New Water

It is understandable that on fishing trips that require 10 hours or more in the car that one wants to fish where one knows there are fish. But, one will never experience anything new if one always fishes the same water.

On nearly every trip to State College I try to fish someplace I haven't tried before. More often than not these excursions come up empty. But if one doesn't try, one never learns. So on Sunday morning -- Father's Day -- I explored a new stretch of the Little Juniata. The sun was coming up as I pulled into the fishermen's parking lot upstream of the town of Spruce Creek. The river was out of sight so I had no idea what to expect as I walked through a brackish slough that likely held water from the spring floods. The trail ended at a spit of gravel just downstream of an island to my left. To the right was a wide stretch of flat water that showed no signs of life.

I decided to start at the faster water against the far bank that squeezed past the narrow island. I could easily cover the run with roll casts as I stood with the wooded island at my back. A brown trout inhaled the nymph riding under the caddis fly and I landed it with high hopes of more to follow as I worked my way upstream. But the 20 yards of water produced no more fish.

I worked my way back downstream as the sun started to heat up the morning air. Downstream there was an occasional ring expanding across the flat water's surface. I waited and watched. Several more rings provided all of the incentive I needed to hike downstream. The bank was high and tangled with trees and brush, so I decided to slowly walk down in the river. I tried to limit my wake and quietly walked to a deadfall up against the bank to tie on a dry fly and wait for the fish to resume surfacing.

The fish in the middle and against the far bank were clearly small, but I didn't mind. They were rising and I had a chance to catch trout on a dry fly. I tied on an x-wing caddis on 6X tippet and slowly worked my way into casting distance. I paused again and waited. I could see large boulders under the water's surface that were undoubtedly providing shelter to the small trout. I cast above the boulders and let the fly drift back toward me. I was pleasantly surprised when a brown trout rose quickly, slashed at the fly and then returned to the depths. A few moments later another trout hit the fly and put up a little fight before coming to hand. That routine would repeat itself for the next hour or so. I would cast to a rising trout, the trout would rise to the caddis and more often than not the fight was on. I was alone on the water, except for the ever-present trains.

As the sun rose higher the fish became less willing to rise to the surface. I slowly worked my way upstream, noting that the river remained deeper against the far bank. I have a feeling this stretch is very popular during a sulphur hatch. I switched to a beetle as I started to fish under the trees that lined the opposite bank from the island. Near the spot where I had caught my first brown trout earlier that morning, another larger trout rose quickly and went back to the bottom. I cast the beetle under the tree where the trout had just surfaced and was rewarded with a solid strike. The chunky brown exited the water three times before coming to the rocky shore. I released him and a few minutes later reluctantly walked back to the car.

This water was no longer new. I looked forward to fishing it again.

Trains and Trout

The piercing screech of steel wheels rolling down steel tracks fills the valley every 25 minutes or so nearly drowning out the rushing water of the Little Juniata. The red, yellow and and white cars pulled by the Norfolk Southern engines zip by, their reflection coloring the clear waters of one Pennsylvania’s best trout streams.

Trains disrupt solitude on the Little J. By mid-June the sulphur hatches are history and most anglers are headed to other rivers. After walking downstream from the town of Spruce Creek I’ve only seen two other anglers, and they headed downstream out of sight. I fished along the Espy Farm stretch. Espy Farm is part of the Spring Ridge Club, which is more than a little notorious in fly fishing circles. Spring Ridge unsuccessfully tried to close this stretch of the Little J to public access. Its business model is to offer “private fishing” on what has been historically public waters. While I can understand their stated goals of conservation. But as Aldo Leopold said, Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. Spring Ridge has created plenty of disharmony while trying to conserve. I don’t begrudge the people of Spring Ridge their rights, I just wish they’d find a way to balance them with public’s right to enjoy public waters. I like fishing in the shadow of the farm. I like reminding the owners that it is our water too. And it is a beautiful spot that doesn’t require a long hike. And this evening I am eager to be fishing, not walking. I’ve been on the road nearly five hours. I worked the phone most of the trip and it’s time to let the waters wash away all thoughts of work.

Sporadic hatches of cahills and slate drakes brought a few trout to the surface and I was able to entice them with the imitations I had picked up from Spruce Creek Outfitters. Allan Bright knows his stuff and it’s always worth stopping in to say hello when fishing the Little J. It has been at least a year since I had anything resembling success on dry flies. Sadly dark came before I was ready to shut it down. I walked back upstream, carefully using my wading staff to keep my balance on limestone shelves and rocky bottom.

Another train roared by. I’d dream that night of trains and trout.

Lucky Seven with Eric Stroup?

In my 30 plus years of fly fishing I've had the pleasure of fishing with six different guides in California, Utah, Montana, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New York. Every experience has been good, but I've yet to have a great guide experience. I'm hoping that will change Saturday when I get to spend the day with Eric Stroup of the Spruce Creek Fly Co. Eric's new book, Common-Sense Fly Fishing, has paid for itself many times over and I review his tips nearly every evening -- if I cannot be fishing, I might as well pretend. The book is a godsend for anglers like me that don't get enough fishing time in to hone our limited skills. Following Eric's tips and strategies has allowed me to spend more time this spring catching fish and less time pondering what the heck is going on in the stream.

And that's what a good guide does; he strips away all of the distractions and helps the "sport" focus on what it takes to hook a fish. The first guide I fished with said he could help me hook a fish, but landing them was pretty much up to me. And after fishing with multiple guides, I've decided that's pretty much captures things. There are a ton of factors that are beyond a guide's control -- weather, flows, hatches etc. and the "sport" needs to accept that reality. But the good guides know where the trout hang out and the techniques required to get at least a few to strike. And the best guides share enough information to enlighten and entertain the "sport."

After listening to Eric speak earlier this year in Cleveland and after reading his book, I'm pretty sure I'll be enlightened and entertained. And I'm pretty sure he'll be able to show me where the trout hang out on the Little J and surrounding streams. But whether it turns into a great guided trip is really going to be up to me and all those factors outside our control. And right now the "weather" factor doesn't look promising with scattered thunderstorms forecasted for Friday/Saturday. And the flows are looking pretty low. Yep, I'm trying to prepare myself for things not living up to expectations. But I will stay optimistic tha the fish gods will smile on guided trip number 7.

Thank You Allan Bright of Spruce Creek Outfitters

If you are like me and only have a few chances to stream trout fish a year, then you know how important it is to get helpful advice from the locals. Allan Bright at Spruce Creek Outfitters provides just such advice in a no nonsense, direct fashion.

I called him twice during the week to check on conditions and both times he assured me the evening hatches were done and the conditions would be iffy. No sugarcoating. I arrived at his shop on the banks of the Little Juniata about 4:30 p.m. on Friday and he cautioned not to have too high of hopes. He handed me a few promising nymphs and a cahill spinner. One of the nymphs was a simple pheasant tail bead head, but with a casing and legs made of copper flashabou, rather than pheasant.

He encouraged me to start with a green weenie with the pheasant tail about a foot behind.

That combination worked just fine in the slightly murky water of the Little J. I landed my first brown trout shortly after starting to fish in the runs above the church. It's a heavily fished area, but I didn't want to spend any more time driving. And Allan's little nymph, green weenie and a caddis nymph Allan recommended all resulted in trout being landed before nightfall. One small trout slapped at the Cahill spinner at dusk, but no other rises could be generated. Nonetheless it was a productive Friday night on the Little J thanks to Allan Bright and Spruce Creek Outfitters.

Sadly, rain pounded the area that night and the Little J wouldn't fish again this weekend.