Had my first opportunity to fish for wild brookies last week. I am new to fly fishing, since last summer, and I have been trying to add to my resume. After doing some research and getting some good advice from some locals, I hiked into Old Rag Mountain in search of my first brookie. I don’t have any pics, since it poured rain on me all day, but I did bring my first brookie to hand on a “Spirit of Pittsford Mills” size 14. Not only was it my first brookie on a dry, but my first trout on a dry. Wading a small mountain stream with lots of falls, in the rain, is a LOT different than wading the Gunpowder, my local tailwater. There were more kinds of bugs hatching than I have ever seen at the same time. The hatch lasted about an hour and a half and included rusty spinners and blue wing olives. All in all, a great day.
Nice One BelAirSteve, I think maybe it is you that got hooked on that mountain stream? 
All the best.
Mike.
BelAirSteve, glad you had a chance to catch a native! Old Rag is a nice area to go into, also a good place to see a Black Bear or two, I’v seen more than one on that mountain…
Pictures of the area would be nice to see for those of us who haven’t been there.
Remember to take your cameras!
Just a thought.
Nicely done, Steve.
After seeing Grubb’s pics of a couple places he’s fished, I’m sure looking forward to more pics from that neck of the woods.
John
P.S. Can you give us a general description of the “Spirit of Pittsford Mills” ??
http://www.classictrout.com/dryflies/s/spiritofpittsfordmills.php
That’s it precisely. By the way Quill, no pics since it was pouring down rain all day. I have a cheapy Kodak point and shoot digital and a Nikon D40 SLR, but I wouldn’t have taken either of them out in that kind of rain.
But trust me, there will be other trips and plenty of opportunities for pictures. I plan to fish some of the brookie streams in Central Pennsylvania this year. My brother lives just outside of State College.
I remember back in the summer of 1988, I had just purchased a spiffy 4wt fly rod and Cortland reel with all the trimmings. I had tied up a bunch of flies and headed out to Shenandoah. I caught my first trout on a dry fly I tied myself there using a woolly worm fished dry. I still remember it, beautiful fish.
Jim
I understand.................
Looking forward to seeing those scenic shots. It’s not all about catching fish!
Steve,
Come on back down sometime on a weekend day if you get the chance and I’ll show you some great spots. Sorry I didn’t catch up with you on this trip…
Marty
Marty,
I appreciate the offer, and I just might take you up on that!