Big Hunting is a freestone mountain stream in the Catoctin Mountains. It’s best described as “pocket water” fishing and holds wild browns and stocked fish.

Had a great day on Big Hunting. Water levels were perfect, overcast and water temperature 60 degrees. It seemed as if every “fishy” spot either was a catch or miss.

I caught all wild browns except for a couple stocked rainbows. My fly of choice was Mr. Rapidan which is a #16 parachute fly from Mossy Creek fly shop.

Wild Brown

Big Hunting Creek

My best catch was a 13″ wild brown which slipped away from me before I get a picture.

Our annual Pine Creek outing is next, Stay tuned!

Eric Grenlin with 16″Rainbow

Wounded Warriors with Stream Companions

The Wounded Warriors fly fishing project is an annual event sponsored  by FSTU. This year’s event was held on May 12.

The day started with coffee and doughnuts at Walton’s Meadow in Chambersburg. A nice fishing bag with flies was presented to each “Warrior”( donated by the Fly Shack). After that, they were each assigned a fishing companion to take them either on the Conococheague Creek or the Falling Spring. Morning and afternoon fishing was broken up by a barbecue at the Meadows.

I had the privilege of accompanying 2 Vets on the Falling Spring both of whom had tours in Afghanistan. My guys were both experienced fishermen so all I had to do was take them where the fish were located and they did the rest.

Again, this was a privilege to be involved with this program and provide whatever time and help I could to those who serve our country and fight for our freedom.

My brother-in-law, Ron ‘Ol Don Hill decided to come in for a long weekend and do some Fall trout fishing. We couldn’t have picked a better weekend …..early October with temperatures in the 70’s and no wind.

We had most success on Codorus Creek. The stream temperature was 50 degrees and fish were occasionally rising. We caught 22 wild browns using a Crackleback (‘Ol Don’s go to fly) and a #18 caddis.

We spent 1 day on Yellow breeches near Allenberry and another day on the upper section near Huntsdale.  Tricos had the fish looking up. We used various ant patterns, midges and the Crackleback to entice them.

We had beautiful weather. We had lunch each day by the creek. We saw deer, a fox, a mother raccoon with her 3 kids, and caught 38 fish as a bonus. It doesn’t get any better than that.

‘Ol Don on the upper Yellow Breeches

Codorus Wild Brown

Tim Brookens and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Savage River. The river was low in comparison to most years which made it easier to wade. In addition the water temperature was 65 degrees so it was good to wet wade (Tim forgot his waders).

We had a successful day – landed 9 fish ( 8 Brown and a brookie). We each caught 14″ Browns.  Any  fish over 12″ on the Savage is considered a trophy in my books. The fishing was almost as good as cooking burgers at the campground by the river for lunch.

Tim’s 14″ Brown

Took’s 14″ Brown

Due to busy (retiree) schedules we made it a one day trip but wished we could have camped and stayed for another day or 2.

Fishing on the upper section of the Breeches is always a good “go to” place in the Fall. Tricos are still hatching in the morning which gets the wild browns looking up……and the fish are also attracted to ants and beetles.

My younger sons Craig and Luke fished together downstream from me while I fished a section closer to where we parked. We caught over 20 brownies mostly on ants and a crackleback.

Good morning!

Luke and Craig along the Breeches

11″ Wild Brown

Codorus Creek

12 inch wild brown

Crackleback

Codorus Creek is a class “A” wild trout stream. The west branch is in the “trophy trout program” and is tailwater  from Lake Marburg. Even in the heat of summer the water is ice cold.

I did see some rising fish, but had no idea what they were rising to (not splashy rises). There were certainly plenty of bugs biting me!

I fished the section starting downstream of the Park near Porter’s station and caught 12 wild browns – a couple 12 inchers using a crackleback. A good day!

Picked up Tim Brookens at 5:00 am and headed for Spring Creek. The Tricos hatch is on!

We parked at Fly Fisherman’s paradise , walked upstream passed the no wading section and split up from there. We used 2 different tactics and both successful.

Spring Creek wild Brown

I fished the pools for rising fish sipping Tricos with a #28 midge and Tim fished the shallow riffles with a #12 Crackleback. We ended up with 17 fish between us. Tricos were done by 10:00.

We met back at the “Paradise” section for lunch by the “Spring”. Before Tim got back I got to meet with Joe Humphreys, Penn State fly fishing legend who just finished an interview session. Joe is 87 years old and still is an active fly fisherman and teacher.  I watched him catch a fish. Impressive!

Fishing Creek Brown

Tim Brookens changing to a BWO

Tim Brookens and I camped at Poe Paddy State Park for 2 nights with the intention of fishing Penns Creek. It was a bust! No bugs combined with high water temperature equals no action.

So, we decided to go to Fishing Creek. We caught a handful of fish in the morning (water slightly stained). I did land a 17″ Wild Brown on an elk hair caddis. Nice Fish! We fished through a thunderstorm in the afternoon.

It poured again during the night( my tent leaked just a little). We gave Spruce Creek (George Harvey section) a try on our way home but the rain clouded Spruce just enough to kill dry fly attempts. Hey, it’s all about the outing.

John Haney with 16″Brown

Slate Run Hog

Allegheny River colorful Bow

Hunter Haney with nice Brookie

Pine Creek:

We spent 10 days at the Rough Cut Lodge (www.roughcutlodge.com) in Gaines, Pa. mostly fishing Pine Creek. This was our 17th year for a family vacation here during early June. The hatches were heavy at the front end of our trip (Slate Drakes, Sulphurs, Olives, Caddis) but more sporadic later. Small Sulphurs (#18) seemed to work best and gray hackle flies for some reason. This was a great opportunity for some of the younger fly fishermen to catch fish.

Slate Run:

Ron Hill and I fished the Run a couple days and caught a handful of wild fish. We saw Slate Drakes, Sulphurs and Yellow Sallies but not in abundance. I managed to catch a 17″ Brown trout in the same place I caught a nice one 2 years ago. This one took a Slate Drake. We love “the run”.

Allegheny River:

The Allegheny River north of Coudersport has become one of our favorite spots. We made 3 trips here and had good success with limited hatches using Caddis, Crackle Backs and Slate Drakes. No big ones but caught some pretty Rainbows. Our lunch spot in the Pines always makes this a memorable experience.