Fishing Creek at Tylersville Hatchery

[Foxgap239]

I have no idea if this topic was discussed on the forum already and I missed it but here goes anyway.

We went fishing over on BFC behind the Tylersville hatchery yesterday and what we found was very disheartening. From where the outflow from the hatchery enters the creek for maybe 200 to 300 yards downstream there is a white film all over the rocks on the left side of the creek as you walk downstream. I'm not sure if this is some other growth or if it is the algae just bleached out. Upstream from the out flow and on the right side of the stream there is normal green algae that is why I'm not sure what it is. The other disheartening thing were the dead fish we saw right below this flow. Last year this area was home to many risers throughout the year yet we saw none rising yesterday.

Does anyone know what's going on and if the PFBC or DEP are aware of the issue?

Thanks
Fox

 

[osprey]

Don't waste any time Foxy as soon as you possibly can call someone call several agencies and then check back later if u can. if you dont hhave the time i'll do it but i'm not familiar with the creek or the area besides what i've read and the Becks n all. Dont waste any time.

 

[Fishidiot]

Like many fish hatcheries in PA, this one has had some (minor) issues with effluent over the years. The white gunk/algea is a common by- product of these hatcheries. The dead fish may have come from the hatchery but if not, this is a greater issue of concern and should definitely be checked out. There's a phone number for the Tylersville hatchery on the PFBC website - give 'em a call and describe what you saw. I'd send an email too and copy DEP. Make sure in the phone call/emails you use your name and the date you saw this so they know it's the same report from the same concerned fishermen.

 

[SBecker]

I witnessed this in November, it was disgusting.

 

[midnightangler]

This is a pretty good example of why I'm celebrating the closure of the two hatcheries in Central PA. I'd like to see the others close as well. They are bad for streams. We shouldn't be compromising our best trout waters by dumping effluent into them.

 

[troutbert]

I agree with the advice to contact both the PFBC and DEP.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

Lets just close everything lol. I live 10 minutes from there Ive seen it many times also have seen numerous dead beavers right there as well along with fish. I have told the guys in the hatchery there working many times.

 

[Chaz]

Tylersville population trouble has existed for many years and was supposed to be fixed by the settling basin and other improvements. Calling and asking what's up would be a big help. I'll bet hundreds of anglers go past it every year and don't make the call.
I was there last year at the same spot but didn't see an issue, maybe because there were no trout in the hatchery at the time.

 

[TYoung]

Closing all the hatcheries would be a terrible idea. There would be like five times as many people fishing on our spring creeks if they were to do that. I think that the extra crowds would cause more harm to the fishery than the hatcheries have caused.

 

[greenghost]

So sad. Sounds like hatchery effluent is most definitely poisoning the streams. Just like the one on Big Spring until 2001. It's what happens when the agency supposedly in charge of waterways protection prioritizes their job and becomes a trout factory first and foremost regardless of the affect on the waterways they are using. I assume this is an old-school raceway-type hatchery and the periodic "flushing" of the runs flushes all the crap, quite literally, out into these precious limestone waters. Not sure what the white would be though? Perhaps a calcification or lime treatment of the effluent by the hatchery?

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Contacting the PFBC about what is happening here is a bit like having the fox guard the henhouse.

I'd suggest contacting DEP and DCNR about this - and take pictures to back up the report. Maybe a call to the local newspaper would call attention to it too.

The more the public is made aware of any potential problem, the greater the likelihood something will get done about it.

 

[greenghost]

I have heard this stream has been declining for at least 20 years because of the hatchery. It may take a stink (pun intended) raised by fishermen and scientists (just like Big Spring) for action to be taken. Not necessarily closing the hatchery, but definitely initiating best-proactices in hatchery management and waste control via today's technologies.

 

[Chaz]

What PFBC should do is get all of the hatcheries off of the spring creeks and move them to tailwaters. They would then have a much higher amount of water available to them and the amount of efluent though not reduced would be near a 0 impact.

 

[Chooch]

Heritage-Angler wrote:
Contacting the PFBC about what is happening here is a bit like having the fox guard the henhouse.

I'd suggest contacting DEP and DCNR about this - and take pictures to back up the report. Maybe a call to the local newspaper would call attention to it too.

The more the public is made aware of any potential problem, the greater the likelihood something will get done about it.

Twenty years might be a stretch, but close. I think Fishing Creek started to go downhill around '96 or '97. I think it was '95 when the upper hatchery(Tylersville) flooded. It was the same year the half of the walking bridge in Harrisburg got wiped out. There was some damage and repairs needed at the hatchery. Prior to '95 the hatchery was pulling 50% of the water from the spring head and diverting it into the hatchery. That meant 50% of the pure spring water went directly into the stream. While repairing the hatchery they decided to pull 100% of the spring water into the hatchery which I assume was to boost production. So, when you decrease pure, cold, clean water going into the stream to zero and add more waste from increase trout production you get the Fishing Creek of today. Prior to the flood Fishing Creek rivaled Spring Creek in trout quantity. It far surpassed it is hatches. In essence, it was the perfect stream. The hatches were reliable and heavy and the fish fed freely on them. Nymphing was unbelievably productive. Just a year or two after the flood I started to notice a change. The first thing was the slimy green algae in the summer that made nymphing nearly impossible. Then the hatches started to decrease. The frist I noticed was the summer blue quills. I spent one fourth of July with my brother catching beautiful fat wild trout all afternoon as the quills popped off. They migrate to the banks to hatch and the trout would line up there picking them off. It was almost criminal the number of fish we caught. They are almost nonexistant now and the remaining population get off the water with ease. I used to fish there all the time and now I go maybe once or twice a year just to see if things have improved. They haven't. The sad thing is it could so easily be fixed.

 

[TYoung]

Chaz wrote:

What PFBC should do is get all of the hatcheries off of the spring creeks and move them to tailwaters. They would then have a much higher amount of water available to them and the amount of efluent though not reduced would be near a 0 impact.

Would you be willing to foot the bill for building all these new hatcheries? How do you expect the PFC to pay for new hatcheries, when it can't even afford to operate the existing ones?

 

[osprey]

I have heard of Big Fishing Creek , don't know where Tylersville is but know the general area. What AMAZES me is how many folks have seen this and for years even and just shake their heads and do NOTHING ............C'MON folks at least make a few phone calls and follow up on them. I find the conversation in this thread UNBELIEVABLE.

 

[troutbert]

Osprey, you are assuming that no one has tried to do anything about the problems at the Tylersville hatchery, but that is not at all the case.

People have been active in trying to get this problem fixed for years. Including complaints to the PFBC and DEP, written testimony and spoken testimony to the DEP at a public meeting about the hatchery re-licensing, AND a lawsuit brought by a citizens group.

Private citizens have spend a lot of time and energy trying to get the problem fixed.

 

[greenghost]

I used to fish this water often in college. And used to go 3 or 4 times every year until a few years ago. I remember from way back when, it was an incredible fishery. A limestone stream that looked like a classic mountain freestoner cutting through a mountain filled with beautiful wild trout, some of size way out of proportion to the size of the creek. And hatches that at times looked like snow. The last couple times I went, it kind of broke my heart. The scenery was still gorgeous, but the fish and quality of fishing, well, it was just a mere shadow of its past.

If there is ANY way we -- as concerned anglers -- could help resurrect this stream to its former glory it would be worth the effort. Perhaps it's time we all crank it up to the next level. I'm going to begin a letter-writing campaign to PFBC and politicians and see if anything comes of it. Hell, it's a start anyway.

 

[midnightangler]

What we really need to do is get rid of all hatcheries on top trout streams. We shouldn't be using running the most productive limestone springs in the state through fish hatcheries. That water belongs in the streams. If you have hatcheries, you're going to have effluent.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

all I can say is lol to the whole thread