S7, Ep 24: Spring Awakening in Central PA: Fishing Tips with George Costa

In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash catches up with George Costa from TCO Fly Shop for the latest Central PA Fishing Report. Fresh from an exciting trip to Belize, George shares his adventures fishing for permit, tarpon, snook and bonefish. Back home, they discuss current fishing conditions on local waters, including the promising emergence of olives and the anticipated arrival of grannoms.

George provides valuable insights into the state of the streams, with levels at seasonal averages and a focus on the upcoming cicada class on March 30th, perfect for anglers looking to refine their tying skills. With a lineup of beginner classes and specialty courses on the horizon, there’s plenty of opportunity for anglers to enhance their skills as the season gets underway.

Listeners are encouraged to reach out with questions, and George reminds everyone to visit the shop for all their fishing needs.

For more information on classes and shop hours, check out TCO's website. Get ready for spring and make sure to hit the water. Tight lines!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. We're
back with another central PAFishing report with George Costa
of TCO Fly Shop in StateCollege. George, how are you?
I am amazing as always,Marvin. Just suffering with that
post vacation depression.
I was going to say you soundslightly unusually chipper, but I

(00:21):
only know that because we'vebeen doing this for about five years.
Well, you know, it's a niceday out here today. That's not too
bad. Nothing to complainabout. No physical pain today, Marvin,
so everything's great. Mentalanguish always through the roof.
Yeah, there you go. So whydon't you tell folks, it sounds like,
you know, you had a reallygood trip to the tropics.
That's right. We had a greattrip. We just got back from our hosted

(00:44):
trip to Belize to BlueHorizon. Fantastic trip, super fun
time, really good fishing.Gang had a great time. So if anybody's
ever looking to do any traveltrips or anything like that, they
can reach out to me here atthe shop. We do hosted trips and
can get anybody set up. So,um, it's a great time of year to
get away down there. It's justsuch a wonderful place. If you ever
get a chance. Blue Horizon isjust probably the best permit lodge

(01:06):
there is.
Yeah. And you had a beginnerwho crushed it, right?
Absolutely. It's always thebeginner that gets the slam. You
got a great permit. Tarpon,snook, bonefish, Just really great.
Great week of fishing.
Yeah. So you get home,temperatures are 40 degrees cooler.
What are you seeing on the water?

(01:27):
The water's been actuallypretty good this week. We've had
some good olives going offall. I think that the granums are
probably right around thecorner. So temps are, you know, kind
of chilly. Pretty typical forthis time of year. Maybe a little
touch on the chilly side. Weare supposed to get a little bit
of rain throughout the week,but the stream levels are all pretty
good right now just about atseasonal averages. Pens remains a

(01:50):
little high. It's borderline1,000 cfs, which is fishable. You
just got to kind of stick tothe edges. But spring and the little
J are in really good shape.Color's good. And they were shaping
up to have a nice spring here.Levels kind of bumped up with the
last rainstorm.
Got it. And I know you're kindof your. Probably your. I don't know,

(02:11):
you may still. You're. I can'tremember when you were going to have
your cicada class, but Iimagine since you're warming up.
You're probably moving fromlike fly tying classes to skills
classes, right?
Indeed. Yeah. We've got a lotof beginners classes on the books.
A lot of them are sold outalready. The cicada class on the
30th for tying with Caleb, westill have some spots left for that.
So those bugs are coming. Wedo expect to see them. You know,

(02:33):
our best guess is going to beprobably early to mid June is when
they should really startpicking up. So that's going to come
in right after most of ourbigger hatches on the mayfly front
are done. So that class willbe great if anybody wants to get
some skills on tying those bigugly bugs.
Yeah. And then if I remembercorrectly, you got a bunch of like,
you know, beginning flyfishing classes and all kinds of

(02:54):
stuff like that kind ofpeppered throughout the spring, right?
Yeah, for sure. All of ourstores have a lot of classes, so
you can check out the websiteand sign up for any of our classes
that we have. You know, a lotof specialty classes, Euro nymph,
streamers, dry flies. All ofour locations do a bunch of classes.
So always a great time of yearto brush up on those skills.
Yeah. And you know, we'regetting close to Easter. Any kind
of sales or specials in theshop so people can put fly fishing

(03:18):
stuff in their Easter basket.
We're definitely going to havesome sales stuff coming up. Most
of our spring apparel and allour spring stuff is coming in for
spring and summertime. So lookfor most of whatever we have left
in the winter, winter stock tokind of get put on sale in the next
couple weeks. I'm sure we'llhave a little turnover in that.
Well, there you go. Well,listen, folks, you know, we, we didn't

(03:40):
get a question this time andyou know, if George hadn't gone on
vacation, he would have been awhole lot sadder than he normally
is. Right, George?
I would probably be a littlehappier because you know that the
postpartum vacation depressionthing always kind of sets in this
time of year.
There you go. So, but youknow, you can always email us DM
me on social media, whatever'seasiest for you. And if we use your

(04:02):
question, I will send you somearticulate fly swag and you're drawing
for something cool from theshop at the end of the season. And
George, before I let you go,you want to let folks know shop hours
and all that kind of good stuff.
Absolutely. Up here at StateCollege, we're open 9 to 6 Monday
through Saturday, 9 to 3 onSunday. All of our other shops have
similar hours. And check usout on the [e-mail].

(04:23):
Yeah, there you go. And youknow, folks, we're. We're starting
to thaw out. And, you know,spring is right around the corner.
You owe it to yourself to getout there and catch a few. Tight
lines, everybody. Tight lines, George.
Take it easy, Mark.