Lehigh River Tribs

[gweisinger]

Just spent a couple of days in the Lehigh Gorge Area. Like the rest of PA, the temps were cold and flows high. The Lehigh stats on USGS pushed me to the tribs. Hit a stream called Sandy Run about 2 mile bike ride from the Tannery access. Fished it all morning with not so much as a nibble. One guy I met said it was a dead stream but it looks too good. Any info anyone could provide one way or the other would be appreciated. Was it just the crappy conditions and worth another try or is it, as the guy said...like Bear Mt Creek, filled with sulphur pollution.

 

[Tigereye]

Sandy run is dead. Acid mine drainage from what is called the owl hole near Freeland Pa. In fact PaFBC only stocks river to the mouth of Sandy Run.

If you are going to hit tribs in that area, mud run, hickory run, fourth run, Leslie run and probably the best of the lot but slowed down the past few years, is Hayes ck. If you look on map it may be named black Creek which dumps into Lehigh upstream of Sandy but from opposite side.

Hope this helps.

 

[Swattie87]

Generally speaking the tribs that enter from the east are healthier, though there are some wild trout to be found on some of the western side tribs, generally the smaller ones though.

Rough, remote, hard to get to, and unforgiving terrain in the Gorge. Among the roughest in PA in those tribs IMO. Be careful. Good area to explore with a buddy IMO.

 

[gweisinger]

Thanks much for the info on Sandy. Starting to lose confidence for a bit. I did hit Hayes...did OK. Went to Leslie week before last and did well and Hickory is my real favorite. Only heard about Fourth Run this week but I'll be back week after next and I'll see if I can find it.
Found it's fun to hit the Rails and Trails with the bike then hike up to the streams. Hopefully I'll be able to fish the Lehigh when the water comes down.

 

[henrydavid]

Swattie said "Rough, remote, hard to get to, and unforgiving terrain in the Gorge. Among the roughest in PA in those tribs IMO. Be careful. Good area to explore with a buddy IMO."

Truth, it's a special experience, nothing much like it in PA. I've hiked some tribs of the Loyalsock that were challenging but nothing like the Lehigh Gorge.

 

[wgmiller]

Swattie87 wrote:
Rough, remote, hard to get to, and unforgiving terrain in the Gorge. Among the roughest in PA in those tribs IMO. Be careful. Good area to explore with a buddy IMO.

Truth. I got up into Black/Hayes/Fourth Run a few years back and had an eerie feeling the bears were watching me... :-D Plenty of four-legged friends in Hickory Run SP - just another reason to fish these waters with a buddy!

 

[Carney]

I fished black/ hays creek up to the falls in the evening about 3 weeks ago. Hooked into 2 not far from the road. Otherwise the only evidence of fish I saw was what looked like the guts of a freshly cleaned fish next to one of the bigger pools.

 

[henrydavid]

"I fished black/ hays creek up to the falls in the evening about 3 weeks ago. Hooked into 2 not far from the road. Otherwise the only evidence of fish I saw was what looked like the guts of a freshly cleaned fish next to one of the bigger pools."

Uh oh, someone either didn't know they were natives or didn't care. It's too bad we can't have some form of protection for the natives other than legal size requirements.

Another good reason to keep hush hush on specific tribs.