Penns Creek, Union County, 5/20/25

[DaveKile]

I had to try and fish Penns at least once this month before more rains hit again on Wednesday. We have had several heavy storms this month and Penns has been in tough shape since the first of the month. CFS levels have ranged mostly from about 1050 to 3000 with muddy water. Water levels were still high for wading but weather and water color had improved since last rain event. I have been staying on Penns Creek this whole month with my dog, Caddie. I did leave a few times for the Jamboree and trip back to my daughter's house to let Caddie stay with her for a long weekend.

Maurice and I joined forces to give a one day push to see watch was going on. This only the third time I fished Penns since getting her May 1. We started out up at the Mid State Trail Parking Lot upstream from Cherry Run. There were actually about ten cars in the parking lot. We did a little hiking around to see if we would even bother fishing and found a couple of spots that seem like worth the effort.

The weather was very nice with air temps at about 58, mostly sunny and breezy. The water was at ~1080 CFS, about 18" of visibility and finally had a greenish tint. The greenish tint was one of the main reasons we gave it a go.

There were plenty of sporadic bugs around: March Browns, caddis, sulphur, Cahill and more. No fish rising and went with chucking lead. We each got one and lost interest after a couple hours. In talking with other anglers we actually did pretty well.

We then when below Weikart for the evening. Tough to find good water to fish, but gave it a going anyway. Bugs did pick up and we started to see a fair amount of Green Drakes emerging along with the other soup of bugs. No strong hatched just plenty of mayflies. Lots of spinners over the water starting at 7:30. No risers and some fish being caught in the softer water.

I woke a this morning to rain and a forecast of ~1" so Penns will be blown out again by tonight. My days on Penn will likely be over for the month.

​

 

[troutbert]

Looks beautiful. Chalky green is a good water color.

 

[[WR]]

Hi Dave,
I think we passed each other when you went further down the creek. (White Explorer, WA plates).
I tried several spots between Milmont and the upper end of the Penns Creek Bridge on 104 and had similar results. At the rate we are going I think it will be June before we're able to fish the creek productively.
Rich

 

[Nocktavius]

Cornuta and Iso hatches should be lit. True to form, I fully expect it to hit like 90 degrees for 6 days on end in mid June and make anything but early morning unfishable.

 

[wgmiller]

Kudos to you for giving it the ol' college try. Hard to believe one of the best Penns fishing months of the year will essentially be wiped out by high water and rain events. Ultimately, it's better than having no rain, but it sure does suck for fly anglers who look forward all year to fishing Penns in May.

Now, the $20 million question...did you see or hear any cicadas?!?!?!? 🤣

 

[PENZZZ]

This season is much like 2011 on Penns. My wife had approached me about taking a long vacation in Italy for our 30th anniversary. Mid-May until early June. I bit my lip and agreed. April into early May was a washout. Then flows began to fall and I got to fish May 13/14 as flows bottomed out at 725/680. Had good fishing those days with an adult stonefly and with March Brown spinners. Trout were what I call “stupid hungry”. Heavy rains resumed as we departed for Italy and I wouldn’t miss any fishing opportunities as flows went high again for the entire time I was gone. Flows fell by early June and I returned to green drakes, then good June fishing.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[riverwhy]

Do trout miss out On an important food source when high waters occur during prime hatch season or do they still capture a fair amount of t subsurface? At
Least they are not being hooked multiple times.

 

[JeffP]

They get the worms instead.

 

[PENZZZ]

Theory holds that during high water conditions more of the nymphal stages of insects get washed off of the bottom where they typically hide out. Though the surface is moving very fast, the speed at the bottom of the stream is moving more slowly, with mini eddies formed behind boulders and rocks. All this makes food available to the trout.

 

[discomidge]

I was out in the C&R yesterday evening as well. Last licks before it blows again I guess. Managed a couple on top, but it was pretty quiet where I was. Lots of bugs in the air and several heavy waves of spinners, but they hadn't hit the water when I left at 9. Very few rising fish considering that bugs were trickling off for a few hours. Oh and no cicadas. Still good to get out there. I get cranky if I don't get my weekly Penns Creek therapy.

 

[DaveKile]

Hi Dave,
I think we passed each other when you went further down the creek. (White Explorer, WA plates).
I tried several spots between Milmont and the upper end of the Penns Creek Bridge on 104 and had similar results. At the rate we are going I think it will be June before we're able to fish the creek productively.
Rich

Rich I'll keep an eye out for over the next week if you are still around. Good luck

 

[DaveKile]

Kudos to you for giving it the ol' college try. Hard to believe one of the best Penns fishing months of the year will essentially be wiped out by high water and rain events. Ultimately, it's better than having no rain, but it sure does suck for fly anglers who look forward all year to fishing Penns in May.

Now, the $20 million question...did you see or hear any cicadas?!?!?!? 🤣

It was certainly a college try and Hail Mary all in the same day. I didn't see any hope as of yesterday for me to make any attempt hitting Penns this month. The rest of my efforts when I return will be smaller streams in a one hour radius. I already know a few, but might expand on some more.

No cicadas seen. My opinion, looking at the historical record from Paflyfish, they really won't be prevalent until after June 1. It has gotten real cold again this week, low yesterday morning was 40, and no real warming for a bit. Sure some will be seen now, but in abundance and then fish taking them will be weeks away. Heck trout weren't eating mayflies or spinners now.

 

[DaveKile]

This season is much like 2011 on Penns. My wife had approached me about taking a long vacation in Italy for our 30th anniversary. Mid-May until early June. I bit my lip and agreed. April into early May was a washout. Then flows began to fall and I got to fish May 13/14 as flows bottomed out at 725/680. Had good fishing those days with an adult stonefly and with March Brown spinners. Trout were what I call “stupid hungry”. Heavy rains resumed as we departed for Italy and I wouldn’t miss any fishing opportunities as flows went high again for the entire time I was gone. Flows fell by early June and I returned to green drakes, then good June fishing.

I figure the trout are in the stupid hungry mode. If we get any break they will be back on the feedbag with in about a week. There we a lot more bugs yesterday, but still risers or trout taking to a hatch is not happening...yet.

 

[DaveKile]

Do trout miss out On an important food source when high waters occur during prime hatch season or do they still capture a fair amount of t subsurface? At
Least they are not being hooked multiple times.

They are eating whatever they can subsurface. This means nymphs, minnows and anything pass by them that even looks like food. I'm sure if you pumped any trout stomach right now there would be leaves and sticks.

The trout I did see or catch that were breaking the surface were all chasing emergers. Many stream have been pretty muddied up and haven't seen many trout move up into he film for duns or mayflies. I caught 2 of 6 one night on a sticked stream simply walking upstream dragging my nymphs to my next hole.

I have not been able to get to many quickly clearing up streams. When I have been to them, trout behavior is more typical of seasonal activities.

 

[DaveKile]

I was out in the C&R yesterday evening as well. Last licks before it blows again I guess. Managed a couple on top, but it was pretty quiet where I was. Lots of bugs in the air and several heavy waves of spinners, but they hadn't hit the water when I left at 9. Very few rising fish considering that bugs were trickling off for a few hours. Oh and no cicadas. Still good to get out there. I get cranky if I don't get my weekly Penns Creek therapy.

I have been thinking about this situation we have not for some streams that have been like Penns lately. I have too much time thinking between raindrops. Bugs are still hatching, but the ones that are hatching and spinners returning are not getting picked off by the trout. Birds are still out, but trout are just working the subsurface. These kind of conditions have to make for some great following year hatches with higher return rates of eggs. Of course a lot of factors, but this is one that helps add to higher aquatic insect populations.

 

[wgmiller]

No cicadas seen. My opinion, looking at the historical record from Paflyfish, they really won't be prevalent until after June 1. It has gotten real cold again this week, low yesterday morning was 40, and no real warming for a bit. Sure some will be seen now, but in abundance and then fish taking them will be weeks away. Heck trout weren't eating mayflies or spinners now.

That was my gut feeling as well, but boy, that Penns Creek Angler post really got me thinking! I knew that historically things didn't really get going in areas to the east and southeast until early/mid-June, so I had to believe at least the same would be true for the State College region as well. That may be a blessing, as perhaps the rain and high water events will have subsided enough to allow for better angling opportunities by next month. I was out on a Bellefonte-area stream during the Jam and saw this guy on Jiffy John as I was leaving...

 

[Mdk2]

Hey Dave,

Does the headwaters of Penns offer decent fishing? Between Penns Cave and Spring Mills. Never fished in between there.

 

[DaveKile]

That was my gut feeling as well, but boy, that Penns Creek Angler post really got me thinking! I knew that historically things didn't really get going in areas to the east and southeast until early/mid-June, so I had to believe at least the same would be true for the State College region as well. That may be a blessing, as perhaps the rain and high water events will have subsided enough to allow for better angling opportunities by next month. I was out on a Bellefonte-area stream during the Jam and saw this guy on Jiffy John as I was leaving...

View attachment 1641242441

Geo they are known to hang around Jiffy Johns. It will be interesting when they start coming out in force. In 2007 the first mention of them on the site was May 31, 2007 by Akid. I'm intrigue to be watching them as they start this year. Thanks

 

[DaveKile]

Hey Dave,

Does the headwaters of Penns offer decent fishing? Between Penns Cave and Spring Mills. Never fished in between there.

I have not fished in that area, pretty sure there are some fishing clubs up that way that stock. I drove up a couple weeks ago to see if there waters was any clearer, but at that time it was still bumping and dirty. Looks like some good spots.

 

[wgmiller]

Hey Dave,

Does the headwaters of Penns offer decent fishing? Between Penns Cave and Spring Mills. Never fished in between there.

For the past several years I always make it a point to visit Valley Wok when I'm up for the Jam. It truly is some of the best Chinese food in the area, which you wouldn't expect to find in a small Podunk town in Centre County. In the town of Spring Mills both Sinking Creek and upper Penns come together. Obviously, the water is much smaller than the main stem of Penns. Personally speaking I have never fished Spring Mills and upper Penns. I do recall seeing a lightnin' troot cruising under the bridge in Spring Mills one year when I was there. It appears as though Sinking Creek is stocked from its confluence with Penns upstream. Upper Penns looks like nice water, albeit smaller than the main stem. I'd have to guess that there is some posted land along its length, particularly when approaching its headwaters. But I also recall driving along other stretches of upper Penns and not seeing any purple paint/yellow signs. It might be a nice diversion sometime and worth exploration. Like most of the water in Centre County, at the very least it has natural trout reproduction. Upper Penns shows as Class A, which I'm sure is fairly accurate.