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Spring Creek
- State College, PA (Page 3 of 3)
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Continued (from Charles R. Meck - Pennsylvania Trout Streams and Thier Hatches - 2nd Edition):
The middle section of Spring Creek, from Houserville downstream to the upper end of Fishermen's Paradise, was almost totally void of hatches for years, for it was this section that received the bront of the worst pollution. Within the last couple of years, however, several mayflies have beebly repopulated this area. The Trico now appears but not in the numbers it attains above or below, and the Sulphur and Light Cahill have also reappeared in limited quantities.
The lower section of Spring, from Fishermen's Paradise downstream six miles to the creek's junction with the Bald Eagle Creek, is larger, more productive water. Hatches like the Sulphur, Trico and Green Caddis become important again. Here you'll encounter Green Caddis hatches copied with a size-16 or -18 downwing almost every morning in July and August. Here too you'll find trout rising in August and September for Tan Crane flies-very common on the water after mid-morning. Fisherman's Paradise, once a well-maintained and heavily stocked no-harvest, fly-fishing-only section, has lost much of its pervious notoriety.
Most of Spring Creek is readily accessible by car-much of the creek runs within 100 yards from a paved road. The upper end of the stream from it's source to Oak Hall, is posted water. A secondary road from the limestone quarry just below Oak Hall to Lemont parallels the uper end of the creek. PA 26 crosses the stream at Lemont and PA 550 and 150 bring you close to the stream near Bellefonte and Milesburg.
Spring Creek has a relatively moderate flow with plenty of productive pocket water. The stream ranges from 30 to 40 feet from bank to bank and is fairly easy to wade, although aquatic plants make wading difficult in some areas. Several excellent tributaries enter Spring Creek and most of them contain streambred brown trout. Cedar Run, a typical pastoral limestone stream, enters at Oak Hall. Downstream, just below Lemont, Slab Cabin Run enters. This too has native trout but was also the cause of much of the pollution; it was a minor tributary to Slab Cabin that carried effluents from the State College sewage plant. Two other important tributaries enter near Bellefonte. Logan Branch holds plenty of large trout and enters Spring in the center of Bellefonte. Buffalo Run, another important native brown trout stream, joins Spring Creek at the lower end of Bellefonte. All of the major tributaries of Spring Creek are productive limestone streams.
Since its inception as a no-kill stream, Spring Creek has made a remarkable recovery as a trout fishery, with plenty of healthy streambred browns. The entire stream from Oak Hall to its mouth is classified as a no-kill zone. Try fishing the stream from May 15 to June 10 for some exciting hatches and plenty of trout.
Please visit Charles R. Meck at (charlesmeck.com) and look at his great selection of fly fishing books and his current schedule of appearances, book signings and educational events.
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