Queen City Trout Nursery

[JVenezia]

I have been told there is a large pool on the little lehigh in front of the nursery that holds hundreds of fish from when the nursery floods. Its on Hatchery Rd. just outside of allentown.

Any truth to this?

 

[Fishidiot]

There's some truth to your description (especially after floods).

It's commonly called the "Kiddie Pool" and is often crowded.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Yeah, sort of.

I don't know about "hundreds" of fish, but there's certainly a lot of fish in there - both escapees, and wild fish.

The locals call it the "Kiddie Pool", and most of us avoid it like the plague. If you want to see the very worst in fly angler behavior, that's the place to go.

With all the wonderful miles of water that is available on the Little Lehigh to fish, I see no need to fish that circus. Think opening day every day, and you get the picture.

 

[phiendWMD]

I've never seen hundreds of trout in that pool. 30 or so is the most I've have seen there but it wasn't like I was counting them.

 

[LouM]

Not any more they fixed the nursery so they can't escape even when it floods. There are less trout than there used to be and they are harder to catch, don't believe me? try it out.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

In the past there would be unscheduled stockings from the nursery when the LL would flood.But lately those fish that would escape during a flood have instead been tangled in the netting that they cover the pools with to deter the Herons and other birds from snatching some fish.With in the last couple years thousands of trout were lost to those nets.I wonder how many fish are eaten by the birds?

 

[RRR]

I talked to a guy a couple years ago who worked at a state hatchery. He said that if just a small hole opens up in one of those nets, there could be half a dozen or more of those hellish birds encircling it just gorging themselves. Said they will clean out an entire raceway in a couple of days if you don't notice the hole and fix it. He also stated that a Heron can and will eat 8 to 10 legal size trout in one day. Many years ago I watched one in action on the upper end of Scott's Run lake. He would wade out about 100 ft. from shore which put him in water almost up to his body. He would spear a trout and walk all the way back and get up on the shore where he would turn it and swallow it head first. I watched him eat four trout that way in about one hour.

 

[Chaz]

Variously called the kiddie pool or hatchery pool. Mostly fished by adults in spite of the name. My favorite pool though is the pool above that, I used to fished it all the time after dark and catch some really big fish that weren't generally around during the daylight hours. But when you go there it's obvious where the hatchery pool is.
And if you want to see hundreds of trout in that pool, get some trout food from the machine and throw it in the water. You will witness the pellet hatch.

 

[LouM]

Chaz: Throwing pellets in the water is frowned upon and now there is a sign there saying don't.

 

[PhilC]

And I thought you're not allowed to fish there at night

 

[Chaz]

Yes throwing pellets in the creek is frowned upon, and yes I used to fish after dark, sometimes until 10:30. But I can't leave when there are rising trout, and I believe now the regs let you fish overnight.

 

[phiendWMD]

Chaz wrote:
Yes throwing pellets in the creek is frowned upon, and yes I used to fish after dark, sometimes until 10:30. But I can't leave when there are rising trout, and I believe now the regs let you fish overnight.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/catchreleaseffo.html

It is listed there and that links states fishing is permitted 24 hours a day. The park itself may close at sunset or dark though. I'm not really sure.

I know some other parks that close even though fishing would otherwise be ok.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

Allowing after dark fishing on the FF C&R stretches is dumb,that's like a open invite to the poachers.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Whether the PFBC allows fishing in the C&R stretch is a moot point if the park closes one hour after sunset.

I called the Parks Department to see if their rules will still be enforced for this, even though the PFBC says it's OK. They'll get back to me tomorrow on this.

I'm not holding my breath on hearing back from them, what with the rash of calls they've been getting from the poachers to see if they're breaking the law while they're breaking the law..... :roll:

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Heard back from the Parks Department today.

Per Andrea of the Allentown Parks Department, park hours are dawn to dusk - no exceptions.

 

[Fishidiot]

Thanks for looking this up and clarifying the issue Ed.

 

[albud1962]

Chaz, you outlaw! LOL