October is here!! With it comes some great fly fishing opportunities, too. This is probably my favorite month of the year for many reasons, but mostly it is because the fishing can be incredible in this month.

Trout are back to the activity of eating more & spawning as the water temperatures come back down. The cool nights & gently warm days are great for aquatic insect life & the trout that eat those bugs. Plus, as this is a busy time of year for most folks, the fishing pressure is usually much less now than in the spring of the year.

The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission is actively stocking adult trout right now all across the commonwealth. If you're planing a trip here for some autumnal trout fishing, be sure to check their stocking schedule for times & locations HERE.

Trout aren't the only show in town this time of year, either. This can be a fantastic month for bass fishing, too. If you've never fought a bass on a fly rod you are missing out on some of the best action you'll ever experience!

In fact, it's a great month to pursue all kinds of fish with your fly rod - from crappie to bluegill & even pike - the fish are (or soon will be) trying to put on extra pounds for the winter. This aggressive feeding can make for some fantastic sport for us anglers.

Make some time to get out there & enjoy some October fly fishing. You'll be glad you did!!

Of course, we've all seen the news of the damage the last two hurricanes that have hit the USA have caused. Let's all say a prayer & try to help the folks of Texas, Louisianan, & Florida. While those folks have entirely too much water, other places are too dry. 

Here in Pennsylvania we're lucky. While not in an official drought, we're close & our crops & trout streams could really use some rain. Everything here is dry & the potential for fires is higher than it normally would be at this time of year.

So if you're here in the East & you go out to do some camping & fishing & have a nice little campfire going, please be sure to put it out completely before you leave. Don't leave anything smoldering or even warm to the touch. Make sure your fire is completely out long before you decamp, just like the folks who had this fire did:

I hope that those effected by the hurricanes can get back on their feet again soon. For those of us in places where it's dry, let's all be responsible when we go out into the woods.

​I hope you're all getting some good early autumn fly fishing in & enjoying yourselves!!

Fly fishing with poppers for smallmouth bass in the summer is some of my favorite type of fishing. I love the hard-fighting action of these fish & their strength. They can give you some fantastic sport, for sure.

I like to go after these bass in streams & rivers. In fact, some of these bass will be in the same places I fished for trout earlier in the year. The methods are the very similar to trout fishing as well, but poppers are their own breed of fly & require a few different techniques then "normal" flies. Of course, I like to pursue bass in ponds & lakes, too but there's just something about the moving water of a stream that makes fly fishing for bass so much fun.

If you haven't ever tried your hand at fly fishing for bass, you're missing out. They are not easy to catch & require planing & skill to fool. Read up about smallmouth bass & then go after them. If you haven't before, you will have a new respect for these fish. To me they are what the dog days of summer are all about.

​Here is a short video showing you some of the techniques you'll need to think about when you fish for smallies with poppers:

In the spring of the year, I'm probably a trout purist, but in the summer some of the most fun I'll have all season long will be going after these feisty bass (& other warm water fish). They'll have any angler smiling from ear to ear on these hot summer days & nights!!

A while back, Mike Buriak of Mountain Brook Fly Rods got in touch with me & told me about an idea he had. Mike was working on designing a new line of fiberglass fly rods & thought that the rod tubes & rod bags Dad & I make would make nice homes for his new rods. He also had an idea to pair the first few rods with the fishing bags we make, too. Both the tubes & fishing bags are customized with Mikes vintage-styled Mountain Brook Fly Rods patches. Mike's a heck of a nice guy so I jumped at the chance to work with him & pair his rods with my accessories.

Well, recently Mike introduced this new line of fly rod, & folks, they look darn good to me!!

The fiberglass blanks for these rods are made by Mike McFarland, of The McFarland Rod Company to Mike Buriak's design. Mr McFarland makes some of the finest glass rods & blanks on the market today & Mike Buriak has built some gorgeous rods on these awesome blanks!!

As all three of us (Mike Buriak, Mike McFarland, & myself) are Pennsylvanian rod makers, this package is truly a PA fly rod outfit!!!!

Mike is offering these in two sizes, both 2 piece rods (I looove 2 pc glass rods, myself). Here's Mike's description of these rods:

Appalachian 632…. This little 6ft, 3wt model was designed to target the Brookies of the great Appalachian Mountain Range where my family traditions in fly-fishing originated. This classic two piece, tip over butt model is great for roll casting buggers and still has the finesse of throwing little stimulators and caddis. It has a great classic glass feel with a progressive tip for hook sets on the little gems of the Appalachians. “This is just my preference and opinion when I state the following”, sometimes fishing slower and other glass I noticed I missed a few strikes in tight quarters, so this is just something a little more progressive in action.  This little gem can handle a lot of diverse conditions, and I tend to under “gun” at times because I like to push rods to the limit and enjoy feeling the fight.  I have fished bigger water as well with this one, and it’s a performer. Personally, I tend to fish a 3 wt most of the time

Salmo Trutta 852….  This 8 ft. 5wt, 2 piece was designed with my home waters in mind of the Pine Creek Valley (Big Pine Creek), Penns Creek, and Spring Creek here in Central Pennsylvania. The browns in these waters always make me smile, and relieves the stress of everyday life.) The older I get the more I cherish these precious moments on the stream. This model has the backbone to do it all from nymphing, or a dry with a dropper, and reaching out there at a pretty good distance when needed.  The goal was to offer a solid all-around rod. Just like the Appalachian, this model has a progressive recovery to shoot some line, and yet have that full flex feel for a great “digging” and “head shaking” brown.

I am so very pleased to be a part of this wonderful line of fly rods & to be working with Mike Buriak. He's an upstanding, honest guy who is a true pleasure to work with. If you're looking for an affordable, high quality, well made glass fly rod, then why not consider one of these fantastic rods from Mountain Brook Fly Rods?

To see more photos of these rods, tubes, & bags - including Mike's contact info -please see this post Mike put up at the Fiberglass Flyrodders Forum by clicking HERE.

Well, here in Pennsylvania it has been a very wet & cold start to the trout season, but with some really nice days thrown in there, too, luckily. At the very beginning of the season the streams were all very high & blown out. Then the month of May began with almost biblical rain!! What's an angler to do?!!?

Fortunately, things seemed to level off, weather - wise, & conditions have been fairly decent for the last week or so. As you would expect, it put all the hatches off schedule &, because the streams were not fishable for some time, we even missed some of the hatches coming off. That said, nature always does a balancing act, & the cool nights have helped to delay a lot of hatches, buying us anglers some time for the streams to come down to good levels.

In fact, the other day I happened to see a small Light Cahill hatch in a place where the Cahills should have been done for the year about two weeks ago. On that part of the stream you can tell when the Cahills are just about done with their run for the year, as the hatches get a lot smaller. They can last for three weeks or so on that stretch of the stream, but when they start to go, there's a lot less of them coming off the water every evening.......& here they were still hatching two weeks or so late. It has been a strange year. I'd say it's been a "fish 'em when you can" type of trout season here. 

How has it been where you are? Have any great fishing photos or stories you'd like to share? Please feel free to share them with me & if you want, share them with everyone on the Beyond The Rod Shop page of this website.

I always love seeing your fishing photos & hearing your tales of adventure, so please feel free to contact me & let me know all about what you folks have been up to on the water.

I hope you're all having a fantastic fishing season so far!!!

You know the old saying about the month of March, 'if it comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb'. Well, in my part of the world March came in like a raging, angry lion for sure. There were heavy rains & high winds all across the middle & eastern parts of the country. Now, it's always tragic when there is loss of life & property damage, but storms can have a big impact on our fishing as well.

The one constant about any trout stream is that it is always changing. The flow of water will change over the course of time. The runs, riffles & pools that you know & love to fish will not always be there. Sometimes it can take years for this to happen, sometimes it only takes a few seconds. When there are strong storms along a trout stream, you can be almost certain that it will have at least a small effect on the steam itself. This might very well change how we fish a part (or parts) of those streams.

Besides the erosion caused by heavy flooding, one of the biggest impacts from storms that will effect us anglers are downed trees. It's important to note the trees along the streams you like to fish & look at their condition. A section of stream you might have passed over before, devoid of any fish, might become a great spot for trout or bass after a windfall lands in the water.

Take a look at this photo. How much longer do you think that tree is going to remain upright & out of the water? I don't know if you can see it or not, but the water here isn't very deep at all. What will happen to the water there after that tree comes down into the stream?......I think it's going to make a very nice, deep pool there someday that will hold a lot of trout. 

Now take a look at this tree on the right side of the photo. I know it's hard to tell what's behind that tree, but I can tell you that it's actually very well rooted in the ground. Those trees seem to have a very firm grasp & so it might be a while before they come down. They've withstood some massive flooding so far & they're still hanging in there. I don't look for those trees to come down into the stream anytime soon. Now, having said that - mother nature can do some awesome things. She certainly can take those trees down at anytime, so you can never be too sure. Ultimately this is just a guessing game. 

Finally, let's look at this photo. Here you can see the passage of time & see the past & the future all at once. On the left side of the photo is what's left of an old windfall that a storm blew into the stream years ago. For many years this windfall stuck out into the water, breaking up the water flow just right so as to create a seam in the current that trout loved (I also have a funny story about that windfall concerning a certain angry squirrel, but that's for another time). Then came a very nasty flood that was so forceful it pushed that entire windfall onto what would become the stream bank after the water receded back to normal flows. 

That same flood also started to compromise the integrity of the far bank on the right side of the photo. In the next few years, that tree began to lean more & more towards the horizontal. Sooner or later, it's going to end up in the stream, creating another seam for the trout to stack up under......until another powerful flood comes along & pushes it out of the way......& the cycle continues.

If you have the time & the means to, it's never a bad idea to scout out your favorite fishing streams before the season begins. It will give you an idea of how your streams have changed over the winter. Also take note of the trees & any beginning signs of erosion along the stream bank. It could give you new opportunities to fish in places that just didn't hold sizable fish before. The only thing you can truly count on along a stream is that, eventually, it will change.

Believe it or not, soon the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission will begin stocking adult trout into the streams, rivers, & lakes of PA. Are you planing a fishing trip to the Keystone state this year? Well, if you are you can plan to hit your favorite spots at a time when they're filled with trout for you to match your wits against.

The list can be searched by county. Simply enter in the county that you'll be fishing in & you can see when & where the Commission will be stocking these trout. To view the list, click HERE.

Additional info can be had on the Commission's website, including interactive maps showing each stocked water - with GPS coordinates to boot. You can read all about the different fishing seasons in PA, buy a PA fishing license, & even watch some videos, too. 

​No folks, it won't be too much longer before the trout are going from the hatcheries to the streams & you know what that means - it won't be too much longer before we're casting our flies to rising trout!!!! I can't wait for that!!!

There are times along a stream when I've noticed that my ability to tie a leader knot or a fly to my tippet will decrease inproportion to the amount of hatching bugs & rising trout. In other words, sometimes when a hatch is going good & the trout are rising like crazy, I'm all thumbs & it takes me longer to tie a knot. Obviously, at those times, I'm suffering from what I call an acute case of 'trout fever'. 

There are different forms of trout fever. There's the very sudden, acute version I just described. Then there's the more chronic version which can take over your life. Chronic trout fever creeps into your daily life at times when you should be focused on something else. A symptom of chronic trout fever would be not hearing what someone is saying to you when away from the stream, because in your mind your thinking about fly fishing. You might even give a one sylabol response to a question you've been asked & then move your arm through a casting motion (air casting), while not making direct eye contact with the person speaking to you. The sevarity of your condition can be judged by the situations in which your mind wonders back to the stream when you should be paying attention to what's going on around you (it's really bad if you do this while speaking to any authority figure).

All of us, from time to time, will suffer from some form of trout fever. It is a consequence of fly fishing, maybe it's a side effect, I can't be sure. There is no real cure for trout fever. You can, however, releve the afliction by going fly fishing. The better day you have along the stream & the more fish that you catch will extend the time that your symptoms are supressed. If you can't get to a stream to fly fish, a substitue treatment would include tying your favorite flies &/or reading a good fly fishing book.

For most of us, we're in that dull time of between seasons. You know, it's too cold & slow to go after trout in the usual way, but it's not quite steelhead time yet either. Not to worry, you can still enjoy some decent fly fishing in many places right now. How, you might ask? Well, don't forget the warm water species of fish like bass, bluegill, crappie, etc. This can be a great time of year to go after them.

At this time of year, those warm water fish are busy getting fat for the winter. They're eating, & so now's a good time to catch them.

Find yourself a good pond. They're surprisingly all around you in neighborhood parks, or on private land (just be sure to ask for the land owner's permission first) & give it a go. Mostly right now you'll find the fish cruising around not far off the edges of ponds. The smaller fish come in to feed on the leaves & dead plants that have collected there, then the bigger fish come in to feed on them. This can lead to some very fun action.

If you don't have access to a pond or small lake, then find a good stretch of bass water on a river or stream. Often times this will be in some of the same locations where you were catching trout earlier in the year. Look for deeper water that has structure around it, like reed beds, or especially rocks. A rocky bottom mixed with some larger boulders & some under water ledges is perfect for bass.

Of course, with the colder weather having been around for a while, the fishing will be a little slower. It's not going to be the rapid fire action you could get from these fish at the beginning of summer, but they'll still give you a heck of a fight. 

This time of year doesn't have to be fish-less for you. If the trout won't cooperate, don't neglect their warm-water brothers & sisters. I don't know about you, but I'm never ready to give up the season before salmon & steelhead get going. With these fish, you don't have to!! Give it a try.

Well, it's that time of year again here in Pennsylvania. Soon the PA Fish & Boat Commission will begin their fall trout stockings!! This is done to add fresh adult trout to the streams for enhanced sport during the autumn months.

Not all the streams that got stocked with adult trout in the spring will get trout this fall - only certain streams all across the state. So, if you're planing a trip here in PA for some of our fantastic autumn fly fishing, then please check the Commission's webpage that will give you where & when the trout will be stocked. While there, you can also get a ton of info about trout & other fishing opportunities in PA.

Need some gear for your fall fly fishing?.....just contact me & I'll be happy to help you out in any way that I can.

I hope you all get a chance to wet a line this fall & land some nice trout that will be decked out in their beautiful fall colors!!