Fishermans Paradise south of Bellefonte has an excellent sulphur hatch.At least it did 25 years ago.

My version of Tups Indispensible. Spring creek still has good sulphurs though I was not there. Fished Penns creek yesterday but it was a bust for me. Though the euronymph guys did well. Water was high but clear. Today I fished the home stream in the valley to the SE of Penns. Fish were all small today.

Love it.
Those flies look like super deadly swingers.

I've been fishing them about every night for the last few weeks as it has been a rare occurrence the last couple of years when my local streams aren't high & off during the peak of the hatch.

Things are slowing down on my favorite haunts, last night it was shutting down by about 8:00, the week before I was fishing until 9:00 and would have tripped over a fawn if I didn't see it's eyes with my headlamp walking out.

Coincidentally, the reel I was using last night was a Marquis...

I spent 20+ years fishing them on the Letort every Memorial Day weekend but home was the Poconos and now is the Lehigh Valley so that is where I am most often during Sulphurs.

The Lehigh Valley streams all have them BUT on most, they won't start in earnest until the 2nd week of May. If you go the first week, NOTHING and they are done abruptly by the end of the month with surface feeding activity ending sooner and sooner in the evening as the hatch progresses. Interestingly enough, in the old days when I would drive to the Letort in late June or July, I could still catch fish on Sulphurs late in the evening where if I was back home, I am off the water well before dark by that time of year.

Like most places, the fish are a push over the first few nights but they get fussier and fussier as the hatch progresses. I caught some absolute bruisers the first night I was out this year but the next few outings it was a few nice fish and the usual dinks.

The problem for the last umpteen years has been that it always seems to rain like crazy in the week(s) leading up to the 2nd week of May and our Limestoners don't recede very quickly. While that doesn’t always preclude fishing, my notes from many years of fishing when the water was high & off tell me it isn’t always worth the effort. In addition, for me living in an area where we have 3 “major” hatches, (Olives, Sulphurs & Tricos) it is one of the few opportunities I get to do the “match the hatch” thing so I want to fish on top.

I will fish an emerger or nymph pattern in the late afternoon until I see the telltale signs of fish taking duns. I’ve used soft hackles too but to be honest, it’s hard for me to swing when there are ten fish rising in front of me. Once I am fishing on top it is either a thorax pattern or a parachute in size 16 or 18 or some other dry fly variants like Comparaduns or Iwamasa duns for the fussy fish. I usually encounter bugs with creamy yellow bodies/light dun wings or slightly olive/yellow bodies so that’s the colors I tie, but I do an all-white version of both to use when it is really dark so I can see it. I have spinners too, but never really do well with them.

It’s funny, as much as I love the Sulphur hatch and hatches in general, I’ve spent SO many years fishing in places that don’t have a lot of hatches that I actually prefer fishing when there isn’t a hatch. I'd almost rather stalk sporadic risers with a beetle or some other terrestrials than anything.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your preference, that time for me is about here until the Tricos start.

BTW - I'm sure you know this already but here in my neck of the woods and in Southcentral, DON'T be without a size 16 or 18 all black EWC. The "Little Black Caddis" are fluttering an inch above all of the streams in both areas and if you don't look hard and see what is happening, you will waste a lot of time fishing a Sulphur.

Have fun!

I used to use a black beetle too for the Little Black Caddis on the Letort in the days before I started tying a specific pattern for them.

Tricos are fun and my favorite!! Every single morning for MONTHS and then great terrestrial fishing for the rest of the day.

BTW - I have been fishing Octorora Reservoir in a rental boat since I was kid. In the last few years, it is followed up with dinner afterwards at the Sawmill.

The more I looked at that pic, the more awesome it became.

Thank you. Schwiebert called it matching the hatch, but It’s more like the happy intersection of an idea with reality. The trout liked that pattern, but they were just as happy with a red bodied soft hackle. I suppose that’s because there were so many blue winged olives around too. Never can tell what they’ll take.