S7, Ep 86: Navigating Fall Waters: George Costa's Tips for Low and Clear Conditions

Join host Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly fly fishing podcast for a timely Central Pennsylvania Fishing Report with George Costa of TCO Fly Shop in State College.

With low, clear water conditions dominating Central PA streams, George breaks down the technical adjustments anglers need to make right now—long leaders, lighter tippets and smaller flies are essential for success. Learn which patterns are producing in these challenging conditions, from terrestrial dry droppers with hoppers, beetles and crickets to productive hatches like Tricos, Isos and October Caddis on waters like Penns Creek. George reveals the key depth strategy for finding fish in current conditions, targeting deeper slots of one to two feet where trout are holding.

Get the inside scoop on approaching steelhead season with fish already stacking at tributary mouths, plus details on TCO's fall fly tying classes and steelhead instruction.

Whether you're fishing Central PA's freestone streams or planning your steelhead tactics, this report delivers actionable intelligence for October fishing conditions.

Related Content

S7, Ep 70 - The Dog Days of Summer: Trico Tactics in Central PA with George Costa

S6, Ep 118 - Central PA Fall Fishing Report: George Costa's Tips and Tactics

S6, Ep 138 - Central PA Fishing Report with George Costa

S5, Ep 145 - Central Pennsylvania Fishing Report with TCO Fly Shop

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Episode Transcript

(00:04):
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'm amazing as always. Marvin,how are you?
And as always, I'm just tryingto stay out of trouble. And you know,
your. Your fly fishing partybus continues to roll. You're heading
out of town for another event.
Yeah, I'm gonna be up tryingto catch a muskie and the gainy,

(00:27):
so we'll see how that goes. Weget the Beast of the east tournament
put on by Nittany ValleyMuskie alliance this weekend. It's
a great tournament. A lot ofteams in it this year, so it should
be some pretty goodcompetition. Always a great event
hosted by those guys.
Very, very cool and kind ofcoming back home, right? I looked
at your weather. Kind of dryand cool and kind of seasonable,
right?
Yeah, it's seasonable. It'sdefinitely cooled down a little bit.

(00:48):
Temps at night have beenchilly. It looks like we're going
to be in the 40s. You know,daytime temps up in the 70s. It's
dry, though. Not a lot ofrain. Maybe a little bit midweek.
They're calling, which is mustneeded because. Much needed because
all of our, you know, riversright now are low and clear. People
are asking what's fishing goodright now? Everything's kind of fishing.

(01:09):
I wouldn't say anything'sfishing great. Just those low, clear
water is making, you know,life a little harder, more technical.
Long leaders, lighter tippets,smaller flies have really been the
key to success the past coupleof weeks. There's still plenty of
dry fly going on. We've gotdry droppers are working good. So
those terrestrials, thosehoppers, beetles, crickets, small

(01:31):
nymph off the back has beenworking good. Olives have been around.
There's a handful of Tricoshere and there still in the morning.
You know, they're prettyspotty right now. ISOs and October
Catus have been good on likepens in the J. There's plenty of
those bugs around, so if youwant to get some bigger dry fly action,
look for them and just checkthem. You know, just. Just work those
deeper slots. That's reallywhere most of the fish have been.

(01:51):
You know, anything a foot,foot and a half, two feet deep. That's
where a lot of these fish areholding. And you know, conditions
are not ideal because it'sjust low and clear, but the temps
have been good, so don't haveany Fear going out there and catching
some fish.
There you go. And you know,what you got going on in the shop.
I think the last time wespoke, you had some classes. You
were getting kind of primedfor instructional season. And new

(02:12):
inventory was showing up too, right?
For sure. For sure. We hadlots of classes in all of our shops
this coming fall into thewinter. Good tying classes, you know,
just all sorts of fun thingsto do to keep. Keep you busy over
the winter and the fallmonths. You know, we're not too far
from Steelhead Season 2. Wegot a great steelhead class coming
up in a few weeks. So checkthat out if you want to get in on
the steelhead action. As soonas they get some water up there,

(02:34):
it's going to go crazy. I knowall the steelhead streams have been
low and clear and there's alot of fish starting to stack up
at the trib mouth, so that'sgetting ready to blow up too. So
check out the classes online.All of our shops have some great
listings, so that'll. That'llmake it fun for you.
There you go. And what's thecountdown to BlackBerry brandy.
Two months after Thanksgiving?After Thanksgiving. Marvin.

(02:54):
I gotcha.
Well, sorry.
Just an eager beaver there.Well, listen, listen, folks, you
know, send us your questionsbecause we want to keep George happy.
And you know, as I always say,this time of year, yo it to yourself
to get out there and catch afew tight lines, everybody. Tight
lines.
George, take it easy, Marv.