Pine Creek, North Central PA

Well, I spent all of last week fishing a delayed harvest section of Pine Creek near Slate Run, PA. All I can say is WOW. Had five great days of sight fishing to rising Brown trout. Great caddis hatches in the morning (really more like blizzards!) followed by some of the best March Brown hatches I've ever seen, with dozens of fish rising within easy casting distance.

The folks in that area plant this section with some great quality Browns and while we never caught any huge fish, we caught more 14"-18" fish than I had ever hoped for.

The stream conditions were perfect for spot and stalk fishing to very agressively feeding fish. I had hoped to fish some other areas along this drainage but the fishing was so good so we just couldn't talk ourselves into leave it! The weather was great, my only complaint was it was too sunny.

I'll post some pic over the next day or two.

If you're in the area or looking for a place to fish in PA, I HIGHLY recommend checking this river out.

Joe,

Sounds like a great trip; looking forward to seeing the pics. Were the caddis grannoms?

Regards,
Scott

could of come up to the top of the canyon and said Hi...also we had hendricksons along with the apple caddis. some blue quills and gordons too.. looks like march browns will be here this weekend

I haven't fished that stretch of river in over 10 years. Glad to hear PA Fish&Boat is maintaining a good healthy brown population! Gorgeous stretch of river! Slate Run Tackle shop still there at the bridge?

Bob,

We had every intention of coming your way. I even packed a raft and rowing frame for a float trip. We just couldn't bring ourselves to leave the rising browns at the DH area! I'll be back up that way again and will make every effort to see more of the river, particularly up your way!

AA,

Yes, Slate Run Tackle Shop is still going strong at the bridge. The PAB&FC is still stocking the river but the quality browns are a partnership between Slate Run Tackle, Slate Run Brown Trout Club, Straub Beer and other who pay for the nice quality fish to be stocked in the Delayed Harvest section. Great partnership with just fabulous fishing.

Scott,

Don't know the caddis species but they were a size 16 dark gray body with mottled tan and dark wing.