Young Womans

[kobalt335]

I'm going to head to Young Womans creek and try the C&R section Sunday. I'm hoping we get a little rain before then to make the conditions better. I have never fished this stream and was wondering if anyone has been up that way recently.

 

[Chaz]

Let me know how you do, I plan on fishing it next week.

 

[kobalt335]

Chaz wrote:
Let me know how you do, I plan on fishing it next week.

It was low and very clear. Definitely tough fishing. I would honestly avoid it unless we get some rain. Out of three of us, only 3 dinks were even hooked. Like I said, some good rainy days could completely change it.

 

[Chaz]

USGS says the water was way above normal over the weekend.

 

[kobalt335]

I read that too. That's why I was so surprised when I got there. I really don't want to see average for this time of year after seeing it yesterday. I mean there were some nice holes holding fish, but the clarity made it difficult.

 

[troutbert]

The special regs area used to be managed as Class A wild trout water, but it is stocked now. Did you see many stockies?

 

[kobalt335]

troutbert wrote:
The special regs area used to be managed as Class A wild trout water, but it is stocked now. Did you see many stockies?

Only 1 or 2. Everything else we saw were wild browns. I was expecting to see a lot more fish with it being stocked and C&R. I have a feeling in the spring it is much better. The water would be better and probably more fish. The area is do secluded it wouldn't surprise me if people are keeping them from that section.

 

[TYoung]

I fish that stream a few times a year over the last couple of years. Up until this year I mostly caught stocked rainbows in the c&r section, but this spring and early summer I only caught small wild browns. They only stock the c&r area once preseason. I wonder if the late ice that we had this winter made it difficult for them to stock the stream.

 

[wildtrout2]

From what I've heard that stream USED TO BE, it's a crime what they have done to it via stocking.

 

[salvelinus]

You can thank the local "sportsmen's" club for that.

 

[McSneek]

wildtrout2 wrote:
From what I've heard that stream USED TO BE, it's a crime what they have done to it via stocking.

Yep! In fact, there's another thread about fall stocking in the general forum. Here's a case where instead of dumping stockies into a perfectly good wild trout stream in the spring maybe they could shift some of those "resources" to a fall stocking in a stream that could actually use the fish in the fall.

 

[troutbert]

I wonder if they've surveyed the regs area in recent years. It would be interesting to see how the population is doing.

Maybe the population is low. Or maybe the conditions were just not very good for catching wild browns on a freestone stream with flies. That is often the case.

 

[salmo]

I fished Young Woman's last spring in early May. I fished above the C&R area. My buddy and I were skunked. In years past I almost always caught some wild browns and brookies in that Creek. I wonder if the harsh winter had anything to do with the conditions.

 

[geebee]

temp wise, last winter was ABOVE average - what we had was milder temps with greater precipitation which was higher snow falls.

 

[Chaz]

It's a stocked stream, there is no reason to survey it, unless PFBC wants to prove themselves wrong with regard to stocking wild trout streams, and they wouldn't do that.

 

[RLeeP]

If the stocked RT in the YWC special reg water really are depressing the wild trout population (and it is an "if"...) that is all the more reason to survey it regularly so that once the biomass consistently returns to Class A levels, it can once again be a candidate for cessation of stocking.

Which I'm willing to bet would happen if there were a big enough bump up in the surveyed density/size of the wild trout population.

So, by all means, survey it regularly..

 

[salvelinus]

YWC and Cross Fork are stocked for only one reason... pressure from special interest groups to provide easy to catch trout. Both streams can be quite a challenge to even the most experienced angler. I have had days on both streams where you'd swear there were no trout. Wild trout can be hard to catch in the gin clear water. The stocked rainbows provide easy fodder for the average angler, and bring tourist $$ into the area. At least it's rainbows and not browns and brooks to compete genetically with the wild stock.

 

[RLeeP]

>>YWC and Cross Fork are stocked for only one reason... pressure from special interest groups to provide easy to catch trout.>>

Maybe...

It might also be something as simple as that none of the currently stocked sections of either stream has a Class A biomass at present.

Sometimes, it isn't a conspiracy. Sometimes, its just policy..

My question has always been whether the (relatively) incidental stocking done on either stream is actually harmful to the wild trout population. I used to always believe that it did do harm. Now, I think each individual situation is different and the truth varies with the situation.

 

[OldLefty]

As I understand the survey that brought this to a head produced a biomass of trout just below the minimum for class A. Once the regs. were changed the cooperative nursery was permitted to "legally" stock, as well. The coop nursery fish are not only rainbows. They also dump in brookies and browns.

I believe there's quite a bit of poaching going on up there. There are still a good number of people who believe the purpose of stocking trout is so they can catch and kill them.

 

[McSneek]

OldLefty wrote:
There are still a good number of people who believe the purpose of stocking trout is so they can catch and kill them.

I believe the PA F&BC shares that same belief about stocked trout. The problem is when the wild fish are caught and killed in the same stream. My experience with YWC is limited and it's been several years since I've been there. I had a couple of great days where I caught numerous wild brown trout of average to above average size. It just wasn't the same the last time I was there and caught primarily hatchery fish. I can have that kind of experience much closer to home.

As others have said (and there was a thread about this) local desire to fish for stocked trout and a claim that this meant $ for the region won out over those who desire to fish for wild trout. I think this also came about at a time when WT populations may have been suppressed by a significantly hot and dry summer.