dkile
Blue Liner Flows Review | USGS Stream Gauges
All water level data originates from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Surface-Water Data, which monitors over 13,000 stream gauges across the U.S. and more than 350 in Pennsylvania. The USGS has been transitioning to a new online interface over the past five-plus years. The updated look and feel have left some old features behind while adding new ones. I hate it.
So, I’ve been on the hunt for a desktop and mobile app that delivers USGS backend data through a clean, easy-to-use interface. Blue Liner Flows offers a solid solution for iPhone, iPad and Mac users, with apps built for both platforms. Most importantly, favorites and preferences sync across devices. There’s a free version, but I’ll be reviewing the $6.99 annual paid version.
Key features include: favorites, state selection, map view, latest data overview, discharge in CFS, discharge in feet, average annual discharge, various time views, weather forecasts, alerts, temperatures (station-dependent), turbidity (station-dependent), and other data specific to each gauge.
I found the app very easy to set up on my Mac. Once configured, all my favorites and alerts synced automatically to my iPhone. You don’t need both devices—an iPhone alone works just fine. I especially liked navigating between the state, favorites, and map views. It’s fast and intuitive. Most views display the key information I’m looking for, including directional arrows indicating whether water levels are rising or falling.
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Welcome to the Updated Paflyfish Website
The old Paflyfish forum was based on a platform called XOOPS and was a critical step for the website sixteen years ago. The XOOPS platform had not kept up with contemporary Internet protocols, security standards, SEO search engines, mobile user access and many other important features. I have migrated to a new forum platform based on Zenforo with the plan on improving our fly fishing community.
The new forum will provide all the new features that is needed as well as maintaining pretty much all the old features you have been familiar with over the years. The new forum will offer better community access and convenience to all the old information too.
If you are new to the site, new user registration is back on and available in the upper right corner of the site menu bar. We look forward to you joining our fly fishing community.
New Functionality
Mobile Access - designed to work with smartphones and tablets
Security - Secure SSL access, a secure certificate for the site, hChapta for new secure user registration, advance blocking for bots and spammers
Unlimited file storage - We can add more and larger images to posts
Pictures - easy to drag and drop images and no codes
Multimedia - simple YouTub video without adding codes
Intuitive authoring tools - what you see is what you get
Watched Content - Users can opt to receive email or on-site notifications
Conversations (formerly private messages) - Private messaging to one or more member
What’s new features
Alerts
Enhanced Search
What got Migrated
All the old forums, threads, posts and replies
User names, signature lines and avatars
Private messages - now Conversations
What didn’t make it
Embedded videos
Photo Album
Links referring to the old site
Old Polls
Coming soon and still under...
Dressing for Cold Weather Fly Fishing
Temperature, sun and wind can make huge variables when gearing for some winter fly fishing. Standing in 45-degree water can set you back pretty quickly too. You've heard it before, but I'll offer it again: layers, layers, and more layers. The most important way to keep yourself prepared is with the proper layers.
Headwear
I like wearing a ball cap for fishing because the visor helps me with my visibility while I’m looking at the water. But I’ll always have a wool cap to switch on if I find myself cold. One of the best and fastest ways to regulate your body temperature is what you are wearing on your head. I recently found a decent billed cap with earflaps that can be pulled down. Certainly, the Elmer Fudd look has its own calling, but I’m not a slave to fashion while on the stream.
Alright Captain Obvious we know cotton socks don't work, so the best bet is a two-layer approach with your feet. I first put on a thin polyester-wicking sock. Overtop of the polyester sock I use a classic ragg merino wool sock. Bigger can be better, but make sure you can still get into your boots comfortably. If your socks are too thick and your feet are too tight your feet will be constricted in your boots and make your feet cold. What you are trying to accomplish...
A Knotty Approach to Time on the Water
By Maurice
While sharing some time on the water the other day with Dave Kile (dkile) I experienced what seems to happen often during a decent hatch with some wind, you guessed it, a wind knot! Or as Lefty Kreh calls them, bad casting knots. Everyone gets them now and then, especially when combining a breeze, long leaders and fine tippets. Or for the chuck and duck crowd, of which I am often a member, weight and multiple flies. So as Dave stands upstream pondering my delay to cast to a rising fish, he asks, what’s the problem Einstein? I said I have a wind knot, and it reminded me of a tip I learned many years ago.
Back in the 80’s we were on a bus trip to the Breeches from the ‘burg and there was a video on the tube for those not taking the time to sleep. Being full of interest in sponging any and all info I could at the time, one tip in the video stuck with me. Terminal knot tying efficiency. Think about it, every time we tie on a new piece of tippet, a new fly, etc., we are out of the game. It stands to reason that the faster you can tie on a fly (improved clinch knot in my case) or a new piece of tippet (surgeons knot), the quicker you can begin flogging the water again.
The video stressed the need to get your knots down to 15 seconds each. Practice, practice, practice until you can meet that goal. This will put your fly change or tippet adjustments into under one minute if you include the spooling off tippet, picking out a new and returning the old flies. If you find yourself taking 5-10 minutes each to accomplish that task, you could likely be wasting an hour or more tying frustrating knots. Practicing on stream is KNOT efficient! (pun intended)Now it’s not a race, and I don’t suggest it to be. But it is practical to be as efficient as possible when enjoying your streamside time. Plus, when a hatch is on, the fish and bugs don’t wait until you re-tie, it goes on...
The Spring Jamboree is Back! May 20-22, 2022
The last couple of years has made it difficult to formally plan this event. With some good luck and modern science, we are planning for the Jam in 2022.
The pavilion at Seven Mountains Campground is rented by Paflyfish and is used as a meeting point during the weekend. Plenty of impromptu conversations, fly tying and meet-ups take place at the pavilion. The idea of the weekend is to provide a setting for a casual weekend of fly fishing in a great region of Pennsylvania. As with every year, we will be meeting up in the evenings at the pavilion to catch up on the day's fishing trips. Friday and Saturday mornings we meet for coffee and plan the day. Often plenty of opportunities for some fly tying and casting lessons being shared.
Please contact Sevens Mountain Campground directly if you would like to stay there that weekend. They have a limited number of cabins and campsites. I encourage...
Trip Report: Lake Ontario Tributaries November 2021
For me, this was a new location and had me rounding up some new gear for such a trip. My friends and sponsor on the site, Allen Fly Fishing, helped me out with a nice 8wt rod setup. AJ from Allen, got me going with a great-looking Compass rod and beautiful Alpha reel.
Some coaching from the crew helped me out with some fly ideas too.
Fly Fishing
Typically the salmon are slowly up by early November and the big browns and steelhead are becoming more prevalent. On the way up Albatross, Turkey, and Glenfiddch took on some early action, and each hooked into some salmon.
It was a bit of a hike for most of us while the rest arrived on Thursday, we didn’t all get started together until Friday morning on Oak Orchard. The weather was sunny and pleasant for early November. Casey got into a zombie salmon (fish that are literally rotting to death as they end their migration route) to spawn very early in the morning. The rest of the morning was pretty quiet with some salm
Turkey showed us all up with his tailing glove...
Fall Fly Fishing in Pennsylvania Presentation Sept 21 at 7:00
The fall season offers some great weather and outstanding fly fishing after the heat of the summer. Trout behavior and hatches change during the autumn months, but there is plenty of angling opportunities if you know what to do. If you are looking at extending your fly fishing season this fall then join Derek Eberly and Dave Kile for a presentation on Fall Fly Fishing in Pennsylvania.
Topics
What’s different about trout fall behavior
Seasonal hatches and trout food
Flies and tactics
Where to find locations near you
Gear and clothing
Your questions and answers
Derek Eberly
Derek has been fly-fishing across Pennsylvania for over 20 years and he started his guide service, Keystone Fly Guides in 2013. Recently Derek joined Sky Blue Outfitters and is looking forward to working with their team to offer quality fly fishing experiences across the state. He has been a perpetual student of the sport and enjoys sharing what he has learned with others. Derek is a certified casting instructor through Fly Fishers International.
Dave Kile
Dave has been fly fishing for over 35 years and is the founder of Paflyfish, an online community of fly fishing anglers in the Pennsylvania region founded in 1995. He was recognized in 2014 by the Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited with the Charles K. Fox Rising Trout Award.
Audience: Novice anglers
Date: Tuesday, September 21 at 7:00 PM
Where: Online Zoom Presentation
Register in advance for this event: https://bit.ly/3ln7RY2
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Summer Warm Water Fly Fishing Zoom Presentation - July 27, 2021
Are you looking to continue fly fishing even as the summer heats up? Then join Dave Weaver and Dave Kile as they take a fun look at warm water fishing tactics and techniques for the Pennsylvania region.
TopicsWhy small warm water creeks are overlooked
Species, with emphasis on sunfish, rock bass and smallmouth bass
Scouting & public access
Safety issues/clothing
Wading and boating
Flies and tactics
Questions and Answers
Dave Weaver
Is a history teacher in Gettysburg Pennsylvania and a moderator at Paflyfish. He is an award-winning artist specializing in fly fishing-related topics. Dave has been fly fishing small streams in Pennsylvania for over forty years.
Dave Kile
Is the founder of Paflyfish, an online community of fly fishing anglers in the Pennsylvania region founded in 1995.
Date: Tuesday, July 27 at 8:00 PM
Where: Online Zoom Presentation
Register in advance for this meeting: https://bit.ly/3BlDYyq
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
You can see more of Dave Weaver's great artwork on his Instagram account.
May 2021 Trip Report and Unofficial Jam
Th
is past January made it very difficult to plan a few weeks out let alone several months. The normal Spring May Jamboree was officially put on hold again. Unofficially, the Sulphurs, March Browns and Green Drakes would still be hatching.
Many of the usual crew made it up for the weekend and stayed at Seven Mountains Campground. The weather was great and we were able to enjoy a couple of good nights of catching up, listening to music, and even enjoying some of the pizzas from Bruno’s oven. Plenty of music from Shakey and Turkey added to the evenings.
Saturday morning turned into an impromptu casting clinic with Derek helping a few new and experienced anglers with some techniques. Which came in handy for our fly fishing during the weekend.
Back to the fly fishing. On the first evening of the Unofficial Jam, Afishinado and I went over to the Little J with the anticipation of an evening Sulphur hatch. We made an important dinner stop at the Spruce Creek Tavern for some burgers, beers and fries before hitting the water. A great joint to hit if you are in the area.
Afishinado picked slower and softer water to fish. I stuck to some faster ripples for the evening. I got into a few bringing up many fish in the faster water at about 6:30. It got slow at about 7:30 and then when the Sulphur hatch hit we did very well.
...
is past January made it very difficult to plan a few weeks out let alone several months. The normal Spring May Jamboree was officially put on hold again. Unofficially, the Sulphurs, March Browns and Green Drakes would still be hatching. Many of the usual crew made it up for the weekend and stayed at Seven Mountains Campground. The weather was great and we were able to enjoy a couple of good nights of catching up, listening to music, and even enjoying some of the pizzas from Bruno’s oven. Plenty of music from Shakey and Turkey added to the evenings.
Saturday morning turned into an impromptu casting clinic with Derek helping a few new and experienced anglers with some techniques. Which came in handy for our fly fishing during the weekend.
Back to the fly fishing. On the first evening of the Unofficial Jam, Afishinado and I went over to the Little J with the anticipation of an evening Sulphur hatch. We made an important dinner stop at the Spruce Creek Tavern for some burgers, beers and fries before hitting the water. A great joint to hit if you are in the area.
Afishinado picked slower and softer water to fish. I stuck to some faster ripples for the evening. I got into a few bringing up many fish in the faster water at about 6:30. It got slow at about 7:30 and then when the Sulphur hatch hit we did very well.
...