Valley Creek, Pennsylvania |
Pulling my truck into the small gravel parking lot near the
national park trail-head sign, I stepped out into a cool but sticky summer
morning. Across the road the small fog bank settled in over where I knew the
stream to be, and everything not covered by a canopy of trees appeared
saturated with dew. I pulled on some lightweight hip-boots, rigged my rod and
tied on a #16 tan caddis pattern which is always a starting fly for me on this
particular water. Walking the edge of
the road to an access point near a small one-lane covered bridge I noticed a
solitary person jog past along the road near the far side of the stream. In my
mind however he didn’t exist, since even his footfalls on the blacktop were
muted by the sound of the stream. Turning
my attention to the stream I eased up along the small gravel bar under the
bridge, and with a couple of warm-up false casts dropped my fly at the head of
the riffle which rounded a small curve upstream. The little tan fly contrasted
nicely in the shadows under the bridge as I tracked its path back towards me
along the near seam of the riffle. The
fly made a lazy “S” turn as the slack pulled out of the tippet, when in a swirl
of gold and brown it disappeared. A quick lift of the rod and the dance was on,
which brought a lively wild brown trout to hand in short order. I admired the
brightly colored 9” fish for a second, and then let it quickly disappear back
into the perfect camouflage of the stream bottom. Moving upstream around the bend I was rewarded
again with a near carbon copy of the first fish, and then 2 more of their
brethren at the next little plunge-pool. The morning was proving to be all that
I had hoped for and more.
By the sounds of things
one might envision me along a Central PA mountain stream, or along a Spring
Creek somewhere in the West. But, it was
not so. On this morning, I was fishing
one of my favorite jewels of Southeastern PA, where not 10 minutes away, the
madness of the Philadelphia morning commute was just picking up steam. This morning I was on Valley Creek, within
the Valley Forge National Park.
Valley Creek originates
from underground limestone springs just north of Philadelphia, in the Township
of East Whiteland. The upper stretch is not nearly as productive as the lower
portion that runs through the park, and much of its length is posted. However, with some due-diligence a person can
still do quite well along its entire length. The lower section below the I-76 PA
Turnpike overpass, meanders its way through the park and is the most popular
stretch of the stream. Through Valley
Forge National Park SR-252 follows along most of its length, and easy access is
afforded. After the streams trip through the park it quickly empties into the
Schuylkill River at the end of its 12 mile run. The stream received a mixed blessing of High
PCB levels in recent years due to age-old munitions leeching, the issue has
been kept in check but did result in a “no kill” & “No stocking”
regulation. Since then, although the
fish size has dropped off some, the wild brown trout fishery has taken off with
a healthy population of 6” to 12” beautifully colored browns. The water
averages approximately 10’-15’ in width throughout much of its course, and
clear and canopied riffles make for skittish fish and some fairly technical
fishing. Not too technical in so far as
the hatch or fly selection goes, but as with most wild streams it is very
technical pertaining to the approach and casting technique.
The stream can receive a
bit of pressure during the weekends, which prompts me to fish it morning and
evenings during weekdays whenever my work schedule allows. It’s during these
times that I find the pressure to be reduced as would be expected. I also find that a given pool will generally
give up a single fish as a rule, and then you’ll need to rest the water for a
few minutes, or simply move forward much like many other wild trout fisheries
across the country. I choose to fish it slow and quietly move on after each
fish, but I often choose to hit the water again on my way back down if the
situation or time allows.
Working my way upstream,
each pocket proved productive as long as I did my part correctly. I moved above
the Knoxx Library foot bridge and was rewarded with a fat little 14” trout
which was my best of the morning. And then, on the very next cast I hooked an
even larger fish which broke me off in the riffles below.
As for hatches, you will find a
summer-long Tan Caddis hatch in #14-18, Blue-winged Olives #18-20, Sulfurs #16,
and a handful of midge hatches ranging from #28 greys to a #22 cream. More often than not, I will
fish light with a 7’-8’ slow action 3-4wt rod, a 5’ furled leader butt section
looped to a double-taper line and 3-4 feet of 7x fluorocarbon.
Likewise, I tend to fish Valley with a
Spartan box of 6 patterns. Not that
countless other patterns won’t work as well, but I tend to simplify on Valley
and lean towards the personal patterns that I know will pull fish on this
little water. I come to fish Valley
Creek in search of trout on a dry fly, so my box is adjusted in like fashion.
Penns Grannom
Hook-
#16 Standard Dry
Thread-
8/0 Olive Dun
Abdomen- Olive Brown Spectrablend
Hackle-
Golden badger
Wing-
Ginger Elk
Valley Caddis
Hook: #12-16 Standard Scud/Caddis
Thread: Black 6/0 Uni-thread
Rib: Medium Orvis Olive Body Glass
Shellback: Wild Turkey Tail Fibers
Abdomen: Natural Haretron
Legs: Lemon Wood Duck
Thorax: Natural Haretron
Sulfur
LTD
Hook-
#16 Standard Dry
Thread-
Olive Dun, Tail- Pheasant Tail
Abdomen-
Pheasant Tail in thread loop
Thorax-
PMD Spectrablend
Hackle-
Ginger Wing- Medium Dun
Griffiths Max
Hook-
#14 Standard Dry
Hackle: Brown
Thread-
Olive Dun
Abdomen-
Peacock Herl
Khaki Midge
Hook: #20-#32 Caddis Emerger
Thread: Rusty-Dun Uni-Thread
Abdomen: Tying thread coated in Bug Bond
Thorax: Orvis Spectrablend Dark Dun
Wing: Dun CDC
As I stood tying on a new fly
the sun hit the back of my neck, and I paused to look around. The next hole upstream was bright with sun
and would be my next target should I choose to step out of the shaded portion
of the run I was on. I chose to call it quits having moved slow enough to avoid
breaking a sweat throughout the morning, I would be able to change at the truck
and be to work early enough for a cup of coffee. On my stroll back to the truck
through the knee-high meadow I jumped a whitetail doe with 2 spotted fawns in
tow. They stood startled by my early
presence, but chose to stay put and watch my passing in silence. Changed into
work clothes, in no time at all I was merging onto the PA Turnpike along with
all the rest of the poor souls moving towards their daily toils. But unlike them I was smiling, with a perfect
morning and a half dozen wild brown trout freshly minted in my memory.
Aside from fishing,
Valley Creek affords you wonderful access to the historic park of Valley Forge
as well. Setting some time aside to tour the grounds and settlement is very
much recommended. The countryside is gorgeous and the history is without
compare.
It adds a little to the
fishing experience as well, when one stops to think about standing along water
minutes from George Washington’s headquarters, or on the foot bridge to the
Knoxx Library. My family served at Valley Forge. My Grandfather Johann Jacob Lang served with the 5th Pennsylvania, under Capt Christie. The history runs deep on this ground.
The sacrifices which played out
for those individuals encamped there, helped to secure our opportunity to
follow our love of fly fishing along those very same waters. I like to think
that just maybe one of those colonial soldiers found a way to sneak down to the
creek for a little dapping for native brookies.
How could they not?
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