Children’s Lake Dam and Allenberry construction updates?

[JimKennedy]

Can anyone give an update on the dam project and the status of the Allenberry work?

Since I was a kid, fishing Boiling Springs creek and the Allenberry was the best way to get over the humiliation of a morning on the LeTort.

Catching none to four on the letort can be depressing (especially when the total is none landed and no chases) so tagging a few fat stockers in Boiling Springs is an ego soothing salve.

It’s been a tough few years of hitting Vincent’s meadow and then seeing a p!ss deep run below the dam.

Give me a reason to hope for dumb trout.

 

[joebamboo]

Childrens Lake has been drained. Work has begun to repair the sink hole. It won't be back to normal for some time.

The "stream improvement project" at Allenberry has been completed.

 

[JimKennedy]

Thanks for the update.

 

[troutbert]

Childrens Lake has been drained. Work has begun to repair the sink hole. It won't be back to normal for some time.

The "stream improvement project" at Allenberry has been completed.

What is the location of the sinkhole?

 

[joebamboo]

Article from local news:

$4.3 million project under way at Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission expects to miss 2023 trout fishing season at the popular lake.

www.pennlive.com

 

[mute]

Anyone local to the area know if this project completed? Is the run out of children's lake now a fishery again?

 

[krayfish2]

Drove by there twice this week. Lake is still empty. Very strange to see the springs pumping and the water forming a stream that winds through the drained lake

 

[Fish Sticks]

Man 4.3 million dollars, i know I will get flack for this but I’d personally wish they’d just saved most of that money and used this as an excuse to pull the dams and leave it as a Snakey stream winding through the lake bed as Krayfish mentioned he saw it. Throw some trees in the lake bed and create some wetlands for the breeches endangered eastern mud salamander instead of for rubber trout. Total pipe dream and not what anyone else wants to see i’m sure.

 

[joebamboo]

With the new construction, it is very unlikely that The Run will ever hold trout again!

 

[jifigz]

Man 4.3 million dollars, i know I will get flack for this but I’d personally wish they’d just saved most of that money and used this as an excuse to pull the dams and leave it as a Snakey stream winding through the lake bed as Krayfish mentioned he saw it. Throw some trees in the lake bed and create some wetlands for the breeches endangered eastern mud salamander instead of for rubber trout. Total pipe dream and not what anyone else wants to see i’m sure.

Sounds like something I'd to see.

 

[TimMurphy]

Man 4.3 million dollars, i know I will get flack for this but I’d personally wish they’d just saved most of that money and used this as an excuse to pull the dams and leave it as a Snakey stream winding through the lake bed as Krayfish mentioned he saw it. Throw some trees in the lake bed and create some wetlands for the breeches endangered eastern mud salamander instead of for rubber trout. Total pipe dream and not what anyone else wants to see i’m sure.

Dear Fish Sticks,

A stocked lake feeding a stocked stream is PA trout heaven. They'd have spent $ 50 Million to keep up the tradition.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Fish Sticks]

Dear Fish Sticks,

A stocked lake feeding a stocked stream is PA trout heaven. They'd have spent $ 50 Million to keep up the tradition.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Oh no doubt thats why i called making habitat for endangered eastern mud salamanders a pipe dream in my post because no matter what opportunity exists to do it, it is as you said.

 

[Letort]

With the new construction, it is very unlikely that The Run will ever hold trout again!

How so? Just curious why this may be.

 

[joebamboo]

Years ago fly fisherman from all over flocked to fish The Run. It was loaded with fish. Then TU decided that it needed improvement and installed "diverters" at the lower end. The trout for some reason either moved into the "Plunge Pool" (where the lake emptied into the run) or moved down into the mainstream. The Run hasn't been the same ever since. Now with the Lake restoration, even the plunge pool is gone. The trees and vegetation that once lined the upper end of the run have been removed. There little reason to believe that The Run will ever hold trout again. Even the suckers that used the run for spawning have long disappeared.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Years ago fly fisherman from all over flocked to fish The Run. It was loaded with fish. Then TU decided that it needed improvement and installed "diverters" at the lower end. The trout for some reason either moved into the "Plunge Pool" (where the lake emptied into the run) or moved down into the mainstream. The Run hasn't been the same ever since. Now with the Lake restoration, even the plunge pool is gone. The trees and vegetation that once lined the upper end of the run have been removed. There little reason to believe that The Run will ever hold trout again. Even the suckers who used the run for spawning have long disappeared.

I remember the good ole days at The Run. I fished it extensively in the late 80s until about 2012. The 80s and 90s were absolute fire there, and yes, I remember a tour bus with a group of Pittsburgh fly fishers showing up every Summer. Back then, it wasn't hard to have a 50+ fish day if everything went your way. It was close by and great for a quick fix when I didn't want to drive far or was on limited time schedule. The Run also saved me many a day when other local streams were flooded and options to fish we're limited. I don't fish there anymore, but retaining it as a fishery should be of utmost importance. It's a great place to introduce kids to fly-fishing and provides them with a great outlet when school is out during the Summer. This is where my daughter learned to fly-fish and where she spent much of her Summer vacations. From The Run, she progressed to being quite competent down at Allenberry. I'd hate to see Boiling Springs lose something like that when the implications are many.

 

[wbranch]

My wife and I had dinner reservations at Allenberry's Barn restaurant last weekend. We stopped at the TCO fly shop and I spoke to Ashley, the shop manager, about Childrens Lake, the Run, and the improvements to the stream below the outflow of the Run.

The work at the Clildrens Lake is not slated to be complete until June. Access to the Run is totally closed off. There is heavy equipment in the Run parking lot and all around that area. I think you could park on the road adjacent to the swimming pool and access the YB that way. Ashley told me the stream improvements are completed and the appearance of the stream is greatly improved. He indicated the narrowing of some sections has increased the water velocity and fish carrying capacity. I asked him if the dam behind the resort had been removed. He indicated it had not but he said it has been breached to allow that totally dead water above the dam to now have some flow.

If anyone is interested when we had dinner the dining room was packed and we were seated way off towards the rear in what appeared to me a room normally used for meetings of local clubs or possibly private affairs. The menu had maybe half a dozen entrees, small plates and appetizers were also available. I felt for the quality and ambiance the bill was quite pricey.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Its just ashame that you can dump trout in any warm *hit hole in our fine state for the april opener but instead we raised 4.3 million to make sure one of the largest springs in the state stays dammed and hot. Thats just PA! Land is there to make milk and honey to drip into mans mouth.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Its just ashame that you can dump trout in any warm *hit hole in our fine state for the april opener but instead we raised 4.3 million to make sure one of the largest springs in the state stays dammed and hot. Thats just PA! Land is there to make milk and honey to drip into mans mouth.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. If Green Spring Creek were located anywhere else, I'd wager that there would be more appetite to try and restore it. With being in the shadow of famous CV limestoners, Green Springs has gotten short shrift. I know that place quite well. Are there wild browns there? YES. Are there a lot of them present? NO. Could there be with considerable money, time, effort expended? LIKELY. I don't think the necessary ingredients are there to restore it to a brook trout fishery, but I do think you could successfully bring about a self-supporting wild brown and/or wild rainbow fishery. I'd much prefer that over maintaining status-quo. I can't help but think others here would want that too. I hate seeing limestone spring creek degradation seeing they are such precious resources.

 

[just_jon]

I don't necessarily disagree with you. If Green Spring Creek were located anywhere else, I'd wager that there would be more appetite to try and restore it. With being in the shadow of famous CV limestoners, Green Springs has gotten short shrift. I know that place quite well. Are there wild browns there? YES. Are there a lot of them present? NO. Could there be with considerable money, time, effort expended? LIKELY. I don't think the necessary ingredients are there to restore it to a brook trout fishery, but I do think you could successfully bring about a self-supporting wild brown and/or wild rainbow fishery. I'd much prefer that over maintaining status-quo. I can't help but think others here would want that too. I hate seeing limestone spring creek degradation seeing they are such precious resources.

It’s a shame what has become of Green Spring. I live 10 minutes away and used to fish it 15-20 time a year. It was a hidden gem that was never pressured compared to Big Spring and had one of the best sulfur hatches in the valley. The state tried fall stocking of fingerling browns about 10 years ago, but I believe that plan has been abandoned.

 

[laszlo]

I was at the run about a month ago.
There was machinery everywhere, no one was working on a Sunday and I did not see any signs to NOT fish. Fished down to the main stem. Did not catch a fish and did not SEE a fish in the run.