Eastern PA fishing

[Boomer]

Just out of curiosity. A good friend of mine lives near Exton/downingtown region. I am from the pittsburgh area and I'm not as familiar with the area. Can anyone tell me if there are any must fish streams of PA close to the Exton/Downingtown area?

Thanks guys

 

[Mike]

Must fish? No. Not unless you want to surprise the folks at home with a true story that you were able to catch wild brown trout within perhaps 20 mi of the Phila city limits. If that interests you, fish Valley Creek in Valley Forge National Historic Park. By my standards, there are no "must fish" wild trout streams in SE Pa.

There are nice streams and some good wild trout populations, but " must fish" is a category that I reserve for the few very best in Pa. Even though we have the best or second best freestoner in Pa for legal size wild brookies, even that stream is so small that I would not say that it is even close to a " must fish" water.

In my view the must fish wild or fingerling stocked streams are reserved for Northcentral and Southcentral Pa, with perhaps one or two in the Northwest, not including the steelhead fishery, and Southwest. My list would skip the SE and NE ( except the Delaware and its branches in the NE ). It is a pretty short list.

 

[Millsertime]

First, I would consider that Southeast PA. Second, I would visit Victory Brewery in Downingtown before I'd FF Valley Creek.

 

[FGSIII]

Like Mike said....not really any "must fish" water around here. Other than the stream Mike mentioned, the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek has a delayed harvest section on it that probably has a few trout left.

I live in D'Town and have been going to the Tulpehocken Creek for my fishing as of late. TCO Flyshop has a nice website and a nice shop not far from the "Tully". The small trout have been very cooperative on nice days. There are some larger fish mixed in as well. It is about 45 min from D'town.

Frank

 

[Longbow]

Millsertime wrote:
First, I would consider that Southeast PA. Second, I would visit Victory Brewery in Downingtown before I'd FF Valley Creek.

I would do that but in the opposite order. No doubt Valley is a tough creek to fish, but one can consistently catch fish there, even in the winter.

 

[SBecker]

Mike wrote:
My list would skip the SE and NE ( except the Delaware and its branches in the NE ). It is a pretty short list.

110% correct. Please stay away.

 

[tomitrout]

Personally, I would consider Valley a 'must fish' stream if you're already gonna be in the area. Lots of history and you'd get to see what all the hype is about (at least as related to this board ;-) ).

Would I make a specific trip just to fish VC? Probably not. But if I were in a touristy mode and had some time to spend on the water along with taking in some history at Valley Forge, then yeah, I'd definitely fish it...

 

[boogeyklat]

I second valley. It is my home water and have had great days in the winter during warming trends. It is a tough little stream and I mean little loaded with wild browns. It can really put your skills to the test. Fish were rising yesterday to specs in the film. It can be maddening trying to catch these little jewels!

Plus you can fish next to log cabins from the revolutionary war!

Definitely spend a week in poconos during the spring and fish all the streams on your way up to the west branch of the d. You can also catch monster smallies to mix it up.

Pm me if you like

 

[troutbert]

Boomer wrote:
Just out of curiosity. A good friend of mine lives near Exton/downingtown region. I am from the pittsburgh area and I'm not as familiar with the area. Can anyone tell me if there are any must fish streams of PA close to the Exton/Downingtown area?

You might try some of the streams BETWEEN Pittsburgh and Philadelphia!

 

[mr7183]

Mike wrote:
There are nice streams and some good wild trout populations, but " must fish" is a category that I reserve for the few very best in Pa. Even though we have the best or second best freestoner in Pa for legal size wild brookies, even that stream is so small that I would not say that it is even close to a " must fish" water.

...what stream is this? PM is fine if you don't feel like posting it.

 

[raftman]

Was wondering the same thing..

 

[KeithS]

me too.

 

[pcray1231]

It is a tough little stream and I mean little loaded with wild browns.

Funny, I have never, ever thought of VC as a "small" stream. In the park it's "medium-large" and above the park probably just "medium".

It's not a great stream, but it's not a bad one either. I achieve double digits on wild browns fairly frequently there, though I'm also choosing only to fish it when conditions are at their best. Other times it can be more difficult. The fish average pretty small, there's not much gradient. But there are a lot of fish, and for the location, hey, I'd be happy if there were a few more like it around.

There are some stocked streams in the area. There's also some lesser known wild trout waters. Specifically "truly" tiny brookie streams and a few slightly larger brown trout streams, both limestone and freestone.

But yeah, if you want better fishing, go north. Berks, Lehigh, Carbon, Schuylkill, etc. counties have more options and better fishing overall for virtually any type of experience you're looking for. They are day trippable from the D-town/Exton area. I do it fairly frequently.

 

[tobewan77]

HA, was wondering as well. But honestly get so little time out I don't even have a guess.

 

[Mike]

Valley Creek and Little Valley used to have larger fish prior to the substantial habitat degradation by stormwater runoff, which progressed throughout the 1980's and 1990's. The stormwater runoff made the stream wider and shallower, and "smoothed out the bottom" in some areas removing the more abrupt contours of some pools At least that is what had happened when I last saw the streams in any detail over a decade ago. Bigger fish were more common in the 1980's. If conditions have improved, I would be glad to hear about it.

Stormwater runoff's impact on urban streams is that ultimately the remaining habitat favors small fish in abundance. It is not unlike the impacts of channelization by bulldozers that used to occur in Pa, especially that which followed hurricane Agnes in 1972. Stormwater impacts are now a modern day version of stream channelization. Taken to the extreme, the streams become much, much wider than what is required for base flow.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Quote: Mike wrote: My list would skip the SE and NE ( except the Delaware and its branches in the NE ). It is a pretty short list.

110% correct. Please stay away.

I laughed pretty damn hard at this. Ya it's a short list alright ...

 

[NickR]

Mike, I agree that Valley has become much wider and shallow. Some of my favorite bend pools that used to have some depth and hold some larger fish... these nice holes are vanishing quickly... and at an accelerated rate over the past 3 years or so.

 

[afishinado]

NickR wrote:
Mike, I agree that Valley has become much wider and shallow. Some of my favorite bend pools that used to have some depth and hold some larger fish... these nice holes are vanishing quickly... and at an accelerated rate over the past 3 years or so.

No doubt. Valley Creek changes with every major rainfall event because of the direct runoff resulting from the development along its banks. Couple that with unstable banks and the result is siltation and channelization.

The stream bed of Valley is like the shifting sands and changes with each major storm event. There seems to be one every year or two that is greater than 4000 cfs in the stream that normally flows from 20-40 cfs (that's 100 to 200 times the normal flow)...see below.

The entire stream changes with each event. Many of the big fish holding areas have been wiped out.

 

[englishprof]

afishinado wrote:

NickR wrote:
Mike, I agree that Valley has become much wider and shallow. Some of my favorite bend pools that used to have some depth and hold some larger fish... these nice holes are vanishing quickly... and at an accelerated rate over the past 3 years or so.

No doubt. Valley Creek changes with every major rainfall event because of the direct runoff resulting from the development along its banks. Couple that with unstable banks and the result is siltation and channelization.

The stream bed of Valley is like the shifting sands and changes with each major storm event. There seems to be one every year or two that is greater than 4000 cfs in the stream that normally flows from 20-40 cfs (that's 100 to 200 times the normal flow)...see below.

The entire stream changes with each event. Many of the big fish holding areas have been wiped out.

Not sure I agree with all of this. Exactly where has it gotten "much wider"? Sure, there are significant changes after major storms, but for every holding area that disappears, another appears.

 

[afishinado]

englishprof wrote:

afishinado wrote:

NickR wrote:
Mike, I agree that Valley has become much wider and shallow. Some of my favorite bend pools that used to have some depth and hold some larger fish... these nice holes are vanishing quickly... and at an accelerated rate over the past 3 years or so.

No doubt. Valley Creek changes with every major rainfall event because of the direct runoff resulting from the development along its banks. Couple that with unstable banks and the result is siltation and channelization.

The stream bed of Valley is like the shifting sands and changes with each major storm event. There seems to be one every year or two that is greater than 4000 cfs in the stream that normally flows from 20-40 cfs (that's 100 to 200 times the normal flow)...see below.

The entire stream changes with each event. Many of the big fish holding areas have been wiped out.

Not sure I agree with all of this. Exactly where has it gotten "much wider"? Sure, there are significant changes after major storms, but for every holding area that disappears, another appears.

Hey John,

Anyone that fished Valley for a decade or two would note that the stream has filled in and widened in recent years. Back in the day, you could jump in with your Scadden Outlaw Predator and never hit bottom!...lol.

But seriously, many of the deeper holes have filled in and the stream is more and more channelized (straightened) and widened by the unnatural and frequent high water events coupled with the unstable banks due to lack of riparian cover.