Fishinng in the Keystone State -- Trip Report

Started by joe friday, January 03, 2022, 11:23:38 AM

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joe friday

My In-Laws live near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and we went to visit them over the new year's weekend.  I knew I didn't want to sit around the house for 3 days with lots of people I don't know very well, so I did some quick research and found a state forest with the PA equivalent to the the NC Blue Line.  They call it "Class A trout water" in the Keystone state.

It was about an hour's drive from their house to this creek in the Micheaux State Forest.  The creek isn't marked with signage like we have in NC for Wild Trout streams, and since it's so far away from most of us, I'll go ahead and say that it is referred to officially as a "run" rather than a creek.  A little bit of online research will put you on it if you want to visit and fish.

The "run" is intersected by a trail marked with these white blazes:

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The pools and pocket waters remind me very much of our NC blue line streams, but this particular run was not so steep, although quite rocky:

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The weather was unusually mild.  I think the temps were in the high 50s with overcast skies and no wind.  Climbing over the rocks and fishing kept me very warm. It felt good to be really hunting the fish, again. I started with a dry-dropper set up.  The fish were aggressively hitting my dry fly, so I cut off the nymph and let the dinky brookies go at it.  Lots of misses until I downsized my dry fly to something small enough for them to grab onto. 

Very shortly thereafter, I bagged my first Pennsylvania trout:

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They were all about the same size, but it was fun to see them hitting the fly, anyway.  This one hit and missed, then came back and got it on the 2nd try.

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I was standing in the run and happened to look down and saw this very blue rock in the water near my feet. Anyone know what type of rock this is?

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I finished with 5 trout and numerous misses, spooked a few I saw run for cover.  My day on the run gave me the strength to go back to the In-Laws' house and sit peacefully, while happily sipping Irish Whisky and listen to everyone else gossip about each other, and do all that family thing.   The food was edible, but up there the folks eat sauerkraut and pork roast instead of collards and black-eyed peas.  I do not approve of this as a substitute meal.
 
In sum, it was a good fishing trip.  I could not believe the warm weather.   

Tight lines to all and happy new year.





Dee-Vo

The thing I dislike most about holidays are seeing and visiting the weird in-laws whom I don't know and never will care to.

Glad you got some on the dry. I visited PA for steelhead a few weeks ago. There's a creek or two there I'd like to get into.

Dry fly is my thing this year. I'm putting in the time this go-around.

That stone is gorgeous. I'm interested in seeing what it is.

Good show. Nice work. Sweet brookies.

Dougfish

White blaze = Appalachian Trail.
Right hand wind guy.  'c;
Medalist 1492 1/2.  'c;
Starting the year off right. 'c;
"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
 Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change? "
Kelly's Heroes,1970

"I don't wanna go to hell,
But if I do,
It'll be 'cause of you..."
Strange Desire, The Black Keys, 2006

rbphoto

Nice little run there!  Brookies are such fun.

The stone looks like turquoise.  Definitely traces of it in PA.

Nice New Year's trip.

Raymond
"maybe procrastination is another word for fishing..." ben
"Just butchered my first silk kitty...." Wooly Bugger  January 26, 2018, 12:41:27 PM
You can't land an otter on 7x. Now I know - Dougfish

Fishbug

Medalist and right hand retrieve?!----Doug have two accounts?!

Kingman stone is my educated googled guess.

PA looks like a fishy state.


Phil

Love brookies, no matter what size. Good work and pretty jewels (the rock is pretty too)!  'c;

driver

Looks like typical PA brookie water. What town are they in? My in-laws are about an hour west of Harrisburg.

joe friday

Quote from: driver on January 04, 2022, 22:04:48 PMLooks like typical PA brookie water. What town are they in? My in-laws are about an hour west of Harrisburg.

They actually live in Mechanicsburg, one block south of Trindle Road.  There's a PA fish hatchery about 2 blocks from their house. 

It's a pretty area.  I like Boiling Springs and Carlisle. 

Stone-Man


Yallerhammer

How do you like that Classic Trout rod? I just bought one in 8'6" 3-wt, haven't had a chance to fish it yet.
Women want me, doughbellies fear me. - Little Debbie Prostaff

joe friday

Quote from: Yallerhammer on February 02, 2022, 11:19:50 AMHow do you like that Classic Trout rod? I just bought one in 8'6" 3-wt, haven't had a chance to fish it yet.

I found it to have a quicker action than I expected, so I do like it quite a lot.  I was using a fenwick glass rod, which I inherited, but found it a bit whippy.  I'll still use the fenwick from time-to-time.  I had paired the new rod with an older JC Higgins reel, earlier this summer for fishing up in the smokey mtns and enjoyed it.

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Trout Maharishi

"We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."
― Charles Bukowski

joe friday


Dougfish

Nicely done.

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"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
 Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change? "
Kelly's Heroes,1970

"I don't wanna go to hell,
But if I do,
It'll be 'cause of you..."
Strange Desire, The Black Keys, 2006

Beetle