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3. Tulpehocken Creek

Tried the Tully for the 3rd time this season. Arrived Paper Mill at noon. Didn't fish, just drove around and parked at various points to look for rising fish. No bugs and no rising fish. Drove down below covered bridge and nymphed the water from that pavilion down stream about 100 yards. Was fishing two flies all the time, Hare's Ear, Peeking caddis, Lafontaine Deep Sparkle pupa, tries some wet flies, PT's, nothing. Never got a bump. Saw three rises in three hours. Left at 4:20. Batting 1000%, have gone fishless two days in a row after having fished three streams. Only saw two other guys fishing in four hours. Talked to one guy who also went fishless.

Wow Matt, skunked not once but twice! Not what I've come to expect from you. Bugs are late from the cold winter? Fishies still waking up? I have not been out yet myself, been battling with some health issues, but we are getting a nice warm-up this weekend so I will be hopefully getting out tomorrow or Saturday (or both) to check out my local waters and see if things are perking up. Previous experiences at this time of year after another brutally cold winter have typically been slow to none in the way of fish, but our wasters are low and clear from lack of rain and not much of a snowpack this past winter so we might be in good shape. I will post once I know more...

Jonathon

It was a long winter in PA and things are just now really starting to wake up. It has been just in the past few days that I have started to see blue quills on my usual NW/NC Pennsylvania haunts. This is about 10 days later than usual. Notice I didn't say anything about seeing rising fish. I didn't. But eventually, that'll probably happen too....:)

I've only ever fished the Tulpehocken once, and that had to have been close to 25 years ago when the local TU chapter hosted the annual state meetings. It didn't do much for me, but a lot of folks love it and I guess the stream is quite a fisheries success story given it's location in the crowded southeastern part of the state.

But if the fish in the Tully Delayed Harvest are anything like DH fish in other PA regs areas, they ought to respond to the same sorts of tactics that work in these places. I chased wild fish all day yesterday in some streams in the National Forest. They were groggy and acted more like it was early March and not almost the first of May. So, I worked hard for a dozen and a half smallish browns. After all this, I decided to treat myself by closing out the day on one of the DH projects in the region that was loaded up with stocked browns and bows. I spent the last three hours there pretty much catching as many fish as I wanted on a badly tied red San Juan Worm fished behind a #10 beadhead Whitlock Fox Sq. nymph under a Thingamabobber. Boom, boom, boom...

Maybe this would work on the Tully? I don't know and damned if I'm gonna drive 250 miles down to find out....:)


It'll get better. 75 degrees this weekend, even up here in the frozen north of PA~~!

Well, I have not fished (nor do I plan on fishing) the Tully, but overall this is in stark contrast with what I've been experiencing. We have had hendricksons, blue quills, grannoms, and other various small caddis with the fish eating them since the beginning of April on a variety of central and south central streams. Yesterday we had grannoms, blue quills and hendricksons and while the fishing wasn't gangbusaters, we had targets pretty much all day, and caught some fine fish all on dry flies.

Well you must be luckier than I have been in finding bugs and rising fish.



Would you fish it if it was closer?

I have fished the upper Yellow Breeches a couple weeks ago off of Barnitz Road and another section a few miles upstream. While I caught plenty of wild fish I saw no rises and saw possibly three caddis and one Hendrickson all day. The McCormack Road section of the Yellow Breeches has been mobbed every time I've gone there this year and I obviously missed the Hendricksons there too.

The only good fishing I've had was two trips to Spring Creek and that too was 100% nymphing. My time is coming as I'm off to the Delaware for four days beginning on Sunday. I know I will see Para Leps, Hendrickson and Red Quills and there will be wild rising trout everywhere.

I fish the Tully about 5 times a year even though it's only 45 minutes from my house.I prefer the wild trout of the Poconos and NE PA.Tricos going hot and heavy now on the Tully though

Yes, and the rain and cooler weather are keeping the stream cool enough to fish. This is rare for mid-July.