Hi everyone! This will be the first of regular updates from the Relentless Fly Fishing team. We will use this to recap our best recent moments, as well give an outlook for conditions and a look ahead at what our waters have to offer going forward. We also want to keep the community posted on what our guides and local organizations are doing off the water, whether it be TU Presentations or fly tying classes at TCO. 

October Recap: October provided some great late season terrestrial fishing this year. Generally flows have been on the low side throughout most of the state’s rivers which provides both challenges and opportunity. Dry fly fishing and stealthy nymphing approaches were effective late into the season and night fishing proved productive throughout the month. We saw some good windows for some pre-spawn streamer action and in certain places, we are beginning to see some spawning activity. Cold nights through the middle of the month really let fall set in early this year.

On the bass side of things, we’ve traded topwater boogles and wigglies for crayfish and small baitfish patterns. The weeds in the river proved to be a nuisance, but the subsurface bass activity was been consistent with stealthier approaches. We’ve had a lot of great float trips to round off the end of the bass season. 

This was also a fun month on the media front. Frank Landis was interviewed for the Articulate Fly Podcast to discuss night fishing for predatory brown trout. This is a great listen for anyone looking to dip their toe in the world of night fishing, or for people who want to hear about something a little different. Jake Villwock was featured on the Wade Out There podcast with a great two part interview that included a lot of great information about bass fishing as well as some background about Relentless Fly Fishing and how we started. Neil Sunday also presented for Adams County Trout Unlimited, giving their chapter an overview of a year on the Yellow Breeches. 

Podcast Links below:

Frank’s Interview on the Articulate Fly 

Jake’s Interviews on Wade Out There

November Outlook: In many of PAs most famous rivers, our brown trout spawn will be in full swing throughout the month and some will be done spawning entirely by the end. If you know what you are looking for in terms of spawning habitat and redds, you can avoid walking through or fishing to actively spawning fish very easily. Not all fish in a river spawn at the same time. It tends to come in the classic bell curve pattern, with more densely populated rivers having multiple large waves of spawners. The spawn will continue through December for some of the more southern locations. You can learn a lot by spending time on the river during the spawn, just be sure to exercise some restraint and avoid fishing to actively spawning fish. 

November also marks the beginning of our Great Lakes Steelhead Trips for the year. We offer trips on the Erie Tribs as well as the Salmon River in NY. Both of these fisheries offer quality experiences with chances at large steelhead and occasionally lake run browns. It's one of the best chances of the year to get a truly big fish on the end of your line and gives a nice change of pace from the typical trout and bass programs that we focus on normally. 

Jake and Tom Baltz were busy at the International Fly Tying Symposium this past weekend. See some pics below!

What’s on the Schedule:

• Keep a look out on TCO’s website and social media for our guides running some tying classes throughout the winter months!
  
  

If you’re interested in booking a trip, reach out to us on Facebook , Instagram, or via email. Also feel free to call your nearest TCO location to book a trip through the shop!