Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Made a trip up to Central PA to fish the Little J yesterday. With cloudy conditions and some rain forecasted, I was hoping for good fishing well into the day. The flow on the river was pretty low so I expected a different experience than my last two trips but was unsure of what I would find. Sure enough, the spots I fished and caught on the last trips were completely different and I had to change up my game plan. I'm quickly learning that changing stream conditions are a constant part of trout fishing and learning to adapt is a big part of being successful. So adapt I did. It took me a while to figure out where the fish were holding and what they were eating, but once I did I caught some fish and had a fun morning on a beautiful stream.

I got to the water as it was getting light and was in the water by 6:25 and was greeted by the first train of the day.


I searched around for about an hour without a hit. I then found a deeper run just below the bridge and put on a strike indicator to fish further away from me since the water was so clear. I also saw some inch worms hanging from the trees so I put on a pattern called a green weenie. I almost immediately had my first hit and a miss. On the very next cast I hooked my first fish but it came unbuttoned about half way in. It looked to be about a 10" or 11" brown. I then had to retie my rig because of a tangle. On the very next cast I hooked this beautiful rainbow.


I tried to get a selfie with this one but he was camera shy and promptly jumped out of my hands back in the water. Here's me fumbling my catch. lol


Rainbows are not known to reproduce in the Little J, so this is a stocked holdover but a nice fish none the less. The cool thing is that the nearest stocking point is about 4 miles away in one of the tributaries.

I managed to get 2 other fish in this run including this beautiful wild brown.


Once that hole dried up I went exploring and picked a few more fish, including 3 that I caught in a super shallow riffle tight line nymphing.


All in all a great day on the water and once again proud of my ability to adapt and learn in new conditions. I've now fished the Little Juniata and the Big Gunpowder 3 times each and the flows have been significantly different on every trip and I've caught fish in different spots each time. I also haven't hit any decent bug hatches so I'm looking forward to experiencing lots of actively feeding fish. Can't wait to get out again.