Fly Pattern & Size | Penns Creek | Big Fishing Creek | Elk Creek | Pine Creek | Spring Creek |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
White Midge #24-32 | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | 10am-4pm |
Grey Midge #20-26 | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | 10am-4pm |
Olive Midge #20-24 | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | 10am-4pm |
Black Midge #20-28 | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | Sporadic | 10am-4pm | 10am-4pm |
BWO #18-22 | Sporadic | 11am-2pm | Sporadic | 11am-2pm | 11am-2pm |
BWO Spinner #18-22 | Sporadic | 3pm-5pm | Sporadic | 3pm-5pm | 3pm-5pm |
Black Stonefly #16 | 8am-6pm | 8am-6pm | Sporadic | Sporadic | 8am-6pm |
February, like January, can offer some of the best dry fly fishing of the year (midges mostly, standard patterns and specialty ties, sizes #20-#28, assorted colors) with air temperature playing the most critical factor (above 32 °F preferred but not required). February adds the complexity of nearly daily bluing wing olive (BWO) hatches and early black stonefly hatches. Because they are the (physically) largest of the early season hatches, black stonefly hatches regularly raise fish. Nymph fishing continues to be largely stable regardless of outside temperature: our spring-fed limestone beds are consistently 50-52 °F, cool during the summer and warm during the winter. Although BWO and stonefly hatches can be quite heavy on Penns Creek, fish rarely rise for them; it's generally agreed that Penns is so rich subsurface that fish don't need to waste energy rising to eat bugs at the surface. Spring Creek continues to offer the best dry fly fishing of the winter, with the best of the bwo hatches in February and some excellent black stonefly hatches in recent years (the removal of McCoy's Dam in Milesburg has improved hatch conditions radically). Although Big Fishing Creek gets good BWO and stonefly hatches, the best dry fly fishing is still midges. Pennsylvania is open year round to catch-and-release.