Spruce Creek PA Fly Fishing Blog

Bigger Trout in Smaller Streams   Allow me to pay tribute to my favorite tributary to the Delaware River.  It’s small to medium sized, runs clear and cold, and often holds hog browns. Some of these beautiful browns are wild, some are stocked holdovers, and all of them move up into this tributary for its…

Monster Trout on the Season Opener   Wow! I’m always blown away by the number of huge healthy trout at Spruce Creek. This year is off to a fantastic start… My guys hauled in over a dozen fish that were 20+ inches long! The biggest was a brute 25″ rainbow landed by Ken Tanaka of…

Double Streamer Rigs & Tippet Rings As with all aspects of fly fishing, there are dozens of theories on how to properly fish with streamers. How big? How much weight? Short strips? Fish down and across? What kind of fly line should you use? Those decisions are yours to make, but I will suggest a…

Border Waters: West Branch of the Delaware River   Those who designed and constructed the Cannonsville Dam in Delaware County, NY had no idea that its dam releases would produce one of the best fly fishing destinations in the US. The West Branch not only has the cold and constant water temperatures that are the hallmark of tailwater fisheries, it also…

Part 3 ~ The Deerfield River We’ve already covered two excellent medium-sized rivers in central Massachusetts, the Swift River and the East Branch of the Westfield.  Let’s turn our attention to a larger waterway, the Deerfield. The Deerfield River is a well-known freshwater fly fishing destination in Massachusetts, and with good reason.  There is so much…

Return of The Leggy Stonefly Groundhog’s day is 4 weeks past but today was the true foreshadow of spring to come. The mild temperatures and lack of snow on the ground prompted a hopeful visit to Chittenango Creek. At the very least, I’d have a winter view of the 167-foot waterfall at the state park:   The…

5 Reasons Why April is Prime Time on Spruce Creek Spring is right around the corner… Can you believe it? April is an exciting month to fish Spruce Creek and now is the time to plan your spring trip.   5. Good Water Flow Water levels are typically higher in spring than in the summer…

How to Tie a Simple and Effective All-Purpose Caddis in 3 Easy Steps:   One of the greatest joys of fly fishing is fooling a trout with a fly that you’ve tied. When tying imitative flies, I have found that there are two contrasting approaches, Hyper-Realistic vs Impressionistic. In the Hyper-Realistic approach you carefully select the right…

  Anticipating the Hatch: 3 of the Best April Hatches…   April hosts some of the most impressive hatches as late winter yields to Spring. Cold and nutrient-rich streams, such as Spruce Creek, experience their first major hatch events of the year in April. Several types of mayflies make their first appearances in April, including…

5 Reasons why Spruce Creek is PA’s top fly fishing destination:   5. Intelligent Maintenance  Some streams are so neglected that they are almost impossible to fish (unless you enjoy hooking branches every other cast). The stewards of Spruce Creek are themselves expert fly fishermen – they know what keeps trout healthy and what makes…