Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–263
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Tulpehocken Creek
Blue Marsh Lake to Reading, Pennsylvania · USA
Right now
Loading current conditions…
Flow, last 7 days (cfs)Normal range for these dates
Dam-controlled river. Flow here follows releases upstream, so it can change within hours. Check the release schedule before you drive.
Weather forecast
Forecast data loads here when available. Official weather source ↗
Day ratings weigh rain first (it raises and colors the river), then wind.
Flow: USGS Tulpehocken Creek at Blue Marsh Damsite near Reading, USGS Tulpehocken Creek near Reading. Recent readings are provisional. Normal range: the middle half of past flows for these dates. Forecast: National Weather Service.
Recent changes
All changes →When to go
JFMAMJJASOND
Apr–Jul and Sep–Nov; summer trico hatch at dawn Wrong?
The water
A medium-sized tailwater below Blue Marsh Dam on the edge of Reading, with a 3.8-mile delayed-harvest section that the state stocks with larger trout. Summer releases can run too warm, so July fishing is an early-morning trico affair.
- Target species
- Stocked and holdover browns, rainbows
- Trip style
- DIY-friendly
- Access
- Wade Wrong?
- Public access
- Good Wrong?
- Crowding
- High Wrong?
- Difficulty
- Intermediate Wrong?
- License and rules
- Fishing licenseRegulationsWrong?
What a trip costs
You came from a self-guided day-trip search. The calculator starts with one fishing day and no guide. Licence, permit, travel and any other costs still apply.
Flies by month
April
- Low Rider CDC & Elk Caddis #14–16 (caddis green)
- RS2 #20–24 (dark and light olive)
- Bead Head Pheasant Tail #14–16
- Walt's Worm #12–14 (tan)
- Sucker Spawn #12–16 (cream)
May
- Sulphur
- Spotted Sedge / Cinnamon Caddis
- Green Sedge caddis
- Blue-Winged Olive
June
- Sulphur
- Yellow Drake
- Trico
- Little Sister caddis
- Terrestrials
July
- Trico
- Yellow Drake
- Little Brown Caddis
- Spotted Sedge / Cinnamon Caddis
- Terrestrials
September
- Trico
- Little Sister caddis
- Slate Drake (Isonychia)
- Blue-Winged Olive
- Terrestrials
October
- Blue-Winged Olive #16
- Great Autumn Brown Sedge #10 (pupa and adult)
- Midge #20–22
- Scud #14–16
- Sculpin / articulated streamer #4–6
November
- Junk flies (eggs, worms) for fall-stocked trout
- Natural nymph patterns
- Small streamers / sculpins
- Blue-Winged Olive
- Midges
Source notes
TCO Fly Shop (Reading) supplies April and the fall pattern; May through October timing comes from The Perfect Fly Store's Tulpehocken page, which is not a local shop, so check it against TCO if possible.
From local shops and guides: fishingreports.orvis.com · tcoflyfishing.com · perfectflystore.com. Ask the nearest shop what's working this week.
What to bring
- Rod
- 9 ft 5 wt
- Line
- WF floating; sink tip for streamers
- Leader and tippet
- 9 ft tapered
- Wading
- Waders
From fishingreports.orvis.com. Guides usually supply rods and flies on a guided day; ask when you book.
Guides and fly shops
- TCO Fly Shop · guide rates, rates and trips, hatch chart or reports
- wildeastoutfitters.com · rates and trips
These are the businesses this page's prices and fly lists come from. A listing isn't an endorsement, and nobody pays to be here.
Getting there
Getting there
Fly into ABE Allentown, then 45 min. About 40 miles (64 km) by road.
Open in Google Maps · Directions from ABE
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Driving from Allentown about 55 min, Harrisburg about 1 hr 20 min, Philadelphia about 1 hr 30 min, Scranton about 2 hr 10 min.
Something out of date?
Rates, seasons and access change. Tell us what's wrong and, if you can, where you saw it.
More trout rivers
Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook trout
Rainbow troutStocked rainbows, browns and brook trout; some wild brook and brown troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
The posted rate is one shop's New Jersey wade rate; it doesn't name the Flat Brook
Brown troutWild brown trout, rainbows, brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $250
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium