Greg and I decided we wanted to take a trip to PA and target wild brown trout. PA has some nice cool mountain streams that support wild brown and brook trout populations. To choose our destination, we examined data on creek biomass of wild brown trout and brook trout published by the PA Fish & Boat commission. The Commission has a published report on PA Wilderness Trout Waters that categorizes stream biomass into Classes A, B, C, & D.
Class A brown trout fisheries are comprised of a biomass of at least 40 kg/ha (35 lbs/acre) and 75% of the trout biomass must be brown trout. Class A brook trout fisheries have a biomass of 30 kg/ha (26.7 lbs/acre) and the 75% of the trout biomass must consist of brook trout. Class A mixed brown/brook trout fisheries have a combined biomass of at least 40 kg/ha (35.6 lbs/acre). In these streams, both brook trout and brown trout each must comprise less than 75% of the trout biomass. Class B, C, & D follow with smaller biomass totals for each class.
We browsed through the class A brown trout streams for the entire state. We identified a stream in Monroe County called Devils Hole Creek that has a section of Class A brook trout water (surveyed last in 2002) with a biomass of 178.05 kg/ha and a section of Class a brown trout water with a biomass of 86.95 kg/ha. As you can imagine...we were salivating. And then, we looked at the map of PA and realized Monroe County was a good 7-8 hours drive from NE Ohio.
We did not have enough time for all of that driving and getting some actual fishing in. So, back to the drawing board. We began looking for something a little closer to home.
Lawrence County PA is very close to home and Hell Run is reported as a Class A brown trout stream with a biomass of 50.34 kg/ha. Our concern here is that we question whether the water temps were going to remain low enough for productive summer brown trout fishing in western PA and there are no other close by Class A streams should things not be good on Hell Run. So, we'll hit Hell Run some other time.
We started looking at Potter County and found several Class A streams in that area. Greg had also been to Boggs Hollow in Clinton County previously and he suggested we could always resort to that stream if the others let us down.
We decided on Hammersley Fork. Hammersley was last surveyed in 1982, with a reported brown trout biomass from the confluence of Nelson Branch to the headwaters of 42.65 kg/ha. Hammersley Fork is in the Susquehannock State Forest. This is some beautiful country to say the least.
We arrived at Hammersley Rd late on a Friday afternoon and drove up to the ford. We were told by the rangers to park there and hike the rest of the way. We grabbed our packs and hiked up to the confluence of Hammersley Fork and Nelson Branch. We set up camp and prepared for a long day of fishing the next day.
As an aside, if you like to camp and hike, you have to try a camping hammock. I'm giving a shout out to Tom Hennessy for designing the premier camping hammock in the industry. Hennessy Hammock has a variety of models depending on the conditions you will be camping. All of the hammocks have built-in mosquito netting and rain flies. These things are as versatile as it gets. You don't need level ground to set up a tent, just something (like trees) to suspend the hammock between. You can literally camp on a mountain face with these things.
We hit Hammersley Fork early in the morning and started working our way up the stream. The weather was warm, but the water was cool and clear. We found one great hole after another, but struggled to get the fish moving. Greg landed a small brown trout a hundred yards from camp and we never saw another brownie after that. Greg only caught a couple of brookies the rest of the day and I received a nice serving of skunk. We could not believe how tough the fishing was. We walked about 1/2 way up to the headwaters of Hammersley Fork ( a couple of miles) and managed to raise 4 fish. This was not good. It did not take us long to reconsider our destination.
We made it back to camp, got a good nights rest, and decided to head over to Boggs Hollow. Before we hiked out of Hammersley, I decided to make one last cast to the pool in front of our camp. I finally shook the skunk off and landed one of the nicest looking wild PA brookies I had ever caught.Boggs Hollow was only about 15 miles down the road outside of Renovo. We stopped in town, had a hearty breakfast, and headed over to Boggs.
Greg has been talking about his past trip to Boggs Hollow for 2 years. He always mentions the great brook trout fishing and the steep incline to get down to the stream. Steep incline was a definite understatement!
Boggs Hollow is in Sproul State Forest in northern Clinton County. Boggs Hollow is a Class A wild brook trout stream with a biomass of 56.87 (last surveyed in 1987). I can tell you why the biomass is that high, if not higher at this time. There is no good way in to Boggs Hollow. It's nearly a thousand foot drop from the ridge down to the stream at the headwaters and on each side. It's not a straight drop, but dang close. The mouth of the stream empties into the Susquehanna River. Interestingly, there is not a road near the mouth of Boggs Hollow...and we forgot our canoe.
We journeyed down the steep slope to the creek with our ankles intact. As we finished setting up our hammocks, the rain started. When the rain slowed a little, Greg suggested we hit the creek. Heck we were wet any way. We started hiking down towards the mouth of the creek with the plan to fish our way back to camp. And then the torrential rain started. Needless to say, we were soaked.
The creek did start to rise and muddy. We were not too concerned about that. Brookies are opportunists, and a rising creek is always an opportunity in their minds. In these conditions, the little squirts sit at the lower end of the pools and attack what ever passes by. We started casting small woolly buggers with immediate success. As the waters rapidly cleared, we switched to dry flies.
As we worked our way back to camp, we were literally catching 2-3 brookies from each hole. The trophy of the day came from a large deep hole. I casted the hole as we passed by, heading towards the mouth of the creek. The big fella hit a Beadhead Prince Nymph...HARD. He was screaming across the hole and taking drag from the reel. A big beautiful fish. As I was ready to land him, he decided he was not ready. I reached down to grab him from the skinny water and he flopped off of the hook and found his way quickly out of reach. On my way back I casted a #12 black woolly bugger to the same spot in the hole...SMASH. He hit it again and off he went. This time I actually got him to hand, but before I could measure him and get a picture, he flopped away again.
Now let me quantify that big fella this way. A few holes farther up I caught another nice brookie. He looked big in the water and I measured him at 8.5". The big guy I caught twice was every bit of 3 inches longer and way fatter. I'm bummed about not getting a picture of that guy. I would have had a replica made of that fella. He was a true trophy of a PA native brookie.Our trip to north central PA was well worth the drive. We did not get into the wild brown trout the way we had hoped, but the brook trout fishing was fantastic. Boggs Hollow is a bit of a drive from north east Ohio, but we will definitely make that journey again in the future.
