Yellow Breeches Creek

Yellow Breeches Creek is one of Pennsylvania's premier fly fishing trout streams.  The stream is also one of the most heavily fished in the nation in its managed areas.  The stream emerges from various springs that flow through the Huntsdale Hatchery and then become the source of the stream. Much of the stream is private.  The upper areas are of a spring creek source however, the stream warms up along its route until if flows through the town of Boiling Springs.  In the town of Boiling Springs the Boiling Springs lake which is a spring fed lake empties into the Yellow Breeches.  This constant supply of cold water keeps the stream cold even in the summer months for upwards of more than a mile downstream.  This area which is the managed area is artificial only (flies and spinning lures) is the heaviest fished stream in the nation. The area, Boiling Springs is also noted for the Allenberry Playhouse which is on the stream and is a resort that caters to fishermen, theatre goer's, and tourists.

Yellow Breeches Creek has holdover trout as well as stocked trout.  The stream is stocked by both the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as well as local sportsman's cooperative nurseries.  The fly hatches on the Yellow Breeches are no longer what they once were however, the stream furnishes good fly fishing to the observant fly angler. The most famous fly hatch is the late summer to early fall hatch of the mayfly, Ephron leukon or as it is commonly known the White Fly. This hatch attracts fly anglers in hordes and the flies tend to emerge near dusk or into the night.

One of the nice things about the Yellow Breeches is the fact that the fish will take a variety of fly patterns on any given day. However, due to the hordes of anglers they can get hard to catch at any given moment. The stream is subject to rapid fluctuations in water levels in the spring and also in the summer due to sudden thunderstorms. This can be an advantage or disadvantage depending upon the original stream conditions.  Sometimes especially in the summer trout will go on the feed on the Breeches after a sudden summer storm.

The stream holds some large fish in the 20 to 24 inch class. The stream population consists of both rainbows and browns and a few brookies which often migrate from the outflow of Boiling Spring lake known as the "run."

Because the stream is often hammered by fishermen for days at a time the trout will often get very "size conscious" of fly patterns.