Flyfisher’s Paradise

The guide service works Spring Creek, Penns Creek, Big Fishing Creek and the Little Juniata River, the four central Pennsylvania streams the shop calls its home waters. On Penns the water that matters runs from Coburn, where Elk Creek delivers a significant dose of cold water, down eleven miles to Cherry Run near Weikert; the upper seven miles carry trophy trout regulations and the lower 3.9 miles are catch and release. The shop calls it as close to a wilderness limestone stream as exists in the Keystone State, with limited vehicular access that means walking in, fish that are notoriously finicky and fickle, and wading that wants studded shoes and a staff. The season opens with the Grannom caddis in April, moves through March Brown and Sulphur hatches, brings the Green Drake in early June, and finishes on Blue-Winged Olives and Slate Drakes. Penns fishes best in the spring, though the fall, once it cools, can also be good; a cool wet summer keeps July and August alive while a hot one stresses the trout.