S.E. Pennsylvania fly fishing

[Al Agelwei 0]

Flyfishig Little Lehigh has a ton of big brooks and browns in the fly fishing only/no harvest section. They’re in thick, but they’re tuff. In S.E. PA? Give it a shot. One word. “Midges”.

[Mark Knapp 0]

6 hours ago, Al Agelwei said:

Flyfishig Little Lehigh has a ton of big brooks and browns in the fly fishing only/no harvest section. They’re in thick, but they’re tuff. In S.E. PA? Give it a shot. One word. “Midges”.

I don't believe it, show us pictures. 😁

[Al Agelwei 0]

2 months ago the nursery next to to got flooded. The workers cut the net coverings off the runs so they didn’t get gill netted, and now they’re all in the creek. Not my fault, but I don’t feel bad fishin for them. They’re picky as hell.

[Al Agelwei 0]

Oh, I just saw you’re from Alaska. Beautiful land. We do stuff a bit different in S.E. Pa. If it wasn’t for the fish commission, we wouldn’t have a reason to buy a fly rod. Unless we’re traveling to northern Pa or maybe Alaska.

[Mark Knapp 0]

1 hour ago, Al Agelwei said:

2 months ago the nursery next to to got flooded. The workers cut the net coverings off the runs so they didn’t get gill netted, and now they’re all in the creek. Not my fault, but I don’t feel bad fishin for them. They’re picky as hell.

What a fortunate turn of events for you. Have fun. Welcome to the site too.

[Al Agelwei 0]

Thanks bud. Like I said,it’s a no harvest/fly fishing only stream, it never get.’she stocked, and it floods over every 2 years o so. I will try to get you some pics though.

[Rocco 0]

So the stockies that got flushed into the river are selective feeders and hard to catch?  That brood strain sounds way different than what usually comes out of the hatchery trucks. Unless of course their jaws hold hundreds of hook scars acquired since being introduced two months ago.  That might indeed lead to a more than dead flat learning curve. 

 

[Poopdeck 0]

Those familiar with SE PA know the little Lehigh well as it's one of the top streams in the area and one of the best for both numbers and size in the state. We also know that the vast majority of trout are wild and the minority of trout are stocked. We also know that it is classified as a class A wild stream. We also know that the stream gets hammered because of its closeness to Allentown and those in the populated SE portion of the state including Philadelphia which is about an hour away. We know that the numerous trout in the river are exceptionally selective irregardless of stocked or wild because of the constant angling pressure. In fact, in PA there are plenty of wild class A streams where one can go and catch trout like sunfish in a pond. The little Lehigh is not one of those many shooting fish in a barrel PA streams regardless if your catch is stocked or wild trout. We also know the legendary Al's rat was created for this stream because of the trouts selectivity and the year round midge fishing on the little Lehigh. It's the reason why Al's rat is one of my favorite flies on any trout stream. Al's rat is also a proven performer on the notoriously difficult Valley Creek. 

Welcome aboard Al. I was unaware of the accident but I'm sure even with the influx of stocked trout, the trout fishing is still difficult on the Little Lehigh.

[cphubert 0]

2nd Al's rat, great fly for the film - always have a few in brown, red, & green  #22's 🤫

[Al Agelwei 0]

Thanks poopdeck. Glad someone gets it. If you spend an 8 hour day there and leave with 2 fish to your credit of any size, you had a good day, And how many people can say they sat at the table were the Al’s trico was invented. Or the pool where the Leisenring lift was perfected. These trout spread out Quick, and they get pounded every day hard. They need a fin full of Xanax to get through a normal day. Most of the time if you’re fishin with a size 18, you’re fishin way too big, and if you forgot your 8x,you may as wejj go home. My best fly for that creek is a size 26 midge on 8x tippet one foot off the bottom, because these fish rarely rise, even in a fuii blown trico spinner fall. But most of all, if it wasn’t for the fish commissions fish, us guys in S.E.pa would sit around with our thumbs up our asses all year because there wouldn’t be a trout worth catching within 75 miles. Not quite as predictable as a steaihead run or the Alaska trout season, but it’s all we got, and if you guys would spend an 8 hour day with me, I think by the end of the day you’d be pulling your hair out. I may even show you a thing or two. After all day, you finally got the only 4 pounder to bite,you gotta hope that1.4 lb line don’t break as he screams away from you, or that #26 fly don’t pop out, which is usually what happens. I often leave that creek talkin to myself, but I keep going back because sometimes I win. Look, I plan on staying on this site tot a while, so let’s not laugh at how easy each others fishing is, ok? I do actually hit some blue ribbon trout streams in pa, and I’m actually pretty good, self taught from before I knew what a leader was. And did I mention I’m on disability for being over 50% blind? Let’s just have a good time getting to know each other on this friendly little web site of ours.

[Poopdeck 0]

I'm not a serious trout fisherman. Growing up it was all I fished for because of my proximity to the little Lehigh and a hunting cabin in an area loaded with wild trout streams. Wild trout at the hunting cabin were silly easy to catch and I bored of it and by my early 20's stopped trout fishing almost all together with the exception of opening day which was a family tradition on par with the opening of deer. Deaths in the family have reduced the trout fishing opener to cherished memories. I haven't fished the little Lehigh in ten or more years but it has always been notoriously fickle. It has always been thought of as a poor trout fishery by anglers but every time there is a study done everybody is blown away by the numbers and size of trout in the creek. 

I wont give any credit to the fish commission because it really bothers me how they spend so much money raising and dumping trout in warm water streams where they have no chance of surviving. Seems to me they should raise warm water fish to dump in the warm water creeks. The little Lehigh stockers can and do survive in the cold limestone streams and do live long enough to become conditioned to angling pressure which really doesn't take that long. The little Lehigh is proof of this. 

[Al Agelwei 0]

I hear you on the fish commission. They don’t do southern pa any favors, Every game warden that comes down to southern pa will look you right in the face and tell you they hate coming down here,and some will rejoice you that if it was up to them they wouldn’t come south or the turnpike. Thanks for ripping those facts like that. I didn’t even know who one guy was.his favorite fish is steajhead. If only he knew that a steajhead run is almost cheating compared to the lil Lehigh on lockjaw.. And they are making fun of a 57% blind man for trying to catch a fish. Lguess they feel good now, so let them. Thanks for helpin out though. If you don’t Ming, I’ll be following you. So much for my 1st day on this site. I did get a message from I believe a higher up type of guy.. He said he’s keeping an eye on the situation,but I don’t even know who he is.

[Sandan 0]

On 10/6/2020 at 3:35 AM, Al Agelwei said:

Thanks poopdeck. Glad someone gets it. If you spend an 8 hour day there and leave with 2 fish to your credit of any size, you had a good day, And how many people can say they sat at the table were the Al’s trico was invented. Or the pool where the Leisenring lift was perfected. These trout spread out Quick, and they get pounded every day hard. They need a fin full of Xanax to get through a normal day. Most of the time if you’re fishin with a size 18, you’re fishin way too big, and if you forgot your 8x,you may as wejj go home. My best fly for that creek is a size 26 midge on 8x tippet one foot off the bottom, because these fish rarely rise, even in a fuii blown trico spinner fall. But most of all, if it wasn’t for the fish commissions fish, us guys in S.E.pa would sit around with our thumbs up our asses all year because there wouldn’t be a trout worth catching within 75 miles. Not quite as predictable as a steaihead run or the Alaska trout season, but it’s all we got, and if you guys would spend an 8 hour day with me, I think by the end of the day you’d be pulling your hair out. I may even show you a thing or two. After all day, you finally got the only 4 pounder to bite,you gotta hope that1.4 lb line don’t break as he screams away from you, or that #26 fly don’t pop out, which is usually what happens. I often leave that creek talkin to myself, but I keep going back because sometimes I win. Look, I plan on staying on this site tot a while, so let’s not laugh at how easy each others fishing is, ok? I do actually hit some blue ribbon trout streams in pa, and I’m actually pretty good, self taught from before I knew what a leader was. And did I mention I’m on disability for being over 50% blind? Let’s just have a good time getting to know each other on this friendly little web site of ours.

WE have some pretty techy tailwaters here, where if you're using a 20 you might as well have saved the effort of tying it on cause it's way too big.  22-26'll usually do it but 28's are good to have sometimes too.  Like they say a bad day fishing is better than a good day mowing the lawn. Now I know where you fish.  

[skeet3t 0]

On 10/5/2020 at 1:37 PM, Al Agelwei said:

Oh, I just saw you’re from Alaska. Beautiful land. We do stuff a bit different in S.E. Pa. If it wasn’t for the fish commission, we wouldn’t have a reason to buy a fly rod. Unless we’re traveling to northern Pa or maybe Alaska.

Come down to East Tennessee. Lots of good trout water. Rainbows, browns, brookies that depends on where you are fishing. I have caught all three in one day in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As for a fly rod, you can catch just about anything with one.  Photo of a carp on the skinny stick. Lost it in weeds at the net. Weighed somewhere between 4 and 40.

[Philly 0]

On 10/5/2020 at 1:37 PM, Al Agelwei said:

We do stuff a bit different in S.E. Pa. If it wasn’t for the fish commission, we wouldn’t have a reason to buy a fly rod. Unless we’re traveling to northern Pa or maybe Alaska.

I can think of any number of reasons to buy a fly rod if you live in SE PA, Al.   My home stream is the Wissahickon.  Stocked trout if I want them, though if you look in the right places you can find trout that have been in the creek for more than one year.  Plenty of pan fish and bass if trout aren't your cup of tea. There's always been rumors of wild trout streams in the 5 county area, besides Valley.   A couple of brook trout streams or wild browns in the upper reaches of others.  My favorite is the recurring rumor of very large brown trout migrating out of the Schuylkill to spawn in Valley Creek.    In terms of flies for trout around here, take the midges and the caddis, leave the mayflies.