Trip Reports
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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Maine 2023 Mountains -> Salt
All-
I've been debating posting about my most recent trip to Maine, and how I wanted to share it for a little bit now. I finally decided to actually write up a quick story of the trip, the planning and the results. Don't expect a stream report, but more of an anecdote
Back in 2022, I went on a dedicated fishing trip with a buddy up to Maine in September. I'd been to Maine twice before with my wife, and fished albeit sparingly compared to a typical fishing trip.
It was the first time we both had gone up together to fish for brook trout, we hired a guide and got after it. Hundreds of cast, more than a handful of flies lost, and miles of streams hiked, we really immersed ourselves in the fishing up in Maine. We had plenty of success, after all the finicky brown trout of PA gave us some good practice before we tried our hand at the brook trout in Maine. Countless fish that would be personal best in PA were plentiful.
After a tough day of fishing for myself, where I definitely lost more fish than I caught, we arrived at the last pool for the night. I decided that tossing a streamer would be the best way to fish the deep tannic water. After several casts, a brook trout that most PA fly fisherman dreamt of made his presence known.
After that fish swam off, I was hooked. The diversity of Maine's watersheds and the fish that call them home are far different yet familiar to that of PA. Something about being in the middle of nowhere, fishing water that cut through the dense balsam forests just felt right. I knew that the fish I caught might've not been the biggest brook trout out there, but that fish is up there in my all time favorite catches.
About this same time of the year we are in now, in the early winter of 2022 after the trip, I started planning to go back north. This time would be a primarily DIY trip, going back to places we fished in the fall and exploring new...
I've been debating posting about my most recent trip to Maine, and how I wanted to share it for a little bit now. I finally decided to actually write up a quick story of the trip, the planning and the results. Don't expect a stream report, but more of an anecdote
Back in 2022, I went on a dedicated fishing trip with a buddy up to Maine in September. I'd been to Maine twice before with my wife, and fished albeit sparingly compared to a typical fishing trip.
It was the first time we both had gone up together to fish for brook trout, we hired a guide and got after it. Hundreds of cast, more than a handful of flies lost, and miles of streams hiked, we really immersed ourselves in the fishing up in Maine. We had plenty of success, after all the finicky brown trout of PA gave us some good practice before we tried our hand at the brook trout in Maine. Countless fish that would be personal best in PA were plentiful.
After a tough day of fishing for myself, where I definitely lost more fish than I caught, we arrived at the last pool for the night. I decided that tossing a streamer would be the best way to fish the deep tannic water. After several casts, a brook trout that most PA fly fisherman dreamt of made his presence known.
After that fish swam off, I was hooked. The diversity of Maine's watersheds and the fish that call them home are far different yet familiar to that of PA. Something about being in the middle of nowhere, fishing water that cut through the dense balsam forests just felt right. I knew that the fish I caught might've not been the biggest brook trout out there, but that fish is up there in my all time favorite catches.
About this same time of the year we are in now, in the early winter of 2022 after the trip, I started planning to go back north. This time would be a primarily DIY trip, going back to places we fished in the fall and exploring new...
Central Pennsylvania Trip Report April 2022
Earlier in the week most of the state got pounded with about 1-2 inches of rain from an approaching cold front. This pushed streams like Penns and Bald Eagle well over 1000 CFS, which is not practical for fishing. Not to worry as Rick had several backup ideas for some locations with clearer and lower water in the region. A fellow longtime friend of the site Foxgap239 joined us for the weekend and the three of us took on the stream.
We made our way over to a Catch and Release Fly Fishing Only stream on the edge of Centre and Union counties. Despite all the rain, the water was clear and not too high. We spent the better part of the day hiking along the project to find many stocked rainbows. The sunshine and nice weather added to the day.
Like any well-experienced angler and friend, Rick "The General" Nyles was kind enough to offer some advice as we fished together. I soon learned some things about my line mending technics, mostly that I was “doing it wrong.” This has been a common theme in my life was not the first time I have heard a message like this. I worked very hard to keep The General happy and after several more times given some encouragement and scowls he let up. So I must have been doing better? I was...
The Fly Fishing Tailgater - Flame On
I have tailgated at plenty of football games, but Maurice was the one that first got the chillin and grillin going for me while we were fishing up on Penns Creek years ago. Nothing beats grilled hot dogs, icy cold beer and some Rolling Stones while getting ready for the evening show. I was pretty easily convinced that loading the grill for any one of our day-long Lewis and Clarke expeditions was mandatory. Without a doubt it beats the smashed-up soggy ham sandwiches I was content with for years.
Often we head out for a long day of fly fishing and the late afternoon can be a slow period on the stream. This is a great time to fire up the grill, turn on some tunes and get the burgers going.
A portable propane grill is the centerpiece of any fly fishing tailgater. A simple...
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...
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Artist Residency
I was selected as an Artist in Residence for The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, which gave me the opportunity to spend two weeks deep in the backcountry of The Bob Marshall Wilderness (technically, I was in the Great Bear Wilderness, but it’s part of The Bob) in Montana to write and explore. Mules packed all my gear into an old Forest Service cabin that had propane lights and a stove. No running water, no electricity, and an abundance of mice. The cabin sat on a high ledge above the river which gave me access to plenty of fishing for Westslope Cutthroat Trout and Whitefish, a number of trails for hiking, and a great view to watch while I spent each first and last light writing.The fishing was incredible. I fished four flies the entire two weeks: a purple foam hopper, a caddis, a purple haze, and a streamer (occasionally, when it got really windy). They seemed to be keyed in on anything purple. At first, I had trouble getting my timing down — the river was crystal clear and I would watch these cutthroats come up for my fly from ten feet away and get excited and set the hook way too early. I switched over to my McFarland 7’6” 4 wt Spruce Creek fiberglass rod which forced me to slow down. I ended up catching most of the fish on that (including some pretty big ones). It was a blast. Simple. Easy. Consistent.
I also hiked up a few mountains while I was there (which I go into more detail on in my blog post). It was a pretty amazing experience, but it wasn’t without its difficulties. Hiking and flyfishing in grizzly country (The Bob has the highest density of grizzlies in the lower 48) was a challenge and forced me to be hyper attentive (I did meet a grizzly, but I’ll save that story for the blog…). I also knew that if I slipped or tripped or fell while fishing or hiking...
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.
...
April Trip Report to Central Pennsylvania
This year more than ever I have been very anxious to get away to spend some dedicated days fly fishing. My winter cabin fever fueled with some Covid sequestering added to my desire to escape. An invitation from Rick Nyles to join him and some others to Central Pennsylvania in early April was the ticket. As we got closer I would nervously eye up the ten-day weather forecast and bring up the USGS gauges to calculate the water levels for the trip. Everything was shaping up to have ideal conditions, which is rarely the case for April.
More importantly, Rick was including a few guys I have known for many years but had not yet had a chance to share any time on the water. Dave “Wetfly” Allbaugh and I had just done a presentation together in March, Dave “Oldlefty” Rothrock catch up at the Paflyfish Jams, Shane “sbecker” Becker, William Kosmer and Ray Herbine were all part of the crew at different times during the week.
I left early on Wednesday making my way up to Keystone Project along the way for early evening fishing. Several previous warm days and sunny weather fueled some early Hendricksons coming off the water that night. Not a lot of risers, but I switched over to rusty brown spinner and enticed several up and made a few things come together.
Navigating my way past the onslaught of Amish buggies lite-up on the road, I made my way to the farmhouse Rick had arranged. A really beautiful place in Centre County along a fishing creek.
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