Back up on Penns Creek for the month of May. Here with my dog Caddie, and she is excited to be back in Northcentral Pennsylvania for some trout. It was really nice on Tuesday when we returned with warm temps and sunny skies. We will see how long that lasts. I’m a little jaded after last May +8” inches of rain, which basically made Penns unfishable for the month.
5/5/2026 PM
Weather was great with a mix of sun and clouds. Air temps in the mid-70’s. Perfect.
The water was running at about 400 CFS, which are some great flows for me. It was that clear, but a little off-color, again perfect. The water temp a tire was at was 56 degrees. I broke down and got a new thermometer and now can provide water temps.
Hatches were plentiful with lots of bugs happening. But mostly the trout were picking off emerging March Browns. There were other smaller insects coming off the water, but not many, and I couldn’t really see what they were. MB Spinners popped in out of nowhere at 6:30, but didn’t really see them play out on the water.
I fished a stocked area very close to where I’m staying and fished only for a couple of hours. I’m having some significant shoulder issues with a torn rotator cuff, and you’ll hear me complain about it if you see me. Just tell me to suck it up. Anyway, I did pretty well on the surface with March Brown and large Rusty Spinner imitations.
5/6/26
The weather turned overnight to rain. It was more of a heavy drizzle and didn’t really dampen the day and stopped in the afternoon. I think we had ~ .25 inches. Temps were in the lower 60s.
The water wasn’t affected by the rain and didn’t really change from the day before. Water temps at 55 degrees and at 420 CFS.
The hatches slowed down for the day. I was expecting to see some BWO’s, but no luck and no sulphurs either. The March Browns still came on slow and steady after the rain slowed up late morning.
I went upstream in the morning and didn’t have any luck. I tried it all with nymphs and buggers, but nothing. As I was leaving, I walked past a spot I always walk past because it always looks low and I never see fish. I stayed for a bit and found a few rising and had some luck picking off some wild browns with a MB.
That evening, I kinda did the same thing and picked off some more on top. All in all, a good start to my time on Penns for the month.
5/5/2026 PM
Weather was great with a mix of sun and clouds. Air temps in the mid-70’s. Perfect.
The water was running at about 400 CFS, which are some great flows for me. It was that clear, but a little off-color, again perfect. The water temp a tire was at was 56 degrees. I broke down and got a new thermometer and now can provide water temps.
Hatches were plentiful with lots of bugs happening. But mostly the trout were picking off emerging March Browns. There were other smaller insects coming off the water, but not many, and I couldn’t really see what they were. MB Spinners popped in out of nowhere at 6:30, but didn’t really see them play out on the water.
I fished a stocked area very close to where I’m staying and fished only for a couple of hours. I’m having some significant shoulder issues with a torn rotator cuff, and you’ll hear me complain about it if you see me. Just tell me to suck it up. Anyway, I did pretty well on the surface with March Brown and large Rusty Spinner imitations.
5/6/26
The weather turned overnight to rain. It was more of a heavy drizzle and didn’t really dampen the day and stopped in the afternoon. I think we had ~ .25 inches. Temps were in the lower 60s.
The water wasn’t affected by the rain and didn’t really change from the day before. Water temps at 55 degrees and at 420 CFS.
The hatches slowed down for the day. I was expecting to see some BWO’s, but no luck and no sulphurs either. The March Browns still came on slow and steady after the rain slowed up late morning.
I went upstream in the morning and didn’t have any luck. I tried it all with nymphs and buggers, but nothing. As I was leaving, I walked past a spot I always walk past because it always looks low and I never see fish. I stayed for a bit and found a few rising and had some luck picking off some wild browns with a MB.
That evening, I kinda did the same thing and picked off some more on top. All in all, a good start to my time on Penns for the month.
