Clarks Creek and Brookies

[Duriensbane]

Fished Clarks the last 2 saturdays in a row. Started just above the end of the FFO section and worked about 1.5miles up stream. Caught 2 stocker browns, 2 from the looks wild browns and 2 parr marked rainbows. Friend was with me and he caught a stocker rainbow, one chub and a chain pickerel.

Following weekend we went back but started at the Appalachian trail access point and fished towards the dam outlet. All 5 fish I caught looked to be wild browns ranging from 6in to 14.

Everything was caught on either a Jig Micro bugger black or a Jig Chenille streamer in black. What suprises me the most is the lack of any brooks in the system. I know looking at the stocking that they are put in there, but so far of the 4 times ive been there i havent landed one yet. I was hoping that they might have moved farther up the system but with the spread of decent sized browns, i dont think there is any population of brooks (stocked or not) in the system itself. I know Clarks has a bad reputation here lately due to the amount of down trees, but does anyone know where they (brooks) hold or do they get plucked out once stocked and only the browns and bows left?

 

[Mike]

Stocked brook trout are generally not long-lived and their residency isn’t great either. If they don’t stay put upon stocking, they generally move downstream. Survival until the fall from a spring stocking occurs on occasion, but it’s a relatively rare individual that does so.

 

[TimMurphy]

Fished Clarks the last 2 saturdays in a row. Started just above the end of the FFO section and worked about 1.5miles up stream. Caught 2 stocker browns, 2 from the looks wild browns and 2 parr marked rainbows. Friend was with me and he caught a stocker rainbow, one chub and a chain pickerel.

Following weekend we went back but started at the Appalachian trail access point and fished towards the dam outlet. All 5 fish I caught looked to be wild browns ranging from 6in to 14.

Everything was caught on either a Jig Micro bugger black or a Jig Chenille streamer in black. What suprises me the most is the lack of any brooks in the system. I know looking at the stocking that they are put in there, but so far of the 4 times ive been there i havent landed one yet. I was hoping that they might have moved farther up the system but with the spread of decent sized browns, i dont think there is any population of brooks (stocked or not) in the system itself. I know Clarks has a bad reputation here lately due to the amount of down trees, but does anyone know where they (brooks) hold or do they get plucked out once stocked and only the browns and bows left?

Dear Duriensbane,

Twenty years ago, and do mean twenty years ago, it was not uncommon for me to catch several 4-to-6-inch brook trout in Clarks Creek 2 or 3 miles above the Sportsman's Club Hatchery on up the Appalachian Trail parking area. They were common back then. I almost never didn't get a couple. They had to come from somewhere.

I haven't seriously fished Clarks Creek in over a decade and wouldn't today even if on a dare.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[redietz]

Twenty years ago, and do mean twenty years ago, it was not uncommon for me to catch several 4-to-6-inch brook trout in Clarks Creek

It's been somewhat more recently than that for me, but I've caught quite a few brook trout of that size in Clark's, including the last time I went there six or seven years ago.

 

[Duriensbane]

Well i think they are pretty much all gone now, We walked and fished within id say 300yrds of the dam, and the only thing we saw up at the top were browns. Which typically from what ive seen is the death whistle for brookies. Below are a few of the ones i got from the past 2 weeks. I do personally enjoy it, as my friend and I both like to get out and away in the woods, and Clarks does deliver that. But I was just hoping that there was a better population of brooks in it.

 

[Bamboozle]

I've caught more than a few brook trout on Clark's, all stockers, all 8' - 10", all caught in Section 4, the FFO area.

Like Tim it's been long time since I fished Clark's although not 20 years, but I'm not in hurry to go back...

I don't take pictures of fish anymore but here's one from Clark's ALMOST 20 years ago:

 

[coyoterahn]

It’s probably been 20 years or so since I caught a non stocked brookie in Clarks.

 

[Bamboozle]

I never caught wild brookies at Clark's, only wild browns and they were predominantly caught near the lower end of Section 4.

 

[Andrwhite610]

A couple people poo-pooing Clark’s here. Curious as to why?? It’s on my list of streams to visit. What gives?

 

[lestrout]

A couple people poo-pooing Clark’s here. Curious as to why?? It’s on my list of streams to visit. What gives?

Clark's used to be great for ffishing, with cold water all summer and interesting hatches. But storms and floods several years ago flushed many dead hemlocks (victims of an invasive bug) into immense logjams. The beautiful pools were transformed into holes suitable for bait fishing with spinning gear. The trouts and maybe some bugs are probably happy but us fly guys not so. The remoteness of the stream make clearing the house size log jams unfeasible.

 

[Andrwhite610]

Clark's used to be great for ffishing, with cold water all summer and interesting hatches. But storms and floods several years ago flushed many dead hemlocks (victims of an invasive bug) into immense logjams. The beautiful pools were transformed into holes suitable for bait fishing with spinning gear. The trouts and maybe some bugs are probably happy but us fly guys not so. The remoteness of the stream make clearing the house size log jams unfeasible.

Interesting thanks!…I have a few streams in that area pinned to check out. That’s a bummer about that one.

 

[td566]

I fished Clark’s a few times back in the (gulp) late 70s while attending Lebanon Valley College. It was an absolutely gorgeous stream shaded by beautiful hemlocks. One decent rainbow I can still remember had the most brilliant flame red streaks on its sides.
Sadly, I have chosen to savor those memories and not visit again.

 

[coyoterahn]

A couple people poo-pooing Clark’s here. Curious as to why?? It’s on my list of streams to visit. What gives?

If you’ve never been there, depending on your expectations it may be worth it to check it out for yourself.

 

[troutbert]

Years ago, before a lot of hemlocks came down, I fished up through the regs area and thought that the habitat was flat, shallow, and lacking in cover. Casting was easy, but the fish habitat seemed poor.

On a more recent visit I started at the lower end of the regs area and fished up pretty far. In the stretch that I fished I thought that the downed hemlocks created more pools and cover and therefore better fish habitat than had been there in the past. And it was still easy to fly cast.

But maybe I didn't go up far enough to get into the section that people are describing as unfishable because of log jams. How long is this "unfishable" stretch, and what landmarks are at its upper and lower ends? Is it mainly the upper end of the special regs area? Or does it continue on up towards the Appalachian Trail parking area, and even further up?

 

[Mike]

Years ago, before a lot of hemlocks came down, I fished up through the regs area and thought that the habitat was flat, shallow, and lacking in cover. Casting was easy, but the fish habitat seemed poor.

I participated in a summer electrofishing survey of a representative sampling site of the FFO section sometime during the 1976-1978 period and that was my impression too. In fact, it reminded me of a section of stream that had been modified for a sportsmen’s fishing rodeo…wide, flat, low gradient, and 1-2 ft deep pools separated by short “riffles” that had the slight appearance of rock dams created by kids or sportsmen. I was not impressed and I recall being baffled as to why fly anglers would be attracted to that stretch. I was much more impressed by the Appalachian Trail crossing area of the stream.

 

[Andrwhite610]

If you’ve never been there, depending on your expectations it may be worth it to check it out for yourself.

I likely still will..I ain’t scurred no downed trees😂

 

[Nocktavius]

Seems like another example of the PFBC and private entities loving a nice stretch of water to death. The brookies are gone bc of the stockers. They get outcompeted and forced higher and higher into the headwaters of our waterways. The downed hemlocks may have also had the consequence of increasing water temps to above lethal limits for ST.

I drive past Clarks a decent bit. I fished it once and that was enough for me. Plenty of tight mountain streams out there that aren't also the victims of reckless stocking and over-promotion.

 

[troutbert]

I participated in a summer electrofishing survey of a representative sampling site of the FFO section sometime during the 1977-1979 period and that was my impression too. In fact, it reminded me of a section of stream that had been modified for a sportsmen’s fishing rodeo…wide, flat, low gradient, and 1-2 ft deep pools separated by short “riffles” that had the slight appearance of rock dams created by kids or sportsmen. I was not impressed. I was much more impressed by the Appalachian Trail crossing area of the stream.

The area near the Appalachian Trail access looks like a normal, typical PA freestone stream running through the woods.

The wide, flat sections further down always looked strange and it was a puzzlement as to WHY the stream looks so completely different in that section.

But, I've figured out the reason (I think). In that section, you'll notice that the banks are very high, which is not the case further up. Looking at the eroding cut banks, you'll see that the sediment is very sandy. IMHO what you are looking at is several feet of sandy legacy sediment that was deposited behind a dam built for the old iron furnace. Those high sandy banks do not continue further down the stream, and further up you also do not see that. The explanation IMHO is that sandy legacy sediment began behind the dam and continue up as far as the old dam had the stream impounded.

The stream is incised into that sandy legacy sediment, and does not have access to its former floodplain. So, in high flows the water erodes laterally, creating a wide, flat, mostly straight channel, with lots of sandy substrate.

 

[Bamboozle]

A couple people poo-pooing Clark’s here. Curious as to why?? It’s on my list of streams to visit. What gives?

You might want to peruse these threads:

Clarks Creek fly sction

Does anyone still fish the 'fly fishing only' section of Clarks creek anymore? It used to be my favorite trout stream. Seems like the past several years it's really gone down hill.

www.paflyfish.com

Clarks Creek - A disaster in the making

Dear Board, I know it's been beat to death here on the board, but if there ever was a creek that needed chainsaw work this is it. I spent a couple of hours today checking out all my old haunts, and by old, I mean pre-Floyd and Ivan. I had a hard time even getting within sight of the creek...

www.paflyfish.com

However it's all about perspective...

Can it be fished, yes but if you fished it BEFORE the hemlocks died off the beauty and pleasures you had are like the memories of an old girlfriend from high school...

...while Clark's today is like seeing a picture of her TODAY on Facebook...

 

[Nocktavius]

You might want to peruse these threads:

Clarks Creek fly sction

Does anyone still fish the 'fly fishing only' section of Clarks creek anymore? It used to be my favorite trout stream. Seems like the past several years it's really gone down hill.

www.paflyfish.com

Clarks Creek - A disaster in the making

Dear Board, I know it's been beat to death here on the board, but if there ever was a creek that needed chainsaw work this is it. I spent a couple of hours today checking out all my old haunts, and by old, I mean pre-Floyd and Ivan. I had a hard time even getting within sight of the creek...

www.paflyfish.com

However it's all about perspective...

Can it be fished, yes but if you fished it BEFORE the hemlocks died off the beauty and pleasures you had are like the memories of an old girlfriend from high school...

...while Clark's today is like seeing a picture of her TODAY on Facebook...

That might be the most spot on analogy I’ve ever heard