Slateford Creek - DWGNRA (Northampton County)

[Swattie87]

Anyone have any experience with this?

Given what I’m about to recount, I think it’s safe to talk about openly, but if not, feel free to PM me.

Not on Nat Repro list, which, I found odd given its location and its more northern neighbors. Geology seems decent, at least according to what I could find. Most of the time if a stream looks/researches like it should have Trout, but isn’t listed on the Nat Repro list, I’ve found it does when I fish it. Though, I’d expect this stream to have been surveyed before at some point. Was it, and nothing was turned up?

Fished Slateford today with some, to me anyway, interesting results. Fished from the lower National Park Drive bridge to the Upper Falls. Maybe 3/5 of a mile. (Note National Park Drive is currently closed due to a partial washout, and you can’t access it from 611. You have to park at the upper trailhead lot and hike down.)

Flows were good, it’s slightly tannic, but nothing like some others nearby that fish very well still. I fished a small heavy Bugger with some shot too. Admittedly, this method in cold water doesn’t usually catch a lot of fish, but I use it when exploring new streams in Winter because it does tend to move fish, and you can get an idea about the population by noting how often you move fish.

Anyway, (I think) I moved two small fish, Browns (I think), below the first set of falls, which isn’t far up from its mouth. This falls is big enough to be impassable, if fish are repopulating from the D. Above that, I didn’t move or see a fish, despite the spectacular habitat. (See pics.) Flipped probably 50 rocks and didn’t see one bug.

I couldn’t find anything on it indicating a water quality problem. Headwaters are listed as Exceptional Value.

Me sucking is always a viable possibility, but I can usually at least move and/or see fish, even when I’m not catching them. Am I missing something here, or is this just a legit dud? If it’s a dud, anyone know why? I feel like it shouldn’t be a dud, but the objective evidence suggests it is.

 

[vealboy]

How do you PM? I know this stream well

 

[JeffP]

Beautiful stream! I salute your willingness to explore!

 

[Swattie87]

How do you PM? I know this stream well

Click on my name, then click on Start Conversation.

 

[djs12354]

Really enjoyed the photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[hooker-of-men]

I'm interested to know what Vealboy has to add, but it looks like I won't find out!

Up above the falls - where the road does the weird landing strip thing - doesn't the stream get very skinny/slow and also run through a number of farms? I've poked around (never fished), but it was years ago. I imagine the runoff from that area could have some impact on water quality and fishiness.

 

[Swattie87]

I'm interested to know what Vealboy has to add, but it looks like I won't find out!

Up above the falls - where the road does the weird landing strip thing - doesn't the stream get very skinny/slow and also run through a number of farms? I've poked around (never fished), but it was years ago. I imagine the runoff from that area could have some impact on water quality and fishiness.

Yeah. Once the stream gets above the public land, it flattens out, and is tiny. (And is posted.) I quit at the uppermost falls, final picture above, which is just within the DWGNRA boundary. Amazing what gradient does to make a stream seem bigger.

All of those DWGNRA streams are similar though. They start out pretty flat and low gradient collecting water up on the plateau and then rapidly drop a few hundred feet in their final mile or two to the river. Most, if not all of them have fish, and are documented on the Nat Repro list. Slateford isn’t.

 

[vealboy]

I've been fishing this stream for about 30 yrs.The PFBC biomass was Class D back in 93.There are browns up to the upper falls,but the fishing is better the closer to the river you are.I wouldn't call this a destination stream,but it's a nice place to fish.You didn't say what you were fishing,I do okay with a #14 BH Rainbow Prince or a worm sometimes.Did you take a water temp?I think the problem with this stream may be due in part to the geology,slate does little to buffer acid rain and snow. I was thinking about fishing there yesterday but ended up around the upper Lehigh River area fishing for brookies.I have a few pics of some Slateford browns on my PC,they have a different coloration than your typical brownie.I'll post them if I can find them.

 

[Swattie87]

I've been fishing this stream for about 30 yrs.The PFBC biomass was Class D back in 93.There are browns up to the upper falls,but the fishing is better the closer to the river you are.I wouldn't call this a destination stream,but it's a nice place to fish.You didn't say what you were fishing,I do okay with a #14 BH Rainbow Prince or a worm sometimes.Did you take a water temp?I think the problem with this stream may be due in part to the geology,slate does little to buffer acid rain and snow. I was thinking about fishing there yesterday but ended up around the upper Lehigh River area fishing for brookies.I have a few pics of some Slateford browns on my PC,they have a different coloration than your typical brownie.I'll post them if I can find them.

Thanks for the info. Didn’t take a water temp, but it was cold. Colder than ideal. 40ish would be my guess.

I was fishing a small heavy black Bugger. Dead drifting and twitching. Just trying to move fish to see what was there. I find fish (especially Browns) in Winter will show themselves using this technique, but rarely bite. Shoot out from under a rock, look at it, and shoot back under. It’s good for covering water and identifying streams with a good head of fish to come back and fish later in better conditions. Every once in a while a fish commits and takes it and you catch one. Only two fish I saw/moved on Slateford were below the lowest falls. Didn’t see anything even walking up on the bigger pools after fishing them, just trying to spook fish.

Pretty stream, and glad I fished it, but a one and done for me.

I’d be interested to see the pics if you can find them. Tannic water Browns are usually very colorful.

Wonder if the biomass was Class D in 93 why it currently isn’t listed. Was it ever listed and removed? Was there a subsequent survey that didn’t turn up any Trout?

Mike - Any info on this one?

 

[Mike]

Per Swattie’s request to review this thread, I had never heard of this stream until it was mentioned here. With a name like Slateford, however, and my familiarity with the “slate belt” in Northampton and Lehigh Counties, I have observed a few things that may or may not apply to this stream. First, the slate belt streams often have substrates in stretches that are exclusively or predominately slate bedrock. Extensive bedrock makes for great scenery, nice falls and chutes, but lousy habitat if one is seeking a high density of fish. Second, if the gravel produced from the breakdown of bedrock is predominately flat, as it could be with slate, then it may not be very good spawning substrate. Third, some of the slate belt streams that I bike along consistently suffer from very low flows during the summer so water temp and available low flow habitat could be other limiting factors in Slateford. Finally, in ag areas, one can expect to occasionally find irrigation activities that may further deplete water in streams during already low flow conditions. I don’t know if any of these general observations apply to Slateford.

 

[Swattie87]

Thanks Mike.

 

[vealboy]

Lack of good spawning habitat is a big factor here,not much good gravel.Water temps hold up pretty well here in the summer.I notice the same issue on sandstone streams.Rock Run in Lycoming Co comes to mind.I've never taken a temp over 64 deg even during drought conditions and has good flow when other streams in the area are trickels.The stockies do well here but the last time I checked biomass was Class C wild trout.Lack of buffering and gravel.

 

[k-bob]

"Extensive bedrock makes for great scenery, nice falls and chutes, but lousy habitat if one is seeking a high density of fish." thanks mike great comment.

 

[Tigereye]

Agree with Mike. Alot of Ontario and Erie tribs suffer this malady. Thanks for that insight