Ridley Creek Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies:
12/26/24 Fishing Report: Good conditions exist. The stream is near a normal level and clear. Good hatches are taking place.
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout
Brown Trout
(Stocked with some holdover trout)
Size
Small
Location
South Central Pennsylvania
Nearest Towns
Philadelphia
Media
Season
Mid-April through February
Access:
Fair to Good
Non-Resident License
State of Pennsylvania
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
Fish can be taken the entire season on Ridley Creek, but the fishing is much better during the late spring and summer months.
Spring:
The stream gets its first dose of trout early in the year. Late spring can provide good fishing.
Summer:
Summer is the best time to fish Ridley Creek. The crowds of anglers have long gone and there are lots of hatches that take place.
Fall:
Early fall can be good. Streamers produce during this time.
Winter:
Trout can be caught during the winter using small midge imitations, but it is usually tough fishing conditions.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Ridley Creek Pennsylvania
Ridley Creek is a nice little trout stream very near the huge metropolitan area of Philadelphia. It has a paved bicycle path that provides great access to over three miles of the creek. A total of seven miles of the stream is stocked by the state. It maintains a good population of trout during the season.
This stream stays cool during the summer by help of the canopy of trees that cover almost all of its surface area. The canopy of limbs makes it difficult to cast in some areas, but it is certainly a big help in keeping the water temperatures down during the summer.
The stream is easy to wade in most areas. We prefer fishing in an upstream direction. You can usually easily get back out of the stream on a path just about anywhere along its course. Where we can cast without wading, we do. Wading does help spook the trout, but in many cases, that is the only option although the stream is rarely over thirty feet wide.
Ridley Creek serves as a good example of what good stream management can do for a stream that is located very near large metropolitan areas. It always has a decent number of trout, easy access, and even some very good hatches of aquatic insects. Ridley Creek is
stocked with trout by the state of Pennsylvania.
Fly patterns are very important in Ridley creek. The trout are often very selective on certain aquatic insect hatches. If is best to try to match the hatch or if nothing
is hatching, match what is about to hatch with a nymph or larva imitation.
Ridley Creek Fly Fishing Guide:
The easiest way to catch trout on Ridley Creek is to fish it during one of its many hatches. Contrary to what many may think off hand, the little stream has a huge aquatic insect population.
The best fishing is in the Ridley Creek State Park. One good section to fish is to the rear of the Colonial Mansion parking lot. You can fish upstream from there. The stream is easy to wade in that area. It has some nice pools with interconnecting runs and riffles.
You can park close to the dam and walk up the bicycle path that parallels the stream to another good location to fish. The portion of the creek from Sycamore Mills Dam to the mouth of Dismal Run is a “Delayed Harvest” area that permits fly fishing only. There is a wheelchair accessible fishing platform located on the paved trail that runs along Sycamore Mills Road. This area provides some very good fishing. It is heavily fished and the trout, although stocked, are not pushovers. The constant pressure keeps them easy to spook and difficult to fool.
Although most anglers had rather catch trout on the dry fly, you will find that you can almost always do better in terms of quantities of fish caught, if you will fish nymphs and caddis larvae imitations. You can fish them by adding weight above the fly, with or without an indicator, and usually do very well on Ridley Creek.
Ridley Creek Hatches and Trout Flies:
Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the
generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in Ridley Creek and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more
realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726.
As mentioned in the introduction, this little stream has a big diversity and population of aquatic insects. Late March brings on a hatch of Little Black Early Stoneflies. Blue-winged Olives start about the first of April and the several different species hatch off and on until Fall. There is a heavy hatch in late September and early October.
Quill Gordon and Blue Quill also hatch in sparse quantities staring about the first of April. The Quill Gordon hatch is short but the Blue Quills last almost a month.The stream also has the Hendrickson hatch about the same time period, although it is not all that prolific. If you happen to be there at the right time, you can catch plenty of trout feeding on the
emergers, duns and spinners.
Little Black Caddis hatch in April, and around the first of May, Green Sedges start showing up. Several other species of caddisflies hatch on Ridley Creek including the most prolific ones – the Spotted and Cinnamon Sedges.
From about the middle to the end of May, Sulphurs will start to hatch. This is one of the larger mayfly hatches. It last until about the first of July and sometimes a little longer. There are Light Cahills that show up in June, along with Slate Drakes that continue to hatch in small quantities until fall. Terrestrials, especially ants and beetles, are good from late June until the first of October. If you haven’t already done so, we hope you will give our “Perfect Flies” a try. They are the most realistic imitations available on the commercial market.
Fly Fishing Gear and Trout Flies for Ridley Creek Pennsylvania
Fly Line:
We suggest either a 4 or 5 weight, floating fly line for most of the fly-fishing. You may want to use a 6 weight line for heavy nymphs and streamers.
Fly Rod:
You should have a fly rod for each of the above line sizes. The rods should be nine feet in length. We suggest either a medium fast or fast action.
Fly Reel:
The reel for either of the three rods should be the right size to hold the fly line and
backing, light and have a good drag.
Leaders:
Leaders should be available in lengths ranging from seven and one-half to nine feet. You should have them in sizes ranging from 0X for streamers, up to 6X for small dry flies.
Tippet:
Make sure you have extra tippet material in sizes ranging from 0X to 6X.
Waders:
Waders would be required. There would only be few places you could fish from the banks effectively.
Wading Boots:
Felt soles would be our first choice. Rubber soles may also work well.
Flies:
We always recommend “Perfect Fly” Trout Flies. We have specific imitations of all the insects, crustaceans and other things that fish feed on in Ridley Creek. We hope you give them a try.