Fishing Pennsylvania One Stream at a Time: “The Yellow Breeches” by George Krebs
What comes to your mind when someone describes a place with over 10,000 miles of pristine trout streams, over 300 miles of the best Smallmouth Bass water you ever waded, and all within a five hour drive? No, it’s not Heaven, it’s Central Pennsylvania.
The Keystone State, as it’s known, has a great diversity of fishing venues; small mountain brooks, historic fertile limestone streams, big tail-water fisheries, freestone streams, warm water lakes and ponds, and even a fresh & salt water bay. With Striped Bass to steelhead, trout to smallmouth and every other fish in between, just where do you start? We are going to start at Harrisburg, the state capital. From here you can drive to every drop of fishable water in the state in five hours or less.
Twenty minutes (the way most fishermen drive) from downtown Harrisburg flows one of Pennsylvania’s most famous limestone streams, the Yellow Breeches. There are over 20 miles of stocked stream here with the center of attention being the one-mile long “catch and release” area. This section begins at the town of Boiling Springs and flows for one mile past the Allenberry Playhouse Resort. Even in the heat of summer this section, fed by several springs, remains nice and cool. It is also fed by a small feeder stream nicknamed "The Run.”
The “Run” as it flows out of the spillway at the lake.
The narrowest section of the Run, and it’s loaded with nice size hungry trout.
The “Run” (about 300 yards long) flows from a lake in the town of Boiling Springs. The cool water of the lake is fed by underground springs and exits through a small spillway. In some places the Run is only 5 feet wide, with trout stacked upon each other like cordwood. Beside the lake and next to the run is a Pennsylvania Fish Commission parking lot, complete with a first class Port-a-Potty. It doesn’t get any better than this. The Run is usually crowded, with several park benches facing the water; a great place for spouses to read while you chase trout. Even though it’s crowded, you can always find a place when a frustrated novice moves down-stream to the big water. The trout in the run face heavy pressure, with flies beating down all day long. The good news is that they still can be fooled. This is a great place for older fishermen who have a difficult time wading (I’m going to retire here), or helping novice fly-fishers learn to spot trout and read the clear water.
The Run as it passes under the footbridge on it’s way to the Yellow Breeches.
If you walk across the footbridge at the end of the parking lot and follow the run downstream, it will bring you to the famed Yellow Breeches. Crossing the Breeches at the end of the run will take you to a well worn path that follows the stream to the Allenberry Resort below the dam. Crossing the Breeches below the dam enables you to walk along the stream until you reach the end of the catch and release area. You can also park at the Allenberry Resort. There is a special fisherman’s parking lot at the top of the driveway. It is a short walk through the resort grounds, past the tennis courts to the scenic dam on the stream. Be prepared, tourists at the resort will ask you to cast your line so they can capture a graceful mid-air photo.
After the footbridge, the Run is a series of shallow pools and rifles filled with bold trout.
The Yellow Breeches with it’s typical mirror like pools and rocky rffles (trout heaven).
The slow cool (dry fly) water before the Allenberry Resort dam; look close, you can fish from one of the patios at the resort.
The Yellow Breeches received its name from the British soldiers who waded in, or washed their white leggings in the limestone laden waters, and ended up with a yellow tint from the chemical reaction of the lime. The freestone feeder streams and springs seem to pick up a perfect pH level as the water flows across the limestone ledges and rock on the stream bottom. This fertile stream makes ideal habitat for insect populations and their multiplication. Nine out of ten days you will find trout sipping insects from the surface of the Breeches (even on cold winter days.) It is not uncommon to have as many as six or seven different hatches in one day.
This 18 inch Rainbow ate one too many Woolybuggers.
This one mile stretch is diverse, with deep and shallow slow-moving pools, riffles and everything in between, including a dam bordering the Allenberry Playhouse. This is a fly-fisherman’s paradise. Not only is the dry fly fishing superb, the size of the fish in this seemingly small stream can be impressive. Local fishing clubs, in cooperation with local fly shops, also stock these waters with hundreds of fifteen-inch-plus trout; these private stockings are in addition to the heavy stocking done by the PA Fish Commission. My last two outings saw two twenty-inch-plus brown trout. Unfortunately, they were caught by the fishermen next to me. The best season of all is the White Fly hatch, in late August and early September. These flies hatch in tremendous numbers; in flight, they resemble a white moth, but they are definitely a type of mayfly. It seems every fish in the stream rises to the surface for this tasty treat. The hatch usually happens right before dark and you'd better arrive early, because the parking lot is crowded, and the stream more so. But even with the crowds, you can always find a place to fish.
The Yellow Breeches holds great fishing in the rest of the stream as well. You will find other areas less crowded with fishermen and also less fish, but still productive. It seems I have never found a spot that didn’t hold trout in spite of what the bait dunkers say. In the heat of summer some stream sections warm up and cause the trout to migrate to cooler spring-fed and shaded sections. Try the areas around Williams Grove, New Cumberland, Mechanicsburg near Messiah College, and Brandtsville. Trout can be found throughout the Yellow Breeches.
The Breeches from Park Road
You will find a lot of fallen trees and tree roots, usually filled with lots of my flies.
The town of Boiling Springs is a 15-minute drive from exit 236 of the PA Turnpike. Take Rte. 15 south toward Gettysburg and make a right on to Rte. 74, also called York Road. You will cross the Yellow Breeches near the railroad crossing at Brandtsville. Fish here or continue on 74 until you come to the Rte. 174 intersection. Make a left at the light on to Rte. 174 toward Boiling Springs; you will pass the Allenberry Resort on your left. Turn left onto Bucher Hill road before you enter town. The lake is on your right and the Parking lot for the “Run” is on your left. The Yellow Breeches Outfitters shop is on Rte. 174 on the lake.
The water before the trestle bridge is deep and full of big trout, the mirror poll after the bridge is great dry fly water, and the riffles, well, find this spot on one of the access road and find out for yourself.
Access is very good along PA Route 174, especially near the Boiling Springs area. There are many secondary roads that parallel or provide access; two of the better ones are Pine Road and Creek Road. Park Drive, out of Boiling Springs, offers some great access to other sections of the stream as well. As you follow the stream, you will see many places to park along the side of the road where wading shoes have worn a path to the water. As the Breeches heads toward the Susquehanna, it flows through Upper Allen and Lower Allen townships and on to New Cumberland, where it finally ends. Looking for some great time on Pennsylvania water? Make the town of Boiling Springs your starting point and work up and down stream from there. You will not be disappointed. If you are bringing a non-fishing spouse, the Allenberry Resort and Playhouse offers a great place to stay, eat, and even enjoy a tremendous show. Imagine a second honeymoon and fly fishing combined; maybe this is Heaven.
What’s the best equipment? A good 4-5 wt., 8-½ foot rod will cover most of the water; floating line should be sufficient for much of the Breeches. A sink tip can be a help in a few of the deeper pools and stretches. A small (6-½ to 7 foot) rod in a 2-3 wt. is ideal for the “Run”, due to the narrow width and overhanging canopy of branches that shade this little feeder stream. Local fly shops can give you the scoop on what is currently hatching.
Ben Ardito, in his Pennsylvania Trout Sampler, offers the following suggestions for the Breeches.
“Little Black Stones and tan caddis are good bets in March and into May, as well as Little Blue-Winged Olives, Blue Quills, and Hendricksons in the latter part of April and into May. By mid-May, Sulfurs appear and slightly larger Blue Winged Olives, Slate Drakes, and Gray Fox. In the summer, starting around mid-June, Cahills appear along with Yellow Drakes and Tricos. The summer also provides some nice terrestrial fishing with ant and beetle patterns. Tricos continue into late August. Midges work well throughout most of the year and streamer and sculpin patterns are effective during high water.” Conehead Woolly-Buggers are always a good bet."
One of the more popular flies for the Yellow Breeches (made famous by Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine) is Dusty’s San Juan Worm; a simple but very effective pattern.
A pink San Juan Worm (1-½ to 2 inches), tied on a 16-18 caddis hook with a narrow band of amber dubbing to represent the swollen band found on most small earthworms, is ideal. Fished with an indicator and just enough weight to put it in front of the fish is all but a guarantee. I have taken a dozen trout in the presence of other fishermen hooking one or two. Every time someone always asks, “Just what are you using?” I smile, reach in to my pack and hand them a couple. I tie these by the dozens and give most away.
The Yellow Breeches is a national treasure, I am so fortunate to be one of the locals. Just remember, these are trout, and this is fishing, and every once in a while, even I come home skunked.
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Price: $6.95 for each issue
The Premiere issue is ready for shipping & the Fall 2008 issue will be available September 1st.
