Travis Larson 9/19/25 Travis Larson 9/19/25

9/19 Fishing Report

Cole Kramer with a beautiful colored up Fall Brown Trout.

The days are becoming shorter and the nights much cooler than in the weeks past. Our favorite time of year is fast approaching and the number of guests reaching out to book trips is a sure sign of this. That being said, The Allegheny River is discouragingly still holding around 70 degrees, a temperature much too warm to successfully catch and release trout. Local cold-water fisheries such as the East Branch of the Clarion River are continuing to see added pressure from the trout anglers due to the low flows and high-water temperatures of so many of the surrounding streams. As we impatiently wait for the fall trout season, not all is lost.

Smallmouth Bass In preparation for the winter months when food becomes scarce and their metabolism slows down, tend to feed quite aggressively when the water temperatures fall below 70 degrees. If you love explosive topwater eats on both fly and conventional gear, your opportunity is now. Top water Frog and Mice lures seem to be producing quite well for the conventional gear anglers, while the tried-and-true Boogle Bug remains atop the list for the fly anglers. Last but definitely not least, live bait has always produced when all else has failed. Make sure to visit our Bait on the Fly bait cooler at Allegheny Outfitters for the freshest bait in town!

The Steelhead are staged at the mouths of many of the Lake Erie tributaries, waiting on the same rain events and increased flows the rest of us are. We’re happy to announce we have a selection of egg patterns and various Steelhead flies available at Allegheny Outfitters; we are also working on having them available on our website in the near future.

Chapman Dam State Park continues to produce above average Largemouth bass. The same tactics we discussed in our most recent fishing report still apply- In short, fish the evening under a setting sun. A Boogle Bug Popper of any color for our fly fisherman while Buzz Baits and Jigs have been the most reliable producers when fishing conventional gear.

The Kinzua Dam Tailwaters on both the Hemlock Rd and Route 59 sides have been seeing a lot of fishing pressure lately. The bait fisherman have been reporting quantities of sizeable fish being caught, quite possibly why the Night Crawlers have been flying out the door at Allegheny Outfitters.

The Allegheny River water temperatures are cooling but still too warm for our liking to safely target trout. That being said the musky, walleye, and smallmouth seem to be eager to feed with the water now under 70 degrees. Plenty of great fishing to be had on the entire river. ** Paying attention to productive water types and finding similar areas seems to be the name of the game. Topwater Frogs and Mice are catching lots of fish in the shallows.

The East Branch of the Clarion River continues to be our first choice when we are looking to fly fish and will continue to be until we have safe water temperatures to safely target trout elsewhere.

Below is a list of must have flies if you’re considering a trip to The East Branch tailwater, all flies listed are available at Allegheny Outfitters in the Hatch Run Fly Fishing fly bin.

Y2k Egg Fly- #12 Frenchie Nymph - #12-18 a variety of both dark and light imitations. Holy Grail Nymph/ Caddis Emerger - #14-18 Olive and Tan. Stimulator Dry Fly - #8-10 Dry Dropper approach for picky trout. Sexy Walts Worm - #12-16 Pheasant Tail Nymph - # 12-18 Dark and Light imitations. Pats Rubber Legs - #6-10 Squirmy Worm - #12 Rainbow Warrior - #12-16

Hatch Run Fly Fishing has the flies, bait, and local knowledge to make your next visit to the area in and around the Allegheny National Forest a success. Text or call for up to date information 814-706-1958.

**The infamous Steelhead season is fast approaching, we will have a selection of flies for your Steelhead Alley needs. l will again be offering guided trips for steelhead as well as migratory browns covering the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Tributaries.

Travis Larson 9/4/25 Travis Larson 9/4/25

9/5 Fishing Report

Shorter days and cooler nights can only mean one thing; The fall fishing and guiding season is right around the corner. With the cool fall rain comes increased flows in our favorite waterways allowing the fish to spread out and, in many cases, making passage possible for fish looking to reach their yearly spawning areas. The cooler water temperatures and eager fish looking for a protein packed meal to replace calories lost in the breeding festivities make this a very productive time of year. For this reason, Fall Steelhead and Pre and Post spawn brown trout make up a majority of our guided fall fishing trips.

For those fly and conventional spin fisherman looking to “match the hatch”, the fall season means replicating the protein sources fish will be concentrating on. Anytime you have spawning fish you're going to have eggs in the water, explaining why many of the steelhead patterns are representative of eggs. My favorite pattern being the Y2K which incorporates a bead and a yarn egg placed strategically onto a curved hook. The weight of the bead ensures the fly will sink downward to the fishes’ level, contrarily some may argue weighting the fly detracts from the neutrally buoyant attraction of a free-floating egg.

Both disciplines will likely find success in replicating the plentiful baitfish, another major protein-based forage that’s seems to spread out a bit with the cooler water temperatures. Rapala’s are hard to beat when replicating baitfish, but any stick bait will likely produce fish as they allow you to cover a lot of water quickly with minimum effort. Weighted and unweighted streamer patterns fished on a sinking line is a great starting point should you choose to fish flies. Last but definitely not least live bait has always produced when all else has failed. Make sure to visit our Bait on the Fly bait cooler at Allegheny Outfitters for the freshest bait in town!

Below is a list of must have flies if you’re considering a trip to The East Branch tailwater, all flies listed are available at Allegheny Outfitters in the Hatch Run Fly Fishing fly bin.

Green Weenie Nymph- #12 Frenchie Nymph - #12-18 a variety of both dark and light imitations. Holy Grail Nymph/ Caddis Emerger - #14-18 Olive and Tan. Stimulator Dry Fly - #8-10 Dry Dropper approach for picky trout. Sexy Walts Worm - #12-16 Pheasant Tail Nymph - # 12-18 Dark and Light imitations. Pats Rubber Legs - #6-10 Squirmy Worm - #12 Rainbow Warrior - #12-16

Travis Larson 8/21/25 Travis Larson 8/21/25

8/22 Fishing Report

The good news is that the current outflow on the Allegheny River is 1960 CFS, which is an extremely safe flow for floating and wading. The bad news is that the water temperature is currently 74 degrees. For our local warm water species this is great, but for our local trout population anything above 68 degrees is quite stressful and sometimes lethal. Warmer water contains less dissolved oxygen, which is crucial for trout to recover after being caught.

*PLEASE DO OUR LOCAL TROUT A HUGE FAVOR AND WAIT TO TARGET THEM UNTIL THE WATER TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 68 DEGREES.

Once the waters warm locally and reach unsafe and unproductive temperatures for trout, our fishing and guiding efforts turn to the incredible bass fishing we have locally. Chapman Dam State Park is a beautiful park located just a short drive from Warren with a healthy population of Largemouth Bass. In my most recent experience the largest fish have been caught in the evening under a setting sun, although I’ve caught fish at all hours of the day. A Boogle Bug Popper in any color is likely the most exciting way to target Largemouth with fly fishing gear. Buzz Baits and Jigs have been strong producers on conventional gear.

The Allegheny River as well as most of its major tributaries support healthy populations of our favorite gamefish, The Smallmouth Bass. These ambush predators fight exceptionally hard, are easily found, and respond well to a wide variety of fishing tactics, numbers of willing fish also make smallmouth a kid friendly species.

Some of our favorite tactics include fly fishing topwater poppers, stripping streamer patterns, and my most favorite approach jig streamers. (Which we have available for purchase). If you’re fishing conventional spinning gear Senko’s fished with or without weight are a great starting point. Weedless Topwater Frogs and Mice fished around exposed structure are sure to be rewarded. Last but definitely not least a simple nightcrawler is a great way to catch a number of smallmouths. Make sure to visit our Bait on the Fly bait cooler at Allegheny Outfitters for the freshest bait in town!

If you have a fly-fishing itch that smallmouth wont scratch and prefer to catch trout, may i suggest a trip to the East Branch of the Clarion River. The East Branch Lake Dam is bottom release and water temperatures downstream are consistently 60 degrees or below. There’s good number of stocked rainbows and browns spread throughout this tailwater eager to take a well-presented fly.

Below is a list of must have flies if you’re considering a trip to The East Branch tailwater, all flies listed are available at Allegheny Outfitters in the Hatch Run Fly Fishing bin.

Travis Larson 5/31/25 Travis Larson 5/31/25

5/21 Fishing Report

The early spring fishing has been quite productive, but not without its challenges. Fish are beginning to move out of their wintering lies and feeding accordingly, protein packed meals are currently the name of the game. The main challenge this time of year is the rain, just as the streams and rivers level out to optimal flows a rain event raises them to unfishable levels. Early season rain also fluctuates stream temperatures, if you’re in fishy water and not finding fish CHECK THE TEMPERATURE!

Our local stocked trout streams have received their annual stockings, with many at this point receiving their second. It would seem that these numbers have remained intact likely due to the high water has many anglers off the water. Based on our current Bait on the Fly bait sales, many anglers have been out trying their luck despite all of the rain.

Our guide season is in full swing, and we’ve been on the water with clients every weekend and fishing or exploring every spare minute in between. Having two tailwater fisheries a short drive from home is a true blessing, offering a much more stable and predictable flows.
That being said this may be our most productive early season fishing season to date if we were to strictly base our success on the number of 20 inch class fish that have made it to net.

It’s hard to imagine but with the thick of our bug activity/dry fly season just around the corner, as well as more stable and consistent water flows- the fishing will continue to improve. Below is a list of must have flies if youre planning on coming to Western Pennsylvania to fish.

Elk Hair Caddis Dry - #12-18 a variety of both dark and light imitations. Holy Grail Nymph/ Caddis Emerger - #14-18 Olive and Tan. Adams Dry Fly - #12-18 Standard as well as Parachute. Walts Worm - #12-16 Pheasant Tail Nymph - # 12-18 Dark and Light imitations. Pats Rubber Legs - #6-10 Squirmy Worm - #12 Rainbow Warrior - #12-16

Hatch Run Fly Fishing has the flies, bait, and local knowledge to make your next visit to the areas in and around the Allegheny National Forest a success. Text or Call for up to date information 814-706-1958. If your in need of fresh lively bait stop by our Bait on the Fly bait cooler at Allegheny Outfitters