Each Spring, we spend a week in early May hunting gobblers in Forest County Pa coupled with trout fishing. Our base is a camp in Marienville,PA owned by my 2 brothers-in-law (Ken and Ron Hill). This year was no different, except for the weather. Cold temperatures mixed with snow and rain made both hunting and fishing a challenge.

Ken (Butch) Hill’s grandson (Barney) did bag a “Jake” while hunting with Butch’s son Lance. Those 3 tagged up on the trout in the afternoon before the weather got nasty on the Tionesta Creek. Ron and I had good success on the North Fork of the Redbank and limited success on the Allegheny River (above Coudersport).

North Fork/Redbank: This stream is located in Brookville, PA and has a fly fishing only area right downtown. Our first day we found a good Caddis hatch and fish rising to both Caddis and midges. In addition to Caddis, we caught fish on Cracklebacks, BWOs, and gray hackle flies. A successful day!  On our second day, the weather turned colder (stream temperature 42 degrees) but there was a great Blue Winged Olive hatch but no fish rising. We’ll be back and with different weather conditions, we believe there will be different results.

Allegheny River: I’ve written about the headwaters of the Allegheny River before, and expect to be back in early June, but again with temperatures in the 40’s, fish were not rising. This was a momentous occasion, though, as we did find one riser in one of our hotspots and Ron made a good cast and caught his first trout (14″ Brownie) on his new Beaver Meadow 7′ fly rod. The fight is shown above. Can’t wait to be back. See you in June ol’ friend!

Yesterday, my youngest son, Craig,  and I spent the day fishing the Breeches after meeting my oldest son, TJ, for breakfast. My middle son, Luke, and I fished for a few hours on the Falling Spring today. You might say it was a father-son weekend. I cherished the days spending time with my Dad and Granddad (growing up) and mostly fishing the Conococheague Creek. Even though we used garden hackle (worms) back then, my Dad taught me how to read the water and how to enjoy myself along a trout stream. He also taught me important things like trout stream ethics and to not trash the stream.  It was also a tradition to cook out along the stream on the first day of trout season…..what great memories!  I owe my passion for fishing to my Dad, so I’ve tried to give this same opportunity to my sons as well. TJ is the least passionate of the 3 boys, but when he does go, can cast as good or better than any of us. Sickening!  He is also the only “techy” in the family and helped me set up my blog. Thanks TJ!

As far as the fishing goes, Craig and I caught a dozen wild browns on the upper section of the Breeches using Caddis and Parachute Adams. In the regulation area upstream from Allenberry Playhouse, we caught a handful of fish on #28 midges. There were Caddis and a few Sulphurs in the air,  but the fish were tuned in on the small stuff. The Falling Spring was not much different, as when we found fish rising with any consistency, they were sipping midges. We did each manage to fool a couple with Caddis. Each week keeps getting better, so stay tuned for the next adventure.