I fished Spring Creek on Saturday, December 10th. Earlier in the week, I debated whether or not to try Erie for Steelhead or central PA, but as the weather reports came in, the decision was much easier to make as I didn't feel like dealing with lake-effect snow.
I parked at Fisherman's Paradise and walked up the canyon stretch and fished up to around the bend for about 3 hours. Air temps were around 25, and stream thermometer read 43 when I started. There were two anglers getting ready to fish but I had the entire canyon to myself as they stayed right near the parking lot.
I was hoping to see some BWO's popping off but didnt notice any so I nymped the entire time. Caught 2 on hot spot pheasant tail nymphs in the riffles. Fish were very spooky. Saw a pod of what seemed like 100+ post-spawn fish, almost appearing as if sleeping in the pool right above the bend. Some pretty big fish, can't wait to get back in the spring and try to catch them again when they are ready for action.
After a lunch break, I went down to Milesburg for a couple hours, and fished right around that new stream bank stabilization project that Spring Creek TU just put in. I caught 3 right along the wall as I worked my way up, using olive scud patterns.
Was a nice day to be out and not as cold as they said it would be. 5 hours of fishing is better than nothing. I ended up driving home Sunday morning because I didn't want to get stuck in the snow, but I probably should have just stayed there as it didn't get too bad from what I see.
I parked at Fisherman's Paradise and walked up the canyon stretch and fished up to around the bend for about 3 hours. Air temps were around 25, and stream thermometer read 43 when I started. There were two anglers getting ready to fish but I had the entire canyon to myself as they stayed right near the parking lot.
I was hoping to see some BWO's popping off but didnt notice any so I nymped the entire time. Caught 2 on hot spot pheasant tail nymphs in the riffles. Fish were very spooky. Saw a pod of what seemed like 100+ post-spawn fish, almost appearing as if sleeping in the pool right above the bend. Some pretty big fish, can't wait to get back in the spring and try to catch them again when they are ready for action.
After a lunch break, I went down to Milesburg for a couple hours, and fished right around that new stream bank stabilization project that Spring Creek TU just put in. I caught 3 right along the wall as I worked my way up, using olive scud patterns.
Was a nice day to be out and not as cold as they said it would be. 5 hours of fishing is better than nothing. I ended up driving home Sunday morning because I didn't want to get stuck in the snow, but I probably should have just stayed there as it didn't get too bad from what I see.
