Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Wild trout, tame countryside, good friends

I’ve been flyfishing for perhaps 45 years starting with humble roots on farm ponds in Indiana and Illinois. I’d occasional get an early issue of Fly Fisherman in the 70’s and see the stories about the fabled spring creeks of PA, the Letort, Yellow Breeches, and Big Spring. However, even after fishing a fair amount out west, Alaska and some other pretty famous waters in PA, the clear slow moving and watercress filled I’ll admit I was a little mystified on how to approach them.

On one of our traditional Sunday afternoon "take some revolver practice" shooting sessions with CF friends Roof (Joe) and Gnoahh (Gary) it was discussed and it turns out Gary had fished a lot in that region with some of the legends of early “match the hatch” fishing. A plan was hatched (so to speak). Joe hadn’t fly fished in a couple of decades but off we went for a couple days.



This part of Big Spring had a significant stream restoration. It was gorgeous but hardly a fish to be seen. I fished the riffles the way I always do and no luck. There was a couple guys that had worked their way up the stream ahead of us and later they showed us pictures of some brook trout larger than I’d seen outside of Maine. So, not a great start. Well, except for having the right beer in the right setting.



Off to Boiling Springs – we looked at the lake and hiked down to the Yellow Breeches and played “spot the trout” on the outflow of the lake but decided enough. Off to Carlisle for the night. Beer was drunk, food was eaten. The bartender we’re pretty sure, was a tranny. Not that I care but she was a pretty crappy bartender with a full bar of folks disappearing for minutes at a time.

Joe and Gary chatting over by the stream edge.



All in all a good trip. This is not wild country. You see houses that have been here since the forming our country. These streams haven’t been stocked in decades, or maybe ever, and they see a lot of flies. The plus is being spring fed they fish the same way year round. Joe got to see as hard as it gets, despite Gary's excellent advice, and we’re going to go find some dumber trout for all of us.

Great trip, great weather and great friends. The trout are just a bonus.