Fly Fishing Big Spring Creek
by
Eugene P. Macri Jr.

Fly Fishing Big Spring Creek in Pennsylvania is unlike fly fishing freestone streams. Yet you'd never know from the advice people receive in books and on the internet.  I just received an email from a damn good fly fisherman and he had gone to the upper area of Big Spring, known as the ditch.  There's a huge population of brook trout in this section as well as many good size rainbows.  Few fish could be seen in the morning time period. He returned in the evening and there was a massive hatch of midges.

He said that he thought every trout in the stretch (150 meters) was feeding.  He caught some but they were very tough.  And that's it in a nutshell. These are wild trout that feed when they want; not necessarily when you are there. And furthermore, they feed on things which make them very hard to catch...like small midges.  Also, they feed selectively! (photo shows wild brook trout from Big Spring)

This is a problem for most fly fishermen new to spring creeks...it's called patience.  You must have or develop it if you are to be successful on spring creeks. Fly anglers, guides, and fly shops tell people there aren't any trout in Big Spring. The stream has one of the largest trout populations per acre in the world but they are wild fish and extremely hard to catch.

Everyone wants easy fishing but spring creeks on most days are not easy fishing.  They require patience, stealth, proper casting, good fly selection and good technique.  I thought that's what most fly anglers wanted to become..better fly fishermen...but may be not.  If you learn how to fish these stream the satisfaction from catching the smartest fish on earth will definitely stay with you longer than the hatchery pets you caught in a some freestone stream that was stocked a few hours before you got there!