McSneek
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
- Messages
- 2,297
I voted for the Loyalhanna since I grew up fishing it.
B
Bearski
Member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2013
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- 87
The Conewango is certainly not a trout fishing stream but a worthy stream nonetheless. There is a fair amount of public access and i believe its a pretty diverse fishery. I had an ex girlfriend that was from Russell, and I had some pretty positive experiences with this piece of water.
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
As a kid growing up in Warren during the 1950's, I guess I would have called the Conewango Creek my home water. I fished it extensively back then, often from the dam where it flows through town, as well as down to its confluence with the Allegheny a short distance downstream from there, and sometimes as far upstream as Russell. I won a couple fish contests for "most fish caught" off the Conewango Creek dam, and even had my picture in the PA Angler once showing off some walleyes I caught near the mouth one winter day while fishing with my uncle.
Although we moved from the area in the early 1960's, my wife's family owned a summer home on Chatauqua Lake through the 1980's, so we often drove along the Conewango from Warren to Jamestown, NY during those years, and a few times since.
However, although I remember catching a wide variety of fish there, including several trout, a musky or 2, walleyes, bass, and plenty of carp, I would never have thought of the Conewango as an award caliber creek/stream, and quite the contrary.
Anyone have any more up to date info on this award, or what might make the Conewango deserving of this "fame" today???
Thanks, John
Although we moved from the area in the early 1960's, my wife's family owned a summer home on Chatauqua Lake through the 1980's, so we often drove along the Conewango from Warren to Jamestown, NY during those years, and a few times since.
However, although I remember catching a wide variety of fish there, including several trout, a musky or 2, walleyes, bass, and plenty of carp, I would never have thought of the Conewango as an award caliber creek/stream, and quite the contrary.
Anyone have any more up to date info on this award, or what might make the Conewango deserving of this "fame" today???
Thanks, John
R
RLeep2
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2009
- Messages
- 1,465
>>Anyone have any more up to date info on this award, or what might make the Conewango deserving of this "fame" today???>>
The award comes from a cooperative effort by DCNR and PEC/POWR to raise awareness of a different major PA watershed each year. Last year's winner was the Schuylkill.
The PA mileage of the Conewango is a relatively unique place with an interesting fishery profile in the sense that there aren't that many major PA stream systems that are the outflows of major natural lakes. It is also true that the Conewango water quality and the health of its aquatic community has generally improved over the past 30+ years since the Federal Clean Water Act became law. But probably not any more than most other systems of its size and with its prior problems have benefitted from the law.
My thinking is that this award is basically the result of a popularity contest where watershed associations and their local stakeholder bases compete against each other to win an award that is going to bring more notice to their home stream and hence, more pressure to keep the improvements moving forward. Of course, the down side of this stuff is always that the winning river gets temporarily overrun by people from the overpopulated regions within a 4-5 hour drive. But eventually, this dies down too.
On the whole, it is good thing, IMO.
The award comes from a cooperative effort by DCNR and PEC/POWR to raise awareness of a different major PA watershed each year. Last year's winner was the Schuylkill.
The PA mileage of the Conewango is a relatively unique place with an interesting fishery profile in the sense that there aren't that many major PA stream systems that are the outflows of major natural lakes. It is also true that the Conewango water quality and the health of its aquatic community has generally improved over the past 30+ years since the Federal Clean Water Act became law. But probably not any more than most other systems of its size and with its prior problems have benefitted from the law.
My thinking is that this award is basically the result of a popularity contest where watershed associations and their local stakeholder bases compete against each other to win an award that is going to bring more notice to their home stream and hence, more pressure to keep the improvements moving forward. Of course, the down side of this stuff is always that the winning river gets temporarily overrun by people from the overpopulated regions within a 4-5 hour drive. But eventually, this dies down too.
On the whole, it is good thing, IMO.
