The Letort
Fly Fishing
Guiding and Instruction

Fly Fishing the Letort or Letort Spring Run as it is often called is probably one of the most difficult streams to fish in America. As an aquatic scientist I've have done more research on the stream and the spring creeks in Pennsylvania than anyone.  I will not hype the stream or lie about how it fishes to get you to hire me as an instructor or guide. What is going on right now on the Internet and even in some magazines is a disgrace. The truth of the matter is that most so called "expert" fly anglers will have a tough time on this stream.  If anyone tells you about the great big trout rising on the stream just laugh.  There haven't been big trout rising on the stream in years.  Oh, you'll get an occasional big fish to come up but it's not like it used to be.  That should be your first clue that your getting "hyped" by the website or guide.

The reason the fish don't rise like they used to is because there has been a massive decline in the number of aquatic insects on the stream (this is happening everywhere including the Chalk Streams of England).  What most people don't realize is that the legendary Charlie Fox actually didn't fish the Letort hardly at all his last number of years fishing because the fish didn't rise enough.  Instead he spent his time chasing bass and muskie on top water plugs because he loved to catch fish on top.  Charlie told me many times, "Gene you have to use the methods of Eddie to get these big fish now."  Charlie was referring to Ed Shenk the Sage of the Letort as he sometimes called.  Ed uses Sculpins and other underwater flies at specific times to catch the biggest fish on the Letort (The photo above shows the late Vince Marinaro "marrying the waters" of an English Chalkstream with those of the Letort).

Now that we've gotten that out of the way let's talk about the Letort.  The stream still furnishes excellent fly fishing but this stream is not for amateurs.  Some days you can get lucky but for the most part these fish will eat your lunch. The stream does not have the population of fish it once did and also the size of the big fish has declined.  You can see the PFBC data and my analysis of the data in the Aquatic Analysis section of this website (the photo above shows the Sulfur Mayfly Ephemerella invaria formerly known as Ephemerella rotunda; there are still Sulfurs in the Letort but they do not emerge in the masses they once did).

What you need on the Letort is an INSTRUCTOR NOT A GUIDE.  You need to learn the methods, approaches and techniques to fish this stream.  I never promise that you'll catch fish or even see fish on this stream however if you want to learn to fish this stream I will do my best to show you what I know and what I have learned over the last 35 years on this stream or other spring creeks.

Many guides will not teach you how to fish because they want you to come back to them over and over again.  I have had numerous fly anglers tell me that over the last few years.  There are good times and bad times to fish these streams even for the best of fly anglers.  Remember I'm the guy who did the research on these streams so I really know what condition they are in!  I welcome your inquiries on guiding or instruction and you can be assured that I will give you an honest appraisal of what you'll need to be successful on these streams. As I said I will instruct you.  The choice is yours do you want to fish with those who know little about these waters or someone who fished them and researched them for the last 35 years! So if you need instruction or guiding or just need some info (which is free) just hit me with the form below: