Fly-fishing for wild trout on Dunnfield Creek
After trying Van Campens Brook, I retired to my hotel to regroup for my visit the next day to Dunnfield Creek at Worthington State Forest. What a delight that turned out to be in comparison! To begin with, you are within the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area, with the requisite facilities (ample parking, toilets, marked trails, etc.). The park is also easily accessible from I-80 on either side of the Pennsylvania / New Jersey state line.
It was Easter Sunday, and I was advised to arrive early, which I did at 7am. The parking lot was empty at that time, and while it was busier at noon when I went back for my lunch, the lot never filled up completely. I encountered a lot of hikers on the various trails (including the extension of the Appalachian trail that runs through the park), but I never felt crowded out of the site. There were certainly no other anglers competing with me on the water, which is what pleased me the most.
I began fishing downstream of the parking lot at a tunnel and found that section up to the trail head to be very accessible. Here, Dunnfield Creek is a series of riffles and plunge pools that reek of trout – apparently the best opportunity to catch a tiger trout is in this section (based on my research). In fact, three species of wild trout can be caught on this water, including brooks and browns, in addition to the hybrid tiger trout.
For the first ¼ mile of the Appalachian Trail, the creek is at grade with the path. The trail then runs high above and the creek rests in a mini gorge that is difficult to descend into. Therefore, it is best to get into the creek before the rise and rock hop, mountain goat style, where the creek becomes an exciting series of riffles, chutes and plunge pools for another ¼ mile. At that point, the trail splits, with the Appalachian Trail going left and the Dunnfield Creek trail going right. The latter runs at grade with the creek a bit more, but then forces the angler to remain in the gorge and rock hop until you reach Dunnfield Falls.
My approach began with two flies dangling off a tippet ring, which was cumbersome as a lot of tangles kept me fiddling at the side of the creek. After a while, I went to a tippet extension of upper fly off the leader followed by a lower fly on the end of the tippet. However, I believe I still was not getting deep enough with my flies. At an attractive pool I found brook trout rising to a caddis hatch, changed to a single dry fly, and missed a few takes. I moved on when the hatch ended.
It was a lot of work making my way up the mini gorge with a few brief hook ups, but nothing in the net to validate my efforts. As I mentioned previously, I may not have been getting my flies deep enough in the early morning and, save for a brief hatch, was not seeing any top water action to go exclusively dry. As I have experienced in the brook trout streams of Shenandoah National Park, sometimes it just takes a few hours of sun and warmth to get the action going.
And so, it was closing in on 1pm, with me working the water hard, while the temperature picked up. I approached the bridge just downstream of Dunnfield Falls and tossed a two-fly tandem with a pheasant tail nymph as the point fly into one of the white waterfalls. My line stuck as if I had caught bottom and as I lifted, the tip of my rod started to bend. I knew from the erratic movement that it was a trout, and a nice wild brown was in my net a few moments later.
The visit to Dunnfield Creek in Worthington State Forest was an exceptional experience but required a lot of maneuvering around and above large rocks and debris. So, get ready to mix some mountaineering in with your angling!