Working tommorow inspecting a Job out in mechanicsburg. Last time I was out that way in may I visited letort spring run closeby. Was the most difficult fishing I ever did but scenery was unreal after a rainfall. I saw fishing creek is dead north of mechanicsburg in the gamelands, is this the famed creek Joe humphreys caught a huge brown trout at? I know quite a bit of creeks in PA share the same name. I will probably do more exploring then fishing tommorow. I heard the lower letort is good for smallmouth.
There are so many good trout streams (Yellow Breeches, Clarks, Letort) it could be tough to pick just one... No, the Fishing Creek on the map, is not the famed one - it is a small troutless stream that in summer goes down to a trickle at places.
I grew up in Harrisburg PA and always fly fished Clark(s) Creek - Rt 325 parallels it. I fished it for the solitude and scenery. You would have to travel up the creek some way to get away from civilization (but below Dehart Dam). If you fish Clarks Creek, try to go just past the YMCA camp (or was it the Girl Scouts camp?), but below Dehart Dam to get away from people and get some solitude. The creek is shaded by Hemlocks and keeps cool all summer long. The AT runs by it and eventually crosses it. There is FFO area on the creek, but I always fished further upstream away from people. I also fished above the dam, but the creek is smaller and bushy. Above the dam was always fun and I was surprised at the nature (fox, snakes, deer) that I saw....
I used to fish a size 10/12 cricket pattern (on 10 ft leader and 6x tippet) all summer and caught some big trout, although that was before I began nymph fishing. I also had luck with beetle and ant patterns. The stream also has a healthy stonefly population so if you nymph, you could try stones or prince nymphs. Keep in mind that the creek is gin clear so always fish upstream (you probably already know this...). If you do go, this is copperhead country so be careful where you step.
Here is a pretty good clip about it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnNRRhAUxs
Here is a report about it (includes insect information):
http://www.dauphincd.org/water/Clarks%20Creek%20CCP.pdf