Destination: State College, PA Fishing Creek

Part 2 is all about Fishing Creek. Fishing Creek became my favorite home river this year. There are so many advantages in my mind to being on that river. The most important is the peace.. On Fishing Creek there aren't people every where and you don't feel like you have to cover your fishing hole because people don't low hole you there. The fish are bigger and they are smarter. It's a challenge every time you fish it and that makes it awesome.


The best hatch, in my oppinion, on Fishing Creek is the Grannom hatch. It is the first major hatch of the season and it's your best bet to find some dumb, hungry fish. This year it was tremendous fishing, the fish were hungry, and the water boiled. I had my best Pennsylvania days on Fishing Creek during the Grannom Hatch. This year it was late March into early April. The prime time this year was the first week of April. That said it's usually a little later than that, but everything was early this year. 


Now let's give it over to Pat Williams, for some more of his infamous fish porn and some good stories from this year on Fishing Creek. 


This collection is from Fishing Creek fish caught at the end of spring (about May 25 – June 25). It should be clearly stated though that Penns Creek is in no way fishable now due to high water temps, and probably won’t be until early fall. All of these pics were taken from fish caught on top using my own adaptations (to mayflies, stoneflies, or similar caddisflies) using that widow's web wing material, similar to that clacka caddis pattern I gave you guys earlier tied by Walter Wiese at Parks Fly Shop in Gardiner, MT. They were also all caught around dusk or at night. Below are stories/captions for each photo.

This fish was caught on Fishing Creek during an evening filled with dark blue sedge fluttering over the water. I’ve only caught this fish once, but I know where its home is, and I can always instantly ID it by that beacon of a flaming red tail. It’s not the largest fish, but more of a further example to illustrate just how pretty Fishing Creek trout can get. It was sipping bugs under a tree branch hanging over the water, providing it protection via wiry branches, creating a dome-like structure over its feeding lie. However, there was an opening in the front, and a cast with a slack leader about 5 ft upstream allowed for the perfect drag-free drift to this feeding brown. It was taken on a #12 black caddis pattern.

The next day (after the red-tailed fish was caught), this brown was caught under a similar tree branch structure sipping dark blue sedge in the evening. It was feeding literally right on the bank, and took the same fly as the red-tailed fish. For once, I was not fishing in my typical solo psychopath fashion, and was with someone else that day. I would like to thank Andy Reynolds for taking this shot.

I thought I was lucky the first time I got a large tiger on Fishing Creek, but this second one confirms that the horseshoe is still firmly imbedded in my ass. This one was not as big as the last (about 13”), but it was every bit as unique. I caught this one on top with a #14 light cahill pattern just after dark at about 9:30. There were lots of risers right before dark, but this one started eating very aggressively right as the last light of the day was fading. I actually fished this same spot about 10 days later and once again caught this tiger after dark on top, this time on a #14 rusty spinner.

This is another angle of the same tiger which highlights its insane kype. This thing literally started to bend right after the crease in its mouth and at no point stopped its curvature. I would say that relative to the lateral line of the fish, the point at the bottom of its jaw was probably bent upwards at least 45 degrees, something I have never seen on a 13” fish. This tiger even developed a small notch in its upper jaw just so it could semi keep its mouth closed. The first tiger I got on Fishing Creek was much more pretty, but this one was UGLY, which sometimes is just as good.