Spring Creek, Center County PA

This photo was taken about halfway between Fisherman's Paradise and the 550 near Bellefonte on Friday morning. This is typical of the water through this stretch - riffle & run, riffle & flat, riffle & pool. Previously, I had only fished one stretch of this stream, a few miles upriver, below the Benner Springs hatchery. Speaking about hatcheries, consider this - there are two on Spring Creek and two on Big Fishing, although neither gets stocked except for a small stretch of Big Fishing near the village of Mill Hall. Pennsylvania does a tremendous amount of stocking - in some cases into streams that get too warm for trout in summer, and in some cases into streams that are all messed up from mine tailings. I've fished Pennsylvania with East Texas Red when guys were literally elbow to elbow on some of these stocked streams, leaving wild trout streams to a few anglers. Once a guy in a flyshop tried to send us up one of these streams - he said we'd have to hike in about half a mile because the they start catching the stockers at the bridge and go further and further in as they pull the trout out of the stream, until they are all gone.