S6, Ep 64: Central PA Fishing Report: Summer Temps and Topwater Action
Join host Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly for the latest Central PA Fishing Report with George Costa from TCO Fly Shop in State College. George shares insights on the upcoming warm weather and its impact on fishing conditions. With temperatures forecasted to reach the nineties, George discusses the importance of monitoring water temperatures and the current state of fishing in the region.
George highlights the end of the post-drake depression and the excellent topwater action with Isos, Cahills and blue-winged olives. He provides tips on targeting sulphur hatches and emphasizes the importance of staying late for the best dry fly opportunities. Nymphing and streamer fishing remain solid, with streamers being more effective during low light hours.
As summer progresses, George suggests shifting focus to other species like smallmouth bass, carp and panfish. He offers practical advice on fishing for smallmouth with poppers and streamers, emphasizing the need to vary patterns and retrieves based on conditions.
Whether you're planning your next fishing adventure or looking for expert advice, this episode is packed with valuable information. Tight lines!
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Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
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Marvin: and we're back with another Central PA Fishing Report with George Costa of TCO
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Marvin: Fly Shop in State College. How are you, George?
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George: I'm amazing as always, Marvin. How are you?
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Marvin: And as always, I'm just trying to stay out of trouble, and we were talking before
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Marvin: we started recording, you're getting ready to get into the roaster here of the summer, right?
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George: Yep, we got some warm weather coming next week for sure. We got temperatures
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George: It's just forecast to get up
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George: into the 90s, and the nights are only looking down to get in the high 70s.
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George: I'm sorry, high 60s, low 70s. So we're definitely getting some warm weather
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George: starting next week, but the next couple of days looks nice and lovely out here in State College.
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George: We've got maybe a couple of T-storms coming through, but everything's been fishing
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George: really well this past week.
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George: We're getting through our post-Drake depression, and we've had really good isos,
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George: really good kales, Really good, bigger blue-winged olives all this past week.
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George: So lots of topwater action has been good in the evenings.
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George: Sulfurs are definitely winding down, but there's still a good amount of them
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George: left right before dark and into the dark hours.
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George: So if you still want to find some sulfurs, 16s and 18s, all the local streams
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George: are still going to have them. But don't leave at 835.
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George: You're not leaving until 10 o'clock because they're definitely a later game
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George: right now. So dry fly opportunities are still good. Nymphing has been solid.
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George: Streamers have definitely shifted towards the low light hours with the lower
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George: clear water we've had the past couple weeks, but fishing has been really solid.
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George: Temps have not been an issue yet, but by mid to end of next week,
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George: I expect us to really start to pay attention to those temps because some of
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George: the bigger streams might start creeping up into the high 60s,
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George: and we're just going to have to start paying attention to that.
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Marvin: Yeah, and I imagine probably grainy weenies and beetles are probably doing the job too, right?
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George: Yes, sir. Terrestrials are definitely working. Ants, beetles,
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George: and greenie weenies abound.
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George: So, definitely great searching patterns midday, any terrestrial, anything like that.
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Marvin: Yeah. And so, I've got a perfect question. We've got someone who's a planner,
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Marvin: sent a question and wanted to get your thoughts on, as we creep deeper into
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Marvin: summertime and we have temperature issues, what other species can we chase on the fly?
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George: Oh, lots. I'm definitely starting getting off of the trout game.
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George: Fish trout early, fish trout late.
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George: Midday, smallmouth time. We've got lots of great smallmouth water here in central Pennsylvania.
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George: Good amount of it you can get to on foot. You know, panfish are always a blast.
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George: If you want to go and catch a bunch of fish, that's always fun.
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George: But bass is probably the number one game here for summertime fish.
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George: Carp are always a great option as well. Chasing carp on the fly here.
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George: There's opportunities around here. They're definitely not easy to catch around
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George: here on the fly, so that's a super rewarding fish to get.
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George: But, you know, the classic warm-order species, largemouth, smallmouth,
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George: carp, panfish, things like that are great species to target here in central
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George: Pennsylvania in the warmer months.
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Marvin: Got it. And I would imagine if you're waiting for smallmouth,
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Marvin: you want to basically probably wet fish poppers and other topwater stuff and maybe small bait fish?
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George: Sure. As the summer progresses, top water gets better and better.
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George: Some of the smallmouth guys are saying that top water is just starting to pick
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George: up right now. Most of the smallies have been caught on streamers.
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George: You know, water is just dropping to low clear levels. That's when top water gets better.
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George: But streamers are going to work, you know, pretty much all the time.
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George: And, you know, vary your patterns, vary your retrieve, vary your approach,
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George: you know, and different sections are going to fish differently.
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George: So got to kind of change it up and figure out what they want to eat that particular day.
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Marvin: There you go. And, you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly.
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Marvin: You can email them to us or DM us on social media, whatever is easiest for you.
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Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag.
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Marvin: We'll have a drawing for some goodies from the shop at the end of the season.
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Marvin: And, George, I know you just finished your fishing derby.
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Marvin: You don't have any major events for the summer, but do you want to let folks
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Marvin: know hours and all that kind of good stuff?
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George: Sure. We're here standard hours on State College, 9th to 6th,
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George: Monday through Saturday, 9 to 3 on Sundays.
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George: All of our other stores are similar hours We've got our new store open in Muncie
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George: Look for the grand opening event there In the next few weeks that should be
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George: happening We are going to have a couple of broom bugs events here Throughout
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George: the summer We haven't quite picked dates for that yet So keep an eye on our website,
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George: PCOflyfishing.com Under the education and events tab To keep up to date on all
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George: the events We're going to have going this summer Yeah.
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Marvin: Well there you go Well listen folks As I always say Y'all owe it to yourself
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Marvin: To get out there and catch a few Tight lines everybody Tight lines George.
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George: Take it easy Mark.
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