September 22 and 23, 2023 – The Last Days of Summer at the Warmwater Jamboree with a Productive Coldwater Detour – Mifflin County

Not our tent. Beautiful night before the rain.

Out of character, perhaps, I ventured out to Mifflin County alone this weekend to meet up with a group of guys from the PAFlyfish community.  With a Nor’easter arriving, several dudes bailed out, but I believe I met about six good guys from the forum.  I have never gone to the bigger event on Penns Creek each spring, not even the year I was offered a spot in a cabin with some of the moderators—it always came right before my Canada trip, so a big ask at home, I guess.  I committed to this one to get out of my comfort zone, but also because the dude Josh that hosts has always seemed like a great guy—I suppose hosting a bunch of fly fishermen on his family’s property for a few years now is a self-evident sign.  Josh had offered to show me around his home waters earlier this spring, and with starting the new job, I was not able to get out there.  I can confirm that he is a good dude, and I will hook up with him next spring after he gets his waterfowl hunting fix this fall.  I packed to fish both bass and trout because I wasn’t going to Central PA and not catch some trouts, and I also packed to car camp in the ‘Ru with a thermarest and a sleeping bag.  It was not the best night sleep with all the gear and rod tubes, not to mention at least four high speed trains rolling by in the night along with some heavier rain for a period of time in the wee hours of the morning.  But somehow I rallied to fish for some trouts in the drizzle and rain from about 10:00 AM to 3 PM on Saturday.  A little sleep is still an improvement over my typical caffeine-fueled Central PA marathons alone or to meet Sam, of course.

Not a bad fly rod bass on a popper.

We had a big old event tent to hide under, but we really just got a chilly wind with our beers and fishing talk on Friday night.  We also had access to the bathroom and kitchen inside the old farmhouse on the property.  That came in handy for morning coffee on a very rainy Saturday morning, when we sat around deciding what to do with ourselves.  On Friday night, Josh grilled for everyone, and many guys brought sides and beverages.  Before that, a group of five of us hit the evening bite on the river just steps from the property.  Many small fish were caught, and at least one guy Joe caught a couple nice fish in the high teens on topwater just after sunset.  I caught a couple fallfish earlier and was ready to quit when I heard Joe’s fish and then saw it break the surface twice.  I quickly tied my popper back on in the near dark and managed to catch a pretty decent smalljaw on top before slowly making my way back across the river for camp.  The water was low, and that stretch of the Juniata is easy wading, so a few of us stayed out there into darkness.  It was just the one probably 14-inch bass for me, but it was a lovely night to be out and a good evening window before tropical storm Ophelia arrived.

Very late summer on the Juniata River.

It was dark and chilly on the last day of summer, so everyone slept in until at least 7 AM, which was about when Josh arrived to start coffee.  He offered to make us breakfast, but instead we sat around the kitchen until 9 AM drinking coffee, checking the forecast, and debating what to do.  A couple guys, including Josh, were interested in trout fishing, but I was pretty sure that was my plan all along.  In case it rained hard again, I was just going to use the time out there to explore a couple new spots on a creek on which I have had success but on which I have barely scratched the surface as far as potential.  I was graciously helped by Josh and a couple other sharpies with some suggested starting points, and one guy John was supposed to meet me at one location after he packed up his tent and stuff.  A few of the guys suited up in a break in the rain to walk to the river again, and one poor guy Dave who trailed a Stealthcraft from Johnstown never even fished before heading home, it seems.  John never found me or made other last-minute plans, so I had a social Friday night and Saturday morning followed by a solo trout outing on Saturday afternoon.  I like to fish alone, as you may know, and being social for too long is exhausting for an introvert, so I totally embraced the solitude, of course.  Even on a Saturday, the bad weather kept everyone off the water, so I had two new spots to myself.

A lucky break in the storm.  Swampy enough to fog the lens!

It was humid with periods of rain, but I had a great, productive window where the wind stayed calm and the fish cooperated.  At the first spot, I caught half a dozen average wild browns on small bugs.  The water was low here, and every snag came back with dark, cased caddis, so most fish ate a size 16 purple hotspot thread frenchie in shallow pocket water.  I did hook one slightly better fish at this first spot, but there was not enough deep holding water at midday, so I went to find another spot closer to one of the springs that adds cold water and volume, hoping for at least one good fish before making the long drive home.  With more volume and color from the spring and the continuing rain, the creek here looked very sexy.  There was a steeper grade and a narrower streambed here, so I had found the deeper pocket water I needed.  

The trout fishing went better than the bass fishing for me.

After finding some unposted but perhaps a little shady parking, I rigged with 4X and a jigged streamer to fish this deeper section of the same creek.  It was a good call because my first fish from this stretch was a beautiful wild brown close to 16 inches, I bet.  At some point, I put on an even heavier jigged bugger, this time in black because the water visibility was getting a bit worse.  That heavy bug accounted for two more solid wild browns, one probably a fat 13-incher, the other a little smaller.  I could not scare up any more in this short stretch, so I debated taking another short drive to a familiar spot that I knew had similar deep, narrow water, but when I saw it was 3 PM and my rainless window was about to end, I decided to pack it up.  My car was still there looking just as messy as I left it, so I took my time to hide under a tree and change into less swampy attire for the ride home.  I hit Penn State football traffic and early Friday rush hour and construction in Harrisburg on the way out there, but it was smooth sailing Saturday afternoon on the way home.  The same weather that had kept people off the cricks and away from the warmwater jam had apparently kept the PA Turnpike empty too.  I guess the weather only added to the adventure?

Best one at my second stop on the same crick.  Bonus shot.