smp005
Well-known member
Back in early April my daughter called me and said she needed a break and asked if we could go on a fishing trip. Of course, I said yes and started thinking about where to go...
I thought about Michigan as I have never fished the Au Sable or any of the surrounding waters. I needed somewhere we could mainly float with easy wading as she is 6 months pregnant with our second grandson
I contacts Gates lodge and found out everything was pretty booked up so I gave Jonas a call at The Feathered Hook in Coburn, PA which sites right on Penns Creek. Jonas has a Fly Shop and Bed & Breakfast and he had availability and could work out a float and easy wading, so that decision was made!
It's a 4hr drive for for us to Coburn, we left early Sat morning - the plan was to fish Sat afternoon and evening, all day Sunday and most of Monday and then drive home. We held onto the option to stay Monday night just in case the Green Drake hatch but still going on Upon arrival, we got settled in our rooms and checked in with Jonas and Matt. Matt was our guide for the weekend. We had several different options for Saturday but the safest and easiest wading for my daughter was a section of private access that Jonas had just made arrangement to guide on. The area was easily accessible and has 5 nice deep pools to fish. Now a disclaimer - the landowner does feed these fish at different times throughout the year so the fish stay in the stretch and are significantly larger than the area's wild fish...
Over the course of Saturday afternoon and evening we caught three 25” rainbows, one 24” rainbow, other smaller rainbows and browns and my daughter caught a 27” brown. Most the large fish, including the big brown were caught during the green drake hatch in the late evening – including the 27” brown. When the drake hatch started coming off it was awesome! The drake hatch was mostly over everywhere south of where we were – we got lucky to catch the very tail end.
My daughter was ecstatic over that brown trout. There’s just something about big fish! I think the coolest part about fishing that section was the opportunity to hook and fight BIG fish – if you never get to hook a 25” plus trout, how do you learn how to fight a 25” plus trout?
Sunday, we did an all-day float on Bald Eagle creek. It was cold and rainy all day but the fishing was excellent! We nymphed the first couple miles and then decided to target rising fish with dry flies. There was a slate drake hatch coming off. We caught close to 30 fish, most on dry flies. There were some rainbows but mostly all native browns, the largest being around 14”. Many holes where we saw risers would produce 2 or 3 fish – great fun!!
Monday, we only had about 4 hours to fish so we went back to the private access area but went upstream to the edge of the area and fished a nice run, my daughter picked up a couple browns on a nymph, I caught one nice rainbow swinging a streamer.
The accommodations were excellent! Jonas and his crew put on a great breakfast for everyone each morning and when you’re not fishing you can relax around the house or hang out in the fly shop. I have never met a nicer group of people – we instantly felt at home.
I’m heading back as soon as I can get away to explore all the other streams with Matt – he is a great guide and while I can fish it all on my own, it is nice having someone that knows all the little parking spots and access points to the streams and creeks..
Here is where we stayed:
Welcome to The Feathered Hook: a Bed & Breakfast and Fly Shop for Fly Fishing Central Pennsylvania's Trout Streams
My daughter and Matt with her 27" Brown
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A nice Dry Fly Rainbow
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A Rainbow Trout Smile!
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A Nice Rainbow taken on the private access stretch on a nymph
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We stopped and fished a bunch of great runs on Bald Eagle
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Lot's of nice Browns on Bald Eagle
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Rainy and cold but still a great day!
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A Green Drake - aka McTrout Big Mac!!!!
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It was a great weekend spending quality time with my daughter and pending grandson!
I thought about Michigan as I have never fished the Au Sable or any of the surrounding waters. I needed somewhere we could mainly float with easy wading as she is 6 months pregnant with our second grandson
I contacts Gates lodge and found out everything was pretty booked up so I gave Jonas a call at The Feathered Hook in Coburn, PA which sites right on Penns Creek. Jonas has a Fly Shop and Bed & Breakfast and he had availability and could work out a float and easy wading, so that decision was made!
It's a 4hr drive for for us to Coburn, we left early Sat morning - the plan was to fish Sat afternoon and evening, all day Sunday and most of Monday and then drive home. We held onto the option to stay Monday night just in case the Green Drake hatch but still going on Upon arrival, we got settled in our rooms and checked in with Jonas and Matt. Matt was our guide for the weekend. We had several different options for Saturday but the safest and easiest wading for my daughter was a section of private access that Jonas had just made arrangement to guide on. The area was easily accessible and has 5 nice deep pools to fish. Now a disclaimer - the landowner does feed these fish at different times throughout the year so the fish stay in the stretch and are significantly larger than the area's wild fish...
Over the course of Saturday afternoon and evening we caught three 25” rainbows, one 24” rainbow, other smaller rainbows and browns and my daughter caught a 27” brown. Most the large fish, including the big brown were caught during the green drake hatch in the late evening – including the 27” brown. When the drake hatch started coming off it was awesome! The drake hatch was mostly over everywhere south of where we were – we got lucky to catch the very tail end.
My daughter was ecstatic over that brown trout. There’s just something about big fish! I think the coolest part about fishing that section was the opportunity to hook and fight BIG fish – if you never get to hook a 25” plus trout, how do you learn how to fight a 25” plus trout?
Sunday, we did an all-day float on Bald Eagle creek. It was cold and rainy all day but the fishing was excellent! We nymphed the first couple miles and then decided to target rising fish with dry flies. There was a slate drake hatch coming off. We caught close to 30 fish, most on dry flies. There were some rainbows but mostly all native browns, the largest being around 14”. Many holes where we saw risers would produce 2 or 3 fish – great fun!!
Monday, we only had about 4 hours to fish so we went back to the private access area but went upstream to the edge of the area and fished a nice run, my daughter picked up a couple browns on a nymph, I caught one nice rainbow swinging a streamer.
The accommodations were excellent! Jonas and his crew put on a great breakfast for everyone each morning and when you’re not fishing you can relax around the house or hang out in the fly shop. I have never met a nicer group of people – we instantly felt at home.
I’m heading back as soon as I can get away to explore all the other streams with Matt – he is a great guide and while I can fish it all on my own, it is nice having someone that knows all the little parking spots and access points to the streams and creeks..
Here is where we stayed:
Welcome to The Feathered Hook: a Bed & Breakfast and Fly Shop for Fly Fishing Central Pennsylvania's Trout Streams
My daughter and Matt with her 27" Brown
A nice Dry Fly Rainbow
A Rainbow Trout Smile!
A Nice Rainbow taken on the private access stretch on a nymph
We stopped and fished a bunch of great runs on Bald Eagle
Lot's of nice Browns on Bald Eagle
Rainy and cold but still a great day!
A Green Drake - aka McTrout Big Mac!!!!
It was a great weekend spending quality time with my daughter and pending grandson!
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