Arnold said Nesquehoning has been heavily impacted by acid-mine drainage. A few years ago, a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission survey found no fish life of any kind. During the years that followed, mitigation work has been done to relieve some of the damage to water quality. As improvements occurred, private interests began the reintroduction of trout.

Upon word that fish life had returned to Nesquehoning, commission fisheries personnel surveyed the stream again. They concluded that stocked trout were indeed surviving and even carrying over from one year to the next.

To fish for trout, places that tend to be underutilized include the Lehigh River. Adjustments in water releases out of Francis Slocum Dam are improving the habitat in the Lehigh, noted Arnold, who said that fishing pressure significantly tails off following the first week or two of the season. The Lehigh provides good trout fishing down to the town of Jim Thorpe.

In Lancaster County, Shears Creek has been removed from the list of Approved Trout Waters. A portion of Donegal Creek was also removed, but will remain stocked by a local cooperative trout nursery. The fly-fishing-only portion of Donegal Creek will continue to be stocked by the state.

Fish Manager Mike Kaufmann noted that the Schuylkill River is a developing trout fishery fueled by stockings of fingerling browns, rainbows and brookies. He said that biologists are seeing a good return from their brown and rainbow stockings, but only a marginal return from stocked brookies.

The Schuylkill River has had a history of water-quality problems highlighted by acid-mine drainage and raw sewage. But a new sewage treatment plant is being constructed in one of the major municipalities along the stream and is expected to be online this year.

When PFBC personnel surveyed the river during late summer 2004, they found not only fingerlings, but some wild brown trout as well. The Schuylkill has been stocked with brook trout fingerlings above Pottsville and with browns and rainbows below Pottsville. Three survey sites studied lay between Port Carbon and Schuylkill Haven.

For more information about Pennsylvania’s trout fishery management program, contact the PFBC at (717) 705-7800.

Find more about Pennsylvania fishing and hunting at: PAgameandfish.com.