A report from Jin
I drove out the Yellow Breeches to fish with Tom. We both decided to take some time out from work and wet a line together.
By the time we got to the upper Breeches, the air temperature was in the high 80s and the stream was full of spin fisherman and kids running near the banks. We worked downstream to a quiet stretch and waited out a couple of fisherman that had some trout on stringers before we fished back upstream.
I began fishing dries while Tom fished behind me with his Czech nymph setup. The water was running high, making it challenging for dry flies, but ideal for bottom nymphing. Tom was hooking up fish after fish and even managed to hook two on one cast. We caught mostly rainbows that had been stocked recently but also got a fair share of wild browns. After three hours of not even a look, I changed to a hatching nymph pattern, slung on some lead, and started dredging the deep runs and ledges. I started hooking up fish immediately.
The first 8 to 10 fish I hooked jumped, splashed and managed to unhook themselves before I could put the hammer to them. It reminded me a lot of how Mike fishes (Editor's note: Jin took his clown pills--he's very funny). I over came the 'Mike Complex' and began to land fish.
Most of the fish were concentrated in the deep runs and it was not uncommon to stand in one place and hook fish after fish. Just before dusk, we started seeing sporadic rises and more flies coming off the wader. Sulphur spinners started to gather overhead and began to mate. Eventually the flies hovered lower and made their way to the surface where water that was calm moments before erupted with rising trout. For about half an hour we covered rises around us. Tom managed to hook couple brookies. I hooked what felt like a large fish but it immediately broke me off and took off with my fly. By the time I managed to tie another fly on, the fish stopped rising and the stream became very quiet. We walked off the water around 9:30pm.
EQUIPMENT: We used 3 and 4-weight rods. Leader length and tippet strength depends on the size and type of fly you're throwing at the time and the fishing technique (dries or nymphs).
DIRECTIONS: From Virginia, head up US 15 into Pennsylvania, past Gettysburg and other tourist attractions. Make a left turn onto US 74 outside of Harrisburg. The intersection is in a small town, with a Getty gas station across the intersection where you will make your turn and a Wendy's restaurant on the left. Follow US 74 until you come to US 174, an intersection with a local graveyard on your left. Turn left here and follow Boiling Springs Road one mile to Allenberry Resort and Inn and the Yellow Breeches. There is a parking lot for fly fisherfolk but keep in mind that the road leading to the parking lot is ONE WAY. You have to circle around the inn to reach the exit. To fish 'The Run', continue past Allenberry Inn and Resort and make a left on Bucher Hill Road. Follow the road for a short distance until you see the parking lot on your left. To fish the upper reaches of the Yellow Breeches, continue up US 174 and look for parking spots along the roadside. If you need equipment, flies or information you should stop in at the Yellow Breeches Outfitters in Boiling Springs.
