February 2026 Yellow Breeches Run
Where: “The Run” at Yellow Breeches, Boiling Springs, PA.
When: Saturday, February 21, 2026.
Participants: Peter Anderson, Ron Briggs, Randy Dwyer, David Engle, Jim Irons, Doug Johncox, Sean McCarron, Ethan Miller, Ray Miller, Chris Newkumet, Allan Rutzen, Karan Singh, Craig Vander Kolk, and Ron Kerrick.
It was a great day for the outing, the weather was absolutely perfect, and we had a good turnout of members. We met at the Iron Furnace Trailhead Parking Lot in Boiling Springs at 10:00 Saturday Morning. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much space in the parking lot. Someone told me that a bird watching group had arrived there earlier and occupied most of the parking spots, so some of our group had to park in the lot on the other side of the Run. The weather was mostly sunny, with very little wind. The air temperature was 47 when we started and got up to around 50 at lunchtime. The water in The Run section was crystal clear, but we didn’t see any fish there, so we all went down to the main branch of the Breeches to fish. The water level in the main stream was up a little and a bit cloudy from the previous day’s rain. Trout fishing is restricted on February 16th and is only allowed in the Special Regulation area (from Boiling Spring to the Allenberry Resort) until April 5th, when trout season officially opens in Pennsylvania. Ron Briggs and I both checked the water temp in the Breeches and it was about 40 degrees, so we knew the fishing was going to be slow. I tried drifting several flies, low and slow, ranging from a large bright yellow Mop fly to a #18 black zebra midge but no luck. Most of us didn’t have any luck in the morning, but Ethan had a couple of hits and did manage to land a nice 12” brown trout near the Allenberry using a Squirmy Worm.
For lunch, we met at Café Bruges in Carlisle at 1:00. It’s a small Belgian Café, about 15 minutes from Boiling Springs. Lunch at the Café was quite a step up from our usual outing lunches, but I thought that the prices were very reasonable, and they had an extensive beer menu. There was some talk about having the PPTU Chapter cover the cost of lunch for us because we had a quorum of Board Members there, but for some reason that idea just didn’t pan out.
After lunch some of our group went back to the Yellow Breeches to fish again, and other people went to Big Spring while the rest of us went to the PA Fly Fishing Museum in Carlisle (about 10 minutes from the Café). The Museum was small but interesting with exhibits showcasing local fly-fishing celebrities such as Lefty Kreh, Joe Humphreys, George Harvey, Bob Clouser, Ed Shenk, and others. They also had a table there with dozens of books for people to take, free of charge.
Allan, Pete, and Chris were in the group that went to Big Spring to try their luck on another stream. However, they reported shallow water and no fish caught there either.
It was a great Outing despite the fishing being slow and it felt great to get back out on a stream after the recent snowstorm. It was also a good way to begin to get back into fly fishing form for the coming season. So if nothing else, it was a good way to get some practice in, tell some stories, and check our waders for leaks.
This outing was a little different from our usual outings, but several members came up to me and said that they really enjoyed the day. The next opportunity for joining us on a fly-fishing adventure is our outing to Conewago Creek on Saturday, March 28. Hope to see you there.
Ron Kerrick
