Planned Adventures for 2014 (part 1 of 3)

At the beginning of each year, I try to plan out some of my major fishing destinations for the year. This year is no exception, except that I'm in a better position to actually visit these destinations this year and do some quality fishing.

My first big trip of the year is going to be to Cedar Run, Pennsylvania to fish Big Pine Creek, Cedar Run as well as Slate Run. Big Pine Creek is the larger of the three streams and contains a mixture of stocked Rainbow and Brown trout, as well as the occasional wild trout. It is a freestone stream and promises to be one of the best trout streams in the state. Cedar Run is designated as a "Trophy Trout" stream, meaning that any fish harvested from the stream must be a minimum of 14", which hopefully translates into larger fish. Slate Run is designated as a fly-fishing only stream and has strict catch and release rules to protect the native Brook Trout residing in the stream. All in all, I'm really looking forward to this trip and will hopefully be catching a variety of stocked, native and wild trout.

Cedar Run, Pennsylvania is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's wilderness and lies at the lower end of what is colloquially known as "Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon".

Pine Creek Gorge

In preparation for this trip, I have consulted many different sources of information to determine what needs to be on my camping and fishing equipment checklists.

Camping Gear

The first item on my list is a tent. For this and all my trips this year, I will be using our Field & Stream Fairbanks Outfitter 6-person 4-season tent. We've yet to set this tent up or test it, however, so once the weather improves and the back yard dries out some, I'll be setting this tent up and learning more about it.

This is not our tent, but a picture of the same model I found online

Next on my list is my Field & Stream XL Cot, Field & Stream sleeping pad and Field & Stream sleeping bag. (notice a developing theme here?)

Finally, rounding out my checklist for my camping equipment checklist is all of my cooking gear, accumulated over several years. If I were asked what I would consider to be my most important item of cooking gear, I would have to say the coffee pot ranks the top spot.

You can't go camping without one of these!

Camping Gear Checklist

• Tent
• Cot
• Sleeping pad
• Sleeping bag
• Tarp(s)
• Rope / nylon cord
• Ax
• Knife(s)
• Camp saw
• Coffee pot
• Cookware (cast iron is my favorite)
• Utensils
• Dish soap
• Water storage container
• Extra tent stakes
• Hammer and wedges (for splitting firewood and driving in stakes)
• Newspapers (for starting fires)
• Charcoal 
• Camp stove
• Food (provisions for 70-90% of trip)
• Flashlight(s)
• Headlamp
• Lantern(s) - I prefer Coleman dual-fuel versions
• Extra lantern mantels
• Matches
• Lighters
• Anti-freeze fluids (Scotch or Bourbon)
• A few quality cigars

Oh, and I must not forget firewood... because purchasing it by the bundle is just wrong.

And folks in PA make fun of my southern accent...
(this is an actual sign advertising firewood for sale in Pennsylvania)

Fishing Gear 

Since this is supposed to be a fly fishing blog, I should also devote a large portion of this post to the fishing gear for this trip.

First off, I must disclose that I'm a HUGE fan of Simms products. Last year, I purchased a pair of Simms Freestone wading boots and a pair of the G3 Guide Stockingfoot waders. This has to be one of the smartest purchases I've ever made in regards to fishing gear. Sure they're a bit pricier than other brands, but in my honest opinion, the waders and boots are well worth every penny!

Studded soles are a must for wading freestone creeks

Of course, no piece of fishing gear is more essential than a fishing rod and reel. For this trip, I will be taking two fishing rods and reels with me. The first rod and reel I'm taking is my trusty Field and Stream 5wt Fly Rod paired with my Lamson Konic II Fly Reel. The rod is one I picked up for $5.00 at a sample sale that turned out to be a very nice rod for general fishing use. There's nothing really special about the rod, other than it seems to be a well balanced rod that has caught me a lot of fish this year. That and the fact that I only spent $5.00 for it.

A super sweet rod for $5.00

For this trip, however, I intend to use this rod and reel setup as my backup combo. My primary rod and reel will be an Orvis Clearwater 7.5' 3wt rod, paired with an Orvis Battenkill II reel. This reel has a click and pawl drag system, but since it will be used to catch smaller fish, it most likely will primarily serve as a device to hold the line and nothing more. Should I hook a fish on this setup that requires using the reel, I can simply old-school it by 'palming' the reel to slow the fish down. This is the classic drag system employed by all the old masters of the sport before the new disc drag systems were introduced to fly reels, and if there's something that old codgers like me enjoy, it's doing things the old-school way.

Perfect combo for small stream fishing!

Using the 5wt rod and reel on the Cedar Run and Slate Run would be overkill with the smaller fish in those streams, and having the shorter rod will provide me with more casting room in the tighter spaces of a small mountain stream. Hopefully, I will get my first experience in catching native Brook Trout with this rod and reel as well as any wild Brown and Rainbow trout in those streams.

As for flies, I have seen many sources online that list the typical 'hot-ticket' flies to use on Pine Creek during the months of April and May. Some of them include the following list:

• Blue Quill
• Quill Gordon
• Dark Olive Stone
• Green-Sac Caddis
• Tan Caddis
• Hendrickson
• Little Yellow Stone
• Little Black Caddis

I'm sure that by the time April rolls around, my fly boxes will include most, if not all of these flies, in a variety of sizes, but I will also acquire a few of the 'local' patterns from local fly shops in the area, that are sure to be more in tune with what is actually useful on the local streams.

Fishing Gear Checklist

• Fishing License
• Waders
• Wading boots
• Fishing rod(s) 3-5wt
• Fishing reel(s) 3-5wt
• Landing net
• Leaders
• Spools of tippet
• Loaded fly boxes (dry, nymphs, streamers)
• Wading staff
• Hip pack with essential tools
• Knife
• Glasses (old codgers always need glasses to see the tiny lines and flies)
• Hat
• Base layer (i.e. long underwear). I have a nice set of Under Armor that works great!
• Socks
• Flask
• Anti-freeze fluids (Scotch or Bourbon)
• Cigar case
• A few quality cigars
• Lighter(s)

For now, this is how my list of gear stands. Between now and April, I'm sure it might change some, and I'm sure to discover things I need to add or replace in my arsenal of camping and fishing equipment, but that's all part of the process.

Feel free to add your thoughts and comments to this post. Let me know of anything you might have learned in your past adventures, or just share your experiences with such trips, especially if you've ever been fishing on Pine Creek or any of the surrounding streams. I especially would love to hear of any hot spots or honey holes on these streams you might know of.