I have driven along the river on Muddy Creek road and looks good to me. I have fished one section where there is a sign posted ,fishing allowed by courtesy of the land owner. I would love to fish other sections but did not see other signs allowing fishing except just upstream of Muddy Creek Forks. Was wondering if someone could let me know if it is ok to fish in other areas. PM would be appreciated
Check your summary booklet or the stocking schedule. You will find that there is a stocked trout section that is mostly a walk-in type of fishery. There is a sedimentation problem within that walk-in stretch, but the scenery is quite nice. I would enjoy fishing it. Within that stretch is a minor wild Brown Trout population, probably a high Class D or a middling Class C. TU (as I recall) posts nicely stated signs encouraging anglers to release any wild Browns that they catch, favoring the harvest of the stocked trout instead. In concert with that this former AFM, following angler counts and interviews in which a few anglers asked how to distinguish wild from stocked Browns, shifted the stocking program from a mix of RT and BT to just RT so anglers would have an easier time distinguishing between stocked and wild trout. Additionally, such a shift has boosted other York Co streams from Class C BT to Class A over time. Despite more BT being stocked statewide this year the special request for RT in the South Branch is still being honored based on an examination of the species mix in the stocking schedule.
Upstream from the stocked section, referenced to Alum Rock Run, the stream supports a Class A BT population. It gets much better once you are about a mile above the stocked section. While most of the properties are posted, I have been told that at least one property is open to fishing with landowner permission and as with most streams, asking permission of posting landowners is often worthwhile, especially if you don’t give up following a rejection from just one landowner. You may be surprised by the positive result. Making a point to do this in the off-season may set you up for good fishing once spring rolls around.
The Class A population exists to the headwaters and in the S Branch’s major trib, Leibs Ck. Leibs has properties where angling is permitted with landowner permission. Leibs has an abundance of trout commonly running up to about12-13 in.
I think very highly of these waters….the South Branch for its natural features and Leibs for its natural recovery, perhaps assisted by the past stocking of RT, and its likely ongoing improvement boosted in recent years by Muddy Ck TU projects. Leibs is a work in progress, but it’s a good one. It’s the kind of stream and the kind of work that anglers should get behind (by volunteering for a work day) even if they aren’t TU members.
