Pocono Troutin...Actually Smallmouthin' on the Tobyhanna

[Doug Vitale]

Tobyhanna Creek, Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County

Water depth: relatively low despite a few recent rainstorms.

Sky: cloudy; intermittent rain with one good downpour.

Air temperature: ~70 degrees

Time: 10:30 - 6:30

Bait: Small plugs including the jointed Rapala; #2 size Mepps, Panther Martin and Thomas spinners.

Fished a three-mile stretch of the Tobyhanna in State Game Lands 127.

Result: Eight smallmouth in the 1 - 2.5 pound range, seven standard-sized trout, about a dozen smallmouth and trout in the 6-8 inch range, one small perch, and one small pickerel about 1.5 pounds.

The banks are often very thick and/or swampy, reducing your mobility. It is often easier to stay in the water and walk upstream against the current than to try to walk on land.

The Tobyhanna is not a deep stream; most of the time the water level was at the mid-calf range. There are nice, deeper holding areas and runs, but you have to seek them out.

In his work "Trout Streams and Hatches of Pennsylvania", author Charles R. Meck rates the Tobyhanna two out of four stars. After my experience there, I concur with his opinion. However, there is private, club-owned water farther downstream which you would assume is most likely superior to the publicly accessible stretch in SGL 127.