Potter County Camp Notes: "If There's Water, There's Trout"

I recently took a trip to Potter County, Pennsylvania in hopes of finding some wild brook trout. I ran into a local on a stream and he gave me some advice, “If there’s water, there’s trout”. Using his advice, I decided to fish a stream that ran right next to my campsite. There was no listing for the stream on the class A wild trout stream list provided by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The stream followed along a main road through a stretch of forest and meadowlands. In previous trips, I had driven by the stream, not thinking twice about fishing it.

I had arrived at my campsite a few hours before sunset and wanted to give the stream a try. I left my campsite and began walking upstream through a stretch of the river that was covered by the thick forest canopy. I saw little signs of life and had no action on my dry fly. Even the pools that looked like perfect brook trout water held nothing. I kept walking until the stream took a bend and opened up into a meadow. The first pool in the meadow looked incredible and reminded me of my time fishing in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin. I slowly approached the pool and cast my dry fly into the back of the riffle. I was instantly met by a large brook trout jumping out of the water to eat my fly.

I made a few more casts into this pool and caught a quick handful of brook trout. I decided to move further upstream and found even more deep pocket water. On each cast I was met by a rising trout. It was one of the most impressive fisheries I have fished to this day. Brook trout after brook trout rose to eat my fly. As the sun began to set, I walked back to my campsite to set up camp for the night.

While I sat at camp, I reflected on my experience and thought about all of the streams that fly under the radar of even the most knowledgeable anglers. Take the chance to fish these streams. The worst case scenario is that you get to explore a new area. Oh and if you happen to find yourself in Potter County, Pennsylvania, just remember, “If there’s water, there’s trout”.