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Spring Creek Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The benchmark Pennsylvania limestoner: wild browns every fifty feet through Happy Valley, catch-and-release for over forty years.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
183 cfs
Air / High
80 / 81 F
Wind
WNW 8 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01546500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Spring Creek feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 183 cfs, on the rise. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 81. Water sits around 54 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutGood

Blue-winged olives and midges on soft seams; streamers on overcast days move the better fish.

Brown troutGood

Pre-spawn aggression: this is streamer season for the fish of the year.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 74 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Spring Creek near Axemann.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01546500.

162347531183 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp80 F
High / Low81 / 69 F
WindWNW 8-16 mph
Pressure1012.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 64%
Sunrise / Sunset06:41 / 19:38
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~54 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Showers, 81/69 F, wind 11 mph, rain 64%

Fair or better. Cloud and a rain chance can stretch the morning bite well past breakfast: keep moving baits tied on.

Species guide

The species that matter on Spring Creek: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Best: Apr-Jun, Sep-Oct

The workhorse of western rivers: riffles, seams and dry-fly eats. Blue-winged olives and midges on soft seams; streamers on overcast days move the better fish.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Best: Sep-Nov

Wary, predatory and nocturnal by preference. The big ones eat streamers. Pre-spawn aggression: this is streamer season for the fish of the year.

When to come: the Spring Creek calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 54 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~54 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Spring Creek today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at good. High of 85 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at good. High of 88 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Pennsylvania requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Catch-and-release, all tackle, open year-round for the entire creek. Pennsylvania license plus trout permit required.

Access

Fisherman’s Paradise off Spring Creek Road, Benner Spring, Rock, Oak Hall and Lemont accesses: all public, all walk-in.

About this water

A limestone spring creek through Centre County, Pennsylvania: Class A wild brown trout water its entire length, catch-and-release since the 1980s.

Fishing Spring Creek: the full guide

Fisherman’s Paradise and beyond

Spring Creek rises from the limestone under State College and runs twenty-some miles to Bald Eagle Creek at Milesburg, and it may hold more wild brown trout per mile than any stream in the East: several thousand fish per mile in the best reaches. The whole creek is catch-and-release and it shows: browns of every year class stack in water that runs cold and constant off the great springs, right through town, past the hatchery at the storied Fisherman’s Paradise reach.

Fishing a crowded classroom

These fish are looked at constantly and behave accordingly: 6X tippets, size 18-22 flies and downstream presentations separate the catching from the casting. Sulphurs (mid-May into June) are the great hatch; midges and olives carry the winter, tricos the summer dawns, and a black cricket or beetle along the grass banks is the underrated summer play. Nymphing the limestone riffles with zebra midges and pheasant tails produces year-round.

Water that never quits

Spring influence keeps the creek between roughly 48 and 62 degrees all year: it fishes twelve months, with February midging as legitimate as June sulphurs. The Axemann gauge runs 60-200 cfs most of the year: storms spike it briefly but the limestone settles it fast. When everything else in Pennsylvania is frozen or flooded, Spring Creek is usually fishable: which is why you will rarely be alone.

The valley tour

Public water runs nearly creek-long: Fisherman’s Paradise (the historic no-harvest showcase), Benner Spring, the Rock Road reach, Oak Hall and Lemont near State College. Parking areas dot Spring Creek Road. It is a walking-and-stalking creek: pick a reach, move slowly, and count rising fish before casting. Penn State’s campus and town sit ten minutes away: this is the most accessible great trout water in America.

Common questions

Why is Spring Creek so famous?

Density: surveys find thousands of wild browns per mile. Add year-round cold water, total public access and history (Fisherman’s Paradise opened in 1934), and it is the East’s reference limestoner.

Is winter fishing worthwhile?

Some of the year’s best: midge hatches on sunny afternoons bring steady risers while the county sleeps. Dress for the wind, not the water.

How technical is it really?

The fish forgive nothing sloppy, but they eat every day. Fine tippet, small flies, careful wading: do those three things and you will catch trout.

Is fishing good at Spring Creek right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Little Juniata River24 miPenns Creek25 miRaystown Lake37 miJuniata River43 miWest Branch Susquehanna River48 miPine Creek50 mi
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