Fly Fishing Slate Run. Walt Franklin

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      40 . Slate Run

       Location: North-central Pennsylvania, about a 1½-hour ride from State College, a 4-hour ride from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh; a 4-hour ride from New York City; and a 5-hour ride from Washington D.C. Full-service airports are available in all five cities.

      Slate Run is located in the rugged mountains of northern Pennsylvania. The stream is named for its layers of slate outcroppings that stairstep downward from its high source to its mouth at Pine Creek. Slate Run flows through a deep gorge with forest-covered slopes. The steep

      gradient, plus layers of slate, facilitate the formation of rocky pools, riffles, pockets, and underwater ledges inhabited by trout.

      The first European settler in the Slate Run area was Jacob Toomb. He built a home, along with a sawmill and a grist-mill, at the stream’s mouth in the late 1700s. Other pioneers arrived soon afterward and homesteaded in the Pine Creek Valley. By the mid-1800s, the village of Slate Run included a general store, hotel, post office, and churches. A few decades later it evolved into a busy logging community—a far cry from its current status as a haven for recreational activities.

      Slate Run is classified by Pennsylvania as a Class A wild trout stream. To recognize the stream as such in a state known for world-class limestone water speaks volumes. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission restricts angling at Slate Run to catch and release and fly-

      fishing only. Trout Unlimited has ranked Slate Run as one of the top 100 trout streams in the United States. The stream flows entirely through public land, including two state forests, providing excellent access for the fly fisher.

      Slate Run originates at the confluence of Francis Branch and Cushman Branch. After tumbling 7½ miles through a canyon, it empties into Pine Creek near the village of Slate Run. It gathers additional water from several major tributaries—Red Run, Morris Run, and Manor Fork. These freestone brooks are home to native brook trout and some