2008 PA Archery Season

Archery season has been in for just over a week here in PA. Ive spent about four days in the woods so far and I must say, its not going well for me. Two of my best stands I have yet to touch, havent made it out for the morning yet. Working a full time job sure is taxing on how much time I can spend in a tree. So far Ive seen a mother and a fawn, that's it, four days of hunting. The area Ive hunted most for the past couple of years has seen a major influx in pressure. Its time too move to other areas, of which I have a few in the back of my mind that I feel have probably never been touched. Google Earth is an amazing tool for scouting. Allowing you to see changes in 3D and the ability to add topographic maps makes it hard to beat. TerraServer comes in a close second and has better images then some areas of Google Earth. I hope my season is due for a shift. Driving, although costly may be one of the few options left. My area doesnt have a lot of farmland and what farmland is here is pretty much POSTED. Landowners who have land posted seem reluctant to even let a single archer on the property, many believe the deer herd is reduced to a level that they dont want it to become any lower. One farm I witnessed 40+ deer in one night with a spotlight. I stopped and asked a few days later and the guy claimed I was crazy, that he only had "Seven Deer". I saw them with my own two eyes. The features to make finding deer just dont seem to be here. Im in the market for a land lease in around Central Pennsylvania, if anyone has one, please contact me at jeremy@outdoorintegration.com

Goodbye Gram

I would like to take a moment to remember my Grandmother who passed away yesterday afternoon. Jennine Marie Hoffman was a major influence in my life. Anyone who has taken a moment to visit my about section knows that my Grandparents are the reason I love the outdoors so much. They spent countless hours with me in the woods, on the streams and teaching me how to smile. Just thinking about all the times we shared brings a smile to my face. I dont even have to close my eyes to remember the smile on her face. Theres so many memories its hard to focus on a single one. The time we laughed at pap for falling down the bank while dragging the boat and he got mad... just for a second... just like me. The times we sat on the banks of the Juniata river and used purple Mr Twisters to catch rockbass after rockbass. The times I accused her of being at the better end of the boat causing her to catch all the fish. When in reality, she was a better fisherman then I was, i was ten years old and expected to outfish a woman who fished for 40 years. My grandmother will live in my memory forever. The smiles, the laughs, we shared so many good times. She helped solidify my love for the outdoors just like my grandfather who i still am fortunate enough to spend a little more time with. I cannot imagine how lonely he must be, they loved each other and spent 50 years in each others company. Gram couldnt enjoy life like she used to in the past couple years and although i wont see her for a long time, im glad her pain and suffering has ended. Gram, we love love you, we will miss you and until we meet again... god speed! I hope its your time to spend more time on the water.

A Reminder for PA Hunters

This weekend is the weekend to submit resident doe tag applications, dont forget.

Size 26, Are You Crazy?

Its that time of year again, the tricos are starting to come out. Some people wouldn't even dream of trying to fish this hatch. Size 26 flies are common and any larger will produce mixed results. To see a trico hatch in Centre County is something of amazement. Its early morning, crisp, the fish are feeding on terrestrials and the usual crustaceans found year round and then about 9am a black cloud forms, thousands of tricos come out from their hiding. While it can be frustrating to fish them on top many people have neglected to really think outside the box. PUT A SPLIT SHOT ON... yeah, you heard me, tack that baby on right about a foot above the dry fly. You dont need a special pattern and you WILL catch fish. I figured this out years ago fishing the caddis and have applied it to almost every hatch imaginable. If you doubt me try it, you wont doubt me anymore. Think about it, you see bugs ride the surface, what happens when they hit a riffle... they go to the bottom and since 80% of a trouts diet is taken sub surface guess what happens, fish on!

This hatch provides tons of solitude in my opinion, not a better time to schedule a trip.

The Bass and Flies are COMING!

Centre County has been a swarm of activity. Sulphers have been hatching for weeks and it appears to me that we also have a hendrickson hatch on the Bald Eagle. They seem a little late but with the weather who knows whats going to happen. It was expected the cicada would have been here by now but the have only been seen a few here and there at times. The streams are starting to drop in level, although... last night it rained pretty hard. This is the time of year when bass start running into the creek along with a few crappies and rock bass. Virtually no one fishes for these guys and having a good time is easliy achieved. Sometimes I think its actually more exciting then trout fishing in the Bald Eagle because in the upper reaches the streams are loaded! Two nights ago while walking with my family we found a hellgramite walking across the road, what he was doing the whole way up there I dont know. Usually they have wings around this time and fly but this guy didnt. Im hoping to see some of you and my pro staff coming to enjoy these untouched treasures. Bring your bassn arms, you may just catch multiple species in the same day!

Trout Opener

As a special offer for the trout opener if you book a trip between March 31 - April 7(2008) I will give you a 25% discount on the trip. This DOES NOT include Lake Erie steelhead trips. Trip must be scheduled to fish between April 1,2008 - Oct 1,2008. Full day trips and half day trips both qualify for the discount. Half day trips during the week will start at 6pm and go until dark. Weekend half days are available morning or evening.

The Bugs Are HERE!

This week we hit a warm patch in the spring. During the days we saw almost 50. I left work and stopped out at my mothers on Spring Creek to give it a whirl. After going in to visit I came back out to the bed of my truck swarming with midges. I have a feeling that they thought the black bed liner was the creek. I couldn't hardly contain myself, I was shaking with the thought of how good the fishing would be while I was setting my rig up. I finally got my composure and rod setup and headed to the creek. The second drift and WHAMO... fish on. I knew the fish was a hog... literally, a hog nose sucker! I made my way upstream and couldn't find the fish in the deep runs. Am I doing something wrong? Surely not, I know from previous trips that sometimes in this cool water the fish can move up really shallow. Oxygen levels are so high they dont have to be tucked right up to the riffles or in the deep runs. Sure enough I spun myself around the opposite direction and started fishing water that was inches deep. Lets just say, I made the right decision. In the next half hour I picked up twenty fish or more, there were times when cast after consecutive cast brought a fish to hand.

Season is rocking and I did see some olives. They have to be hatching mid day which I haven't been fortunate enough to hit yet. Light tippet didn't seem to matter, the fish took 4x no problem.

April 12th brings the official start of Trout Season in PA. There's a lot of nice stocked streams to fish in the area. Streams that only fish in the Spring. Give me a call, lets spend a day on the water!