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Stream Reports
2012-05-14: 5-11 &5-12
SULPHURS and MARCH BROWNS, Bugs and risers. Streamer fishing was a little slow but the fish have been rising all afternoon everywhere. My client Friday was a newby and he learned how to present dry flies to risers till they eat. We went through my box to find the right emerger and when we tried the first fly, a March Brown emerger, the fish pounded it with a unanswered hook set and got free, aftter a few more hit and misses, we hooked and landed a few on Sulphurs. I saw 4 Green Drakes on the water. Nothing bothered to eat them as far as I could see. The following day, the bugs got better and better and the risers were less shy. I can't wait to get back on the water. I have the flies if you have the time. Plenty of availability for next weekend.
Jim Geary
2012-05-10: 2012-05-07: Stained, but good!
Wanted to post an update for a recent trip, as we have been pretty busy here at LHGS.
We were able to get out on the Yough, despite the rainy conditions a few days prior. Trout were fairly active in the upper stretches of the river, prior to where the Cassleman truly mixed in, and were taking well presented nymphs and buggers. Didn't see many risers, but the water clarity probably had something to do with that.
Spent much of the day casting medium sized streamers which payed of greatly with the smallies! Most any of your favorite patterns in olive, tan/brown or black seemed to work well in the stained water.
Hope you are out gettin' it while the gettin's good!!
LHGS
2012-04-10: Spring 2012-pre-opener report
Like everyplace else it seems, the Yough has been fishing really well this spring. We've been on the river from Connellsville to Confluence, and the fish seem to have wintered over nicely and have that typical spring foot-ballishness about them.
Typical spring bugs like buggers, stoneflies, and princes have been effective underneath, and we've even managed to stick a few on dries when the fish are were up on the grannoms.
Big streamers on sinking lines have been getting it done as well, accounting for the nicest fish of the season thus far. For you shore-bound anglers, try fishing some large stuff on the swing with your favorite double-hander. The fish last weekend seemed to be into that sort of thing.
Good luck to all on this season's opener,
LHGS
2011-12-22: December/January Erie Tribs
The Tribs are dropping and will be perfect tomorrow. I have monday available if you are looking to get out in Ohio or PA. Before the Rains we had a great day on Sunday. 17 fish hooked up before noon.
Swinging Intruders, various spey patterns and Indicator fishing are both working great. Shorter switch rods 10 1/2' -12 1/2' feet are very good for rigging for both. Carry a spare reel or spool with the proper Skagit Line and you can switch back and forth while covering different water. RIO MOW tips are very helpful for hitting the right depth and staying there.
For more up to date info call Jim Geary 330-620-7791
2011-12-02: Erie Tribs
With the Rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, the rivers have received another large push of fish. Elk and Walnut are fishing well and clearing. Conneaut is 2 days away from being prime and will fish Sunday in the higher reaches. The Rocky and Chagrin are also going to fish well on Sunday.
2011-11-22: 11-19 Steelhead
The Ohio Steelhead is picking up and the PA streams are full of fish. Guided on Conneaut Creek on Saturday with 2 youngsters. They both landed nice fish with one tipping the scale at 14 lbs. Call 330-620-7791 for up to the minute details on Steelhead this Winter and Spring.
2011-11-14: November 12th
Fish were very active, Chasing larger Streamer patterns today. Brown and yellow with Copper Flash seemed best. The river has a great flow and color. The shorter days means an early start to cover the whole middle before dark. A few fish were rising but nothing steady.
2011-09-19: September on the river
Slate Drakes, Cahills, Tan Stoneflies, BWO, Ants and Midges have all been on the water. The Dragonflies are going nuts eating the bugs as they are getting off the water. The Bite has been a little different lately, Bass are spread out with the Temperature changes and being found in deeper water. The Rainbows have been a bit more active than the Browns. The Browns should be ramping up for the spawn and getting more aggressive now. Saturday we had a few large browns chasing and a few misses. The cool nights are dropping the temps and fall fishing is upon us.
2011-08-21: August 21st
The river is coming into shape. The cooler night time temps are making the fish happier. Past two days on the middle, clients that all caught decent numbers of trout. The streamer bite is picking up and the larger fish are putting the feed bag on. Look at this slob that Henry caught today. He said it was the biggest trout of his lifetime and he has been fly-fishing for over 30 years. Nymphs such as the peacock stone have been pulling fish in the Riffs. Dry's such as small Baetis and black midges have been fooling the pick eaters. The Cheech Leech has been effective, this heavy fish couldn't resist it.
2011-08-14: Aug 13 Report
Largely due to the muddied lower river from the rains that pushed through earlier this week, LHGS spent the majority of its time on the Middle Yough chasing trout the past few days. The story is much the same: the trout are there and are eating flies pretty well if you show them the bugs the right way, but if your drift is off by even a bit or your flies are dragging, you might be in for a frustrating day of August fly poling. The fishing has been best in the first few miles below the dam. Drifting a nymph or two under a big dry in the morning is likely your best bet for moving fish. It seems to be more about the drift than the specific bug right now, but smaller stones and various midgery have been consistent producers of late in water suitable for the dry dropper rig. Bigger rubber legged stuff with flashy nymphs like lightning bugs and copper johns have been better bets in heavy or deep water. Daily hatches of olives are bringing fish to the surface on the river's flats. Smaller patterns in 18-24 have been working well, but you might try a 16 in water with a little chop on it. The trout don't seem to mind.
Cold nights combined with weekend releases opened up a little more trout water this weekend and LHGS covered the river from the dam to Connellsville. Morning fishing on the lower river was pretty good this weekend, but if you're going to fish trout down there, do it early and switch to bass water as the sun gets high.
Best of luck out there,
LHGS
2011-07-29: Almost August Trout Update
Things are good here in the Y watershed. It's hard to say what's been going on of late on the Middle Yough below Ramcatt as we've been focusing our efforts closer to the dam. The fishing up high has been solid but tough. Small flies, light tippets, and good drifts are what you'll need to bring if you hope to hook more than a few. The fish have been on midges in the mornings which has made for some challenging--but rewarding--fishing. Fish below early and go to the top when the fish let know when to change. Streamers have been getting fish before the morning mist burns off and olives in 16-20 have been showing up on cloudy days right around 11:00 and producing some nice rises when they do.
Evening fishing has been spotty of late. You'll find some fish eating spinners, cahills, and the odd caddis, but the bugs haven't been especially heavy before dark so the magic hour rises have been on the light side.
Lower River bass fishing was on hold with some of the storms we've had recently, but it's good if the water is, so go to it.
Have fun out there,
LHGS
2011-07-18: Excuses abound
up in the trout towns on why the fishing has gone to hell. All the usual stuff: full moons, fluctuating flows, sunny days, too hot, too much rubber, etc. . . But the long and short of it is that if you want to fish for trout right now on the Middle Yough, you'll want to do it early or late in the day. The morning dry-fly fishing to caddis emergences has still been good with some very nice fish up on this reliable breakfast item. This makes for some fun fishing as the fish have been eating these guys for a while now so they're not easy: they know what the bugs look like and how they behave, so you'll have to know the same. Just be sure to get out there before 11:30, as that's when the action seems to fall off.
Evening fishing has been productive as well with fish eating the daily bwos and smattering of caddis that come back to the river each night. For one reason or another, the Isos aren't particularly heavy this summer, and we haven't had any strong emergences of them lately. Be that as it may, a blind casted Iso pattern is great for searching right now with a small stone of bwo emerger fished below.
On the northern front, the warmwater fishing has been very solid of late with bass eating just about anything offered to them. There seem to be a ton of small, two to three year old bass around this year along with plenty of larger 12 to 15" fish to chase around. Look for warmwater fishing to stay strong and get stronger as the summer continues.
Best of luck out there,
The boys at LHGS
2011-06-30: Yough in total
Bass season is upon us here in the Yough watershed as the water temperatures on the lower river and some of the tributaries are warming to the point that our favorite green fish are getting happy and grabby. We've been running a few trips on the warm water in between trout outings and finding bass willing to chase everything from topwater offerings to crayfish hopped along the bottom. At least one out of every two bass we've been catching have been either spitting crayfish in the boat or have had crayfish in their mouths, so if in doubt, throw the lobster.
Trout fishing has been spotty of late on the Middle. The usual summer pattern has set in with good morning and evening fishing and mid-day shut downs. The Middle is still offering up some fine dry fly fishing at times with the morning and evening caddis (tan body/ mottled brown wing) that continue to hatch on the river daily. Isos are bringing fish up as well and the nymphs are getting fish every afternoon. As far as nymph rigs go, caddis in green and tan from 14 to 20 in the morning and Isos paired with bwos in 18-22 in the afternoon should get it done. Water temps have been trouty almost all the way down to Connellsville still and trout down that way have been eating nymphs very well and streamers greedily in the morning.
Throw in the odd carp, walleye, rafter, or beaver and you have a general idea of what's happening on the river right now from top to bottom.
I'm off the river for the week--a welcome break. Look for reports to continue after the holiday.
Happy 4th,
LHGS
2011-06-19: Quick Update
Mornings continue to be the most productive time to fish the river. Chances are, if you find a flat near moving water, you'll find pods of rising fish eating some combination of caddis, crane flies, or bwo spinners. Subsurface offerings of stones, caddis, crane fly larva, and small may fly patterns have been getting some nice fish to the boat as well. The streamer bite has fallen off a bit of late, but there seem to be a few fish still willing to chase if you're so inclined.
Evening have seen egg laying stones (size 4-8 in brown and golden), cahills, sulfurs, and caddis. For one reason or another though, there haven't been many fish working them.
The bass bite has slowed down a bit with the colder water temps we've had as a result of the cold front, but look for that to improve this week as the temps climb back to sumer norms.
Thanks for stopping by,
LHGS
2011-06-15: Lately . . .
One of the things I hate about the nature of tailwaters is their nature. Let me explain. Tailwaters are fickle. It is their nature. They offer up fish after fish one day only to spurn you the next. It is their nature.
This is the story of the fishing over the past few days. You might say that's the nature of the game. It really is too early in the season for this tailwaterish inconsistency to begin, so I'm going to go ahead and blame the weekends tumultuous highs and lows on some combination of the full moon and the cold front that finally arrived after two days of forward scouts hit us hard with afternoon and evening storms.
There were bright spots however. The cloudy weather seemed to have the bigger fish out and about looking for the smaller fish that were readily feeding on the morning caddis and the afternoon BWOs and Iso's. And if a guy were lucky enough to get someone in the boat who could and would throw the big stuff tirelessly and devotedly for an entire days fishing, that very same guy might get the chance to slide the net under one of this river's larger brownish denizens. That did happen by the way.
Also bright, the bass have definitely finished up the spawn and are beginning to spread out nicely. We had some large members of our favorite Youghiogheny River native fish in the boat lately, including a couple pushing four pounds. Even brighter, those bigger fish came on sneaky petes and clouser floating minnows. Tipping up on them like trout to a spinner they were. Good stuff.
Strange though it may be, flows are low for this time of year, which makes for some good wade fishing just about anywhere you want to fish on the river. Temps are still nice for the coldwater fish all the way down to Connellsville. There are still good numbers of caddis around in the mornings, and if you find the right piece of water you just might find a nice pod fish eating them or the leftover spinners floating down from the night before. The Isos are in full swing and seem larger this year for some reason. They are definitely tens, but I swear I've been seeing some eights buzzing around as well. Call me crazy.
Go have some fun,
LHGS
Back at it tomorrow. Look for a new report sometime next week.
2011-06-06: Finally! 6-6-2011
I know it's hard to believe, but the river has been fishable for five days in a row! No really.
We've been taking advantage of the nice levels and perfect weather (though we could use some clouds if anyone has any connections). The river has been fishing really well in the morning. Nymphing and streamer fishing, as usual, are getting fish in the a.m.. There have been lots of caddis around in the mornings--size 16, tan, and if you stick around until late in the day, you'll see fish eating them on top when they come back to the river. All this bright sun has been putting a damper on the mid-day and afternoon bite, but that's to be expected. Evening dry-fly fishing has been solid with really good numbers of caddis bringing fish to the top.
The march browns and drakes seem to be about done, but the afternoon bwo's and the slate drakes are just getting started and the river is on the drop, so maybe the afternoon bite will turn around shortly.
For those who like to offer a bigger meal, the banks have had some hellgrammites on them the past few day, so the fish should be on the lookout for them as well. Also in the big and tall section, larger streamers have been getting large fish.
I also have it on good authority from a guy who knows a guy that the bass have just finished their spawn down below so the lower river ought to be turning on over the next couple of weeks as well if you're so inclined.
That's enough.
2011-06-01: Back at it
The holiday weekend was a bust on the big river, so we found ourselves fishing several of the area tributaries, which we had mostly to ourselves, and finding plenty of happy trout on dry and dropper rigs.
Bugs on area tribs right now: green drakes, sallies (lime and yellow), tan caddis, crane flies, march browns, sulfurs. All of these bugs are around in decent numbers and the fish are finally starting to look up now that the water is dropping a bit. Dry fly and dropper rigs are all you need to get it done at the moment, though nymph rigs in the deeper runs will get you more fish.
The river is finally fishable again today. We'll be on it tomorrow and through the weekend, so we'll post a report as soon as we get back to the computer.
'till then,
the boys at LHGS
2011-05-25: Quick Update
Three days in a row of fishable levels from the dam! It's still high up there--1,240 cfs, so you'll have to pick your spots. **Just dropped to right around 700, so things are in really nice shape below the dam for this weekend. Laurel Hill and the C-man fished well on Thursday but storms Thursday night brought both up. Depending on how much rain we receive today, Laurel Hill should fish late in the day or tomorrow if we don't get too much rain. If we do, it could be another weekend of mud. Time will tell.
Have a great weekend,
LHGS
2011-05-17: Muddy water report
We had some great friends from out of town on the river this weekend. The conditions were less than ideal with a completely blown out Laurel Hill and a slightly less blown out Casselman adding their color to the river. Things looked grim, but our guys, ever bold in the face of adversity, sallied forth to do battle with a river that had thrown down the gauntlet.
Before the river mixed with the mud plug from LH and the C-man, the rainbows were eating well on the clean side. Bigger stones, girdle bugs, and buggers under indicators worked well in the high flows.
Once the river mixed and the mud did its job though, the rainbows disappeared and we went on the hunt for some of the bigger browns that we knew would be on the prowl in those conditions. We moved a few really good fish, stuck one that ate at the boat and came unbuttoned, and landed a nice, chunky female.
At this writing, everything--even the small stuff--is blown out.
That's all for now. A rained out May is nothing we aren't used to around here. Let's hope the weather settles down a bit so we can get some good fishing to the big bugs that are due to arrive very shortly.
Thanks for stopping by,
LHGS
2011-05-13: May 13--First Float Trip!
We ran our first float of the season yesterday--almost two months later than normal, and the river gave us a nice welcome. The fish were on streamers. Olive, white, or some combination of the two worked well in the brighter conditions we had yesterday.
Nymph rigs caught fish as well with attractor nymphs paired with caddis pupa in the morning and march brown nymphs in the afternoon. There were quite a few fish working shallow water in search of the march brown nymphs yesterday, water most people would walk right through, so be careful where you step out there.
If you've been thinking about booking a trip with LHGS, now is a great time to be on the river: the flows are ideal for floating, the bigger fish are still out playing in the sunshine, and there is no one else out there doing it. Give us a call or send an email. Check out the gallery for some large browns from yesterday's trip.
2011-05-11: Things are shaping up just fine--May 11
This spring has been a tough one, even moreso for the wade fisherman. But the weather pattern has certainly shifted in our favor here over the past ten days in sou' west PA. Finally, a person can pretty much choose any piece of water he'd like to fish, without consulting the guages, and find clear, full streams when he arrives.
There have been a few bugs about (tan caddis and a variety dark bodied mayflies), but for the most part, the fish have been reluctant to rise for them. Perhaps its the higher flows. More likely is that all of this water has been pushing so much food around for the trout that they have very little need to come to the top. Subsurface offerings have defintely been the ticket of late and we've been taking advantage of the unblelievable streamer fishing that these high flows have dropped in our laps. In the few hatch scenarios we've encountered so far this spring, the fish were still chasing down bigger streamer patterns and were far more likely to eat swung wets than drier offerings of whatever bug happened to be around. We did hear rumor of some March Brown sightings on Laurel Hill this week, though we haven't had the opportunity to confirm this as of yet.
I've left the most exciting bit of news (for me anyway) for last. The Army Corps is dropping the flows to 1400 from the dam this afternoon which means we are going to get our first float of the year in tomorrow.
Stay tuned for a river update, and have fun out there,
LHGS
2011-05-03: May 3, 2011
We have not yet made it to the river, but the army corps has lowered the flow from the dam to 700 which makes for some very nice wading. More rain today, but the river down to the Cassellman should stay in shape for fishing.
2011-04-26: April 25, 2011
When it comes to fishing, it's generally a good idea to have a Plan B. You never know what the river or stream you choose to fish, life in general, or the weather is going to throw at you, and without a solid fall-back plan, your long awaited day of fishing can turn into a something you aren't going to enjoy all that much at best and a won't even get to have at worst.
With all of the water we've had here in the East this spring, LHGS has had to venture away from our home river, and with some insight from the knowledgeable guys at Catching Chrome Angling Services in eastern PA http://www.catchingchrome.com, we've found a river that has been working out really well as Plan B.
We fished our Plan B river yesterday with a couple of great anglers who brought lots of wild browns to the boat on everything from Grannom dries to big, articulated meat. The Grannoms should be around for the rest of the week, and with the forecasted rain over the next few days, the river should stay at good floatable levels through Saturday at least.
So give us a call if you'd like to get out and fish some really good water while everyone else is at home watching the gauges and waiting.
Check out the 2011 gallery for some pics from our recent Plan B excursions.
LHGS
2011-04-21: April 21, 2011
The river continues on in its perpetual state of blown outed-ness. The good news on this Thursday is that while we are supposed to get another quarter inch of rain through the next couple of days, that shouldn't hurt us too bad and the tribs at least should fish by this weekend.
If you plan on getting out and fishing these higher flows, sinking lines and big flies have been getting it done. If you like big trout (especially big browns), big flows are a fine time to find them as they are out taking advantage of all of the food items getting pushed around by the high water.
Check out the pic in the 2011 gallery of the 18" brown that a couple of kids had kept on opening day. He'd just eaten two 6-8" salamanders and an adult crayfish and was still looking for more. Big flies of 5-7" are great choices when the water is up and, if you fish them in the right spots (look for softer water and ambush points), they will likely get you some of those fish that you never find when fishing those "ideal" flows that we've all been trained to look for.
That's it for now. With any luck, this weather pattern will change and we'll be able to post some river reports next week.
Until then, have fun out there and stay dry.
The boys at LHGS
2011-04-15: Opening Day Forecast
With all of the water we've had so far this April, we haven't been able to get out on the river at all. The good news is that, for those willing to brave the weather this opening-day weekend, the Army Corps is scheduling lower flows for Saturday and Sunday. They are forecasting 700 cfs from the dam Saturday morning which should make for some nice wade fishing from the dam down to the Cassellman through the first half of the day or until the river muddies. Unfortunately, another inch of rain is forecasted to fall on Saturday, likely making this window a very short one. Look for flows to increase as early as Sunday afternoon and definitely by Monday as this next storm system seems inevitable and so will be the increased volume from the dam.
Even the tributary fishing has been a little rough with high, cold water. The projects ought to fish well today and the tribs in general should fish well through the morning tomorrow. It all depends on when the rain begins and how fast it comes once it does arrive. The water is still on the high side so heavy bugs fished deep are going to be the deal.
Gloomy forecast aside, I hope everyone who wants to gets out there to enjoy a little fishing this weekend. And this rain has to let up sometime--when it does those fish are going to be ready to eat.
Stay dry,
LHGS
2011-03-20: Spring in the Yough Watershed
Winter got an early start on us last year and has been fighting a pretty good fight ever since. Ever since Phil made his early spring prediction though, the Old Man has been loosening his grip. Mind you, I'm not saying that filthy little rodent was right. I'm just saying things started to change. Winter still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
But that seems to be all over for the most part, and the weather has changed enough so that making a trip to some trout water doesn't seem like basic obligation.
We at LHGS did just that over the weekend, and though the river was much to high for realistic fishing, we did fish almost every major tributary. The water was still on the high side this weekend and coldish, but the fishing was pretty good. Not great, but good enough to keep a guy interested. Both brown and black stones were present in decent numbers over the weekend and nymphs (and even dries) to imitate worked well. We found that a lot of fish had moved into the shallower water near the banks to take advantage of the migrating nymphs and wind blown adults. With all of the freshly stocked trout in the projects, the typical early season junk worked well also.
The river levels are on the drop, so we're hoping to get the first float of the season in at the end of the week. Stay tuned for details.
2010-11-21: Final fall report
 Snuck out for a few hours the other day for some wadefishing on the Middle. Arrived at the river to find what seemed to be every trout in the river midgeing. Alas, it was every small trout in the river with a few nicer ones mixed in. Mid-day midges were black, 18.
After having some fun with the risers we switched to subsurface offerings in hopes of finding some bigger fish. Deeper midge patterns and streamers did the job. Check out the gallery for pics from the day.
Flows are still very nice for wading and the water temps are 53 at the dam.
Thanks to everyone who fished with us this season.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
LHGS
2010-10-21: Youghtober
This season continues to be a strange one. The fishing is really good right now, but, at the same time, it isn't. Paradoxical, huh?
All right then, here it is. The fishing has been very good the past few weeks, with a spotty day here and there that seem to be weather related and that come on the backside of passing fronts. We are still getting tons of small fish on our floats, but the bigger and even the average sized fish that we like to see have been hard to come by. It seems that the best way to find a good fish or two right now is to really hammer away at a spot to weed through the smaller fish.
Just about anything you want to throw at the trout right now seems to work, but we've been sticking to streamer patterns trailing various nymphs in the hope of sticking a big fall fish or two. We've had a few on lately but haven't been able to close the deal and we've had some bigger fish move on the streamers, but they really don't seem to be in the aggressive fall mood just yet: they just follow along lazily as if they are more interested in checking the flies out rather than eating them. November's arrival should change that.
You'll still find caddis on the river daily in all shapes and sizes, but if you're only bringing a few patterns, stick with dark ones between 14 and 18. Nymphs with hot spots have been good and attractor dries from big stimmies to small parachutes will take fish depending on the piece of water in front of you. Isos and bwos are still around along with some big (size 8) cranes and a large, and as of yet, unidentified mayfly spinner in the evening. How large you ask? Hex large. Don't ask me what it is though. We haven't seen tons of these things, but when we have it's been around dark and the fish were slashing at them greedily. It might pay off to have a big spinner or two in your box if you plan on fishing the day out.
As for streamers, there is bait in abundance in the river right now (just check out the eddies), but flies in the three inch range in darker patterns have been producing best for us.
That's all for now. We are all booked up for fall and are booking trips for spring if you'd like to make your plans now. This spring past was a good one and you can't beat having a PA river you yourself in May.
Enjoy,
LHGS
2010-10-11: Finally some fishble trout water
After some productive bass fishing on the lower river in September, we've been out the past two weekends on the middle looking for trout. Water temps are back down to fishable all the way up to the dam and the further you get from the dam the better it is.
The trout fishing for has been less than spectacular. We've been getting a ton of fish each trip, but finding one over fourteen inches has been next to impossible. The better fish still seem to be doing the majority of their feeding during low-light conditions, but that should change in the coming weeks. The little guys seem to be on just about anything you throw at them, with streamer and nymph combos out fishing anything else.
Bugs on the river right now: crane flies 16-8, Isos 14, bwos 18-26, black caddis 16, autumn sedge 14, and October caddis 8-12.
Happy fall,
LHGS
2010-08-28: taking a break
This weekend is the last of the summer guiding season and from here on out it is going to be a weekend only deal. The trout fishing on the river the past week and a half has been fluctuating between good and bad depending on the time of day. There are a few spinners around in the morning, some tiny black caddis, a smattering of Isos throughout the day, and some nice bwo hatches in the afternoon that have had the fish looking up.
Most have likely heard that the PFBC put some "extra" fish in the river recently. These fish have really been on the afternoon bugs and dry fly fishing for them has been silly, but how many six to nine inch fish can you catch before you realize you've entered some kind of stocked trout fishing hell? We've been trying to get underneath these fish the past few days with bigger weighted flies to find some Yough regulars. But, it's exciting to think about these guys holding over well and the great fishing we could have over the next few seasons. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.
Finally, the water temps have been getting pretty warm this week. The USGS gauges are a little misleading and anglers should be sure to take their stream thermometers with them when fishing the river. The air temps are supposed to climb next week and when you combine that with warmer flows from the dam, the trout are going to be stressed, please lay off sticking hooks in their faces when this happens.
We're officially shutting the trout trips down until the temps cool because we've been seeing too many dead fish downstream of fisherman and we've had a couple of fish that were obviously not doing well the past two days. So keep that in mind and perhaps chase some bass instead if the water is too warm as the bassing is good and is going to stay that way for a while.
So we're taking a break for a while, but we'll be back on the trout once October comes around and we'll be filling you in with fall reports when the time comes.
Until then . . .
2010-08-16: Back from the heartland and rockies
The boys at LHGS are back from the west and the mid-west respectively and a fine time was had by all. Trout were caught in both venues, but the lion's share of time was spent doing what vacationers do when with their families (which was a nice change of pace). I'll post some pics of Ohio spring-creek trout in the gallery for your enjoyment.
As for the river:
We went right back to fishing the bass bite this week and, if anything, the fishing seems to have improved while we were gone, which makes sense as it is August and if you like to fish river smallmouth here in PA, August and September are tough to beat. The topwater bite was off on the piece of river we fished, so we fished intermediate and fast sinking lines with larger flies in the 5-7 inch size range and did very well on bass of all sizes but managed to bring quite a few bigger bass to the boat as well.
We also managed to get some trout fishing done on the cold-water portion of the river this week and we found some good fishing there as well. We really weren't expecting that much as it was an afternoon foray, but it was a cloudy day so we took a chance. Lucky us. We caught a lot of fish on attractor dries fishing the heavier water in the river. Double dry-fly rigs with something big on the point and a small dropper were working very well.
We'll be back on the middle for a few days here at the end of the week though our season is winding down. Next week is the last before I'm back to teaching so the guiding will be a weekend only affair and it follows that the reports will slow down from there, but we will keep them as fresh as we can.
Remember that as August continues to wane our river temps will be climbing, and generally by sometime in September the flow from the dam will be so warm that any angler worthy of the name should discontinue the trouting until the water cools again enough that we won't be killing the trout we do catch. So keep an eye on the USGS site and more specifically on the temps at the dam and at O-pyle.
So right now you can pick your poison: get out there and enjoy some late summer trout fishing while we have the water temps or chase some native Yough game fish.
Either way there's plenty of fishing to be had on the river right now.
Best,
LHGS
2010-08-03: The Y top to bottom
Bassing on the lower river continues to be really good, and anyone we've had in days past who was generally proficient with the fly pole has had ridiculous numbers of eats in a days drift. Fish are taking flies on top, in the middle or on the bottom. There have been a lot of juvenile suckers around, and flies in that color scheme have been producing lots of fish.
I ran a solo trip on the middle Yough yesterday to see if I could get the trout figured out. I found a reasonable number of good fish, but they seem to be doing their eating very deep. Did a good bit of bug seining yesterday and the predominant bugs in the drift were varying species of caddis in the morning and the usual small mayflies in the afternoon. I did see a fish or two eat cicadas yesterday as well and have had several bass spit out cicadas in my boat, so if you feel like fishing a big bug, it's worth a try.
The boys at LHGS will be off the river for the week so have fun and stick some fish in our stead.
'till next time . . .
2010-07-29: Y river bassin?
Because it's good. The smallmouth are certainly on the feed, which is a nice change of pace as the trout have not been lately.
We've made the switch to chasing bass in our driftboats until the trouting gets back to normal, which could happen this week as the heat seems to be subsiding. We've been finding plenty of happy bass, even with the unstable weather over the past few days, so we can't wait to see what happens as this weather settles down tomorrow and over the weekend.
The crew at LHGS is going to be out of town next week--one chasing trout in the Black Canyon and the other looking for salty species in the Atlantic, so the reports will be on hold after the weekend.
Enjoy the river while we're gone and be safe:
The boys at LHGS
2010-07-26: Good news / Bad news
I'm going to lead with the bad news like Ali did with the jab: the mid-day trout fishing has completely succumbed to whatever disease has been eating away at its cratered and wasted bones for the past two weeks. Dead like Latin. It fought hard and made a courageous surge back towards the light on Thursday and Friday (thanks to some decent cloud cover), but alas, that seems to have been only the most final of its death throes as the sun returned on Saturday and silenced it once and for all. Melodrama aside, mornings have been decent (four or five good fish in a morning is doing well right now) and so have evenings. There are still some caddis around in the mornings (16), bwo spinners (18), and the odd cahill with his or her timing off (14-18). You might see some sallies throughout the day and a the odd Iso, but they have certainly slowed down a great deal. We've witnessed some truly impressive spinner falls over the past few evenings, but very few fish have been on them, leaving us to wonder what in the hell they are on, if anything.
That being said, a good angler ought to be able to scratch out ten good trout (not fingerlings) in a days fishing if they put the time in.
Doing their feeding after dark you might be thinking? I though the very same thought, so I stuck around after dark on two different nights and waited to hear the trout slurping the continuous mat of spinners pouring out of the riffle above. Didn't happen. I also had an interesting talk with some guy who had night fished the entirety of the night session for two nights in a row with only two fish to show for it and very little else to report.
So we, and everyone else with whom we've spoke of late, have been left to scratch our heads and ask what has happened to the fish? The heat wave? Maybe. Fish kill? Easy explanation, but unlikely. The incredible amount of rubber that the rafting companies have been putting on the Middle this year? Perhaps. Time will tell.
The good news: the lack of predictable trout fishing has led us to look elsewhere and to other species for bent rods. Bass and Youghiogheny bones have been the targets, and we've been finding them in some really respectable numbers and sizes. I can honestly say that I haven't had this much fun in a drift boat for a long time, so if you're up for some warm-water fun, the fishing is really good right now and should only get better as August arrives. adieu'
LHGS
2010-07-19: Where have all the trout gone?
The fishing on certain parts of the Yough has really shut down over the past few days. The morning bite has still been pretty solid, but for the rest of the day the trout have been hard to come by. Afternoon hatches have been putting a few fish on the feed, but the bugs have been sparse as well and so goes the afternoon rise.
The bass bite is still hanging tough with fish taking anything from dead drifted buggers to poppers making all kinds of commotion.
That's it for now. Lets hope the future holds something better for those searching for salmonids.
LHGS
2010-07-11: Nice water, lots of rubber
We made it through the heat wave with nothing lost but a few lbs. The fishing on the river right now is pretty solid, but it is summertime fishing. The mid-day bit can get a bit rough, and you really have to focus on shady or deep lies to get those mid-day eats.
The flows have been pretty stable over the past week and a half, which always heats things up in terms of the fishing on the Yough, and the water temps are great, only reaching 67 in O-pyle during the height of the heat wave. The mid-day ISOs have slowed a bit, but almost daily, despite the sun, we've been finding pods of fish working crane flies, small spinners, and whatever else they can find in the film. With these lower flows the fish are looking up a bit more readily than is typical, and big, bushy attractor style dries have been catching some nice fish as well. The last bit of bug-related news is that the hellgrammites have been on the move lately and imitations can get them on top and below.
We've been fishing bass all over the place on the river lately and the top-water bite has been really good especially early and late in the day. Check out the new pics in the gallery from last week's fishing. You might notice some rafts in the background--it is summer after all.
'Till next time . . .
LHGS
2010-07-04: gone fishin'
All right, so we didn't wind up changing our name. After much deliberation over "Walleye on the Fly Anglers" and "Poon Hounds," we decided to stick with the girl that brung us.
Enough of that.
There has been no report over the past week because I was chasing tarpon for a few days and then traveled immediately to that garden spot of the East coast, Rehoboth Beach. So I haven't been on the river. Jim has, but getting him to post a report is no easy endeavor.
All I can say for now about the river is second hand, so here goes: magic hour has been good in the trout zone for some really nice fish, mid-day fishing for trout on the middle has been tough with the combination of rubber and sun (it's July), and the bass bite continues to be solid.
The flows are really nice now for wading the river. The water temps are solid for trouts all the way down to Connelsville in the mornings but are spiking at 73 in the afternoons, so fish early down there for trout and then switch to bass. From O-pyle to the dam the water temps are still great for all day fishing, and all day fishing can be had for those willing to move around a bit to dodge rubber and sun.
I'll be on the river a bunch over the next few weeks, so better reportage is on the way.
Until then, Happy Fourth!
LHGS
2010-06-19: Summer flows
Another weekend brings another report, and the report is that summertime flows have finally arrived on the river. The river as of this writing is flowing at 839 cfs and will drop a bit on Monday as the USACE adjusts flow for the week. The water temps are good right now with the gauges reading 55 in C-fluence and topping out in the heat of the day at 66 in Ohiopyle. Fishing on the river has been good, with mornings and afternoons fishing best, as you would imagine.
Bugs on the river right now are tan caddis (16), crane flies (10-16), cahills (12-14), bwo's (18-24), and iso's (10), and the good news is that the fish have been on them pretty good. Nymphing and streamer fishing have been producing fish as well and the usual suspects will take fish underneath. Larger patterns in low light conditions and smaller stuff in the sun has been the ticket.
Finally, the bass bite is finally starting to shape up on the river, which is always nice.
In other news, we are thinking of changing our handle, check out the pics for the skinny.
Enjoy,
LHGS (But for how long?)
2010-06-15: Flow change
It looks like we are finally going to get on the usual summer flow schedule for the river. USACE is scheduled to reduce flows to 450 today at some point, which makes the river very wadeable. I snuck out yesterday to take advantage of the reduced flows (1,000 at C-town) and do some wade fishing and found some chunky bows and some very respectable browns having their way with the morning caddis.
Low flows mean better dry-fly fishing and the lower flows will occur during the week. It just so happens that we have some weekdays open through July, so if you have the freedom to fish when you choose and have been thinking about a trip to the river, give us a call. We'll get you out there and into some fish.
Check the photo gallery for pics of the latest fish. The river has been producing some really nice fish of late.
Adieu
2010-06-13: A face only a mother could love . . .
. . . the one the river wore this past weekend that is. We were on the river Thursday through Saturday, and the river conditions were, to say the least, challenging.
On Thursday the river was too muddy for effective fishing below C-fluence, so we did a couple of floats from the dam to Ramcatt. The clean water before the rivers mixed fished well below town, but the fishing from the dam to town was anything but good.
We decided to float the whole stretch on Friday despite the high water and the still colored up river, and by the end of the day we were glad we had. For the first time that I've seen, the river actually fished well on the fall. There was so much water that the only place a trout could eat in comfort was the bank, and as the river cleared in the afternoon, the trout were taking advantage of the variety of bugs being forced to the banks by the high flows. A nice variety of cahills, isos, and bwos had the fish looking up, and the off-color water had those browns that normally don't show in the daylight on the feed.
On Saturday the river fished well in the morning, with fish eating tan caddis (16-18) and crane flies (16). By the time we broke for lunch the sun was high and the bite was off. Once some shade returned to the banks the fish began to eat again, but the we had little chance to see how things developed as the weather moved in and chased us off the water.
The flows were dropped to 800 cfs from the dam today and the river was at 2.8 in Confluence that last time I checked so the fishing should be hot for the next few days, especially with the predicted cloud cover. Although there is rain in the forecast, it doesn't look like anything that is going to bring the river up to any degree, so--though I hesitate to say it--it seems we may have a solid week of fishing ahead.
That's the report. There are bugs on the water, the fish are looking up, and the river is shaping up just fine. Get out there and have at 'em.
Until next time,
LHGS
2010-06-01: Getting Better
The flows from the dam have finally dropped: USACE ran 750cfs all weekend and it looks like they will drop that to 650 for the rest of this week--as long as the storms in the forecast don't drop to much precip. With these flows, wadefishing the dam to Ramcat will be good.
We ran a trip on Friday as the river was falling, and though we managed a few fish, the falling water had the fish in relocation mode: I guess a drop of 1800cfs will do that to a trout. On a positive note, the warmer water on the Casselman has warmed the main river up enough to get the bass bite going. There were still a few on beds Friday, but there were also plenty of fish laid up on structure in the slower pools, which really saved the day. We fished the river lower down on Monday and there were still quite a few bass on spawning beds, so the bass bite should get good over the next week.
Look for the trout fishing to improve as the levels stabalize over the next week.
Bugs on the river right now: tan caddis (14), black caddis (16), bwo (16-20), crane flies, march browns, green drakes (spotty), terrestrials (ants and beetles) cahills (below Connelsville)
If you're looking to book a trip with us soon, June is getting full but we still have a good number of July and August dates available. Late July through August can provide some of the best dry-flyfishing of the year as the river is generally much lower and the fish are accustomed to looking up for their meals.
Cheers,
The Boys at LHGS
2010-05-24: Muddy May
A report is long overdue--for that, I apologize. But if you watch the gauges on this river at all you know that most of the month has been a washout. Fishable days have been few from Confluence down, with one or two more if you like the water below the dam. The river is very high right now, and the USACE is scheduled to let 2400 go for the next three days, but given the forecast, they should start to slow it down a bit towards the end of the week and certainly will do all they can to get the river below 4' in Ohiopyle for the weekend.
The good news for those who like to float the river is that there is plenty of water in the reservoir and maintaining good flows into summer shouldn't be a problem.
Green Drakes have been showing up on the tribs the past couple of days so by the weekend and into next week they will be making their appearance on the river.
If anyone knows a good anti-rain dance, get on it.
2010-05-07: Unofficial Season Opener
I can't say that we started off with a bang this year. The fish on Saturday were hard to come by. That's not to say that the fishing was poor, but it was tough enough that we had to work for them, and when we got 'em, we felt like we'd done something. I like days like this. Days that make you question yourself. Days that keep you thinking.
We ran a two-boater with a group of West Virginians that can generally get it done. And they did this time--just not to the extent that we are use to seeing. The fish we did catch were worth working for. You know the type: fat tailwater bows whose bellies ooze out from between fingers when they're held for the photo. Good fish.
The river was on the drop and we tried streamers in the morning, but all we managed was a few disinterested follows. There were good numbers of caddis in the morning and a smattering of March Browns in the p.m., but the fish were only interested in them if they were underneath.
The river blew out on Monday and has been coming down ever since, but for the wade fisherman, the river below Ramcat won't fish until sometime next week, while the water below the dam should be below 1500 for the foreseeable future with a scheduled 800cfs on Saturday until the the whistle blows around 3 p.m.
Flies:
Princes, San Juans, small mayflies 16-20, Caddis (grey and tan), March Browns
Until next time,
The boys at LHGS
2010-04-28: Scouting Run 4/24/2010
We officially start guiding May 1, and just to be on the safe side (and to get out in the wind to blow the dust off from all that boat sanding in preparation for the season), we took a scouting run last weekend to get back into the groove. Saturday was a crazy day weather-wise: rain in the morning, 30 mph winds in the afternoon, and storms moving in late in the day. The morning fished really well with fish chasing streamers and eating nypmhs like candy. I wish I could say the same for the afternoon, but when the weather changed, so did the fishing. We had to work hard to put fish in the boat after two o' clock, but the fish that we did manage were worth the trouble--check out the pictures in the new 2010 gallery.
As for bug life, we saw some caddis in the air and some March Brown spinners in the evening, but the fishing was mostly a subsurface game.
The season starts this weekend, and it looks like the river is going to drop to perfect levels by Saturday. With the calender just about full for this month and leading into next, stay tuned for weekly reports from here on out. There are still plenty of days open through the end of June and into July so if you're planning on getting out on the river with us, send us an email.
Best,
Ernie and Jim
2009-12-19: anadromous invasion
I always say that breaking away from your comfort zone is a fine way to learn something new. I've been taking my own advice of late and showing some people around some of the best steelhead water in the commonwealth. It's more of a return to home, really, than a new endeavor, but it has been a few years since I last set foot in the Erie tribs with nothing but net in hand.
I've always loved December steelheading: snow in the air and on the ground, ice in the guides, the heavy throb of a lake-run bow after the hook set--these are fine things, so is the sting you feel in your hands after pulling them from a slush-veiled river and watching a purple-sided hen glide her way back into the pod from which you took her.
Running backwards in place on the shelf ice while trying to avoid the inevitable is not so fine, but it too is part of winter steelheading, and because it is, it, too, is good.
The fish came fairly easy, the hookups anyway, landing them is always the hard part. But the knots held most of the time and when the hooks didn't come loose, we were rewarded with some exceptional December steel.
See the picture gallery for some Erie on-the-water fish porn and send an email if you're interested in getting your own self some of that action.
Be well, and Merry Christmas.
LHGS
2009-12-08: Winter report
Winter has descended upon SWPA and the USACE is running winter flows from the dam: roughly 350 cfs. Temps at the dam the past few weeks have been right around 50 degrees. If you're planning a trip to the river, the top couple of miles are your best bet as fish tend to push up into the warmer water. Be sure to take midge patterns in olive and black 18-24, both dries and subsurface. General purpose nymphs and stones will take fish as well. And don't forget the streamer box.That's all for the season. We'll start posting new reports as we get out in the spring. Thanks to everyone who fished with us this year--we can't wait to do it again next year.
Until then,
The guys at LHGS
2009-11-09: bonus days
It seems like every once in a while, whichever gods control the fates of fisherman decide to give us one or two last days of perfect fishing before the long winter descends upon us and brings ice and snow to our favorite haunts. Bonus Days. Such was the case this past weekend and a few anglers who were unwilling to let this fleeting chance slip by decided to float the Yough with LHGS. After losing much of October to high water and being distracted by the grouse season, we haven't been on the water all that much, so we weren't quite sure what to expect from the river or its fishes.
But those worries were quickly put to rest as fish after fish chased down the streamers and spinners offered to them by our intrepid anglers. The fish are definitely moving into winter holding water, so don't be afraid to change locales if the one you've chosen isn't paying off.
It seemed like the fish were shying away from the larger streamer patterns this weekend: they would follow hotly and then fade away, but downsizing turned those follows into strikes. This may have something to do with the clarity of the river right now: I've not seen it quite this clear all season. No need to downsize tippet though--ten to fifteen pound on streamers is all you need.
We really didn't mess around with nymphs too much because we are streamer junkies and when the fish are on them, all is right with the world.
We did find some fish midge-ing on Sunday and it seemed like any smallish fly we put over them would be sucked down greedily.
It looks like the weather is going to be great all week, so get out there and give some fall fishing a try--you won't be disappointed.
LHGS
2009-10-06: Falling temps with the onset of fall
The story on the river right now can be summed up in one word--fall: as in fall has arrived and brought with it falling air temps which in turn are finally allowing the reservoir temps to fall. As you might imagine, cooler water temps are heating up the fishing for the river's rainbows and browns.
Also on the fall are the water levels. While the USACE are still letting water go on the weekends, weekday flows are on the low side and that means great wadefishing for those willing to pick their way through the boulder fields on the Y. One advantage to this low water is that the fish have less room to spread out and anglers can really tally up some numbers if they find the right combo.
Hatches of Iso's and BWO's continue on the river daily and the low water has fish looking up with greater frequency than is usual. Nymphing has been great and these cloudy days are likely to have the fishing chasing streamers for those willing to chuck and strip some big stuff.
Get out there and get 'em.
LHGS
2009-09-22: Olives in the dampening mist
While the water temps in the river remain on the high side for our trouty friends, cooler water can be found downstream of the dam throughout the morning and longer on dark days--now that we're getting a few.
Bug life remains the same though one of the Yough's oddities in terms of emergences can now be seen--if you're lucky--on the river between Confluence and Connelsville. Golden stones (size 6) will hatch sporadically for the next few weeks. I know, I know, I'm crazy, right? I've never seen them hatch heavily, but they are abundant enough to have the fish on the lookout so a big imitative dry is a fine alternative for a bobber this time of year. For those of you who doubt this statement, we had none other than Penn State's Greg Hoover on the river the other day and he confirmed it. He shook his head in disbelief as he posited that the thermal conditions created by the drawdown of the reservoir likely contributed to this strange timing.
But the real story for you head hunters out there is the olive emergences that occur on these drizzly fall days. Compound these with the greatly reduced flows of late and anglers willing to cover some water can find some really nice pods of fish dining on these diminutive (size 22) dainties.
Fishing should continue to improve as the October nears. Do some rain dances and hope for cool over-night lows.
The boys at LHGS
2009-09-06: First fall report
September 6 River report:
Here it is September already and there is a lot to report from the big water. The annual reservoir draw down has been going on for a while, and the water temps are on the way up as a result. This morning the temp gauge is reading 68 right below the dam, and those temps will likely climb in weeks to come before they get cooler. Interestingly, a mile down river the Casselman, which is cooled each night, is adding 63 degree water to the river. The gauge down in Connellsville is reading 65 this morning, which makes for some nice early morning trouting, but the temp there will climb to over seventy by afternoon on hot, sunny days. The point of all this is to let all you would be Yough fisherman in on a little secret: This time of year, the cooler water won’t be found right below the dam. It will take some pretty cool temps for at least a week to bring lake temps back down to where we’d like to see them.
So the tip from us is to go exploring--even if it means hopping on a bike or hiking down the trail to find some new water to fish. Take a thermometer, and if water temps get too high, bend a big streamer to the tippet and go looking for greenies--you'll likely still get a few trout (we caught a bow on a blue popper yesterday).
The Fishing:
Fishing has been hot for both trout and bass. As you likely know, water temps around 63-65 make for some hot trout, and hot they’ve been early in the day. Rainbows have been the norm as it seems the river’s browns are doing their eating after dark. All the typical fall stuff is going on right now: Isos, bwos, crane flies, cream midges, and a smattering of lightly colored mayflies and stones that make a lightly colored attractor pattern like a wolf or stimi a great searching pattern. Also in the realm of likelihood right now is the flying ant event. Not a true “hatch” in the sense that the bugs emerge from the river; rather, they wind up there after emerging near the river. We were lucky enough run into these guys yesterday--the greatest number I’ve ever encountered--and the fish were going crazy for them. Everything in the river was eating them, from trout to bass. Even the big trout came out from their day-time hiding places to slurp this trout candy. Don’t get caught on the river without a few patterns in black and brown in sizes 14-20. This can be some of the best dry-fly fishing you’ll ever encounter.
As for the bassing. The bass are finally starting to school up and are actively chasing bait which makes for some of the most enjoyable bassing of the year. September always seems to offer up the largest bass of the year for this angler. Topwater patterns have been taking fish consistently and larger streamer patterns like circus peanuts and hackle flies have been betting them down deep.
That’s it for now, have fun on the river this fall and we’ll keep you posted on the latest river news.
LHGS
2009-08-18: Hot and Cold
Going to be out of town for a few days and wanted to post a report from last week and the weekend. Over a five day stretch, we fished most of the river between Confluence and West Newton.
The trout bite was really good on Friday from the dam to Ohiopyle. We fished nymph rigs with larger stone or mayfly patterns as the point with smaller droppers to match some of the small caddis and bwo's around in the mornings and afternoons. The river fished well all day with a bit of a mid-day lull.
The bass fishing continues to be great, but you have to look for them where they are and this means doing what the water temps dictate. You'll find few fish on the banks in the morning: mid-river fishing with sinking lines and big flies works well early. But as the sun heats the water (and the bass) they'll make the move to the banks as they actively chase bait and stage at bank-side ambush points. Both poppers and more subtle surface offerings are working for these guys. We stuck three fish over 18 inches on poppers over the past few days.
So there you have it. More fun than a barrel full of monkeys and close to home, too.
Have fun out there,
Report provided by your friendly neighborhood guide service: the boys at LHGS
2009-08-12: Smelly Fish
River Y bassin' continues to be crazy good. We've totally dismissed, ended, terminated, and otherwise shit-canned the use of any discriminatory "trout only" rigs in recent weeks and, instead, have been throwing nothing but sinking lines and streamer rigs. Two at a time. One trout bug, one bass bug--we let the fish decide which is which.
Why would totally sane (debatable), devoted, and otherwise ordinary trout bums like us do such a thing you ask? Bass. Lots of bass. Nice bass. Pot bellied, sculpin sucking, hellgrammite hammering, high-jumping green fish. Smelly, native fish. You got to love it. I do anyway.
So you get it, right? The bass fishing is solid. Trout too if you focus on them. From Confluence to Little Boston, pick a piece of river and fish it. You'll likely find some willing bronzebacks. From Confluence to Connellsville the trouting is pretty good too, but below Ohiopyle the temps are definitely on the high side. Fish them early or not at all to avoid overly stressing them.
Have Fun,
LHGS
2009-08-08: Big Bass? Likely story
Somehow or another I managed to leave the camera in the truck the last two trips down the river. It’s too bad, really, as I’ve been wanting to get some nice shots of bass to post in the gallery. August is really the beginning of solid bass fishing on our part of the river (Connellsville to Confluence), and these lower flows and warmer temps have really transformed the fishery over the past two weeks. While the trouting is still productive, we’ve spent the past couple of weeks stripping large streamers for large bass. For the most part, it’s been working. Yesterday we had an 18” bass in the boat and at least ten that were 15-17 inches. Not that this is the norm, but the small bass seemed to be in hiding yesterday. Hot flies were large sculpins (4”) in white and tan and hellgrammite patterns.
On the salmonoid end of things, dry dropper rigs with big terrestrials towing little nymphs have been working well. These three fly rigs are lots of fun to cast in the wind.
Crane flies, caddis, yellow drakes, Iso’s, bwo’s, yellow stones, and midges are on the river daily.
So that’s the report. Sorry for the lack of proof in the way of photos, but I’ll tie the camera to myself this week.
Have fun and be safe on the river, and please put ‘em back where you found ‘em.
LHGS
2009-08-03: August 1 update
The river is still fishing well. Flows are beginning to drop a bit from the dam, so the wade fishing continues to get better and better.
Floats have been producing some good fishing for trout and bass. Morning rises to caddis and morning spinner falls have been productive in slower pools and a dry dropper rig to match the caddis in riffles and fast moving water will take fish.
On the subsurface side of things, we've been fishing a lot of streamers (surprise, surprise), and crayfish and hellgrammite patterns have been producing both trout and bass.
Other than that, it's summer fishing for trout, and the usual stuff will get 'em. If you fish the river, try to fish early or late on sunny days as the mid-day bite has been pretty tough. Clouds can make for some all day fun.
Tight lines,
LHGS
2009-07-22: More of the same
Five days on the river have yielded more of the same: bent rods and big smiles. We can thank the flows for the continued quality fishing. The last time we saw flows remain this stable for this long was three seasons ago and the fishing was great then as well.
The river has been right around 2.4 in Confluence for almost three weeks now. The fish are used to it, we're used to it, and our clients could definitely get used to it.
The bugs are much the same as the last post. Iso's, bwo's, morning caddis (ceratopsyche), yellow drakes, crane flies, and terrestrials. If you're further down river you may find some yellow stones size 12.
Cloudy days have triggered some nice afternoon bwo emergences, and streamer fishing has been hot.
Check out the gallery for a few new pics--nothing big, but nice fish.
Have fun on the river and give us a call or email to get out on the water.
Best,
LHGS
2009-07-13: Slammin Salmonids
July 13 Report.
Fishing the Middle right now is pretty darn good. We fished yesterday with a gentleman from Pittsburgh who could throw a line like nobody’s business. He caught the trout slam: catching a nice brown, bow, and brook on various nymphs, streamers, and dries. Sadly though, the elusive Youghiogheny yellow trout managed to elude him. We had one just about to take when a greedy little bow snatched the fly from his waiting maw.
On the downside, water temps on the lower section of the float are getting a bit warm. Morning fishing and the first half of the float were great, but afternoon trouting in anything but highly oxygenated water was pretty slow--dead, in fact. At four in the afternoon and one mile above the take take out we took the water temp--a luke warm 69. So our advice is to fish early or late down there, or pull some big streamers for bass as those temps are conducive to the bass bite.
Bugs on the river right now are the usual summer suspects: Iso’s, BWOs, Caddis, crane flies, Yellow Drakes (spotty), and midges. Terrestrials are taking fish as well.
Streamers and nymphs continue to take fish with 2 1/2 to 4 inch patterns working best in streamers and nymphs to match daily bugs will get ‘em.
Check out the new pics of Paul's best ever PA brown and ask yourself: Do I want one of my own? If so, come fish with the guys who know the river best.
Good luck and have fun out there.
LHGS
2009-07-09: July 8 (Back from the Beach)
Summer flows bring summer fishing, and summer fishing on the Yough is always sweet. Floated the river yesterday (July 8, 2.1 at Confluence, roughly 800 cfs); purely re con for the weekend's guiding; actually got to fish the river (which is always nice); fishing was really good.
A nice caddis hatch had fish chasing emergers on the top part of the float, and swing and lift presentations were, as they liked to say in the old days, a killing technique. We played around with some streamer combos to see if they felt like chasing and chase they did, once we got the right color combo dialed in—many fish fell to the streamer, including a nice 18 inch brown that came unbuttoned at the boat: they do that sometimes when you skip them across the surface like a pro bass angler with a largemouth.
We didn't snap too many pics, it was just one of those days where the rods were bent to often to mess with the camera, but I'll post a pic of the best fish of the day—an 18 inch resident brown taken from a pillow above a rock on a dry/dropper rig. 
Evening brought shaded pools and fish rising to olives and Iso's, and for the wading angler, this is some of the best fishing of the year.
Get out there and get 'em while they're hot.
LHGS
2009-06-23: Too much water
Water, water, and more water.
It's likely you all know the story, so I'll keep this short: BLOWN.
The river has been so unfishable I had to seek new venues to feed my addiction. A week in the salt worked nicely. We had stripes on the flats, stripes along surf swept and rock studded beaches, and some of us even had stripes in the boat (though I would never personally stoop to that and I won't mention any names)--fished the whippy stick most of the time and had fish up to twenty pounds with the majority being between five to fifteen. Two nights plugging with surf rods produced a couple of 25 pounders as well. So here I am home again to find more water than I know what to do with.
BUT
The tribs are fishing well. All the water is keeping temps down and the fishing hot. The river should fish by Saturday as long as the Casselman doesn't receive any more rain.
Off to the coast once more though this time it is more of a family oriented venture. Don't fret, there will be some fishing: even if it's for carp in a fountain.
Here's to a fishable river to all of you while I'm gone and a reminder that we still have July and August ahead—arguably some of the best fishing of the year on the river, so a spent June, sad though it may be, is only a gentle shove into sweet, sweet summer. (And hopefully, lots of trout noses peeking through the meniscus.)
LHGS
2009-06-08: Big Water
June 8
Big Water is the story this week. The army corps has scheduled at least 1000cfs from the dam for the next few days, so with the addition of the Cassellman, the river is going to be over 3 feet on the Confluence gauge for a while. If you like to float the river, it will fish well, but wading is going to be a little sketchy at least through the end of the week.
The good news is the tribs are fishing well, and the dry fly fishing has been excellent.
Caddis, Cahills, Sulfurs, Little green and yellow Stones, Crane flies, and BWOs, (and I've likely missed a few) have the fish looking up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Terrestrials are also consistently taking fish.
If you've been looking for a big trout this season, now is a great time to book a trip with us. High water and large streamers is as good a recipe as I know for getting the big guys on the Yough.
Get out there and get some troots.
LHGS
2009-06-01: June buggin'
June 1
We made it through May and had some great fishing to boot. Now here it is June 1st already and if you haven't made a trip to the river yet, now is the time. If I had to pick one month to be on the river, this would be it. The flows are perfect for floating the river, and water temps are still trouty all the way down to Sutersville: 63 today.
Right now we have caddis, bwo's, crane flies, midges, march browns, yellow sallies, and green drakes tempting trout to the surface. Streamer and nymph fishing is hot as well if you are so inclined. 
The bows can't get enough of the subsurface stuff. 
The one thing that has been conspicuously absent on recent floats has been the smallmouth bite, but that too will pickup this month on the Middle as the Cassellman adds some warmth to the river. (I've been getting plenty of good reports on flyrod bassin' from buddies further down river.)
So for those of you who've been dreaming of a western trip, casting to large trout from a driftboat, and beautiful scenery, why wait? That's all right here in your back yard. (Not to mention it's good practice for you trout seeking nomads.) 
If you'd like to float the river with us, we still have some June dates open. Give us a call—there is no better way to see and learn the river.
See you out there,
LHGS
2009-05-25: Late May
May Fishing on the Yough
After four days of rowing anglers down the river, doing a little typing is a welcome break. All in all, the fishing has been pretty good from the driftboats, the catching too. Trout fishing being what it is, the high sun has not been playing in our favor, but the morning bite has been great. There have been tan caddis and bwo's in the a.m., and the subsurface version of both have been very productive.
Once the sun clears the mountain though, the bite has slowed, but persistence pays off—especially if you look for them in traditional mid-day spots. Shady lies, broken water, and pockets have all been providing some nice trout despite the sun.
Afternoons have provided some nice chances at larger trout looking for march browns. And yesterday I saw a few green drakes mid-day (we'll see how that develops). The spinner falls in the evening have fish looking up as well.
Flies: Nymphs: small flashbacks in 16-20, prince nymphs, caddis emergers, copper johns, march browns
Dries: attractor patterns, march browns, caddis, sparkle duns, crane flies
Streamers: buggers, sculpins, shad patters
We'll upload some photos from the past few days; there are even a few on there from Jim's trip to the Green.
Have fun out there and put em' back.
LHGS
2009-05-22: Go West "Young" Man
Okay, Please bear with me – I normally leave the writing
things up to the English Professor!
I had had about enough of that water running at 10,000 cfs –
I needed to get some big water fishing in, and with those flows – it was not
going to happen on the Yough! So – go West “Young” Man.
I made my annual visit to the Green River in Utah to visit
my childhood buds, and do some fishing.
They too had increased water flows, but much more manageable that what
we were experiencing here at home. We
wade fished the first two days with much success running nymph drifts down many
of the channels. With the flows at
4500cfs – San Juan worms and small glass head midge droppers did the
trick. On the third day, we floated with
Dougy Roberts from Trout Creek Flies (he only gets about 200 days per year on
the Green – so he kind of knows it?). We
floated the “B” section of the river, and had a spectacular day. Deep nymphing
with many of the patterns we had been using, as well as trying some new
ones. All in all – about 50 fish for the boat – nothing under 12” – great day.
Everyone knows that I frown on live bait fishing, but I used
a 12” rainbow to catch this 23” brown. My only justification is that the
rainbow put itself on the hook, and the brown, while trying to take the
mid-section out of the rainbow, somehow got the dropper fly in his mouth. I
fought them both for about three minutes before the brown let go of the rainbow
(he saw the net). The rainbow being able to spit the top fly- scurried away – I
am sure never to swim that section of the pool again.  I am back home now - the Yough is finally fishable! See you out on the river. Jim
2009-05-15: The River is Fishable!
 
Falling water and hungry fish was the story of the day. The river is finally coming down and the fishing is getting good. Made a run down the middle today just to get on the river before the guide season officially opens next week. It's always interesting to see the changes that occur over the winter.
Some old holes filled in over the winter and there are a few new ones to hold fish.
I didn't really fish hard today, just tried some different things to see what they were responding too. Caught some nice fish dead drifting leech patterns and big size 6 princes--one was a fat nineteen inch bow. As for bugs, there were sporadic caddis (the fish above ate a larva), plenty of black midges, and a few march browns, though I was off the water too early to say if the big mayflies are heavy enough to bring the fish up. There were a few fish rising in the slowest pools, but I left them for next week.
The flows should continue to drop for the foreseeable future. The river was at 1500 cfs today at Confluence—a great level for floating. They were running 600 from the dam today which makes for close to ideal wadefishing down to the confluence, and 600 looks to be the number for the next few days so get out and take advantage. With those flows, the fish should be looking up, especially if those march browns hatch in any number. Try to be there in the evening for the spinner fall. Fun stuff.
As always, have fun on the river and be safe.
LHGS
2009-05-13: Streams are hot; river's not
The river has been running too high for two weeks now (sounds like last May). So, after two weeks of watching the guages, I had to see a trout. Fished some of the tribs today and caught nice fish on all of them, though they are still a bit high.
Snapped a few pics today of the trout--all were caught on nymphs.
  
All of the tribs are fishing well, and the river should fish by Friday. So get out there and get some troots.
Have fun out there,
LHGS
2009-04-20: April 20 Report
OPENING DAY REPORT:
While it wasn’t time spent on the river, I thought I’d post an opening day report anyway—just for fun.
The Pribanic clan (there were 21 of us) made their annual migration to the country known as God’s (Potter County) this weekend to partake in that greatest of Pennsylvanian angling traditions: opening day of trout.
We elbowed our way in and among the writhing throng (most seemed hung-over and cold) of bait- chuckers (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and whipped the water to a froth with our long rods and home spun offerings. In between the creelings and/or releasings of the many pelletheads caught on Saturday, there was excellent people watching to be had for those in those weathering violent hangovers on the bank (not that there’s anything wrong with that either). Afternoon brought with it the chance for some spotty dry-fly fishing to egg-laying caddis, and hatching hendricksons.
Sunday morning we made a run to Spring Creek (because Spring Creek is always on the way home) and had a non-stop san-juan bite for a couple of hours before all those wild browns started eating the spent caddis on the water. We managed quite a few more fish on dries before heading back to Greensburg.
All in all it was a fantastic opening day. The streams are fishing well from the Northern Tier down to Center County and should continue to do so—it is, after all, the season of plenty for us trout bums.
We’ll continue to post reports as we get out on the water. And be sure to check the galleries for new photos. I’ll upload a few from opening day in the next couple of days.
Have fun out there,
LHGS
2009-04-10: March-April Report 2009
Friday April 10th
Perhaps this last snow will mark the end of what our good friend Phil Connors of Groundhog Day fame would certainly have called a “long and lustrous winter.” Though some of you may be boiling with that fever that so commonly afflicts cabin bound folks on the far end of the solstice, I'd agree with Phil. For the first time in quite a few years my boxes are satisfactorily full of my own flies, tied over a glass of Famous Grouse leftover from the bird season with a warm English Setter or two at my feet.
It was a fine winter.
But now it is time to fish, and fish we have. For the past three weekends, we've divided our time between Youghiogheny River Tributaries and State College Limestoners. All of the tribs have been fishing well. We had fantastic fishing on Dunbar on March 29 despite the high, dirty water: we stripped big dark buggers along the bottom in whatever dead water we could find and caught fish until our arms were sick of it.
The following weekend found us on Laurel Hill, nymphing with stone flies and generic mayfly nymphs—both caught fish.
Yesterday, both Meadow Run and Laurel Hill fished well, but both were a little colder with the snow melt and cold nights. There was a little bug activity on Meadow: blue quills and even a few stones still doing their clumsy flutter along the banks. Sadly, there were no fish chasing them, and nymphs were the ticket. It was a nymph day on LH and stone flies and small pheasant tails took fish in the slower deeper water. The stream was up and cold with the run-off from the recent snow.
Nothing to report from the river right now. The flows are actually very nice for this time of year, but we just haven't dropped the boats in yet.
Here's to a great season for all of you.
The guys at LHGS.
2008-10-02: October 2nd 2008
October 2nd 2008
It has its ups and downs. As many of you likely know (if you watch the gages), the river is warm right now and has been for weeks. We've been on the river the past three weekends, and with the temps as they are now, the morning and evening bites have been decent for trout, but mid-day trouting has been dead like big hair and spandex. On the upside, the levels are consistent, bass fishing is good, and big streamers have been and will continue to take good fish.
The upside is that fall air temps have finally arrived, and the Casselman is cooling down enough to bring the Yough temps back to a nice mark: 65 in Confluence this morning. If that keeps up the trout fishing will get hot quick.
There have been Isonychia and BWO hatches daily, and the evening rise has been pretty good despite warm water. Monday night was particularly buggy with nice spinner falls and a cream midge hatch that blotted out the sun like Biblical locusts. (Or had it just dropped behind the mountain?) Small flashbacks in the right sizes have been taking fish in well oxygenated water during the day, and streamers will always catch a few.
We'll have both boats on the water this Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully we'll be able to report some great streamer action next week.
Stay tuned for new river reports, and as always, have fun and be safe on the big river.
-The boys at Laurel Highlands Guide Services
2008-09-02: September 2nd 2008
September 2nd 2008
Not much new to report. The river continues to fish well, though I wouldn't say it is on fire. The warmer water temps have some different bugs hatching, and that is very nice to see. Yellow Sallies have been hatching sporadically for the past week, and a stimulator in a size 10-12 does the trick for those stonefly-sucking trout.
BWOs, Isonychias, and terrestrials are all catching fish on the surface. Even of you don't find any fish rising, a dark colored parachute (for the Iso) worked thoroughly over a nice run will bring fish to the surface.
It's back to school for me (though I'll be on the other side of the desk this time), so reports will be getting sparse. We'll continue to post them as we get out on the river.
Until then, have fun, be safe, catch some fish, and put them back.
--the guys at Laurel Highlands Guide Services
2008-08-09: August 9th Report
August 9th 2008
I . . . Like Big Bows and I cannot lie.
You other brothers can't deny
when a bow tail walks
across a pool—it rocks
especially when stuck with a dry.
(to be sung to the tune of Sir Mixalot's classic, I like Big Butts)
That River's name is Mud
What a crazy few weeks. As many of you likely know, the Casselman bestowed upon us a couple of mud plugs that muddied the river for approximately nine days out of the last fourteen. So, for those of us expecting low and crystaline waters this August, we had another thing comin'. But the river is in great shape once again: we have some really nice flows right now, and if one can go by the army corps, that will continue.
The fishing the past couple of days has been good. Morning caddis continue to have fish looking up, and in the afternoons, BWOs and Iso's do the same. The last couple of days have been pretty good and we've stuck some very respectable fish with dries. Terrestrials along a nice bank can yield some big suprises as well.
Not much has changed since our last report as far as the nymphing goes—just get them down to the bottom where they live and you'll do fine.
Lastly, if we get some cloud cover, as we've had for the past few days now, even partly cloudy will do, and you feel like chucking some streamers, the fish have been chasing them down and should continue to do so.
Have fun out there and as always, good luck,
The boys at Laurel Highlands Guide Services
2008-07-11: July 11th 2008
July 11th 2008
The lack of reports over the past few weeks comes as a result of my spending two and a half weeks on the east coast: one on Martha's Vineyard catching stripers up to twenty pounds (poor me), and another at the garden spot of the world, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (poor me for real this time).
Since then, however, I have returned to my favorite PA river and the fishing has been, as it will be, up and down. On good days, the streamer fishing has been very productive, and we have been catching nice size bass and trout on a variety of patterns. My go to patterns have been bunny streamers in natural and white and olive and natural, and sculpin patterns between one and one half to three inches in length.
Slate drakes make a daily appearance on the river now, along with olives, and nymphs to match these summer mayflies will do the trick. Sadly though, we can't report any significant dryfly fishing as of yet; all we have seen so far is the occasional small pod of fish working bugs on top in whatever quiet water they can find and an occasional nose along the bank.
We had a the inventor of the Clouser minnow on the river just yesterday, and he and his fishing companions all caught fish in the morning. It was another streamer day, that is until the army corps decided to turn flows down again. The result, as it always is when they do this, was a river full of fish with lockjaw. But, they are likely acclimated to the new flows by now, and the river should fish well throughout the remainder of the week.
All the same, it was a pleasure to meet a man who has done so much for our sport, and to show him our river. He is a great guy, and a great fisherman as well. On a more serious note, he told Jim and I about all of the bad things that have been and still are occurring on his river, and that it just keeps getting worse. It was a reminder to be watchful, and to act when and if we see something going on that shouldn't be on this great river.
Have fun out there,
Jim and Ernie
2008-06-17: Mid-June Report
June 17th 2008
Well well well, we finally have a fishable river—only a month later than normal! The flows have finally leveled out and the fishing has picked up. That's the good news. Want some more? The fish are hitting streamers very well (and—of course—they're hitting spinners well also), and that means big fish. Between Thursday and Sunday we had two fish over twenty inches, a handful of eighteen-inchers, and plenty of fourteen to sixteen inch fish in the boats—many more came unbuttoned.
The nymph fishing was fair as well, with black stones, soft hackle pheasant tails, and slate drakes taking equal numbers of fish. The problem was getting the nymphs down in some of the heavier runs. Sink tips and streamers did the trick where nymphs and lead shot didn't.
As for rising fish, below Ramcat Run there weren't any. But never fear, that will come soon enough. The flows are slated to drop to 500 cfs from the dam later this week. If that happens the dryfly fishing will pick up. For now just enjoy those great streamer grabs and the prospect of big fish.
Have fun out there:
Ernie and Jim
2008-06-05: June 6th 2008
Early June 2008
Hello all you fellow whippy-stickers. It seems an apology is in order, an apology that . . .well . . . apologizes for the paucity of up-to-date river reports last season. The era of blatant disregard on the part of the guys at Laurel Highlands Guide Services with respect to updating the stream reports section of our website—you know how it is with fisherman types—has come to an end. Instead, we are entering into a veritable golden age of stream reports, indeed one in which stream reports will be so profuse, prolific, and other words that start with “p” and mean many, that we'll post them even when there is nothing to report: as is the case at the moment.
Oh, we did get out this weekend last, along with quite a few other anglers as well, but, the river was still quite high below the confluence with the Casselman, and the fishing was tough. We were carried along by the high flows in our drift boat at break-neck speeds, casting frenetically as likely bank-side pockets flew by. We stubbornly stuck with big streamers and were rewarded with a few nice smallmouth and one solid hookup on a big fish, but we never saw it.
We did nymph a few nice runs and caught fish on size 8 brown stones and tan caddis pupas and emergers to match the nice caddis hatch coming off; however, despite the number of bugs, we only saw one fish working them on top—to high for that.
But that window is over, and for now, as we have for weeks now, we wait. The river is up again, 4.5 right now at Confluence. The Army Corps will begin tapering flows down over the next few days so perhaps it will fish on Saturday or Sunday—we'll keep you posted.
Good luck out there,
The guys at Laurel Highlands Guide Services
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