Stony Creek
Every week for almost 20 years, members of the Doc Fritchey TU chapter have maintained diversion wells in the Stony Creek watershed. Creek water is diverted into the wells, which contain crushed limestone. The hydraulic pressure pulverizes the stone into fine particles and sweeps the pH basic sand downstream. To keep the program operating, volunteers must shovel large quantities of gravel into the remotely located wells. These TUers donate a lot of time as well as their back muscles!

Their work has been rewarded with noted improvements in the watershed, which suffers from acidic coal mine drainage. The liming program has increased the pH and Stony now supports wild and stocked trout. About 18 miles of the creek flows through a roadless area, offering a wilderness experience to anglers who enjoy walking and biking.

Bob Pennell, an active member of the Fritchey chapter, and I tried our luck at the downstream boundary of the roadless area. Bob’s favorite PA fly, the green weenie, tempted a few of the stream’s brown trout. The green weenie is a simple beadhead inch worm tied with bright green chenille. While the “match the hatch” crowd wouldn’t be caught dead with this unnaturally gaudy fly in their box, there is no denying its effectiveness in certain situations.

Regardless of whether you prefer #10 florescent worms or #26 tricos, a trout stream is a great place to spend a day. Thanks to the Doc Fritchey Chapter, Stony Creek fits the bill once again.

Coldwater Heritage Partnership
The top trout fisheries in Pennsylvania are designated as “class A” water. This classification is based on the combined mass of wild trout per unit area and water quality. Of course, these rivers are particularly popular with anglers, the state’s natural resources agencies, and conservationists. To help protect the “class A” trout fisheries and other coldwater streams with exceptional environmental value, the Coldwater Heritage Partnership (CHP) was forged in 2003.

CHP is a cooperative effort between the PA council of Trout Unlimited, the PA Fish and Boat Commission, the Western PA Watershed Protection Program, and the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. CHP assists local conservation groups (including TU chapters) with holistic watershed assessment and strategic planning to provide a foundation for future conservation efforts.

In four years, CHP has assisted with 35 conservation plans for watersheds across the state. According to Deb Nardone, the CHP’s Coldwater Resources Specialist, the program is so successful because it empowers local conservation groups with the technical and financial resources necessary to undertake large-scale projects. A CHP conservation plan focuses on definitive goals for watershed protection and restoration. Furthermore, it provides the conservation group with information that can be used to court funding from non-profits, government agencies, and local businesses for project implementation.

Where is the program headed in the future? Deb says CHP will not only continue to assist with assessment, but also help implement the conservation plans that have already been completed. Also, she hopes that other states will benefit from similar programs down the road. To find out more about the Coldwater Heritage Partnership, visit http://www.coldwaterheritage.org/.

Wild Trout
Stocking fish on top of wild trout populations is a sensitive issue in Pennsylvania. In the early 1980s, TU worked with the Fish and Boat Commission to create a new set of management guidelines called Operation Future. Operation Future aims to identify and maintain wild trout fisheries, particularly in the “class A” water.

It is illegal to stock fish in the state’s 450 reaches of “class A” water; however, many of the wild trout fisheries that are not considered “class A” are “supplemented” with hatchery trout. Why is the state spending a lot of money to stock on top of wild fish?

The PA TU folks call it “social stocking.” The Pennsylvania Boat and Fish Commission depends heavily on license revenue. According to PA TU, the higher-ups in the Commission believe that the more trout you stock, the more licenses you sell. I talked with Tom Shervinskie, a biologist with Fish and Boat, who dismissed this idea and insisted that the management of PA’s trout fisheries is scientifically sound, with the interests of the resource and the public in mind.

The Fish and Boat Commission motto is, “Resource First,” but Bob Pennell and other TUers believe that the resource is sometimes taking second (or even third) to financial and social pressures. I respect the opinions of the state biologists and I hope management policies reflect their recommendations. I also appreciate the watch-dog position that PA TU has assumed. I am glad that there are concerned conservationists paying attention to the activities of the Commission to ensure the state’s valuable wild trout resources receive adequate protection.

Penns Creek
Penns Creek is a premier wild trout fishery in north-central Pennsylvania. I’m sure many of you have fished this stream and the rest of you have heard of it. I visited Penns with local guide Dave Rothrock. In addition to operating his fly fishing service called Salmo-Trutta Enterprises, Dave serves on PA TU’s Trout Management Committee. He is very knowledgeable about all of the trout waters in central PA and he is one of the best anglers I’ve ever met. Only an electroshocking unit can bring up more trout than Dave and his nymphing setup.

You don’t visit Penns Creek in late spring to fish subsurface. Hendricksons, march browns, gray foxes, sulfurs, and green drakes, just to name a few, make this creek a world-renowned dry fly fishery. May is the peak month and the river was crowded with anglers looking for the drakes.

I did see a few of these large, prehistoric mayflies, but the fish never keyed in on them. Still, I watched many hopeful anglers lob flies the size of small birds to rising fish, without a strike. There seemed to be as many green drakes attached to fly lines as there were naturals.

The trout were taking sulfurs, but they were quite picky. Long, fine tippets and down-and-across presentations were mandatory. I caught most of my fish by “skitching” my fly an inch or so while it was still a few feet upstream of the strike zone and then letting the fly dead drift over the trout. I have found this technique useful in the past as well. I think that a little motion when the fly is just entering the trout’s view helps your artificial stand out from the crowd.

It is illegal to fish the catch and release section of Penns at night, so the evening dry fly window ends quickly. It was probably good that I got to bed. The next day, I had a long drive to the night fishing capital of the world.

See the photos HERE

Note: Immediately after the theft, I was limited to one photo memory card, so I only have a few shots for this article.