"The Po" Little Po rainbow fingerling
My friend Charlie & I were like men on a mission this past Monday, as we hit the Pohopoco (pronounced: "po-ho-PO-co") Creek near the Beltzville Lake. The "Po", as it is affectionately known to many anglers, is a very unique fishery. Flowing out of Pohopoco Mountain in Monroe County, PA, the Po winds its way southwest through the Mahoning Valley, through various hamlets like Kresgeville, Trachsville, etc. near Rt. 209 before flowing into the Beltzville Lake. The Po in this section is a wild trout stream, often rated as a Class A Wild Trout Stream by the PAF&BC & is home to some beautiful wild browns. From what I hear, 12"-14" is a common size, though I've heard larger trout inhabit the Po, as well. My experience fishing this section is quite limited. A popular spot on the Po is below the Beltzville dam, which gushes a good deal of cold water into the stream & maintains it's temps in the 50's all through the summer months, no matter how hot the air temps may be. This stretch is stocked at least twice in-season. This is where Charlie & I began our day. Charlie, despite having seen this stream many times, had never fished it. We arrived around 8AM & had the place to ourselves pretty much all morning! We fished through some light rains that passed through on several occasions during the course of the morning. The Po did not disappoint with plenty of surface activity, though we couldn't see what the fish were rising to. I had fished this section many times & I knew that lots of midges were present on this stream. I suggested to Charlie that a size 22 or 24 Griffith's Gnat might be the fly of choice. I am not often right about much of anything, but thankfully, I was this time. Charlie & I quickly got into these trout. What we caught were tiny fingerling rainbows, brookies, & browns, likely stocked in the spring or sometime during the summer. They were fun, but after a while, we wanted to see if we could hook into something a bit bigger. Having no luck catching anything but these baby trout, we said goodbye to this area & went out on a search for new waters.
I had heard that the area above the lake, that is, where the stream enters the lake, is pretty good water. Charlie & I went out looking for it. Many of the sections we encountered, unfortunately, were posted. We wound up fishing a bridge pool near the Shell gas station on Rt. 209 (which is below where we had fished in the AM). We saw plenty of trout holding in the pool & thankfully, most were normal sized, certainly bigger than the 3"-6" variety we caught earlier. I knew that this mid-day attempt would probably be an exercise in futility, & I was once again on target. We tried nymphs, streamers stripped hard, & even a few dry flies before giving up for an afternoon rest, which never saw us get back out onto the stream again that day.
The Po flows from the dam, down along Rt. 209, before crossing over & down beneath Rt. 248, before meeting the Lehigh River. I have fished the Po at its junction with the Lehigh. I have also fished upstream from there, up past the 248 bridge, close to the village of Parryville, PA. This is a section that I enjoy fishing. I have done particularly well there in the evening during a nice Sulphur hatch a few years ago. This past spring, I caught a few nice browns during a hatch of small Blue Winged Olives. On both occasions & others, the fish were in the 14" range.
But, one of my goals this year was to fish places I have never fished before, hitting some new waters & gaining new experiences. Part of Monday was for Charlie & I a wild goose chase, searching, backtracking, & eventually getting disappointed when we encountered posted land, or water that was not productive. But, despite all of this, I think it was well worth it. Did you ever drive on a road you've never driven before, just to see where it will take you? Part of the fly-fishing learning curve, I guess, isn't always about bettering one's skills with a fly rod, or having success in catching fish. Part of the learning curve is discovering new waters, trying new spots, finding out where one can fish. This involves research & going out looking for different spots. Knowledge of a stream comes from experience & fishing new spots. As the old saying goes, "You live & learn." There are sections of the Po (and other rivers, too) that I have now seen, have found were not posted, & looked to be very "fishy" spots, but I have yet to fish them. Time will tell whether they are good stretches or not, but that's why we go out: it might sound corny to say it's an adventure, but in a certain sense, isn't it? Isn't there a part of our fly-fishing psyche that looks to find new waters, to be on an adventure? We make a mental note of a particular hole, or run, or a section that catches our eye from the road & we tell ourselves that this looks like good water. We are careful about what we say about it & with whom we talk about it. It's like a secret place that we want to go to & discover, even though in reality, it may be a very popular, well fished area. Maybe it's still a good hole, maybe it's not. Others may have been able to tell us, "Don't waste your time on that stretch." But how will we know for sure? The experience of trying the new waters for ourselves is what keeps us going sometimes. If it turns out to be a "honey hole", great. If not, well, at least we know. I am grateful that I have been introduced to by others & have discovered on my own, some new waters this past summer. Sometimes, like the Po, the creek/river is not new, but some parts of it are. Others are completely new & beg for more exploring. It's that unknown element that keeps us coming back.
I had heard that the area above the lake, that is, where the stream enters the lake, is pretty good water. Charlie & I went out looking for it. Many of the sections we encountered, unfortunately, were posted. We wound up fishing a bridge pool near the Shell gas station on Rt. 209 (which is below where we had fished in the AM). We saw plenty of trout holding in the pool & thankfully, most were normal sized, certainly bigger than the 3"-6" variety we caught earlier. I knew that this mid-day attempt would probably be an exercise in futility, & I was once again on target. We tried nymphs, streamers stripped hard, & even a few dry flies before giving up for an afternoon rest, which never saw us get back out onto the stream again that day.
The Po flows from the dam, down along Rt. 209, before crossing over & down beneath Rt. 248, before meeting the Lehigh River. I have fished the Po at its junction with the Lehigh. I have also fished upstream from there, up past the 248 bridge, close to the village of Parryville, PA. This is a section that I enjoy fishing. I have done particularly well there in the evening during a nice Sulphur hatch a few years ago. This past spring, I caught a few nice browns during a hatch of small Blue Winged Olives. On both occasions & others, the fish were in the 14" range.
But, one of my goals this year was to fish places I have never fished before, hitting some new waters & gaining new experiences. Part of Monday was for Charlie & I a wild goose chase, searching, backtracking, & eventually getting disappointed when we encountered posted land, or water that was not productive. But, despite all of this, I think it was well worth it. Did you ever drive on a road you've never driven before, just to see where it will take you? Part of the fly-fishing learning curve, I guess, isn't always about bettering one's skills with a fly rod, or having success in catching fish. Part of the learning curve is discovering new waters, trying new spots, finding out where one can fish. This involves research & going out looking for different spots. Knowledge of a stream comes from experience & fishing new spots. As the old saying goes, "You live & learn." There are sections of the Po (and other rivers, too) that I have now seen, have found were not posted, & looked to be very "fishy" spots, but I have yet to fish them. Time will tell whether they are good stretches or not, but that's why we go out: it might sound corny to say it's an adventure, but in a certain sense, isn't it? Isn't there a part of our fly-fishing psyche that looks to find new waters, to be on an adventure? We make a mental note of a particular hole, or run, or a section that catches our eye from the road & we tell ourselves that this looks like good water. We are careful about what we say about it & with whom we talk about it. It's like a secret place that we want to go to & discover, even though in reality, it may be a very popular, well fished area. Maybe it's still a good hole, maybe it's not. Others may have been able to tell us, "Don't waste your time on that stretch." But how will we know for sure? The experience of trying the new waters for ourselves is what keeps us going sometimes. If it turns out to be a "honey hole", great. If not, well, at least we know. I am grateful that I have been introduced to by others & have discovered on my own, some new waters this past summer. Sometimes, like the Po, the creek/river is not new, but some parts of it are. Others are completely new & beg for more exploring. It's that unknown element that keeps us coming back.
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