Best Fishing Spots in Pennsylvania

A Deeper Look at Fishing in Pennsylvania

Fishing Heritage in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is one of the foundational fishing states in American history, and you cannot tell the story of fly fishing in this country without telling the story of Pennsylvania's limestone trout streams. The Lenape, Susquehannock, and Iroquoian peoples who lived along the Susquehanna, the Allegheny, and the Delaware harvested American shad runs that pushed all the way up to Wilkes-Barre and beyond, plus eels, walleye, smallmouth, and the now nearly extirpated lake sturgeon. By the 1700s and 1800s, German and Scotch-Irish settlers in central Pennsylvania were fishing the cold, alkaline-rich limestone springs of the Cumberland Valley and the Penn's Creek drainage, and by the late 1800s those waters had become the cradle of American dry fly fishing. Anglers like Theodore Gordon, who is widely credited with adapting British dry fly methods to American waters, and later Vincent Marinaro, who wrote 'A Modern Dry-Fly Code' on the LeTort Spring Run, formalized a distinctly American approach to imitating sulphurs, tricos, and terrestrials.

The LeTort, Falling Spring, Big Spring, Yellow Breeches, Spring Creek, and Penns Creek became the proving grounds for techniques and patterns that anglers around the world still use. The Pennsylvania Fish Commission, founded in 1866 as one of the first state fish agencies in the country, and reorganized as the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in 1991, has been a leader in trout stocking, stream classification, and wild trout protection. The state today protects more wild trout streams than any other in the lower 48, with thousands of miles of designated Class A wild trout water and an extensive Heritage Trout Angling program. Outside the trout world, Pennsylvania has a deep warm-water tradition.

The Susquehanna River is one of the great smallmouth bass rivers in the country, the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh (Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela) host walleye, sauger, and big catfish, Lake Erie's Pennsylvania shoreline produces the second-best Great Lakes steelhead run after Ohio, and Raystown Lake holds trophy striped bass. Industrial pollution from coal mining, steel, and tanning nearly destroyed many waterways in the twentieth century, but ongoing acid mine drainage remediation, riparian buffer programs, and the work of organizations like Trout Unlimited have brought many of these systems back.

The Best Fishing Spots in Pennsylvania

Spring Creek near State College is one of the most famous limestone streams in the world. Running through Penn State University, it holds an enormous wild brown trout population sustained by cold, mineral-rich groundwater, and the Fisherman's Paradise stretch is a destination unto itself. Penns Creek further east is the giant of central Pennsylvania limestone fishing, with a legendary green drake hatch in late May and early June that draws fly fishers from around the country. The LeTort Spring Run near Carlisle is a tiny, technical stream where modern American dry fly fishing was born.

The Yellow Breeches and Falling Spring add to the regional menu. Big Spring near Newville, after a long restoration battle, is back to producing wild brook trout and brown trout. The Susquehanna River from Sunbury downstream through Harrisburg to the Maryland line is the smallmouth bass spine of the state, with summer wading and float fishing producing 50-fish days in good years. Lake Erie's Pennsylvania shoreline, including Walnut Creek, Elk Creek, Trout Run, and Twentymile Creek, is the steelhead destination, with hundreds of thousands of fish stocked annually and a fall run from late September through April.

Presque Isle Bay holds smallmouth, walleye, and panfish. Raystown Lake in central Pennsylvania is the only striped bass fishery in the state, with stocked stripers reaching 30 pounds. Pymatuning Reservoir on the Ohio line is a walleye and crappie destination. The Allegheny Reservoir and the Allegheny River below the Kinzua Dam produce trophy walleye, muskie, and smallmouth.

The Three Rivers in Pittsburgh are a surprisingly productive urban fishery for sauger, walleye, hybrid stripers, and channel catfish. The Delaware River West Branch and Main Stem on the New York border are world-class wild trout water, and the Pohopoco, Tulpehocken, and Lehigh Valley streams add to a state that you could fish your whole life and never run out of new water.

Game Fish Species You'll Find in Pennsylvania

Trout are the cultural king. Brown trout dominate the limestone streams of central Pennsylvania, with wild populations in Spring, Penns, the LeTort, and dozens of others. Native brook trout still live in headwater forests across the state and are the centerpiece of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture's protection efforts. Stocked rainbow, brown, and brook trout are released in over 700 waters annually by the PFBC's hatchery system.

Smallmouth bass dominate the Susquehanna, Juniata, Allegheny, and Delaware rivers, with the Susquehanna being one of the great smallmouth fisheries in America. Largemouth bass thrive in lakes like Raystown, Pymatuning, and Glendale. Walleye are the workhorse cool-water gamefish in the Allegheny Reservoir, Pymatuning, Lake Erie, and the Three Rivers. Muskellunge are stocked and wild, with the Allegheny system holding one of the East's best muskie populations.

Northern pike hold in northwestern Pennsylvania waters. Steelhead — Lake Erie strain rainbow trout that run the tributaries — are the headline species on Pennsylvania's small Lake Erie shoreline. Walleye, yellow perch, and smallmouth bass round out the Lake Erie fishery. Striped bass live only in Raystown Lake (stocked) and the lower Delaware and Susquehanna estuaries seasonally.

Channel catfish and flathead catfish are abundant in the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Three Rivers, with flatheads pushing 50 pounds. American shad runs have partially recovered on the Delaware and to a lesser extent the Susquehanna with fish lift assistance. Crappie, bluegill, sunfish, and yellow perch fill out the panfish menu in countless lakes and ponds.

Fishing Licenses and Regulations in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania fishing licenses are issued by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and are required for everyone age 16 and older. The state offers annual, multi-year, and short-term tourist licenses, plus discounted senior and disabled veteran options. To fish for trout you need both a fishing license and a Trout Permit, and to fish Lake Erie tributaries for steelhead you need a Lake Erie Permit (or both the Trout and Lake Erie Combination Permit if you fish both waters). Bass on the Susquehanna and other major rivers have specific seasonal slot regulations, and the Susquehanna River bass season has historically had a delayed harvest period to protect spawning fish.

Class A wild trout streams have all-tackle, three-trout daily creel limits and other waters have catch-and-release, fly-fishing-only, or delayed harvest artificial-lures-only zones. The PFBC publishes a Summary of Fishing Regulations every year and most special regulation waters are signed at major access points. Boating regulations are also administered by the PFBC, and motorboats and most non-motorized boats on PFBC-controlled waters require registration or a launch permit.

Best Seasons for Fishing in Pennsylvania

Mentored youth and opening day of trout season is a generational tradition in Pennsylvania, typically falling on the first Saturday in April statewide with regional openers earlier in some southern counties. From April through May, stocked trout streams are full of anglers and fish. Limestone hatches start with sulphurs and blue-winged olives in April, peak with green drakes on Penns Creek in late May, then move to tricos and terrestrials in summer. Smallmouth on the Susquehanna are best from June through October.

Steelhead on Lake Erie tributaries run from late September through April with peaks in October-November and again in March. Muskie season on the Allegheny system is best in late spring and again in October. Ice fishing is a smaller but committed scene on northwestern lakes like Pymatuning, Conneaut, and Edinboro from January through February.

Local Fishing Tips for Pennsylvania Anglers

First, on the limestone streams, fish small. The trout are educated, the water is clear, and a 6X tippet with a size 18 sulphur or a size 22 trico is often the right answer. Match the hatch and learn to mend your line — sloppy presentations get refused. Two, time Penns Creek for the green drake hatch in late May and early June.

Bring a 4-weight rod, big mayfly imitations, and patience for the crowds at the famous pools. The fishing in the lower 'wilderness' stretch below Coburn is excellent and far less pressured. Three, on the Susquehanna for smallmouth, learn to wade. The river is broad and slow with abundant rock structure, and a careful wader can reach water no boat ever sees.

Tube jigs, ned rigs, and topwater walking baits all work. Four, for Lake Erie steelhead, fish the tributaries on a falling river after a rain. Egg sacs, single beads, jigs and minnows, and small streamers will all catch fish. The crowds are heavy at popular access points like Walnut Creek, but the smaller streams reward exploration.

Five, do not skip the Allegheny Reservoir for muskie. The fall bite from October through November is exceptional and the lake holds 50-inch fish. Six, for trout in the heat of summer, head to the spring-fed limestone water. While freestone streams are warming above 70 degrees, Spring Creek and the LeTort stay in the 50s and the wild browns keep eating.

Seven, get on the PFBC website and check the wild trout streams list — there are thousands of miles of unstocked, wild fish water that get a fraction of the pressure of the famous waters.

Pennsylvania Fishing FAQ

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.fishandboat.com/
• https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/
• https://www.dep.pa.gov/
• https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Pages/default.aspx
• https://www.troutunlimited.org/where-we-work/eastern-conservation/pennsylvania/