Eastern PA fishing

[SkyBlue]

These comments remind me of how the Manatawny changed in the past 25 years of direct run off. It changes every year.

 

[NickR]

For every holding area that disappears another one appears...I'd have to disagree with that and say that the overall habitat on Valley is getting worse every year on Valley. There are stretches of Valley that I believe fish numbers are way down as well...stretches that you used to be able to walk and spot fish are becoming fewer and fewer. There are holes that used to be deep... they are now filled in with silt. In the past 2-3 years I believe Valley is seeing an accelerated decline as a fishery. I mean think about it... widening of route 202, new stores, giant houses and businesses being built in the watershed, sewage pipes bursting and leaking sewage into the creek on multiple occasions. Let's be serious. This poor creek is getting it from every direction. I have heard people refer to Valley as an anomaly before. I certainly hope they are wrong about that.

 

[pcray1231]

The sewage sucks but likely not a long-term issue. It'll flush out and recover.

The development is more permanent. As far as holding areas, in the short term (single event time scale), I agree that old ones are lost and new ones created. But I also agree the long term trend is not good. Over a period of years or decades, yes, it's widening, and filling in, and it will make things worse. I've only fished it a few years so I don't see that first hand. But examining the banks and substrate tells the story plenty well enough.

 

[wildtrout2]

NickR wrote:
I have heard people refer to Valley as an anomaly before. I certainly hope they are wrong about that.

No, you don't want them to be wrong. They say it's an anomaly because it's an un-stocked wild trout fishery that's minutes from the city of Phila. It's quite the anomaly.

 

[NickR]

I wrote that when I was tired... I think what I was trying to say is that Valley is an anomaly and that I hope it doesn't come to pass.

 

[PaulR]

afishinado wrote:
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.

I agree. I've been fishing Valley Creek on and off since around 1995 and I've seen stretches that are wider then they used to be and/or filled in where they once weren't.

This past summer I fished it for the first time sine about late 2011 and found some of my more favorite holes over the years complete blown out or totally reconfigured.

In fact it looked like a war zone a few hundred years up stream of Bradford Rd up to the bridge (cross street name escapes me at the moment). Everything from blown out decking to lawn chairs, uprooted trees, uprooted park benches, trash, cans, this that.

 

[PaulR]

NickR wrote:
For every holding area that disappears another one appears...I'd have to disagree with that and say that the overall habitat on Valley is getting worse every year on Valley. There are stretches of Valley that I believe fish numbers are way down as well...stretches that you used to be able to walk and spot fish are becoming fewer and fewer. There are holes that used to be deep... they are now filled in with silt. In the past 2-3 years I believe Valley is seeing an accelerated decline as a fishery. I mean think about it... widening of route 202, new stores, giant houses and businesses being built in the watershed, sewage pipes bursting and leaking sewage into the creek on multiple occasions. Let's be serious. This poor creek is getting it from every direction. I have heard people refer to Valley as an anomaly before. I certainly hope they are wrong about that.

The stream has certainly taken a beating over the years and more so from what I've seen recently. However that being said I don't believe the fish numbers are down, rather they are more spotty, with the numbers crammed into fewer areas of good holding water.

As well a good number of fish run out to the Schuylkill after spawning and spend a good portion of their time there.

Unfortunately too Valley Creek, while flowing through a bucolic, well to do suburban area is a fishing jewel in what is an otherwise an area where stream access is limited overall.

What I mean by that is there are some quality streams not far from Valley that have plenty of wild fish, but are otherwise inaccessible.

The upper Pickering (above the DHALO) area and below the DHALO area are posted. As are many of the tributaries up closer to it's headwaters. And there is some water up there that I'd love to get on if I could.

Upper French Creek is good too but I am not sure what the access is there. It's been a few years so it's hard to say.

All of these are relatively close to Valley but of them all Valley has the best access so it gets fished heavily.

 

[PaulR]

FGSIII wrote:
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

I respect your point of view, but by the same token I beg to differ.

There are a couple of streams in the SE that some would say (including myself) would qualify for "must fish". Last year I took a friend from the Poconos (and we all know the number of quality streams that exist up there) to one of them and he was really impressed with the stream.

In fact he was surprised with the number of wild fish the stream held given it's proximity to populations centers in the SE.

As much as I bemoan at times some of the "secret stream society" I'll have to keep them a close to the vest for now. It's not that the streams themselves are secret, but probably wouldn't withstand a lot of pressure.

Would I say this stream and the few others I am thinking about be on par with say Spring Creek, Penns or Fishing Creek (NC PA)?, no, not even close, but none-the-less they do offer good wild trout fishing if you are in the area, and in some cases can find where to access.