TrevorCalse23
Member
Made the trip from the lehigh valley up to Penns creek this past weekend with a buddy and had an awesome time on the creek and some tribs. This is my first report so here goes nothing, any tips for future reports appreciated!
10-3-2026
-Weather: Sunny and calm, 50-60°
-Stream conditions: 60-62°(305cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes, craneflies
-flies used: bow river bugger, pats rubber legs, frenchie, waltz worm
Parked at the cherry run access on our first day at about 1:00. The creek was at a great level and it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water. I started out fishing an olive bow river bugger with little interest. Switched to nymphing in some runs and managed to hook up with a couple fish that ultimately got off. Started throwing the streamer around again and caught 1 fish in a deeper pool stripping the fly back to me. As the evening moved on fish began feeding more frequently on the surface, and by 6 or so they were feeding pretty consistently on the surface. I was able to catch one on a Caddis dry before we ended our night, but wasnt able to figure out what they were eating. Fish were shooting out of the water to eat what i now believe were emerging craneflies, but at the time the rises convinced me they were eating caddis.
10-4-2026
-Weather: Overcast, light rain, 56-58°
-stream conditions: 52-54°(295cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes
-flies used: bow river bugger, zoo cougar, slumpbuster, meal ticket, soft hackle PT, pats rubberlegs
On our second day we parked at the Tunnel Road access around 9:30 with some light drizzle fazing in and out. Overcast skies had me hopefull for a good day fishing with streamers, but I couldnt have been further off for myself lol. Fishing was much slower for both me and my buddy than the previous day, but he managed to pick up a few euro nymphing. I tried to stick to my guns and fish a streamer the better part of the day, but after only 1 follow/eat through some prime looking water, I began nymphing myself(still with no success lol). Water temps dropped and I think that had something to play into it, but im not certain, color was still good and flows were solid. Didnt see as many bugs as the day before either. We ended up tucking our tails and heading to a trib to try some brookie fishing, but found more or less the same scenario with slow fishing. Temps on the trib also dropped overnight. I did however catch probably my personal best native thus far on the fly rod, so he made up for the slow day. He ate a size 14 royal wulff with a waltz dropper on it.
10-5-2026
-weather: sunny/partly cloudy 55-60°
-stream conditions: 54-56°(280cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes, 1 october caddis, craneflies
-flies used: pats rubber legs, soft hackle pt, hotspot frenchie, klinkcaddis
For our third and my final day of the trip we headed into poe paddy around 9am. Weather conditions had switched back to a beautiful fall day, compared to the day before. There was a ton of leaves in the water, I had never seen a leaf hatch before! The fishing was not as tough as sunday and I worked my way upstream fishing nymphs in the good lookin runs and would blind cast a dry every so often. I hooked up to a couple fish on a pats rubber legs and they all managed to come off(seems to be a common trend for me at Penns lol). My buddy then let me hop in a hole he had a few takes with his euro nymphs in, and on my first cast with what I call a klinkcaddis, a fish took it off of a twitch. He also got off. Kept working upstream and found an awesome little pool in between two runs and was able to land a couple fish. 1 came on a soft hackle PT, the other on a rubber legs. Not much surface activity going on but there were sporadic rises as we moved further into the evening. I had to drive home, so we started hiking back to the car around 4pm and I called it a trip. As I was wading throughout the day I noticed tons of little craneflies all over the rocks, and a report from my buddy after I left confirmed that the cranflies were being eaten .
It was a great weekend in Central PA and I cant wait to get back to the PA wilds.
10-3-2026
-Weather: Sunny and calm, 50-60°
-Stream conditions: 60-62°(305cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes, craneflies
-flies used: bow river bugger, pats rubber legs, frenchie, waltz worm
Parked at the cherry run access on our first day at about 1:00. The creek was at a great level and it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water. I started out fishing an olive bow river bugger with little interest. Switched to nymphing in some runs and managed to hook up with a couple fish that ultimately got off. Started throwing the streamer around again and caught 1 fish in a deeper pool stripping the fly back to me. As the evening moved on fish began feeding more frequently on the surface, and by 6 or so they were feeding pretty consistently on the surface. I was able to catch one on a Caddis dry before we ended our night, but wasnt able to figure out what they were eating. Fish were shooting out of the water to eat what i now believe were emerging craneflies, but at the time the rises convinced me they were eating caddis.
10-4-2026
-Weather: Overcast, light rain, 56-58°
-stream conditions: 52-54°(295cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes
-flies used: bow river bugger, zoo cougar, slumpbuster, meal ticket, soft hackle PT, pats rubberlegs
On our second day we parked at the Tunnel Road access around 9:30 with some light drizzle fazing in and out. Overcast skies had me hopefull for a good day fishing with streamers, but I couldnt have been further off for myself lol. Fishing was much slower for both me and my buddy than the previous day, but he managed to pick up a few euro nymphing. I tried to stick to my guns and fish a streamer the better part of the day, but after only 1 follow/eat through some prime looking water, I began nymphing myself(still with no success lol). Water temps dropped and I think that had something to play into it, but im not certain, color was still good and flows were solid. Didnt see as many bugs as the day before either. We ended up tucking our tails and heading to a trib to try some brookie fishing, but found more or less the same scenario with slow fishing. Temps on the trib also dropped overnight. I did however catch probably my personal best native thus far on the fly rod, so he made up for the slow day. He ate a size 14 royal wulff with a waltz dropper on it.
10-5-2026
-weather: sunny/partly cloudy 55-60°
-stream conditions: 54-56°(280cfs), clear
-bugs seen: tan caddis, blue winged olives, slate drakes, 1 october caddis, craneflies
-flies used: pats rubber legs, soft hackle pt, hotspot frenchie, klinkcaddis
For our third and my final day of the trip we headed into poe paddy around 9am. Weather conditions had switched back to a beautiful fall day, compared to the day before. There was a ton of leaves in the water, I had never seen a leaf hatch before! The fishing was not as tough as sunday and I worked my way upstream fishing nymphs in the good lookin runs and would blind cast a dry every so often. I hooked up to a couple fish on a pats rubber legs and they all managed to come off(seems to be a common trend for me at Penns lol). My buddy then let me hop in a hole he had a few takes with his euro nymphs in, and on my first cast with what I call a klinkcaddis, a fish took it off of a twitch. He also got off. Kept working upstream and found an awesome little pool in between two runs and was able to land a couple fish. 1 came on a soft hackle PT, the other on a rubber legs. Not much surface activity going on but there were sporadic rises as we moved further into the evening. I had to drive home, so we started hiking back to the car around 4pm and I called it a trip. As I was wading throughout the day I noticed tons of little craneflies all over the rocks, and a report from my buddy after I left confirmed that the cranflies were being eaten .
It was a great weekend in Central PA and I cant wait to get back to the PA wilds.
