Kettle Creek PA

[PG Flyfisher]

I will be heading to Pennsylvania the end of June and would like to spend a day fishing Kettle Creek. I'm originally from Central PA and haven't fished that area in years.

I would appreciate any advice on decent runs to fish and what kind of hatches I could expect to encounter. I don't often get to trout fish any more. I am looking forward to making this trip home.

Thanks in advance.

[pspaint]

The delayed harvest is some beautiful water. The whole stretch is nice. You'd be hard pressed to find any "bad" spots.
As far as hatches, i'm not totally sure. Most likely you'll be looking at sulphurs, stenonema's, cahills, isonychia's, possibly, golden drakes.
There's usually some excellent tan caddis hatches and possibly giant golden stoneflies.
Hope this helps.

[Avalon]

Dear PG Flyfisher,

Pray for some rain between now and then. Streams have been rather low and warm recently though we have been getting some spotty thunderstorms the last few days.

As far as Kettle Creek goes if the water holds up you should be able to pick up fish on generic caddis patterns early in the day. A size 14 or 16 light Cahill works as a searching pattern too. Don't be afraid to toss terrestrial patterns like ants, beetles, and crickets into likely looking spots. Unless you get there during a period of cooler drizzly weather and catch a Slate Drake hatch the majority of the "big" hatches will be over, but fish will still look up.

If we get adequate rainfall don't be afraid to try Cross Fork Creek, Hammersley Fork, Little Kettle Creek, or the upper stretches of Kettle Creek above Rte 44 in Oleona. With decent water conditions a well placed cast of anything resembling a piece of trout food will likely drawn a strike.

Enjoy your trip!

Best Wishes,
Avalon

[Bamboozle]

Ditto on what Avalon said.

I just got back from 6 days in Tioga, Clinton & Potter Counties. I fished mostly Class A waters with the exception of Cross Fork which was taken off the list this year. The water was at decent levels, still low but very cold so the fish seemed to be happy.

Most of my fish were caught on caddis and soft hackles suspended below a caddis. I did see some sporadic Green Drake activity and a blizzard hatch of Yellow Sally stoneflies. The other flies were hatching in small numbers but just about any dry presented well produced for me.

One additional note: I got half a dozen Black Fly bites on my forearms for the first time in years so if you can deal with it, consider long sleeves that can be rolled up. I personally stay away from repellents since I'm afraid of damage to my equipment.


[This message has been edited by Bamboozle (edited 31 May 2006).]

[PG Flyfisher]

Thanks for the insight. I'm looking forward to heading north.

I'll file a report when I return.

[Satchel]

Two friends of mine have been going to the Kettle Creek drainage opening week for about 13 or 14 years now. They said this year was very slow. One of them, who always catches lots of fish said he caught about 40 fish all week. Not sure if it was due to low water or what.

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These are the idle thoughts that posses a man's mind when he's not able to fish.

[old geezer]

PGF, stop in at Kettle Creek Tackle shop and talk to Phil Baldacchino. He will give you all the info you will need and he has all the haches on his desk and the flys to match.

The black flies were terrible while I was there. Skin so soft should do the trick.

Hemmersly Fork-Rt 144 570-923-1416 Phil's #

I found the fishing very good in the catch & release section and they were abundant all over using stonefly's, emergers and nymphs. The dry's accounted for a few but subsurface is the ticket for steady action.

The Geezer

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Excuse my spelling and Gramma, I hooked mondays and Fridays so I could either hunt or fish.