Pennsylvania and Family

Well my time in my home state has come to an end.(I might be able to sneak out one more time to the Juniata before I leave) It has been the kind of summer break I absolutely cannot complain about. I caught some monster fish and a lot of fish while being home, one of which I don't think I will ever forget. Here are a few pictures of the Pennsylvania waters I cannot get enough of.

 

They have treated me well, and I cannot wait to come back again.

This First trip of the week was a special one. Sometimes the trips are memorable for the fish that I catch. This was much different, my father came along and served me up a large piece of humble pie. we went to the Little J and I chucked streamers, with sporradic dry fly fishing in between. He brought his spinning rod and his minnow rig. I will not give numbers(I do not want to look bad) but lets just say that he found himself with a much larger amount of fish on the other end of the rod than I did. It was great to see my dad kick my butt, Its been years and he knows it :). Normally he was always stuck helping my little brother, or fishing water behind me.( I called my style POWER FISHING, because I never really stop moving along the river. Its just a constant walk while fishing)

After landing a healthy brown halfway through the trip, I decided I had had enough. I thought to myself, this is one of the few times you have to simply "fish" with your father. So with that thought, I broke down the Redington, strapped it to my backpack, and decided to stick with my dad and net his fish and just enjoy the moment.

 The last brown of the day for me.

 This guy was a good 17''. It doesnt look it, but that is just because my dad is a beast.

 You have no idea how great of a day this really turned out to be for me.

This being my dads second ever trip to the Little J, he was not used to trout that actually fight. This is a far cry from fishing for 12 inch stockies and or wild trout that are in the hole the size of a truck bed.  I know he will be fishing it often from now on, because he kept commenting on how hard these trout can fight when they have some water to move around in. This really was one of my more memorable trips of my life. 


The second trip of the week was to the first stream I ever fished. On the way back from the Little J, my dad asked if I had been back to this stretch to try it. Frankly, I had forgotten about it. I hadn't been there for about 8 or 9 years.

Well early next morning, I found myself headed for Rothrock State Forest with my 3 wt. Back when I was a young child, I remember my dad giving me piggyback rides, while he fished for wild brookies. I fished the stream, and pulled out a few brookies, but surprisingly most were wild browns.

This little Freestone stream is absolutely Gorgeous!!!!!!! Most of the holes were the same as they were 8 years ago, which made for a nice walk down memory lane.

The goods from the trip:

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The third trip was back to the Little J with my buddy Matt. Matt is a Junior High football coach, and did not have much time to fish, but we made the best of it.We both chucked streamers, and the J gave up some good fish.