Guided Trips
Whether you're giving it a try for the first time
An advanced angler trying to grow your skills
or you're just looking to get out on the water
We have the trip for you
How do you want to spend your day?
Want to see what fly fishing is all about? Learn competitive fly fishing tactics to really up your trout game? Try your hand at a rare musky encounter? No matter what you want out of your day, we can customize a guide trip to make it happen. Every one of our outings is specific to what you want to learn, what you want to fish for, and where you want to fish. We like to focus on education, but always prioritize fun.
Where we guide
Our area of Pennsylvania offers incredibly diverse fly fishing opportunities for trout, musky, bass, carp, and a host of other species. We offer guide trips on the famous limestone streams of Central Pennsylvania, the spring creeks of the Cumberland Valley, and the freestone rivers in between. Our primary waters are Spring Creek, Fishing Creek, Penns Creek, the Little Juniata & Juniata Rivers, the Susquehanna River, the Letort, Big Spring Creek, and the Yellow Breeches. We also guide a host of other, lesser know rivers and streams across Central and South Central Pennsylvania. Each water offers unique challenges, lessons, and rewards, but it could take you a lifetime to fully understand just one. These fisheries provide nearly year round fishing opportunities for us to enjoy. You can learn more about our fisheries here.
When we guide
365 days a year! We’re not just a fair weather guide service- we’re out rain or shine, summer or winter. Spring and summer is of course the busy season, but fall and winter have a lot to offer as well. Though often overlooked, late winter is maybe the best time to get on a truly big Pennsylvania trout or musky! That being said, ethics and conservation are our number one concern, so we hold off guiding for river and stream trout in November (but its a great time to learn how to stillwater fish!) and Musky in May to give them a chance to spawn uninterrupted.
What we offer
Innovative Angling is fully licensed and insured to run wade and float trips in Pennsylvania, and we offer both half day (4 hour) and full day (8 hour) options for both. Additional hours can be added on to full day trips for a fee. We specialize in educational euronymphing & tight line nymphing trips, but we can cover any tactics or target any species you want on your guide trip. More information on trips and pricing can be found below in the drop down menus. We provide rods, reels, flies, tackle, and water for all trips. Full day trips come with the option of a cold lunch as well, or a hot lunch at an additional charge. We have waders and boots available in limited sizes for anglers that do not have their own. A more in depth list of what to bring is provided upon booking.
Booking and Cancellations
Trips can be booked via email, phone (call or text), or by by using the contact form below. Please let us know briefly what kind of trip you’re looking for, what your preferred dates would be, and if you have a preference on location. Once we get your trip planned, a $150 deposit via Paypal, Venmo, or credit card is required to confirm your booking. The remaining balance is due on or before the day of your trip. Only cancellations made within fourteen days of your trip will require a forfeit of your deposit. Cancellations made by your guide due to dangerous conditions for the angler or fish, or for another emergency, will result in either a return of your deposit or a rebooking.
Trout
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Guided Trout Trips
With over fifteen years of experience fly fishing for trout on our Pennsylvania waters, and ten fly fishing competitively with Team USA, we’ve learned how to catch them in any conditions. We take a modern approach to fly fishing for this classic species, employing tactics learned in international competition and adapted to our waters. Nymphing, dry flies, wet flies, or streamers- we can spend the day fishing whatever you’re interested in. Educational trips are our specialty, but if your more interested in just getting out on the water and catching fish, we can do that too and get you on plenty! We can’t promise you still won’t learn a thing or two though! Our types of trips are listed below, each is great for anglers of any skill level.
Walk & Wade Trips
Our Central and South Central Pa streams offer exceptional walk and wade opportunities for all experience levels. These trips are done on foot, and are the best for learning and experimenting with new tactics!
Rates: $325 for half day/4hr trips & $450 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Extra anglers are $100/person. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: Any time! We have great wade fishing 365 days a year, and you’ll have a fun trip on any one of them, however we do give the fish a break in November to spawn.
Float Trips
A float trip is the best way to learn new water and see what Central Pennsylvania has to offer! If you want to hunt big fish with streamers, fish to rising trout from a way better angle, or sit back and cover a whole lot of water with a nymph rig, this is the trip for you.
Rates: $400 for half day/4hr trips & $600 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: Most of our rivers are on the small side, and the floatable ones tend to be too warm in the summer, so our float trips only run from December to June
Stillwater Bank Trips
Stillwater trout fishing is a whole different type of fun! The takes are more aggressive, the fish fight harder with room to run, and there’s a whole new set of skills to learn. We’re also the only guide service around that teaches advanced/competitive stillwater bank fishing tactics.
Rates: $325 for half day/4hr trips & $450 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Extra anglers are $100/person. Gratuity not included
Loch Style Stillwater Trips
Loch syle fishing is a form of active drifting on a lake using a drogue (wind anchor). It’s an integral part of competitive fly fishing and the most fun and efficient way to fly fish a stillwater. We’re the only guide service in the northeast utilizing and teaching loch style tactics.
Rates: $400 for half day/4hr trips & $600 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Gratuity not included
Large group & Corporate trips
Have a large group you want to get out on the water? Whether its a family reunion or a C-level corporate team building event, we can get you and your whole party out having fun. We have public and private water options to get you whatever experience you’re looking for.
Rates: Rates vary based on party size, specific needs, and location. Please contact for a quote.
Bass
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Guided Bass Trips
Our region of Pennsylvania offers some of the best river smallmouth fishing in the country. The Susquehanna River, Juniata River, an their tributaries have incredible bass populations and some trophy sized fish to boot. Fishing heats up in early April and is off the charts by mid May. Sometimes they get a bit finicky and require specialized tactics to fool, but many days we can get into anywhere from fifty to one hundred fish. Not to mention that due to the depth and clarity, we have a lot of opportunities to fish topwater flies and sight fish to three to five pound bass. Don’t tell the trout, but it might just become your new favorite type of fly fishing.
Walk and Wade Trips
Bass fishing is great on the big rivers, but we have some smaller, wadeable creeks that offer exceptional bass fishing in a more secluded setting. These can offer great opportunities to spot and stalk larger fish in the summer months.
Rates: $325 for half day/4hr trips & $450 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Extra anglers are $100/person. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: Bass fishing is great from April to October, peaking from June to August. No matter the water conditions, we can always find a good river to fish
Float Trips
Float trips are the most popular option for targeting bass on the Central and South Central Pennsylvania rivers. We can cover a lot of water and even more fish, and will have plnty of shots at a trophy smallmouth bass.
Rates: $400 for half day/4hr trips & $600 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: Bass fishing is great from April to October, and depending on water levels we can float any time
Musky
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Guided Musky Trips
A musky on the fly is the ultimate accomplishment in our neck of the woods. It takes time, dedication, an a whole lot of casts. It’s not easy, but we have plenty of success. With our knowledge of the fish and the fisheries, we think you have a good shot at convincing one of these fish to eat. We keep our musky waters pretty close to the chest, so we will only discuss locations once your booking is confirmed.
Full Day Float Trips
Because getting a musky on the fly is tough as it is, we only offer full day float trips to give our clients the best shot at hooking a fish. Being on a watercraft opens up a lot of highly productive water that can’ be reached on foot, and for a true shot at success a half day just isn’t enough.
Rates: $600 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: Musky fishing gets going when the weather starts cooling down in September, and is good all the way through June. We give the fish a break in May to spawn, and in the warmest months to avoid over stressing them in hot and low water conditions. Late fall and early winter (November to January) is our person favorite time to chase these fish.
Carp,
Suckers,
& MORE
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Guided Carp & Rough Fish Trips
Carp have gained a whole lot of popularity the past few years for good reasons – they hard too fool, offer some exceptional sight fishing opportunities, and fight like nothing else. If you’ve never given carp a shot, nows the time. But they’re not the only often overlooked “trash fish”. We have opportunities to catch their close relatives: white suckers, redhorse suckers, quillback, drum, and buffalo, which all offer different challenges. More than that, we can also go after other rough fish like bowfin, channel catfish, and gar. Come see what’s out there past the trout!
Walk and Wade Trips
There’s plenty of opportunities to wade fish all types of rough fish in our area and beyond. It’s a type of spot and stalk fishing that might make you feel like you’re in New Zeland, at least until you pull in whatever’s on the end of your line!
Rates: $325 for half day/4hr trips & $450 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Extra anglers are $100/person. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: These fish love hot water, so we primarily guide for them between May and September. The best time depends on what you want to chase!
Float Trips
Floating is the best way to cover water and find a trophy fish. Often times we’ll be in and out of the boat, stalking fish when we find them, similar to bonefishing in the Bahamas. It really is some of the most fun fishing around, especially in mid-summer when there’s not much else.
Rates: $400 for half day/4hr trips & $600 for full day/8hr trips, with an optional $50/hr extension for full day trips for 1-2 anglers. Extra anglers are $100/person. Gratuity not included
Prime Time: May to September is the time to be out, and luckily for these fish we have places to float no matter the water levels.