Wild, Wonderful Brookies of PA- July 2011

Between the record high rainfall earlier this spring (and early summer), and now the dought-like conditions across much of the U.S., our trout fishing has been quite limited. However, there are a few places on this earth where it seams that rain, or lack thereof, has little impact. These places are usually the small feeder creeks, to other feeder creeks, that eventually go into a larger river/lake/etc. They are cold, spring fed little gems. They're often referred to as "blueliners" and are often 15 degrees cooler than the surrounding areas out of the little hollows they inhabit. We drove a few hours into Pennsylvania to one of these blueliners that we'd been wanting to fish for some time. Being fans of dry-fly fishing, and brook trout, we had more than a good day on the water to say the least.

We hiked in tuesday evening, fishing all the way to a campsite where we set up our tarp shelter. We built a fire, and ate Ramen noodles and beef jerky. We hoped we would not need to share our meal with resident black bears. We did not. Though admittedly, we would not have minded so much. Regardless, we carried a .40 cal at all times.

We gorged ourselves earlier in the day, and the next day, with blueberries and red raspberries that were growing in adbundance. We even ate ripe Serviceberries (Amelancher arborea). Pretty tasty, if not a bit mealy in texture. A highlight of the trip was a very large, very old beaver pond that was nearing 4 to 5 acres. We had hoped there would be brookies in the water. We did not catch any, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. A boy can dream, can't he?

The pictures will explain the rest.

Until next time...