The Yellow Breeches Creek, located in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, possibly got its name during the Revolutionary War when British troops stained their white breeches yellow after washing them in the tinted water of this creek. The creek winds through miles of scenic countryside and provides anglers with many areas to fish for native or stocked trout. However the most popular section of this waterway is located in the town of Boiling Springs between Children's Lake and the Allenberry Resort Inn and Playhouse about a mile downstream. This part of the Yellow Breeches is fed by 'The Run', a short section of stream that adds cold water from a spring-fed lake in Boiling Springs (located in the middle of the town) into the creek. This keeps the water in this area at a constant temperature all year and the trout love it. The Run and the Yellow Breeches down to Allenberry is catch-and-release and is heavily stocked with rainbow, brown and brook trout by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
EQUIPMENT: We recommend using short 3 and 4 weight rods with weight-forward lines. Leaders can be anywhere between 9 to 12 feet, depending on stream conditions, tapering to 5x or 6x. There are some sections of the Breeches where nymphing is the better way to go but generally it's a dry fly stream.
DIRECTIONS: From Virginia, head up US 15 into Pennsylvania, past Gettysburg and other tourist atrractions. 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. If you need equipment or flies the Yellow Breeches Outfitters is in the town of Boiling Springs.
December 14, 2007
A report from Jin
Tom and I fished the yellow Breeches for a couple of hours this morning. The air temperature was in the 40s when we reached the stream but it started to get colder and more cloudy as the day progressed.
The fish were in their usual spots and rising to a sporadic hatch of very tiny olives. I had more than my share of chances--hooking more than half a dozen fish but I was unable to set the hook on any of them.
Despite fishing behind me, Tom did a pretty good job of cleaning up. I think he landed more than six trout and missed about the same number. We assume that many of our missed strikes were refusals instead of takes.
September 17, 2007
A report from Jin
We started the morning fishing the upper Breeches. The air temperature was in the low 50s with no major hatches and no fish on the bite. We pulled out couple of 11-inch browns from the first pool and a ton of smaller browns. We continued to move further upstream, picking off a few more rising fish. Most were under 10-inches. Found a great pool further up where we managed to get couple more wild browns on a parachute ant.
We moved to Big Spring where we waded into a remote part of the stream in search of big rainbows. The first target was a 22 inch brown that showed no interest in my offerings. Just above him, we spotted a 20 inch plus rainbow holding in a deep pocket with couple smaller fish. We cast a new scud pattern Tom Baltz tied. After a handful of casts, an 18 inch 'bow took the fly. I hooked it in the upper jaw. We fought and netted the fish pretty quickly. That was the fish of the day.
We messed around the riffles for a bit, catching a handful of small rainbows and with less than an hour of sunlight left, we went back to another part of the Breeches where fish were rising to spinners. They were coming up everywhere in a big flat pool. This was textbook dry fly fishing. Cover the rise, hook fish, land it, and do it again. We landed a lot of fish.
July 6, 2007
We arrived at the Allenberry Inn and Resort section of the Yellow Breeches around 10:30am on a very warm Friday morning. There were already six anglers on the water but most of them seemed to be in a searching pattern, trying a few casts here and there then moving on up or down stream. Water temperature was 70 degrees.
There were no insects coming off...too late in the day for that. I started nymphing with a size 18 beadhead emerger while Jin tied on a size 16 X-caddis and we both began working a small riffle just below the Allenberry dam.
Jin drew first blood with a nice stocked brown. He said the fish were rising so I switched to an ant and fished that for awhile. Jin landed another fish and missed several more. I had tried other patterns but when Jin gave me a size 16 and 18 X-caddis, my luck changed.
On the second cast I hooked and landed a stocked brown. Moving down stream a bit I managed to raise several fish that came up for a close look but did not take the fly. But at least they looked, unlike the other flies I tried which got nothing. Fishing settled into a pattern--the fish either looked at the fly and refused to take or you got a hit on the first drift. And if you missed, forget about getting another shot. Maybe tying on another pattern would work but I tried several and only this X-caddis seemed to bring the fish up off the bottom.
Tom joined us for lunch at Anile's Ristorante and Pizzeria (6 Front Street, Boiling Springs) then we continued on to fish the Breeches at various locations. Some of the water was pretty tight, with trees close in on both sides. The water temperature continued to hover in the 70 degree range and Tom said this really turned off the bite. The best bet for fishing in conditions like this is early in the morning or late in the evening. But we were here so we made the best of it.
Jin and Tom continued to pick off fish here and there using ants and caddis. During the late afternoon I conducted an unscientific experiment--I would pass several different flies through a riffle to see what the reaction would be, which was usually nothing. But when I tied on the X-caddis and repeated the drift I'd get a look or a bite. It was a very effective fly and I caught all of my fish on that pattern.
May 20, 2007
A report from Jin
I drove up to the Yellow Breeches to fish with Orvis guide Tom Baltz. By the time I arrived at the Breeches around 8:30am, every empty spot along the stream was filled with one or more cars of fisherman. Every pool, riffle, and run was occupied by a fisherman, mostly with spin gear trying to catch recently stocked trout. Tom and I drove downstream until the crowds thinned and we found a secluded spot below a bridge with some nice pools and runs.
There was a sporadic hatch of sulpurs, Grey Fox, Blue Wing Olives, and caddis. However, the fish were not rising so we tied on a nymph and fished underneath.
The first run we fished was extremely productive, but I failed to make a firm hookset. I played over a dozen fish before I broke 'the complex' (named after a fisherman who missed landing almost a dozen trout on the Gunpowder a few years ago) and landed my first fish. We landed six in a handful of casts before we decided to move down to the next pool. Just about each pool produces two to six fish. Most of the fish were recently stocked bows, but I also landed browns and one brookie.
After pulling out 15 plus fish, I handed my rod to Tom and let him fish for awhile. He promptly landed four fish. We decided to stop for lunch and see if we could find some dry fly fishing opportunities further upstream.
We drove upstream and found another secluded spot. I tied on one of Tom's famous Para-Nymphs and fished the runs and riffles along a tight stretch of the stream.
I missed the first half a dozen strikes despite aggressive takes by the wild brownies. 'The curse' was back. I tightened up my line and quickly started landing fish. We caught two to four wild browns in every spot, with the average fish in the 10 to 12 inch range. Several fish we caught were pushing 13 inches.
The fishing kept getting better and better but after landing 20 to 30 fish for the day, I turned my rod over to Tom, who promptly landed four more in a handful of casts before we walked off the stream.