Little Juniata River Key
River Report:
http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/streams.php
Recommended flies:
Walt’s worm
Hare’s ear
Red midges
Egg patterns
Green Weenies
Water Flow Key:
Relating the flow of the Little Juniata
at
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/uv/?site_no=01558000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00010
Flow for the Little Juniata at
Less than 100 cubic feet per second
This is a very low flow. This is usually a summertime flow. The fish are all congregated in the pools and are often found near spring sources. This is a time if the year where mid day fishing is not recommended on hot sunny days. You can have fantastic fishing on cloudy days. Make sure you are fishing during periods of low light like the morning and evening to take advantage of the best fishing. You can have awesome dry fly fishing if there are bugs hatching. The wading is very easy at these levels.
100-200 cubic feet per second.
These are great flows. The river has more life and the fish spread around. This is the best of both worlds. You can have great dry fly and nymph fishing. The fish are still bunched up in the major pools but they start to spread around during these higher flows. I have been on the river and had some phenomenal dry fly as well as nymph fishing during these flows. You might also want to start thinking about throwing streamers when the river gets closer to 200 cubic feet per second. Be careful, the wading starts to get tricky when the water gets closer to 200 cfs.
200-300 cubic feet per second
These are my absolute favorite flows for fishing the Little J. the trout are everywhere and you can have some of the best fishing of the year. The fish are evenly distributed. Some days there seems to be a trout or two everywhere you throw your line. You can have great dry fly fishing in the slower sections of the pools. Nymph fishing is also extremely productive at this flow. Streamers are also a good bet to take a large trout or two.
300-500 cubic feet per second.
You can have some good days in this higher water. Change your techniques to adapt to the situations. Fish the edges off of the main current. Use larger brighter streamers and nymphs. Make sure that you are very careful when wading the river can be dangerous at these levels.
500-800 cubic feet per second
I have had great fishing at these flows but I don’t recommend going at it alone. Make sure you have a friend with you. The river can be dangerous. Take extreme caution when wading. The same tactics that I mentioned in the above flows will catch fish in these flows as well.
800 cubic feet per second and higher.
Go to Spring Creek near Bellafonte.