Apologia/Credits
The Legendary Green Drake Dun
Potter County Hatches
Because of the higher elevations and generally cooler temperatures, Potter County hatches can be slightly "retarded," i.e., if the Green Drake is coming off on the Cumberland Valley (Pa.) streams, it could be another week before it makes its appearance in Potter County. This "offset" is more pronounced during early and late season periods. The charts listed at the end of this discussion have been "adjusted" to reflect Potter County's cooler temperatures.
Another interesting phenomenon is
the
preponderance of
caddisflies in these headwater streams. So much so, that an excellent
strategy
when fishing one of these streams for the first time is to tie on any
12
or 14 brown-bodied Elk Hair Caddis and use it as a searching pattern.
Because
there are so many caddisfly species hatching at various times of the
day,
the odds are that you will locate trout. If a mayfly hatch becomes
established,
switch over to capitalize on the situation.
 |
Brachycentrus larvae, probably numerosus, in the gin-clear Upper Allegheny. The water is about 6 inches deep. This is a typical scene prior to the emergence of American Grannom, although concentrations can be much higher. |
Many of the smaller brook trout streams require no hatch matching at all. I've fished many of these streams with beat up flies "from the sheepskin patch." Food is scarce in these streams; brook trout are universally hungry and will take almost anything. Indeed, I recall one afternoon when I caught over fifty brook trout on the same beat up grasshopper imitation. At the end of the day it had been reduced to nothing but its bare thread underwrapping.
Good hatches of the Green Drake occur on the upper Allegheny. The same hatch on Mill Creek produces a slightly smaller insect. All of the traditional mayfly hatches can occur in astounding numbers. But be aware that evening hatches can be affected by low air temperatures. As soon as the sun disappears below the mountain tops, activity can suddenly cease.
Early season stonefly hatches, while frustrating to fish to, are often prolific. Sometimes you can "tease" a reluctant brown to come up. Indeed, this teasing or twitching strategy a la Art Flick sometimes induces strikes in early season cold-water dry fly fishing. I've had similar results with large caddisfy imitations after first frost and on through October. Large browns seem to be especially attracted to these "struggling" insects, vaulting through the film in acrobatic leaps to snatch the fly.
One of my favorite hatches is Psilotreta labida, the Dark Blue Sedge. Year after year it regularly makes its appearance along about the third week in May. Once, a few years ago, it came off in such great numbers on the Upper Allegheny that the caddisflies got into my eyes, nose and down my shirt front. Great clouds of these large caddisflies moved upstream, flying just a few feet above the surface. Needless to say, fishing the remainder of the evening was outstanding.
Follow the general rule: larger streams with pronounced riffle/pool configurations should hold respectable populations of mayfly species; smaller, woodland streams will favor detritus-eating caddisfly and stonefly species. The larger streams, especially if they also contain stretches of course silt should produce good hatches of the drakes (Brown, Green, Yellow, Golden, Slate). Typical are the Allegheny, Oswayo Creek, Pine Creek and the West Branch of Pine.
And don't overlook the beetles, ants, grasshoppers and other terrestrials. A few years ago the Gypsy Moth infestation of our oak forests produced a bonanza. The larvae, hanging from gossamer threads over the water, would drop into the stream with the slightest breeze producing a whirlwind of feeding.
