Just a few Pictures and some Updates

If you have not heard, the Tulpehocken is now a Keystone Select trout stream. This means that each year 25% of our allotted fish will be replaced with trophy sized trout. This will equate to about 200 trout for the pre-season and in-season stocking. Tony and I have the privilege to be apart of the stocking and each time we will be float stocking these fish. The Keystone Select trout range from 16-22", so get out there and try to find them :)

Also with the flows at a great level on the Tully we have been offering float trips for trout this season. As some of you may know, I have been floating this for years, but now we are actually offering them as a guided option. I was out with Rob and Jack this past Monday when the creek was flowing at 408 cfs, a flow that some would say is un-fishable. We did fantastic, and the crowds were minimal.

Show season is finally over. This was the first year I went to more than just Somerset and Lancaster. I traveled down to Maryland to be apart of TieFest on Kent Island, in my hometown. Then the next week traveled with Steve Silverio from Regal and Partridge to upstate New York to be apart of Tie One On, and great show for charity.

I will also have another announcement in the next week, very exciting news!

Spring Fly Fishing in PA

It has been a very fish filled week here in Eastern PA. We have been doing some early morning exploring of a few less traveled creeks. Which is where this beautiful rainbow below came from. With scuds and sow bugs crawling over every rock, fly selection was easy. Fishing new water you can’t leave without flipping a couple rocks over to see what’s underneath. The rocks were covered with, caddis larva, multiple mayfly nymphs, and even a couple aquatic worms. My flies of choice: Frenchies, SYE Sow Bugs, Blended Caddis Larva, and Rubber Z Wings.

Spring Creek Fly Patterns: Caddis Larva, J:Son Caddis, Rubber Z Wing Caddis, Sow Bug

Guide season is now in full swing and the fishing has really picked up on our local waters. We are still not seeing too many caddis flying around. However the fish are eating caddis larva and pupas, so it can't be long now.  This past week I had two more trips on the Tully and both ended with happy clients and fish in the net. A couple more warm nights and a little rain, and we should start seeing good numbers of adult caddis.

Tailwater Fly Patterns: Caddis Larva, Frenchies, Zebra Midges, and Sow Bugs 

For all you Upper Delaware fans, Tony and I ran up this past weekend for a one-day float trip. We did most of our damage in the riffles with Hendrickson nymphs and other attracter patterns. The water levels on the West Branch were below 400 cfs, which made floating difficult, even for my boat. The bug life became very active as the evening approached, and we had a few shots at fish on top. Once the water levels come up a bit, the Upper Delaware should light up!

Upper Delaware Fly Patterns: Hendrickson Emerger, Hendrickson Adult,  Hendrickson Nymph

Interested in any of my flies, I now have a small selection of them for sale on the blog. Check out the Flies for Sale . This is located on the right side of the blog below the followers section.

Winter Trout Fishing - Top 10 Midges

Midge, a fly that we all use, pretty much year round. If you live near a tailwater, I can bet you have an entire box dedicated to just midges. In this post I just want to share with everyone, my top 10 midge patterns for the Tully, along with just about any other fishery that has a healthy midge population. About a moth ago I took my Tully box apart and separated all the midges, dedicating one whole box to just midges, I have been filling it with every bit of free time I get. When the caddis stop flying and the air temps drop, you can bet that the fish start keying in on microscopic midge larva, and tiny flies floating down on the surface.

The number one midge should be no surprise, its the Zebra Midge, it is a fly that can mimic just about any midge larva out there. Just change the size and color and you are good to go.

The DP Midge has to be my number two favorite winter midge pattern. It has fooled plenty of fish on all the spring creeks around the area.

This one is a very simple variation of a zebra midge, with a glass bead on the top, making it look like an emerger. This is a great one for the dead of the winter.

The red Mercury Midge is an awesome Tully pattern, I think it works better in the early spring, but has always produced fish when paired up with any other midge pattern. 

The Purple Poison Tung is probably my most fished winter time midge, its just a little out there and off the beaten path. 

Zebra midge emerger, this guy has a puff of tan Antron coming off the back, this is a great fly for picky fish, in the winter.

The Fingerling Midge is a little on the flashy side, and works very well in cloudy water. The little bit of flash gives is a glimmer in the water.

Miracle midge, is a great little pattern then there are lots of small tan midges on the water.

The Desert Storm midge is just a bright and fun fly to fish.

Rough Fishers Serendipitous Midge. This one is a great dead of winter flashy fly. I normally use this one as my point fly, and a smaller basic midge off the back of it. 

Tully Report - It's Getting Cold

Well, it might not officially be winter yet, but it's certainly starting to feel like it out there. The Tully is flowing at an awesome flow right now 188 cfs, this is perfect for throwing an indicator or slowly swinging a streamer in front of those hungry trout. I have been out there a good bit the past two weeks, and I can say that fishing small nymphs under and indicator has been the most productive. Small size 18 to 22 or even 24 midges of all colors have been working well. On clear sunny days the smaller stuff seems to work a bit better, and with cloudy or higher water the larger and bringer stuff is working just as good. Smaller pheasant tails, and hares ears have been by go to flies for getting the even smaller stuff down in the zone. On top of that, the fresh fingerlings have been very active, eating just about anything that comes their way. I have even seen little pods of them rising to small midges on her surface. So look for some sun and get out there, the mornings have been slow until the water warms up a bit, but mid day into the evening have been awesome!!!