Twenty Mile Creek
The east side's big creek: a PFBC easement opened 9,000 feet of former club water, and the pool below the falls holds hundreds of fish.
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Current conditions
Gauge: USGS 04213152 — Walnut Creek Upstream Pool (USGS 04213152) - shore-wide timing proxy Proxy gauge
Reading baked into this page when it was last updated at 2026-10-14 20:30 — checking the live USGS feed now…
| Window | Reading |
|---|---|
| Too low | Walnut gauge under 15 cfs; Twenty Mile running gin clear and skinny |
| Low and fishable | Walnut 15 - 50 cfs; fish held in the deep pools |
| Prime | Walnut 50 - 150 and falling; Twenty Mile greens about a day later |
| High and fishable | Soft edges and the big pool while Walnut runs 150 - 250 |
| Blown out | Walnut over 250, or Twenty Mile milky at Route 5 |
Read the color at the Route 5 bridge before you gear up: magic green (18-30 inches of visibility) on a falling trend is the window.
Ahead of Sixteen and Twelve Mile by a day or more after the same rain. If the west side is fishing today, Twenty Mile is fishing tomorrow.
How the bands were set: Twenty Mile Creek has NO gauge on the Pennsylvania reach (a discontinued USGS site in South Ripley, NY is its only station of record). Windows are timed off the Walnut Creek gauge with a one-day lag - the house reference classes Twenty Mile as a PFBC Medium runoff stream (1-2 days) that comes in ahead of the other east-side creeks.
Gauge page: USGS monitoring location 04213152
Season playbook
Resolved from today's date — the current season is highlighted. On the live site this re-resolves in your browser.
Fall (Oct - Nov)This season
The water: First east-side creek to come in on rain; the falls pool fills early and keeps filling.
Fish present: Steelhead; stocked trout up-creek.
How to fish it: Pool at first light, easement water midday, mouth at dusk.
Winter (Dec - Feb)
The water: Clear and cold; the big pool is the winter address.
Fish present: Steelhead holding deep.
How to fish it: Slow indicator work in the pool and the deepest runs.
Spring (Mar - Apr)
The water: Sucker run and dropbacks; upper creek fishes like a trout stream.
Fish present: Steelhead, suckers, trout.
How to fish it: Sucker Spawn in riffles; nymphs up-creek.
Summer (May - Aug)
The water: Shaded upper water stays coolest on the east side.
Fish present: Stocked and wild trout up-creek.
How to fish it: Light nymphs and terrestrials; dawn starts.
On now — hatch & forage for October
- Steelhead egg drift — Glo-Bugs, beads, egg sacks (bait)
- Emerald shiners (mouth) — Shiner patterns, White Death
- Crayfish — Crayfish patterns, Woolly Buggers
Full calendar
| Item | Window | Size | Patterns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelhead egg drift | Oct - Dec | eggs 6-10 mm | Glo-Bugs, beads, egg sacks (bait) | The falls pool fishes like an aquarium of egg-eaters in November. |
| Emerald shiners (mouth) | Sep - Apr | 2-3 in baitfish | Shiner patterns, White Death | Mouth and lowest pools. |
| Little black stoneflies | Jan - Mar | #16-20 | Black stonefly nymph | Upper creek winter hatch. |
| Midges | Nov - Mar | #20-26 | Zebra Midge | Clear low-water days. |
| Sucker spawn | Mar - May | eggs 6-8 mm | Sucker Spawn | Mid-creek riffles in spring. |
| Spring mayflies and caddis (upper trout water) | Apr - Jun | #12-18 | Pheasant Tail, Hare's Ear, Elk Hair Caddis | Typical windows per PA regional hatch charts, for the stocked/wild trout reach above the falls. |
| Crayfish | May - Oct | #6-10 | Crayfish patterns, Woolly Buggers | Resident forage through the easement pools; buggers double for it all fall. |
Weather & conditions playbook
The row matching the live flow band is highlighted when the gauge answers.
| Condition | What changes | Tactics | Flies | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High and off-color | The big pool churns and the easement runs go milky for 1-2 days. | Fish the pool's soft edge only, or the mouth. Otherwise wait for the stain. | Bright eggs at the edges. | Mostly wait - it comes in first on the east side. |
| Prime green and falling (a day behind Walnut) | Falls pool stacked, easement runs alive. | First light at the pool, then walk up and pick pockets. | Eggs, beads, small stones. | Go. |
| Low and clear | Fish sulk in the pool and deepest slots; spooky in the runs. | First/last light; long leaders; small offerings. | Single eggs, midges, small nymphs. | Pool and dawn only. |
| Cold snap | Winter lock-up in the runs; the pool stays open longest. | Midday in the pool, slow and deep. | Small eggs, zebra midges. | Short, targeted. |
| Warm rain in fall | New fish push straight to the falls and stack below it. | Be at the pool on the first green morning. | Eggs and bright buggers. | Go. |
| Post-front bright | Shade and depth; fish hug the falls' foam line and cut banks. | Foam lines and shade, downsized. | Natural eggs and nymphs. | Fishable. |
Access points
Mouth at Orchard Beach (North East Township) · Map pin
Parking: Lakefront parking at Orchard Beach; obey township signage.
The lake end of the system: staging fish, surf casting at dawn, and the first pools of the creek.
PFBC Dohler Easement and the falls pool (upstream of Route 5) · Map pin
Parking: Park at North East Township Community Conservation Park, south of Route 5, and walk in - this is the access the PFBC easement was paired with.
Acquired January 2023 with Lake Erie permit funds: about 9,000 linear feet of public fishing easement upstream of the Route 5 bridge, formerly a private angling club. The big pool below the falls here stacks hundreds of steelhead in season. Easement corridor rules apply - stay in the signed water.
Route 20 crossings (upper creek) · Map pin
Parking: Bridge crossings on Route 20; several stretches along Route 20 are posted by landowners - park only where legal.
Upper water toward the New York line: thinner fish, far thinner crowds. Watch posting closely and know the state line - NY rules and license apply across it.
Access changes with postings and seasons — respect every sign, and confirm current PFBC regulations before fishing.
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The complete guide: access map with GPS pins, the full flow-band tactics, hatch calendar, weather playbook, regulations, and sources — a living guide, refreshed as conditions and data change, with refreshed editions free to buyers.
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