anyone who cares about or prefers wild trout. To the general public, any decrease in the number of streams stocked or number of fish stocked is a failure. At least the PAFBC seems to operate on this premise.

Personally, I would not only prefer that fish stocked over wild populations be reallocated to streams that don't support wild pops, but I would also not mind if the commission trimmed many of the last in season stockings. There is a lot of wasted fish being stocked and we're all paying for them.
 
I fished for about the first two hours of the season this morning on a class A stream in southcentral PA. I have had a ton of fun on this stretch of stream over the past couple of decades throughout all seasons of the year. However, this was the first time I ever fished it on opening day. I caught about a half dozen beautiful native brookies in multiple age classes and missed at least that many (probably more). For the first 1 1/2 hours the only evidence I found of another person was a half full can of Coors original sitting on the bank? I couldn’t really understand why someone would leave a half a can of beer sitting on the bank, but I dumped it out, rinsed out the can, crushed it and threw it into my pack. At about 10:00 I bumped into another angler. He was about my age, with a flyrod and obviously doing the exact same thing I was there doing. He was fishing up with dries, I was fishing downstream with a version of a picket pin underneath. So, in reality we just totally screwed each other up. But it was no problem at all. We chatted for a bit and exchanged pleasantries and moved on. I was kind of glad I didn’t come across any anglers complaining about the size of the trout that the PFBC stocked! 😉 it was probably one of the most enjoyable first two hours of trout season that I ever experienced.
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Not sure if I own anything else for fresh water. But I didn't go. I had to tame the jungle. 3 hours of mowing, recovering from Covid.
 
I fished for about an hour and a half on an unstocked Class A section of a stream that has stocked sections. I saw a couple people fishing in this stretch, but other than the two stockie bows I caught, I didn't see any of them catch any fish. I couldn't scare up any of the wild browns from this stretch. I said hello to one lady who was sitting in a chair and smoking a cigarette, and I said, "You know they don't stock this, right?" And she said she knew it, and all the while her man kept pitching casts into the stream. She said they "hadn't caught ****." 🤣
 
dc410 said:
I fished for about the first two hours of the season this morning on a class A stream in southcentral PA. I have had a ton of fun on this stretch of stream over the past couple of decades throughout all seasons of the year. However, this was the first time I ever fished it on opening day. I caught about a half dozen beautiful native brookies in multiple age classes and missed at least that many (probably more). For the first 1 1/2 hours the only evidence I found of another person was a half full can of Coors original sitting on the bank? I couldn’t really understand why someone would leave a half a can of beer sitting on the bank, but I dumped it out, rinsed out the can, crushed it and threw it into my pack. At about 10:00 I bumped into another angler. He was about my age, with a flyrod and obviously doing the exact same thing I was there doing. He was fishing up with dries, I was fishing downstream with a version of a picket pin underneath. So, in reality we just totally screwed each other up. But it was no problem at all. We chatted for a bit and exchanged pleasantries and moved on. I was kind of glad I didn’t come across any anglers complaining about the size of the trout that the PFBC stocked! 😉 it was probably one of the most enjoyable first two hours of trout season that I ever experienced.View attachment 1641250187View attachment 1641250188View attachment 1641250189View attachment 1641250190View attachment 1641250191
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Picket pin is a helluva fly.
 
We fished the Benner Springs area of Spring Creek. I caught a six inch brown on a Sexy Walt’s Worm and my friend had a couple. Caddis in the trees but no rises. I did see a big fish poke his head up but couldn’t did see him again. No one else was catching them either. Went to the Paradise but no luck.
 
Hiked a powerline cut in the morning 3 miles to find a rhodo tunnel stream on the other end. Caught a Brookie in the first pool up from the mouth, but then it entered the rhodo. When studying sat maps it is often very difficult to tell the difference between a rhodo thicket and grove of hemlocks, which are wonderful to fish through IMO. When you’re there in person and you don’t see any hemlocks, you now know what all that green on the map is. So we punted and hiked back. My neighbor got a great pic of an out of shape Swattie sucking wind going up one of the 300-400 foot humps on the powerline.

Hit a small stocked freestone on the way home that has a good population of wild Browns, and shouldn’t be stocked, but is. Promptly caught and bonked four Rainbows on egg patterns in about as many casts at the first hole we came to. Need to pick up some taters and onions now. Got some wood fired pizza and cold Miller Lites on the way home. Good day. There was a decent BWO spinner fall going on the second stream, by small freestone standards.

Much more water west of the Allegheny Front than down in the valleys to the east. FWIW.

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Swattie87 said:
Hiked a powerline cut in the morning 3 miles to find a rhodo tunnel stream on the other end. Caught a Brookie in the first pool up from the mouth, but then it entered the rhodo. When studying sat maps it is often very difficult to tell the difference between a rhodo thicket and grove of hemlocks, which are wonderful to fish through IMO. When you’re there in person and you don’t see any hemlocks, you now know what all that green is. So we punted and hiked back. My neighbor got a great pic of an out of shape Swattie sucking wind going up one of the 300-400 feet humps on the pipeline.

Hit a small stocked freestone on the way home that has a good population of wild Browns, and shouldn’t be stocked, but is. Promptly caught and bonked four Rainbows on egg patterns in about as many casts at the first hole we came to. Need to pick up some taters and onions now. Got some wood fired pizza and cold Miller Lites on the way home. Good day.

Much more water west of the Allegheny Front than down in the valleys to the east. FWIW.

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What color is your Toyota? I could have sworn I saw you drive by yesterday while I was fishing. If it wasn't you, it was your doppelganger behind the wheel.
 
jifigz said:
What color is your Toyota? I could have sworn I saw you drive by yesterday while I was fishing. If it wasn't you, it was your doppelganger behind the wheel.
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Silver. Though my neighbor drove yesterday. He has a silver Tacoma.
 
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