TCO Fly Shop

The Tulpehocken is the tailwater below Blue Marsh Lake in Berks County, and TCO guides it as both a wading and a float fishery. Trips work the 3.8-mile special-regulations water: the numbered deflector pools, the riffles and pocket water of the Water Works section, and the flats and riffle sections around the Palisades. Brown and rainbow trout average 12 to 14 inches, with holdovers running 13 to 16 and a few past 18. Caddis are the staple of the trout’s diet, backed by Sulphurs, Tricos, stoneflies, terrestrials and midges that keep dry-fly water open through most of the year. Half-day wade trips run four hours and full days eight; float trips run four to six hours, or eight to ten covering five miles or more. Terminal tackle, meaning leaders, tippet and flies, comes with every trip, with snacks on half days and lunch on full days, and no more than two anglers to a guide.