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Early SE opener

1442 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  tfabarcher35
I am off the weekend of the SE trout opener. Never fished out that way before. My dad and I have been discussing riding out and fishing on the opener. Does anyone have any streams they'd recommend trying. Not looking for anyone's honey hole, just a place where we can catch and release a few for the day. As close to SW PA as possible preferably. Thanks in advance.
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There are a lot of options but it will really depend on air temps and water levels that day. Last year it was cool but the water was extremely July level low. Changed a lot of appraoches. If you like the wild outdoors I would say to focus on Schyulkill County and north and south Berks County. Lots of very pretty creeks in those areas and they are probably closer to you then say Northampton County. Check out the stocking lists and see if any creeks strike your fancy or if you want info on any of them. I'd be happy to help as I've fish a LOT of them over the years. I've assisted a few guys with the SE opener in the past.
I have fished down there my share of time, not much of the water can compare to what I am used to in the northern part of the state. I however did get a good laugh while catching a trout that was sitting in an old shopping cart.

I have had good success in fishing the Conococheague in Franklin County, Yellow Breeches in Cumberland County, Clarks Creeks, Stony Creek, Wiconisco Creek in Daulphin County, and the Mahantango Creek in Schuylkil.
Thanks for the responses and offers guys.
Yellow Breeches creek. It will be packed but its a great stream to fish.
tfabarcher35 said:
Yellow Breeches creek. It will be packed but its a great stream to fish.
If they stick around, I have a flock of LONGBEARDS for you guys to film this spring. I mean they are some butterballs. Three in particular are all like 20+ pounds and 10-12 inch beards that are just paintbrushes. The one has spurs like turkish swords. If we get any of them, they will be tough to beat, and will definitely be standing in my trophy room.
I have also considered hitting the early opener, but figured for that long of a drive I might as well just hit the local dhalo streams. Dont have to deal with near the crowds there.
Jordan Creek, Lil Lehigh, Swabia, Cedar creek,etc in the lehigh valley...
Deuce280 said:
I have also considered hitting the early opener, but figured for that long of a drive I might as well just hit the local dhalo streams. Dont have to deal with near the crowds there.
I thought the same thing, but we'll be fishing those up until then. We just figured we'd go for something different. I always had to work weekends before. Now I started a new job and have the majority of weekends off. Never had the chance before so I thought we'd take advantage of it. My dad has two artificial hips though, so we can't get too far off the beaten path.
Probably not the experiance you are looking for, but one that would be easy on your Pop. The Tulpehoken(?)(Tully) creek in Berks Co.. The Tully flows through a county park system just about it's entire length(after leaving Blue Marsh) so there is a crushed stone path for much of that. It is also open to year round fishing so it may be less crowded that weekend. There is a special reg area(DHAO) from Blue Marsh lake down to a covered bridge(appx 4miles?) but below that the stream is open to all.
kudu58 said:
tfabarcher35 said:
Yellow Breeches creek. It will be packed but its a great stream to fish.
If they stick around, I have a flock of LONGBEARDS for you guys to film this spring. I mean they are some butterballs. Three in particular are all like 20+ pounds and 10-12 inch beards that are just paintbrushes. The one has spurs like turkish swords. If we get any of them, they will be tough to beat, and will definitely be standing in my trophy room.
haha sounds good! The SE opener is way different compared to what I am used to. I have fished it a few times but I prefer to go down there during the week. Crowds are way down. If you decided to fish the breeches PM me and I can put you in direction of where to go.
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