# A Trip to Michaux and Gettysburg



## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

I'm headed to the Gettysburg area next week for a few days of historical sight seeing and fly fishing.

I've never been there, but from what I've read, the nearby Michaux National Forest is a beautiful area with some nice stocked streams.

I was wondering if anyone here has ever fished the area, and if they might have some hints or suggestions as to fly patterns, conditions, rod weights, leader lengths, etc. 

Also, any suggestions as to nice spots along the way between Akron and Gettysburg would be helpful as well. I've got five days, so I'm not in a hurry.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

I've never personally been there, but do know about the fishing somewhat. Michaux is supposed to be pretty good for wild brookies. The famous Letort Spring Run is in Carlisle. It might be out of the way though depending on what route you're taking. Big Spring Creek isn't that far in the town of Newville, which has wild bows, browns, and brookies(big ones too). 

If you're planning on taking 80 on the way there, then I would highly advise stopping at the streams around State College, Spring Creek, Penns Creek, and Big Fishing Creek are the main ones, and theres also a bunch of little brookie streams around there.

If you're driving through Pittsburgh and the souther part of the state the Yough might be an option, but it's pretty big water.

I'm going to be visiting family in Philly this summer and want to do the ultimate PA trout trip on the way there and back, fishing all those famous limestoners and all. I can't wait!

Oh and have fun! Be sure to tell us how you do!


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## fishmerf (Mar 28, 2008)

There is plenty of water between here and there. I would post this question on Paflyfish.com. You would probably get a more informed answer.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. 

Nick... you mentioned Spring Creek... is this the same Spring Creek that runs up near Marienville?


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

No, it's the Spring Creek in State College, a limestone spring creek. One of PA's most famous and arguably the best trout stream in the state. 

I agree with fishmerf, ask on Paflyfish. Lots of good guys on there that will help out.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

Thanks, Nick.

I'll check out Spring Creek.

I've also taken the advice and joined PAFly as suggested. Seems like lots of good info over there.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

One more question, Nick...

It's been so long since I fished for speckies, is there a particular time of morning, day or evening where you find them to be most active? Or is it pretty much a "follow the hatch" kind of thing?

And..

This time of year, should I be using mainly dry patterns or are they still taking bottom bugs at this point?


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Usually when the water temp is on the cold side, say from November through March/April maybe, the best times would usually be midday/afternoon. Right now I'd say anytime during the day will be fine since we've been getting some warmer weather. 

I never really "match the hatch" when fishing little brookie streams because they really aren't picky. You can pretty much use any dry and it will work, just be stealthy and don't spook the fish. I would still bring a bunch of different dries just incase there happens to be a hatch and the fish are keying in on those bugs, but thats not likely to happen on those tiny infertile streams. This time of year I would start out fishing dries, but if you aren't getting any topwater action then try a nymph, or a green weenie which is an excellent brookie fly. You should get some action on top though. Heck last year at the end of November I caught multiple brookies on foam hoppers! Although the dry fly fishing didn't pick up until later in the day. 

This weekend hopefully will be my first brookie adventure of the year, and also might hit a small wild bow and brown stream too. I'll let you know how I do.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

I arrived in State College yesterday afternoon, had time to hit Spring Creek for several hours before dark.

Browns are rising like crazy, although I managed to hook up wiith only 2... one was caught on a #16 elk hair and the other on a #18 Hendrickson.

I've never experienced that kind of surface action before with such a small number of strikes. They're rising all around me, but not showig interest in what I'm throwing, and I've tried virtually everything; gingers, sulfurs, BWO's, mayflies, emergers, etc. My guess is that they are feeding on bugs that are very tiny.. I don't have anything that small in my box. LOL

Thunderstorms had moved through the night before I arrived, and while Spring Creek had good clarity and flow rate (apparently Spring Creek recovers pretty quickly) the other nearby streams like Penn and Spruce are still looking pretty murky.

I'm going to fish a bit more here today and then get out of town before the masses move in for Penn State's graduation ceremonies this weekend.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

trip update:

I'm now in Chambersberg, which is about a half hour west of Gettysburg.

Last night I fished the Conewago, a beautiful little stream between Chambersburg and Gettysburg off Rt. 30; conditions were near perfect - clarity and flow were great. I didn't see any rises so I tied on a few nymphs under a very small indicator.

After trying a few different patterns ( copperjohn, prince, etc) I picked up two 12" rainbows and one 9" brown using a # 18 sulphur nymph/emerger.
All fish were returned healthy and happy to fight another day. 

Today I'm going to head up through the Michaux forest towards Carlisle to visit a fly shop and get an idea of possible brookie spots and patterns.

Great weather, people have been very helpful and nice, the scenery is wonderful and I'm having a ball.


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

Arrived back in Akron late last night; had to drive through some pretty bad storms on the way, but it was worth it.

I have to say that this trip was one of the most rewarding fishing trips I've ever had; not only in fish caught, but in scenery as well, along with very friendly anglers I met along the banks, and fly shop owners I met along the way.

Trout total was 22 for 4 1/2 days of fishing, with a great mix of brookies, browns and rainbows of sizes from 4" up to 15" and everything in between.

I was very impressed at how healthy and vibrantly colored the trout were, but that's not surprising considering how beautiful the streams were that they were living in.

I found one particular stream, Clark's Creek (west of Harrisburg) that was an absolute dream. The water was gin-clear, a great selection of riffles, holes, back flows and slow water, flowing through beautiful hemlocks lining the stream, and holding gorgeous browns and brookies in a fly fishing only stretch. I picked up a 12" brown on my very first cast, and for the next hour I caught two 10" - 12" brookies and another three 9"-15" browns. All fish at that particular stretch were caught using a #18 and #16 black zebra midge, fished under a very small ball of bio-strike indicator putty.

Other beautiful streams fished were Spring Creek in State College (Thanks Nick!!) the Conewago (between Chambersburg and Gettysburg), Clark's Creek (as mentioned above between Harrisburg and Lewiston), and Mountain Creek and Yellow Breeches (near Boiling Springs).

All fish caught were returned healthy and vibrant to fight another day.

If anyone here is ever considering a trip to the central/ south central region of PA for flyfishing, PM me... 
I have some great suggestions as to stream locations, patterns and methods, along with the locations of two fantastic fly shops - TCO in State College, and Yellow Breeches Outfitters in Boiling Springs - where the staff are very friendly, helpful, and as enthusiastic about fly fishing as we are.

What a great trip!!!

-Donny


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## ThunderHawk7 (May 3, 2004)

Great Log!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Glad you had a great time! Enjoyed all the updated reports too.


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## fishmerf (Mar 28, 2008)

Don, this was a very enjoyable read. Pennsylvannia has so much fishable water that it is ridiculous. Thanks for taking us along.
Merf


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

One last thing I neglected to mention, gang..

If you are planning on hitting the areas that I mentioned, you're gonna want to take 2 separate fly rod rigs... 

I have a St Croix 9 foot 5 wt that was great for streams like Spring Creek; but I also have a Daiwa 5 foot 4wt that worked out _*much*_ better on the smaller streams like Clark's Creek and the Conewago; these smaller streams have a lot of overhang (mostly hemlock and rhodedendron), so a shorter rod works much better... and even then you _still_ need to use combinations of side casts, flip casts and roll casts to get to those spots where the fish are without hanging up in the brush.

The longer the leader, the better, because those fish are _very_ wary and get spooked easily. I was using a 9 ft / 3.7 lb tapered leader, and then attaching a 2' length of 2.5 lb tippet to minimize the disturbance on the water... 

But, because the leader and tippet were so long, it also made it more possible to hang up in the trees and brush. On some of those little pockets, I was actually "flipping" the nymph into the water without releasing any actual fly line at all. If you need to use an indicator (I do because my eyes aren't what they used to be) *use the smallest indicator possible*. 

I ended up using a small ball of orange bio-strike indicator putty, about the size of a dime, (anything bigger will most likely just spook the fish) placed about 4' up the line from the nymph. Your placement may vary depending on depth and flow of the water.

Again, if anyone has any plans to fish these areas, I'd be more than happy to give pointers and suggestions as to all the things I learned on this trip, as well as directions to the spots I found. PM me anytime for info. 

-Donny


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