Wild Trout

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the county guide on the fish commision website was accurate on the wild trout streams in our area, i never targeted wild trout before and i'm thinkin about trying one of those streams next Tuesday on my off day with my little 3 wt rod.
 
Ronnie

If you do a little more searching you can find all the streams supposed to hold wild trout, not all are class a though, but it does say how much of it is posted or public. I used to have the linked saved but I got a new computer so I don't know it sorry.
 
Edit. This should get you started http://fishandboat.com/waters_trout.htm
 

Not sure how far you are from Camp Run in Westmoreland, but it's a killer native stream. All tackle, C&R only. All access, it's on state forest land. I saw tons of trout this fall while mushroom hunting. I'd fish it more often if I didn't have a native creek in my back yard.

I did try camp run a few weeks ago after work and did well, all small but feisty little fish, i had a hard time trying to cast with all branches lining the banks but still managed, missed a nice fish twice probably around 10 inches and caught plenty using a hares ear.
 
Ronnie

Lmao...tenkara really? The technical casting in tight quarters is half the fun/challenge.

Just 200 years? Maybe that's when they gained the tenkara name but look back at the origins of fly fishing and the rods with the line fixed at the tip.

All that beside, small stream native fishing teaches you casting skills that will greatly improve casting on all waters. Leave the jap stuff out of the equation..

fishink

Yeah, really. There's a reason they've been around for 200 years.

give it more credit... cane pole fishing has been a round for more than 200 yrs

I'm not trying to bash your fishing methods bro. Its just to the point that fly fishing is becoming so specialized, "trendy" and "cool". The practice of actually learning and getting good with the basic tools is a rarity. I have been seeing more and more high dollar equipment on the water with less and less skill. Seems to be an image thing to me.

Numbers caught are not going to change whether you are using a tenkara or a fly reel. And chances are whatever rod you are using, if you chose to be there fishing you're still having fun.

My point is that most of these rods I have seen are expensive. What is the purpose when you can do all the same things with a fly rod and reel?

Tenkara rods are just another tool, like I said. Some people just like to fish them (like some people like to fish fly rods or spinning rods all the time), but they have applications. They really come into their own on small mountain streams.
 
And although there are similarities, they are a lot different than cane rods. They can be expensive, depending on where you get them and what you consider expensive. I'm sure they are starting to cost a lot more now that they have become trendy among some people in the US in the last few years. I've only ever looked for them in Japan until recently (and I've seen full sets, with rod, line, flies, etc., online for around $200 -- not that bad considering).
 
The fact is that fishing tackle in general is expensive in Japan. $260 ultralight trout rods and $10 1/32 ounce spoons abound. The high price of the yen and the specialty market factor into that, but it's also true that a lot of fishing equipment manufactured in Japan, for the Japanese market, is of a very high quality. That's especially true when it comes to poles.
 
A friend of mine in Japan is in the fourth generation of a family that has been making rods for 80 years (Sakura Rod Company). Of course they aren't going to be able to compete price-wise with Zebco, cranking out fiberglass rods by the tens of thousands for next to nothing.
 
Some of the Tenkara rods that go for extremely high prices are handmade. You don't have to use those though, anymore than you have to use a $3000 bamboo rod when fly fishing.
 
Ultimately, everyone is going to chose the equipment they use based on a number of factors. Like I said, I was just recommending a method that is effective on streams like Camp Run.
 
BTW, if you stick with your fly rod there and have trouble getting your back cast caught in the brush on the bank, you can try letting the downstream flow take line to load up your rod then flip it forward to cast. This works well in small overgrown streams.
 

Skip16503

OK This Tenkara thing has my baffled a bit...   I always hear they are a great tool for fishing small streams...

When I think of small streams at least in PA  I think of Laurel choked water...  Sometimes crawling under brush just to get to the water,,,

I just can't get it in my head where a 14 ft or longer would work there,,,

Somebody please enlighten me

 
This.
 
I generally prefer a longer flea pole in any given application, but small streams and wild trout are one specific area where the necessities of operating effectively in that scenario trump my own preferences, and shorter rods are not a necessity, but certainly make things more convenient.  Find anyone who has the option to fish a 10' 3wt czech nymphing rod and a 6'6" or 7' 3wt on a mountain stream for wild trout...not just in the "here's a pool, fish it" sense, but in the whole day of hiking, fishing, climbing, maneuvering, casting, etc. and I'd venture a guess that 80-90% of experienced fly guys take the short rod.  
 
I'm not saying that any tenkara nut is wrong or that they should put down that ridiculous thing...but to argue that it's the right tool for the task is a tenuous argument, at best.

I feel as though, at least on a majority of the wild/native streams that I fish, that having to close the distance down to a range where you are standing close enough to just drop the fly in the section you are fishing, you are going to spook a lot more fish than you are going to catch.

^ I don't back cast usually, just flip small casts or hold the fly in my left hand and slingshot it into a run if I can't cast.
 
Works out great.
 
Logan, Cold, Halupka....they never used a Tenkara rod and I see them with the majority of natives being caught. 
 
It's all about being able to flick a dry and see a little trout come up and eat it..  No matter how u get it there.  But, If I had a 14 foot rod I would never catch anything. 
 
5 - 6'6'' graphite.

i'll put a 5' 0.5wt through a car window half rolled down at 75'
 
the bow and arrow cast work well for really tight water
but knowing how to shoot line, feed line, and cast carefully= sucess
 
upstream downstrem...whatever
knowing how to cast, stealhty approcahes, and reading water = fish
 
but the steathly stuff is ever over rated
i've done well on the stream of mention with a crazy 80# black lab with me
 

They are long, in many times 3 times as long as a stream that you would find natives in.
 
Bring that thing to Laurel Highlands sometime, I'd love to see you use it anywhere than the Yough river.