Spring Creek, Harrisburg Fishing Regulations

[troutbert]

In PA, 78 stream names start with Mill. 74 start with Laurel.

51 start with Trout. I wonder how many of those are on wild trout list now.

This is from "PA Gazetteer of Streams" which was published by PA DEP + USGS in 1989.

None start with Rhododendron. The old timers probably just called it Laurel.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

In PA, 78 stream names start with Mill. 74 start with Laurel.

51 start with Trout. I wonder how many of those are on wild trout list now.

This is from "PA Gazetteer of Streams" which was published by PA DEP + USGS in 1989.

None start with Rhododendron. The old timers probably just called it Laurel.

So many UNTs just waiting for names? Maybe one day PA will get the Rhododendron Run we desrve. Good info find,by the way.

 

[tomgamber]

If the name means there was a mill on the creek then I would think those streams would be legally considered navigable waterways as they were used for commerce, correct?

No, I think Mill would suggest a water powered grain mill of some sort. Or something similar.

 

[dryflyguy]

I would have guessed spring or trout.
Seems to be at least one of them in every county

 

[Bamboozle]

There's a Mill Creek 5 minutes from where I live. It's where I started trout fishing as a kid many years ago. It no longer gets stocked though. They've turned it into a dog walking park. Typical "main line" behavior. 😡

I worked all over that area as kid and always wanted to fish Mill Creek as it is a really pretty stream but I never did.

It is and has been on the Natural Reproduction List for years. I'll have to look through my old Summary booklets and see when it was taken off of the sotcking list.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

No, I think Mill would suggest a water powered grain mill of some sort. Or something similar.

Wallace-Cross Mill is a water powered grist mill, from the 1820s, that is land marked as a historical site. York County Parks hosts tours and open houses in the summer and fall. Yes, there is a stream but it is not named Mill Creek. This small UNT hosts a wild brown trout population and is stocked by Hopewell F&G.

 

[wildtrout2]

I worked all over that area as kid and always wanted to fish Mill Creek as it is a really pretty stream but I never did.

It is and has been on the Natural Reproduction List for years. I'll have to look through my old Summary booklets and see when it was taken off of the sotcking list.

Embarrassingly, I was never aware that Mill Creek was on the Natural Repo list. I've probably fished it a couple hundred times over the years and never caught anything other than stocked trout. Never even heard of anybody catching anything but stockers. I did catch my very first trout on a fly on Mill Creek, at the "big hole" just below Conshohocken State Road bridge.

On an interesting note, back in Ardmore Junior High School (1970-1972) we had a class called "Fish and Water" that was run by a teacher named Art Wolf. He helped us acquire some Vibert boxes that we put in Mill Creek. I don't recall what type of trout eggs we put in them, but I do recall they didn't do very well. I'd have to guess they were brown trout, as Mill gets too warm for brookies. Maybe some of those eggs did actually hatch into small brown trout?

I'm pretty sure it was the posting of private land along Mill Creek that motivated the PBFC to stop stocking it. Some of these main line folks have a funny attitude and are paranoid about liabilities regarding their land.

 

[Bamboozle]

Embarrassingly, I was never aware that Mill Creek was on the Natural Repo list. I've probably fished it a couple hundred times over the years and never caught anything other than stocked trout. Never even heard of anybody catching anything but stockers. I did catch my very first trout on a fly on Mill Creek, at the "big hole" just below Conshohocken State Road bridge.

On an interesting note, back in junior high school (1970-1972) we had a class called "Fish and Water" that was run by a teacher named Art Wolf. He helped us acquire some Vibert boxes that we put in Mill Creek. I don't recall what type of trout eggs we put in them, but I do recall they didn't do very well. I'd have to guess they were brown trout, as Mill gets too warm for brookies. Maybe some of those eggs did actually hatch into small brown trout?

I'm pretty sure it was the posting of private land along Mill Creek that motivated the PBFC to stop stocking it. Some of these main line folks have a funny attitude and are paranoid about liabilities regarding their land.

I about lived in Eyler's & Cox's as a teenager when I first started fly fishing so I heard Mill Creek mentioned all the time. For some reason I was fixated on the Delco & Chesco streams I was familiar with so I never once went there to fish.

I did do some reconnoitering not too many years back to check it out after seeing it on the Natural Reproduction List but I just looked and didn't fish.

FWIW - I looked at my stash of Summary Booklets and the last year Mill Creek appeared in the list of Approved Trout Waters was 2012. Landowner posting or parking issues could be a reason although there are two large parks along its length so I don't know.

Maybe if Mike see this he can shed some light on the reasons it was taken off the stocking list.

 

[sarce]

Embarrassingly, I was never aware that Mill Creek was on the Natural Repo list. I've probably fished it a couple hundred times over the years and never caught anything other than stocked trout. Never even heard of anybody catching anything but stockers. I did catch my very first trout on a fly on Mill Creek, at the "big hole" just below Conshohocken State Road bridge.

On an interesting note, back in junior high school (1970-1972) we had a class called "Fish and Water" that was run by a teacher named Art Wolf. He helped us acquire some Vibert boxes that we put in Mill Creek. I don't recall what type of trout eggs we put in them, but I do recall they didn't do very well. I'd have to guess they were brown trout, as Mill gets too warm for brookies. Maybe some of those eggs did actually hatch into small brown trout?

I'm pretty sure it was the posting of private land along Mill Creek that motivated the PBFC to stop stocking it. Some of these main line folks have a funny attitude and are paranoid about liabilities regarding their land.

I haven't made it over there yet (not far from my parents house) but it's an interesting stream. A month or so I jokingly posted some pictures of poorly handled fish from a popular app where such pictures are rampant. Guess where those fish were caught? They were not small fish. Unfortunately, all indications are they were kept.

 

[tomgamber]

Mill creek I fished in college was east of Clarion above strattanville.

 

[wildtrout2]

Landowner posting or parking issues could be a reason although there are two large parks along its length so I don't know.

The one large park at the Pumping Station is now the dog walking park I mentioned earlier. It's almost assured it was private land posting that caused the cessation of stocking on Mill Creek. For years there was never an issue with fishermen being along the creek until some properties were getting bought up, and the new owners started posting.

I'm just thankful for the good years that I did have fishing Mill Creek as a kid. It's what started me on the life long trout fishing journey I was about to embark upon. Me and my buddy used to ride our bikes down to the crick to fish. We were always in sort of a competition to see who caught the most trout each year.

 

[Bamboozle]

...Me and my buddy used to ride our bikes down to the crick to fish. We were always in sort of a competition to see who caught the most trout each year.

I was a dumb kid growing up...

I didn't know any better so I used to take a bus to go fishing because I was too stupid to realize there was fishing and even TROUT fishing a bike ride away... 😳

Every time I see a kid fishing with a bike by their side or hear stories like yours I say to myself, "I wish that was me..." 😉

 

[wildtrout2]

A PERFECT example (there are several) of the posting along Mill Creek is from the Rose Glen Road bridge downstream. Back in the day there was zero posting, now it's almost entirely posted where private land meets the creek. It's funny what money can do to some folks.

 

[jifigz]

Mill creek I fished in college was east of Clarion above strattanville.

I am Clarion alum....I spent many drunken nights where Mill Creek meets the Clarion drinking beer and dunking stuff for channel cats.....boy, I miss cat fishing sometimes.

 

[Bamboozle]

A PERFECT example (there are several) of the posting along Mill Creek is from the Rose Glen Road bridge downstream. Back in the day there was zero posting, now it's almost entirely posted where private land meets the creek. It's funny what money can do to some folks.

It not the money, it the jerks that fish there or hang out there that cause problems or leave behind messes.

I fish stocked streams VERY infrequently but when I do the amount of trash left along them blows me away, especially in public parks and it seems to me it has only gotten worse so I really can't blame folks for posting private property.

 

[wildtrout2]

There wasn't a littering, or people "hanging out" issue when these properties started getting posted, trust me. I've lived in this area for 62 years and have watched the transition closely. Littering is a much newer issue in the area.
Some folks with a lot of money have a "control thing" going on. It's not imagined. And anybody who lives along Mill Creek has a LOT of money. 😉

 

[laurelrun]

Yeah, there are. Like, too many laurels. I think someone should make it their point on here to fish as many Laurels as they can in a year and document it. Make it the point of traveling to various Laurels and trying em out.

I might have to take that challenge.

 

[tomgamber]

I am Clarion alum....I spent many drunken nights where Mill Creek meets the Clarion drinking beer and dunking stuff for channel cats.....boy, I miss cat fishing sometimes.

GG is a golden eagle as well. Local named Joe Wolf had a pontoon. Been up and down that river. mill is a nice little stream next to the game lands. some brookies in there too. What year?

 

[wildtrout2]

I am Clarion alum....I spent many drunken nights where Mill Creek meets the Clarion drinking beer and dunking stuff for channel cats.....boy, I miss cat fishing sometimes.

I love driving through Clarion on my way to Venango county. It's a neat old town.

 

[jifigz]

GG is a golden eagle as well. Local named Joe Wolf had a pontoon. Been up and down that river. mill is a nice little stream next to the game lands. some brookies in there too. What year?

I graduated high school in 2004 and spent the next 5 years there with a mixture of academics and other "extracurricular activities."