Deckers, Pennsylvania

Larry Legend

I remember my first visit to Deckers, Colorado almost twenty years ago. My Dad, brother, and I were working our way across Colorado fly fishing streams and rivers that came via the old fashioned way: word of mouth, gas station directions, questions at fly shops, and people on the water. There weren't any GPS or smart phones to guide you directly to the parking lot either. I can still remember listening to the directions to find Deckers and what to look for: a fly shop and a general/liquor store. We caught a boat load of rainbow trout, some quite large, and it was a memorable angling experience for an easterner. I can still recall a rainbow slowly rising to eat a hopper at the base of a large cliff and posing for the subsequent hero shot with my father. At that time within my fly fishing journey, I had yet to develop a set of standards with which I measure experiences, locations, and angling situations. Looking back on it, my standards were relatively low as I just wanted to fish all of the time and catch a lot of trout. In the summer of 22' I found myself back near the South Platte and I decided to pay Deckers another visit. The sheer amount of anglers in town was a major turnoff. Parking lots and pull offs were completely filled with Tacomas, rod vaults, and hundreds of fly fishing stickers glimmering in the intense sun. If you have to stop multiple times on a main road to allow anglers to cross, you know it is crowded. My stop became a long detour as I quickly surmised that this wasn't a place I wanted to fish. My standards had changed. I had evolved.

What is the "Deckers," of Pennsylvania? Is it the Upper Delaware? Happy Valley? Harrisburg? Or, just anywhere in southeastern Pennsylvania during trout season? It probably depends on the season, hatch, species, and body of water, but Happy Valley has grown to become quite the fly fishing factory. Growing up, I always believed in the old adage that if you could catch a 20'' wild brown trout in Pennsylvania, you could fly fish well in any trout stream in the world. I believe that. If given the choice of fly fishing for trout anywhere (outside of Alaska) in the United States, I'd hands down choose Pennsylvania.