The limestone-spring creek is to fly-fishermen what a one-pound truffle is to gourmets: perfection. These creeks are also quite rare, and, in the case of the clear limestone streams of Central Pennsylvania that wind their way through the emerald folds of the Allegheny Mountains, largely ignored by metropolitan anglers, who foolishly choose to fly 2,000 miles farther west to the spring creeks of Montana and Idaho. To avoid the crowds on public streams, cast for browns and rainbows at the Centre Mills Bed & Breakfast, which offers a mile and a half of private water at the source of Elk Creek. Center Mills exudes quiet and comfortable good taste. The gentle descent to the stream over green lawns bordered by wildflowers looks for all the world like a view onto one of England’s fabled chalk streams, the Itchen. The green drake, which is the B-52 of mayflies, hatches around Memorial Day and marks one of troutdom’s Holy Weeks. Eat at the nearby Hummingbird Room, presided over by a chef who cooked at Philadelphia’s famed Le Bec-Fin.
Details Book fishing packages through Tightline Destinations, 401-539-0936, or accommodations only through Centre Mills, 814-349-8000 or www.centremills.com (rooms start at $10)