A couple of decades ago, I lived in a neighboring state for a while, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was practically in our back yard. I loved the place the first time I saw it. Dense timber, ridge and valley after ridge and valley, and in the bottom of every valley, a stream or a river.
There were rivers with names that came right out of the pages of American history — the Allegheny, the Susquehanna and the Delaware. There were rivers that I wasn’t real sure how to pronounce — like the Youghiogheny. And there were fish — there were even trout!
I wish I had known about Sky Blue Outfitters back then. Even more, I wish I had known Rick Nyles back then. I’d have made a great friend much sooner and I would have experienced one of the best and most comprehensive fly fishing guide services in Pennsylvania. Rick started guiding in 1999 and started SBO in 2002. It was a great move. Rick has fished for over 40 years all over Pennsylvania and all over the country. Like all the guides at SBO, Rick is a Pennsylvania native and a lifelong resident of the state. He knows these waters like no one else I know. That knowledge came in handy in the early days, as SBO started running day trips and packaged trips to Penns, Pine, Spring, Little Juniata, Big Fishing Creek, Bald Eagle, Slate, Cedar and Little Pine Creek — just to name a few. Rick was happy, the clients were happy and the business grew.
As it grew, Taylor Helbig, Dave Allbaugh and others came on to support and expand the business, bringing many years of additional experience in fly fishing these great waters. Their expertise made things even better, and SBO established itself as a leading guide service in Pennsylvania. They branched out into fishing for bass, pike and muskies. When carp fishing became a thing, they began offering what may have been the first fly fishing guide service to target the “poor man’s bonefish.” They began to lead trips farther afield — trout in Montana…redfish, sea trout and stripers off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and more.
But don’t take my word for it. Go. Give Pennsylvania a shot. Fish for trout, fish for smallmouth, fish for carp — but whatever you do, fish with SBO. TU is proud to have Sky Blue Outfitters as a Gold Level TU Business member.
Sky Blue Outfitters
Rick Nyles
Fleetwood, PA 19522
(610) 987-0073