'Return of the Jedis suggests mastery of our craft and after months chasin different species we each found delicate fly fishing skills are perishable...so Padwan learners we are and were ...thanks for asking.
Fritz, Henry and I do dedicate ourselves to getting out more often to keep skills fresh. This was our third adventure to Little Juniata and Spruce Creek about a dozen miles WNW from Huntingdon, PA.
This trip was planned for last year but got virus'd. Our trucks met at the Penn State public access lot on Spruce Creek and we geared-up as dark clouds bore down and pea-sized rain pelted us ...no worries, waders and gore-tex make fast moving storms no more than an inconvenience and Spruce was running low and looked like it could use a drink.
For anyone who cares about such things Spruce Creek is a semi-famous brown trout stream that's questioned presidents' and angler luminaries' skills in its storied past. The majority of Spruce is off limits to the public, but fortunately there's a beautiful stretch kept up by Penn State upstream of its confluence with the Little Juniata in the hamlet of (you guessed it) Spruce Creek. Fritz and Hen drifted nymphs in the rain, but I can report I fooled a nice 9" brown with dry on a special fly rod that came to me by way of Bill Pfeiffer.
She was treat of a catch on his rod and a great memory. With no trout rising and slow action in the rain we left at 1300 and hit Spruce Creek Outfitters to support our local fly shop. We each left with a pocket full of flies and a tantalizing report, that Green Drakes had appeared recently in the evening! Armed with excitement and a few green drake spinners in our vests, we visited familiar waters at the quarry pool.
The river was low but quickly added 80% cfs (recall that rain) which brought it up 4 inches and with it a bit of bank debris and bugs, bugs and more bugs! The frothy surface layer was silly with insect activity in the current seems.
these appeared late afternoon
Soon Yellow Sulphur mayflies were rising through the water/emerging and browns livened up ascending through the water like breaching submarines. Excited by the inevitability of the spinner fall we waited as the sun dipped over a ridge and the bridge swallows swooped and darted feasting on the fat bellied sulphurs. Henry and Fritz put away their ESN rigs and with standard 5wts we brought a few to hand, but unfortunately the excitement of the hatch did not bring all the fish to hand we had expected. Perhaps we needed to stay later?
our imitation
As we were about to leave the river we took one last look at the river and saw a mature brown rising 5 feet from the step-in 2 feet off the bank. Feeling thwarted thus far we threw in a size 16 sulphur dry which was inhaled by the brown to end the day!
We found our way back to Huntingdon's lone modern hotel, A Fairlfield Inn and Suites, bedded down and the next morning, loaded with coffee and Gatorade, made our way to a riffle-pool-riffle section downstream of the Spruce Creek confluence, (join us next year to find out where :-) where we had an amazing day.
sulphur nymph was a producer
We found we could pick up sporadic browns nymphing seams, but had better fortune targeting individual rising trout in deep cuts under overhanging tree boughs.
Instream positioning was key to successful, often sidearm, casts looking to get 3-6 feet of dragless drift to the rising trout. If you could solve the stream-positioning/casting/ drift riddle the browns played their part and we each all caught our share throughout the afternoon.
Hen w a fat brown ...that log structure provided a natural buffet line for feeding browns
Browns-on ...Fritz and Hen double-up
Fritz has enough of the world to himself
Comradery was great throughout, but the catching improved on a steep curve from arrival at Spruce Day until we were forced to quit squinting in the ghostly light of the harvest moon.
Fishing beneath the harvest moon
The best hours of the day were clearly 1900-2115 and the river explored with activity from 2040-2105 as yellow-sulphur and green drake spinners fell to the water fueling a burst of activity. We surely annoyed a nearby campground with exclamations of, "Fish on" or Hens', 'Fritz get down here its crazy/it's amazing mate!" Cause when you fish with brothers like these you always want to put your mate on the best bite 🐟🎣💪
This'll be an annual trip so let me know if you want in next May.
Several blue lines became apparent to me several years ago when I was studying access to Big Run in the Southern section of SNP. I’ve yet to hike in to Doyle’s and Jones Runs but now can say I’ve made the acquaintance of Ivy Creek. The attraction of Ivy Creek comes from its solitude as there are no paths leading to it. It’s a bushwhackers paradise!
Cassidy Run at Pinefield Hut
After searching blog posts there appear to be two established ways to access Ivy. One is a longer hike starting at Loft Mountain Wayside, hiking north up the Frazier Nature Trail, intersecting with the AT, following the AT until it makes a (map visible) switchback over a gully and then following the gulley run which is a feeder UNT of the main stem of the Ivy. The more direct route is described by Harry Murray in his book on SNP trout streams. Harry’s directions put you downstream on the Ivy relative to the first access and on relatively bigger and I suspect better water. Park at the small parking area for the PineField Hut and follow the (only) access trail which goes generally south for about 200m at which point you’ll intersect the AT. Head straight across the North/South AT and proceed 150m to the PineField Hut (it’s well marked). As you walk the 150m to the hut you’ll see the start of the run (We named it Cassidy Run) that you’ll follow all the way down to the Ivy.
Kate and James lead the way
The access trail ends at PineField Hut which is a well maintained AT overnight hut. Cassidy run is a well defined trickle at the hut. Follow the gully down to Ivy Creek, it’s about a .5 mile bushwhack. You can either stay low in the stream bed and scramble under deadfall or stay higher in the gully above the deadfall and deal with .5 mile angled slope.
You can see how we slowed down from Skyline Drive down to the Ivy in red
Kate Downs, a friend from work and her wonderful dog Cassidy and James agreed to adventure with me and we charted our adventure on a perfect October Morning at the Loft Mountain Wayside at 0930 after driving in from NOVA. I’d never met Cassidy before and she was the star of the hike keeping track of her loose herd and leading the way into the steep hollow.
Kate and Cassidy at Ivy Creek Falls
Ivy Creek flowed from right to left when we found her 800 or so feet down the mountain having carved a lovely unspoiled stream valley. A glance up and downstream confirmed that downstream was the way to adventure so with Cassidy close by so she wouldn’t spook any pools we descended further and in short order found the segmented 20+ foot falls where we decided to lunch. With Kate, Cassidy and James locked in conversation I walked down another 300m (the dark red you see in the hike graphic) and questioned several 59 degree pools with a #16 Mr. Rapidan parachute and a 6’2” glass 3wt. I couldn’t coax any (mountain) large bookies to strike so I was thrilled when several young of the year took up my offer of a quick tangle.
Knowing what I know now I can definitely see myself returning to the Ivy. What I’d do next time is is walk down a full .5 mile from the the intersection with Cassidy Run and fish back up to the Falls. I suspect that would be about 3 hrs of great exploring.
James works back up and out of Cassidy Creek
We returned moving up the bed of Cassidy run and found that to be easier than the steep slippery bank and the gully. A great day with friends and another trout stream in my journey.
Henry and I were looking at going to Gunpowder but after checking water levels we found that the better water might be on the South Branch of the North Fork of the Potomac at Harmons on in WV....boy were we right. Originally we planned this trip as an out and back but with the long drive we decided to meet in the afternoon and get a late afternoon in day 1 and a full day on day on day 2.
Hen arrived, checked into cabin 8, got our passes and was already on fish when I was still miles away! I arrived as the sun set in the deep gorge and was able to catch a trout from the riffle above the bridge before low light closed us out.
Dinner in honor of past feasts was monster ribeyes seared in cast iron, baguette and salad washed down by beer and wine to settle our excited nerves. Day two started with breakfast in Petersburg as the family restaurant Scott will remember .75 miles north on 220 along the river had closed down.
Henry and I were trying to pull off a local-look but I was betrayed by my work shoes from the previous day (damn...I was so close w my old Camo). After breakfast the stream beckoned and 1.5" of fresh snow gave it a magical feel.
Hen started w his standard weighted-fly ESN set-up and began lighting them up immediately in the large pool above the upstream most cabins. I started out w a 2x fly under an indicator rig but it was quickly apparent that Hen's approach was the winner for the day and I switched over, but not before Hen had landed 5-6 beauties.
A great day continued as we headed up the river to there uppermost hole and then back down. As we approached our money hole we saw activity below us....turns out the Harmons was hosting PHW the next day and they were stocking 1100 lbs of trout!
Damn...some 11-13 inters but MANY breeders...wow, these fish were dazed upon entry to their new haunts and wouldn't bite but it was fun to see some huge trout. The Hottest fly of the day turned out to be a size 14 tungsten weighted blow torch, but you had to be tight and attentive to your fly to discern the subtle takes in the 42 degree water. Hen ended up staying another night and fished for a few hour before the PHW crew took over and caught more than any two men deserve😁. what a treat.
One time I year I get to return to my home state of New Hampshire, meet up with my brother Marc, load up his truck, and head north... literally as far north in the Granite State one can travel without meeting our friends from Customs & Border Protection diligently standing watch at the Canadian border.
Pittsburg, NH has become my new home as I've spent more time there than back in Dover where I grew up. Pittsburg is a throwback, step back in time kind of place where the number of moose outnumber the townsfolk.
So with the hopes of leaping rainbows, battling brookies, feisty browns and silvery landlocked salmon, we were set on getting our fill of the very best northern New Hampshire trout fishing had to offer.
We arrived on a late Friday afternoon, checked into the Buckrub Pub & Lodge, and hit the river for an hour to shake off a year's worth of rust. In the winding dusk, I was able to stir up a couple of rainbows swinging streamers in a deep pool, giving promise of good fishing thereafter.
After a pizza and a couple of Buck Rub Brown Ales, we hit the racks ready for the following day. The Connecticut make no mistake is a no-nonsense, demanding, challenging and sometimes frustrating fishery. We've set the bar after the past several years of saying six or more fish represents a good day.
One of many brilliant colored brook trout caught & released during the trip
Historically,Marc and I have done best nymphing the pockets and rifles and runs throughout the river. Our most reliable flies have been princes, pheasant tails and copper johns in sizes 14-18. However, given the success I had on my recent north Georgia venture just a few weeks prior swinging streamers, I was wired to spend my first hours casting down and across with my favorite Golden Retriever pattern in lieu of my double nymphs . split shot / indicator combination. It proved the right decision for me as I had steady action all morning with both brookies and rainbows along with the odd brown or salmon hookset.
Some hefty rainbows came to hand on this trip
The weather was overcast with showers coming and going most of the morning and then periods of sunshine finally breaking through in the afternoon, which gave me cause to swtch to dries when working back upstream later in the day -- again a fortuitous game changer as I experienced continuous hookups in nearly every fishy looking spot using a #14 purple parachute adams -- a classic generic mayfly pattern.
The brook trout were as colorful as ever in the river
Marc, meanwhile, stuck with the tried & true nymph rig and had fair success, landing about six, which met our threshold for a good day on the river. I had a hot hand this day landing about 20 which in my book, ranked as an epic day on the river.
Check out the video (need to improve both taping and editing skills)
New Hampshire has had a late-start to its summer, hence the famed hex hatch that Marc and I have so well timed the past few years was only just beginning when we deviated from the river to a local pond to try our luck casting size #6 dries for slurping brook trout. We were early, but as the fishing gods tend to have their way, this time Marc had the hot hand as he landed four nice brookies while I was skunked on night one. Night two Marc again proved to have the magic touch landing four more again while brought three to hand. We did have some company on the water -- not other fishermen, but a pair of healthy loons making the round, and undoubtedly enjoying as much if not more success fishing.
On day number two, we ventured over to one of our favorite brook trout streams that's tucked far away from the general population, and historically has produced days of 40-50+ trout brought to hand -- most on dry flies. But Mother Nature had other plans this day as what started out with much promise early on soon turned for the worse as torrential thunderstorms turned this crystal clear gem of a stream into a whirling mess of chocolate milk in short order... not much to do but pack up and say "we'll get'em next time."
Our last day on the Connecticut (we had to cut this trip shorter than prior years) we were hoping for the best. I hooked a huge rainbow on my second cast, started laying around with my video camera and deservedly lost him - when will I learn. The morning was a bit slow with only a handful of trout being picked up swinging streamers.
We fished new stretches of river with mixed success
When we hit the Judge & Jury pools about noon, things started clicking. A mayfly hatch kicked up and I switched to a parachute adams and immediately had success in the Judge Pool. Marc switched to a golden retriever in the Jury Pool and began picking off trout with some regularity. Twice we had doubles on -- pretty cool stuff. By days end Marc held the upper hand as he netted nearly 20 for the day while had 8-9. Good days, no make that great days on the Connecticut. We keep talking abut hitting below Murphy Dam as rumors are that's where the really big browns hang out... next time.
Until then, tight lines.
