Next week I’ll be spending a few days in Pennsylvania in pursuit of trout. Although the bulk of my time will be spent on some of the larger rivers in the central part of the state, my schedule allows for a detour to the Cumberland Valley.
Basically, this part of South Central Pennsylvania includes all the land on either side of I-81, between the Maryland state line and the Susquehanna River, that extends to North and South Mountains. The limestone bedrock makes this part of the state flush with cold, clean water. Perhaps due to the diminutive size of the creeks, it is one of the unsung landmark regions in American fly fishing. The heritage, figures, and sometimes trout that have come from the Cumberland Valley loom larger than it’s little spring creeks.
Below are three articles about this part of the keystone state. It is worth noting that each of them concern a place at a time. Spring creek fishing is very resilient to weather and season. Ironically, there have been significant developments in regards to each of the following stories in the short time since their original release. Even as I type, I feel compelled to follow up on all three! But that is for another day…
Today, enjoy the richness of the Cumberland Valley:
The Letort: A Limestone Legacy
“A common critique of the Letort, even by those fond of the stream, is that it is not that great of an angling option any more. Yes, there are less fish and fewer insects than when Vincent Marinaro was studying and photographing the creek for national publications and his seminal books. Truthfully, that assessment could be made against any number of other famous rivers across the country. That is by no means a reason to turn your back on a stream, for either conservation or fishing.”
“For anglers and tyers in the region, the shop was like an academy for their burgeoning skills. ‘I cut my fly fishing teeth at that shop,’ said Bob Clouser. Before he created his famous minnow pattern and ran his own fly shop, he would drive to Boiling Springs. ‘That was the finest fly shop for so long. I was just a young guy, and I’d spend so much time in that place with Ed (Koch).’”
“’The Ditch,’ as it was known, was the first few hundred yards below the PA Fish & Boat hatchery outflow at the headwaters of Big Spring. If you ever wanted to fish the raceway with the brood stock at the local hatchery, the ditch was the next best thing. Better, if you include telephone pole obstacles and muskrat holes as sporting challenges. But what made this artificial and superficial fishin’ hole fun made the rest of the stream barren. A ghost of its former glory. A one-trick trout.”
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