Monthly Archives: September 2012

Brook Trout Basics

Posted on September 30, 2012 by rivertoprambles

For some it was the first day of archery season in the woods of Pennsylvania, but for me it was a day for brook trout basics. I was on a favorite brookie water with the forest brightening on the slopes … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brook trout fishing, caddis flies, green heron, hydrofracking, season of mists, Susquehannock Trail, wood turtle, wood warblers | 7 Comments

Sinnemahone

Posted on September 27, 2012 by rivertoprambles

Sinnemahone is my name for the watershed and countryside of the Sinnemahoning drainage south of Coudersport in north-central Pennsylvania. Its main arteries are the East Fork and the First Fork creeks (and Driftwood Branch to the west) that join the Sinnemahoning south of Wharton, PA and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Costello, East Fork, fall fishing, First Fork, fish-bar reviews, Old Tannery, Sinnemahoning, Susquehanna, Wharton Tavern | 2 Comments

Puffball Daddy

Posted on September 24, 2012 by rivertoprambles

In the Rambles custom of providing you with both provocative and traditional nature blogging (my best at any given time), I thought I’d try something new with “Puffball Daddy.” No, there won’t be any slambam thankyamam lyrics to absorb, just a Franklin poem with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Rivertop Journal, earthstars, franklin poetry, mushroom poems, mushrooms, puffball, spirits of place | 2 Comments

The Slate Run Odyssey, Part 11

Posted on September 20, 2012 by rivertoprambles

“It’s time this group consider having Slate Run stocked with trout again, like it was before 1995.” Actually the local camp-owner who declared this, who belatedly entered a sportsmen’s meeting near Pine Creek, had it wrong. The Slate Run stocking program didn’t end … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Class A Wild Trout stream, hatchery trout, simple life, Slate Run Odyssey, Slate Run Sportsmen, stream knowledge | 8 Comments

A Creek With Almost Everything

Posted on September 15, 2012 by rivertoprambles

After a cold front brought some rain to northern Pennsylvania, I visited lower Cross Fork Creek for the first time in several years. I parked at the dead-end road where a snowmobile bridge crosses the stream just upstream of its confluence … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged catch-and-release, cross fork creek, fishing bars, Kettle Creek, potter county crapper, wild trout | 12 Comments

Four Multi-Purpose Flies

Posted on September 11, 2012 by rivertoprambles

With warm, dark nights still a possibility in September, I wanted to tie a few more flies for nightfishing. I also wanted my selections to be useful for the rapidly approaching steelhead season. Given a minimal amount of time for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged coachman, fly selections, greenbuttskunk, nightflies, steelhead flies, woolybugger | 2 Comments

Owl Talk

Posted on September 8, 2012 by rivertoprambles

Last night I dreamt of owls. I was in a large room with a group of hikers following a difficult walk. One of the guys had captured a screech owl and was stuffing it, alive, with marshmallows, the tiny colored ones that you … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged owl dreams, owl talk, respect for nature, wild nature | 6 Comments

The Slate Run Odyssey, Part 10

Posted on September 3, 2012 by rivertoprambles

Leighanne and I returned to Slate Run over the Labor Day weekend. Time became an issue here at summer’s end, a concept that was both relevant and trivial. I’d begun my “odyssey” nearly a year ago, in mid-September. At that point … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brooks and browns, flyfishing, hiking, low-water strategy, Slate Run time, upper Slate | 2 Comments

Paths to Nowhere

Posted on September 1, 2012 by rivertoprambles

[Please click on thumbnail photos for a larger, clearer image] It may seem as though I’m on the road or on the river quite a bit, but actually I spend far more time on the “back forty,” on my small acreage with its paths behind … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard rambles, doing nothing, growing wild, outdoor meditations | 4 Comments