Wild trout streams in chester county pa

[pcray1231]

103 streams. 103 streams in Pennsylvania published and designated as either Class A, B, C, D as well as Wilderness Trout Streams list is a pretty good number of streams that are published.

There are over 3000 streams in PA that are class B, C, or D. 103 of them are on the wilderness stream list. I call that a tiny %.

 

[NickR]

"There are over 3000 streams in PA that are class B, C, or D. 103 of them are on the wilderness stream list. I call that a tiny %."



Doesn't matter to me... you said that they don't publish a list of class B, C, D streams. Well they do that through the wilderness trout streams section. Though the percentage is tiny it is published and it is a list nonetheless and excuse me but 103 streams is enough to keep most anglers busy for a lifetime. The car is yellow.

Wilderness Trout Streams
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/wild98.htm

 

[NickR]

Kabutt,

Do you use that site often and find a lot of it to be accurate? I haven't used it much.

 

[pcray1231]

103 is a decent number of streams. And to be fair, every stream I've fished on the wilderness list has been worthwhile. If you're looking for a reliable list, where you can be fairly sure that those streams are worthwhile and open to the public, it is a good one to use.

But it's nowhere near complete. There are so many streams that are worthwhile that are not on this list, nor the class A list. And the thread is about Chester County, where the majority of streams fit this description. 103 still leaves many areas where you might be as much as an hour away from the nearest.

I'm not a Chester Cty expert. Too new to the area and I haven't had much time to explore since I've been here. I need to change that. But I'm comfortable in saying that VC is not the only worthwhile wild trout opportunity in the area.

P.S. I used to use that site. It's basically the natural repro list put onto a map. And the PFBC has now done that on a google maps type map which I find more user friendly.

 

[pcray1231]

http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/preview/map.ashx?layer=980

 

[Kabutt]

NickR wrote:
Kabutt,

Do you use that site often and find a lot of it to be accurate? I haven't used it much.

I don't use it that often because I pretty much have PA's wild trout streams memorized, but I do find it to be accurate. I've mostly used it to find trouty waters outside of PA. It's a compilation of info one can find elsewhere, just all in one place. What the site did was take a jpeg of class B, C, and D streams the PFC published in 2010 and overlay it onto a Google Earth map. It's not great, but still may be useful.

 

[PSUFishMenace]

Only about two thirds or less of the wild trout streams in chester county are on the NR list. Valley is by far the best and the only legit class A. The northern half of the county has the best public access to other wild trout streams but the streams are not that great and mostly hold a few small wild browns. If you know where to look you can find several decent (but not great) brookie streams that are not on the list. They don't compare to mountain brookie streams but can still be a lot of fun to fish. Unfortunately, private property is an issue on these brookie streams, but as mentioned before it can't hurt to ask permission if you think a posted stream looks "trouty".

 

[NedZeppelin]

I'm in Chester County but in the northern tier near Berks and there are a few to be found north and west of Elverson, based on the PFBC lists of streams harboring trout-like fishies. I live very close to an exceptional value stream but the only trout that ever live in there are stocked, of which there are a few (and far between). It is a mystery to me why there are no natives.

 

[pcray1231]

Exceptional value refers to cleanliness, not habitat.

 

[Chaz]

Nick, The wilderness Trout Streams list is very different from the Class b, c, & d lists. Yes they publish the Class, but the Class B list has nearly 1000 streams on it. So using the Wilderness list while helpful doesn't answer the question you're asking.

I can't answer the O.P.'s question except to say that there are loads of good trout streams in nearby Berks County. Try there.

 

[Chaz]

Last I looked 103 streams is 3.4% of the streams on the B, C, & D lists. It is a tiny sample. But many of them are on Public land and that's a big plus.

 

[NedZeppelin]

I agree, but it seems that an EV watershed and the presence of trout often go together. I note that all "wilderness trout streams" are eligible for designation as EV. So the reverse has a reasonable, or at least it passes a threshold, chance of being true.

 

[pcray1231]

Good trout habitat is not required to be EV. That was my point. Just because it's EV does NOT mean it's suitable for trout. Perhaps it gets too warm? Perhaps there's no suitable gravel for spawning. Perhaps it's slow, shallow, and wide? Having an EV stream nearby doesn't mean you should expect it to harbor wild trout.

Also, EV is not required to have good habitat. As an example, Spring Creek in Centre County is not EV. The stream has the highest, or at least one of the highest wild trout populations in the state and it's not designated as EV because of pollutants.

ALL streams are eligible for designation as EV, trout or no trout.

All of the streams on the wilderness list are indeed EV. It's not because being on the list makes them EV, it's because the PFBC won't include them on the list if they're not. This list is an arbitrary sampling of streams that the PFBC, not the DEP, wishes to highlight. Requirements for inclusion are that it's public, runs away from roads, has decent wild trout fishing, and holds EV status. Even then, it does not include all of the streams which meet that description.

 

[NedZeppelin]

Thanks for the enlightenment! To further and finally flog the moribund equine, my only inartfully articulated point was: my EV stream has bugs, cold water, and all sorts of habitat, but apparently does not support reproducing populations, and that is a darn shame!