Pine Creek

Pennsylvania·Pennsylvania Wilds (North Central)·41.52° N, 77.45° W

Flow

201 CFS

Pine Creek at Cedar Run, PA

Water Temp

76°F

Pine Creek below Little Pine Creek near Waterville, PA

Condition

Above Normal

Weather

76°F

Patchy Smoke

near Hyner

Insights

Wind

Wind 2 mph — calm

Easy casting and clean surface presentations.

Flow

201 CFS — higher than typical

Push to the banks and softer water. Heavier flies.

Water Temp

Water 76°F — stress zone

Trout are oxygen-stressed. Fish dawn only, or pick a colder water — survival rates drop fast above 68°F.

Pine Creek is the big freestone spine of the Pennsylvania Wilds — 87 miles running down through Galeton and Ansonia into the 47-mile gorge everyone calls the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania before it opens into farm country and joins the West Branch Susquehanna near Jersey Shore. It's a stocked-and-wild trout river with real character: cold and pushy on April snowmelt, dropping into fishable shape through May and June, then — honestly — warming out of trout shape by mid-July, when the open canyon water climbs into the 70s. What keeps Pine on every northern-tier angler's list are its two Class A wild tributaries, Slate Run and Cedar Run, which meet the mainstem within a few miles of each other and hold some of the most storied wild-brown water in the East.

It fishes as a wade river. Below about 3 feet on the Cedar Run gauge — roughly 300 to 600 CFS — you can cross and work the riffles and pool tailouts through the gorge; much above that and you're bank-bound or floating. The Pine Creek Rail Trail runs the entire canyon on the old railroad grade, so the roadless heart between Ansonia and Blackwell is reachable only on foot or by bike, and the spring high water draws multi-day floats. The classic year is a spring hatch parade — Grannom caddis in April, Hendricksons and March Browns, then Sulphurs and the Green Drake into June — followed by a fall streamer-and-Isonychia window in October when the water cools and the browns turn aggressive. Summer belongs to the cold tributaries, shaded spring-fed pockets, early mornings, and smallmouth bass in the warm lower river.

The regulation picture is a patchwork, and it matters here. Most of the 57 stocked mainstem miles run under ordinary Pennsylvania Stocked Trout Water general rules, but there's a Delayed Harvest artificial-lures reach at the head of the gorge near Ansonia, another Delayed Harvest stretch at the mouth of Slate Run, and a Catch-and-Release all-tackle "Stretch" from Slate Run down to Bonnell Run that the Slate Run Tackle Shop's Brown Trout Club privately stocks with trophy browns. Slate Run itself is catch-and-release fly-fishing-only Class A water, and Cedar Run carries its own trophy/C&R section. Read the sign at the pullout before you tie on.

Species

Brown Trout
Primary · Apr-Jun, Sep-Oct · Stocked 10-16"; wild trib fish mostly <12" but 20"+ possible
The backbone of the fishery. Stocked heavily on the mainstem, but the draw is the wild browns in Slate Run, Cedar Run, and cold mainstem pockets — famously wary and technical. Holdover trophies hold in "The Stretch," which the Brown Trout Club privately stocks.
Rainbow Trout
Common · Spring, fall · 10-14"
Stocked throughout the mainstem; put-and-take, not self-sustaining. Best right after stocking and on spring flows before the water warms.
Brook Trout
Present · Spring, fall · Mostly <10"
Wild and native, concentrated in cold tributary and headwater water — upper Slate Run, Cedar Run, and feeder creeks — not the warm mainstem.
Smallmouth Bass
Common · Jun-Sep · Keeper-size present
Resident in the mid-to-lower mainstem, especially below Waterville. Takes over as the mainstem warms out of trout shape — the honest summer alternative to trout, with strong evening topwater.

Species	Abundance	Best Season	Size	Notes
Brown Trout	Primary	Apr-Jun, Sep-Oct	Stocked 10-16"; wild trib fish mostly <12" but 20"+ possible	The backbone of the fishery. Stocked heavily on the mainstem, but the draw is the wild browns in Slate Run, Cedar Run, and cold mainstem pockets — famously wary and technical. Holdover trophies hold in "The Stretch," which the Brown Trout Club privately stocks.
Rainbow Trout	Common	Spring, fall	10-14"	Stocked throughout the mainstem; put-and-take, not self-sustaining. Best right after stocking and on spring flows before the water warms.
Brook Trout	Present	Spring, fall	Mostly <10"	Wild and native, concentrated in cold tributary and headwater water — upper Slate Run, Cedar Run, and feeder creeks — not the warm mainstem.
Smallmouth Bass	Common	Jun-Sep	Keeper-size present	Resident in the mid-to-lower mainstem, especially below Waterville. Takes over as the mainstem warms out of trout shape — the honest summer alternative to trout, with strong evening topwater.

Ideal wading flow300–600 CFS

Blow-out>1,500 CFS

Ideal water temp48–62°F

Spring (Apr-Jun) is prime — the hatch parade from Grannom through Green Drake, on flows dropping out of snowmelt. Fall (Sep-Oct) is second — cooling water, aggressive pre-spawn browns, Isonychia and BWO, and streamers. The real limiter here isn't low flow, it's temperature: the open mainstem warms into the 70s by July (82°F was recorded on the lower Waterville gauge in mid-July), so once water pushes past the mid-60s, fish the cold tributaries, go dawn and dusk, or switch to smallmouth in the lower river. Winter is midges on the deep pools when it's open. Overcast, drizzly days extend the BWO and mayfly windows and keep the water cool.

Sections

4 sections on this river

The Grand Canyon (Ansonia to Blackwell)

Wade & FloatBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout

The famous 17-mile wilderness gorge — long riffle-pool freestone water between forested canyon walls, with no road through the deep middle. Big classic runs and pool tailouts hold stocked and holdover brown trout and rainbow trout on spring flows. A Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only reach sits at the very head near Ansonia and Darling Run.

Best for: Wild-canyon brown trout on spring flows — dry-dropper and nymph rigs in the riffles, streamers in the pools, all set inside the scenery of the PA Grand Canyon.

Blackwell to Cedar Run

Wade & FloatBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout

The lower gorge below Blackwell, now with road access on Route 414 and the rail trail on the opposite bank — broad riffles, deep holding pools, and productive pocket water. This is the most fished, most accessible quality mainstem, and it carries the river's primary gauge (USGS at Cedar Run). Stocked and holdover brown trout and rainbow trout through the full spring hatch progression.

Best for: The most road-accessible mainstem trout water — nymphing the runs by day, dries in the evenings from the Grannom through the Green Drake.

Slate Run & The Stretch (Cedar Run to Slate Run)

WadeBrook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout

The special-regulation heart of the river: a cluster of mainstem water around the Cedar Run and Slate Run confluences — a Delayed Harvest fly-and-lure reach and the Catch-and-Release "Stretch" from the mouth of Slate Run to Bonnell Run, privately stocked with trophy brown trout. The real draw is the two marquee wild tributaries themselves — Slate Run (Class A, catch-and-release fly-fishing-only) and Cedar Run (wild brown trout and brook trout) — tight pocket water and spring seeps full of wary fish.

Best for: Technical wild-trout fishing — spooky wild brown trout and native brook trout in the tributaries, plus big holdover browns in the mainstem Stretch. Slate Run in particular has a reputation for humbling good anglers.

Lower Pine (Slate Run to Waterville)

Wade & FloatBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Smallmouth

The river below the gorge, broadening as it heads toward Waterville and the valley — cooler-season trout water that warms into a smallmouth bass river by summer. Little Pine Creek enters just above the lower gauge (USGS below Little Pine near Waterville), which read 82°F in mid-July. This is the first reach to warm out of trout shape.

Best for: Spring and fall brown trout and rainbow trout when the water is cold; smallmouth bass, evening topwater, and hopper fishing once the mainstem warms in summer.

Regulations

Current fishing rules and restrictions

Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission water. Most of the ~57 stocked mainstem miles run under statewide Stocked Trout Water general regulations, with three special-regulation pockets: a Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only reach at the gorge head near Ansonia, a Delayed Harvest ALO reach at the mouth of Slate Run, and the Catch-and-Release all-tackle "Stretch" from Slate Run to Bonnell Run. The wild Class A tributaries — Slate Run (Catch-and-Release Fly-Fishing Only) and Cedar Run (trophy/C&R) — are no-harvest. Confirm the current special-reg boundaries and read the posted signs before you fish.

General Stocked Trout Water default (most of the mainstem): harvest-season creel 5 trout/day, 7-inch minimum; no gear restriction outside the special-reg reaches.
Ansonia / Darling Run (gorge head, Tioga Co.): Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only — artificial lures and flies only; no-harvest window mid-Sep to mid-Jun; year-round fishing.
Slate Run to Naval Run (Lycoming Co.): Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only, same DHALO rules.
"The Stretch" (mouth of Slate Run to Bonnell Run, ~2.8 mi): Catch & Release All-Tackle — year-round, all tackle, no harvest; privately stocked trophy browns.
Slate Run (Class A wild trout): Catch-and-Release Fly-Fishing Only, no harvest.
Cedar Run: ~7-mile Trophy Trout / Catch-and-Release special-regulation section; not stocked.
A PA fishing license plus a Trout Permit is required for anglers 16+ to fish for or possess trout.

Pine Creek is on the year-round/extended fishing list; the statewide regular trout season opens the first Saturday in April. The special-reg boundaries are short and clustered around Ansonia and the Slate Run confluence — the map pullouts are posted, so verify the reach you're standing in.

Source: Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Regulations change annually — verify before fishing.

Access & Logistics

Getting there, fly shops, and lodging

Getting There

Wellsboro, PA

~2 hrs from Williamsport, ~3.5 hrs from Pittsburgh, ~4 hrs from Philadelphia

Fly Shops

Wolfe's General Store (Slate Run)
Tackle Shack (Wellsboro)

Camping & Lodging

State park camping on the canyon rim at Colton Point and Leonard Harrison, plus private cabins and angler lodges. Wellsboro (the Tioga County seat, ~15 minutes from the gorge head at Ansonia) is the hub for lodging, restaurants, and full services. Slate Run and Cedar Run are tiny villages on Route 414 with the tackle shop, general store, and the historic Cedar Run Inn.

The roadless Ansonia-to-Blackwell heart of the gorge is reachable only via the Pine Creek Rail Trail (foot or bike); below Blackwell, Route 414 parallels the creek with numerous pullouts through Cedar Run and Slate Run, then Route 44 continues to Waterville. Slate Run and Cedar Run are hike-in freestone creeks up their own drainages — small, brushy, and technical.

Conditions data is live from public monitoring networks. Regulations change annually — always verify current rules with your state fish & wildlife agency before fishing.

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