A week in the mountains of PA

[Steeldrifter 0]

Well it's been a busy few weeks for me here lately. Started out with a week on the Au Sable a couple weeks back, then was back home for a few days and then went back up to the Au Sable over memorial day weekend for 3 days. Then was back home for a mere 10hrs from that trip before Bob showed up Tuesday morning at 8am so we could make the 8hr drive East to the mountains of PA for about a week of fishing with a group of about 15 guys and staying in a beautiful lodge. Just got home from that trip last night and all I can say is WOW what a great trip that was! This report will be a bit long but bear with me and I hope you enjoy the pics and story as much as I enjoyed doing this trip.

 

We started out making the 8hr drive from Michigan to North Central PA arrived around mid day at the lodge. Normally I don't like to ride so far on trips but it's nice to take a long road trip for fishing at least once a year because the long drive just adds to the whole "adventure" feel of a good trip sometimes. When we pulled up at the lodge the first thing I hear is Randy (Bigdadyrods) yelling out the kitchen window ""It's about damn time you Michigan guys finally got here" lol... some of the guys were already there and I was just blown away by how cool the lodge actually was. Lets start off with some pics of the inside of the lodge.

 

The stone fireplace in our living room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of our dinning areas

 

 

 

 

Probably the best thing about the lodge itself was that it wasn't one of those places where there's different groups of people staying in the same place. This place was a huge home/cabin and when we rent it then its all ours and there's no one else but our group in it so that was a nice thing. And the food.....MY GOD there was enough food to feed a small country for a year. Randy is one hell of a good cook and he and Bruce made sure that none of us went hungry on this trip that's for sure....Steak, potatoes, Eggs, Bacon, Pancakes, Pasta, deep fried Turkeys, Ham, Cakes, Cookies, Cobler, ice creak...you name it and these guys brought it! Lets just say we ate WELL and leave it at that I guess.

 

Now onto the important part...fishing.

 

Since our fishing license didn't start till the next morning we decided to just tag along with Randy to see where he was fishing and take in a bit of the structure of the water that evening before we decided where to fish the next morning. So we went with Randy to the Little Pine and looked over that water. The water there was very fast, smaller and more pocket water, really a pretty little setting to fish in but being a couple of Michigan boys we are use to larger/slower/deeper water here in Michigan and when in doubt you always resort to what you know. So after watching Randy for a bit we decided to look around for some more "familiar" waters that we are use to fishing. With the help of Randy the next morning (after a HUGE breakfast) Randy pointed us in the direction of a spot on the Big Pine that was more the water style we are use to. We fished this water for about 2-3 hrs and went fish-less for the most part, I believe Bob took a small bow but that was about it at this spot. So after a few hrs we loaded up and moved down to another spot on the Big Pine and took a look at the water there, and as luck would have it...Bingo! this spot looked just like water we are use to fishing here in Michigan. It was just below river bank to river bank riffle and it flatend out to a real slow moving long deeper run against the far bank, looked like a perfect place to find some big brown trout. My goal on this trip was to take a 18"-20" brown on a small dry fly and that was my main goal, the number of fish caught didn't matter to me, I just wanted to go to PA and catch one big brown on a small dry and I would be happy, and this place looked like a good place to make that happen.

 

So we rigged up and waded in and immediately saw a hatch of #16-#18 Sulphur's coming off and fish taking them, it was game on! Bob was the first to hook up and take a nice fat 13" brown on a dry. so the ice was broken. About 15 mins later I hooked up with my very first PA brown trout on a #18 Sulpur and had my first fish in the net, about a 13" brown trout.

 

 

Right after that I saw a bit larger fish taking Sulpurs and could tell by the head up then tail up rise that it was not a huge fish, but it was a bit larger than the first one. So after watching him rise a few times in the same spot I timed the next rise and cast my #18 Suplur about 4ft upstream of him. The fly drifted about 3-4ft and the fish took it without hesitation, it was a nice stocky 14-15" brown.

 

 

With two decent browns in the net I was already happy with the morning, but then I noticed a fish rising literally right behind one of the guys in our group. It couldn't have been but about 15ft behind and to the side of him which was just off to my right and in front of me. So I stripped out about 20' of line and cast to the spot where I thought he should be rising again and the fish just exploded on the fly. After a brief battle I was ready to call it "decent brown" #3 when I noticed it was in fact a very nice sized brook trout....BONUS!

 

About a foot long Brookie in the net now.

 

 

 

 

Having three decent fish to hand and missing a few others we decided it was time to head back to the lodge and partake in a good meal which Randy didn't let us down, again the food was amazing thanks to Randy & Bruce.

 

After dinner it was time to head back for the evening hatch and hope some bigger fish would be rising. So we rigged up and went back to our positions in the run. Again fish were rising and we started taking some nice ones such as this brown and rainbow I took in the first hour of the evening.

 

 

 

I was happy with the fish we were catching but it was just about the end of the first day and would be dark soon and I still hadn't accomplished my goal of a 18-20" brown on a dry. I knew it might not happen but I was going to try my best to do it. So I waded a bit farther upstream where I saw a few decent trout rising and postitioned myself just a tad upstream of them and watched for a few minutes to see if I could tell if they had any size to them. After watching a fish or two rise that I thought were probably in the 13-15" range I then saw a larger nose of a fish come up and then the flash of buttery golden brown as he turned back down to the river bottom. That was the fish I was looking for right there. So I waited for a minute or two to see if he would rise again and he did, nose up, flash and back down out of sight. After about 30 seconds I cast out about 25' of line and missed the drift I wanted to that fish and had a smaller fish take my fly. He was on for a few seconds and then popped off which was fine with me since I was after the other larger fish. The larger fish came up again and I was happy to see that I didn't spook him with the splash of the smaller fish, so I waited a few seconds and cast the #18 Suplur yet again, this time it dirfted right where I wanted it and in about 4ft of drift I saw the larger nose come up out of the water and the flash as the fish turned so set the hook and soon as I did that the water just boiled and my heart started pumping fast, a good fish on! I was only using 6x tippet and this fish was making runs and bulldogging me pretty good so I was just trying not to put that much pressure on him and pray that the tippet held. Every time I would get him to the net he would see it and then run about 8ft away from me, I'd get close and he'd do it again and again. He did this probably 6-8 times before I finally was able to get his head up and slide the net under him. Looking down in my net I saw a good 18" of beautifully colored male brown trout with my little #18 Suplpur on a 6x tippet right in the corner of his mouth, I had accomplished my goal on the very first day and was now 100% happy, didn't matter if I didn't catch anymore fish the rest of the trip, I was happy (although I did catch more fish lol).

 

18" of beautiful brown trout

 

 

After releasing that fish there were still fish rising and I probably could have taken more, but I was happy with the fish I just landed so I hooked my fly on the hook keeper and headed back to the lodge to relax and see how everyone else did.

 

The next morning Ralph joined us and was into a nice brown right off the bat

 

 

After the fish on dries the first day I decided to go to streamers since that's how I like to fish back home In Michigan and it seemed to be the right choice as most guys fishing dries did okay but not a ton of fish rising. I ended up with a bunch of fish chasing and following the size 4 bunny leech and started taking fish on that from that point on.

 

Some streamer eating browns

 

 

 

 

 

This fish missed the streamer the first time but I saw the long golden flash and a quick heavy thud as me missed it but figured he didnt feel the hook so I went right back in the same spot with the bunny leech and on the second time around he absolutely CRUSHED the streamer. Taped out at about 16.5"

 

 

 

 

I'll end this post with some random pics of some more fish and great scenery. All I can say it this trip was GREAT. The fishing was pretty good for me, the guys/friendship was amazing, the food was just out of this world and Randy is one hell of a good cook. These guys put on one hell of a great outing and I look forward to getting back together with them all next year hopefully. Unless that is if Randy is not in jail for killing the last known Great Eastern TuTu bird in existence :wasnt me:

 

Some more pics and a cool vid I put together of the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a cool vid of the trip as well

 

 

Steve

[Flytyer14 0]

Looks like great fun!! You get to fish all week!?!! I'm lucky to get out once a month.

[Mr. Steelhead 0]

As a Pennsylvanian, I am glad you had a wonderful time in our fair Commonwealth. We surely do have a lot of very beautiful waters to fish.

[paoutdoorsministry 0]

Great video, and great pics!

This is not to far from where I live. As a child and young man my parents had a camper 1 mile below Slate Run. I spent all summer, every summer for many years in that valley. The waters I am most familar with are from Cammal to Cedar run.

Were you right in Waterville? I cant tell from the pics where that bridge is located.

Glad you had a good time in Pa., and accomplished your goal.

Big pine is magical, I love that stream. The stream does hold much bigger trout; I have a 21 3/4 brown on the wall. :headbang:

[lykos33 0]

<-----<<< JEALOUS!!! just kidding, looks like a great trip and everyone had a ball....good to see!!

[lykos33 0]

<-----<<< JEALOUS!!! just kidding, looks like a great trip and everyone had a ball....good to see!!

[James Daly2 0]

Welcom to PA! Glad you had a great time. I feel very blessed and fortunate to reside here.

[JSzymczyk 0]

Amen, I was born and raised here and then it took me 22 years to get back. Now I'm staying. Lots of stupid taxes and even more stupid laws to deal with, but the fishing more than makes up for it.

[TOM PRUETT 0]

NICE FISH!!!!! I would love to do that with my sons

[sandflyx 0]

looks like you had a great trip, though randy should have brought you above the canyon for a day of green, brown, and yellow drake fishing..Just wait till he stops in again....lol.....

[Ridleyffo 0]

Good Deal Steve. Another six hours east and we could have you in the salt come fall!!!!!!. What were the water temps there last week?

[Flytyer14 0]

I lived in Butler PA over by pittsburg for 3 years. Great place to live.