Jeff Deitrich

Renovo

When I was a kid, I remember taking my elderly uncle out fishing for stocked trout on Long Run near Salona. I remember my dad teaching me for the first time how to use a spinner for stocked trout on Baker Run. I remember as a 16-year-old fishing up through Paddy Run near Renovo and coming upon a stocking truck at the reservoir, where the lone driver and I stocked 400 trout into a quarter mile stretch of water.

What fantastic days those were.

They could not be that today. Those three streams are on a list of at least 15 Clinton County streams that once were but are no longer stocked with trout. In fact, that list dwarfs the number of streams that are currently stocked, which is down to just five.

Think about that. Of all the beautiful trout water in this county, only five streams will be stocked with trout from this point on.

The state delisted most of those streams that are no longer stocked, but the last few came off due to the closure of the Western Clinton Sportsman’s Association nursery this month. The WCSA closed it both because the gentlemen who ran the hatchery were growing unable to continue doing that hard work without more support and because they asked the state to provide brown and brook trout that can breed in our waters. The state refused and would only provide rainbow trout, which are not native and do not breed here.

In addition to streams no longer being stocked, access has been cut off in many places to streams that are now native-trout only. Roads that used to provide that access have either been dead-ended or had gates erected for several different reasons. The streams affected include:

— Baker Run

— Mill Run (on private land near the mouth of Baker Run)

— Johnson Run and Rattlesnake Run (east side of West Branch of the Susquehanna River)

— Paddy Run

— Tangascootack Creek

— Young Woman’s Creek, Left Branch

The Left Branch of Young Woman’s Creek was closed off just last summer by the group of homeowners who decided to erect a gate along the hundred yards or so in front of their properties to prohibit anyone, including every camp owner along that road, from accessing the public lands just beyond their influence. Shame on them.

Baker Run had a gate erected by the state just over a quarter of a mile from Route 120. Interesting that both Baker and YWC roads were for years full of potholes and mudholes. Now that stocking is not allowed, both roads have been fixed up very nicely. It shows that sportsmen are not valued, despite the dollars they spend.

The result of all of this is that trout stream fisherman now have very few options in Clinton County. And kids have very few places to learn a sport that can last a lifetime.

It’s high time the Clinton County commissioners wake up to the fact that their natural resources are being cut off to tourists and residents alike. They should take an active role in seeing that the PA Fish & Boat does more to stock Clinton County waters and that access for anglers and other sportsmen is increased, not decreased.

Clinton County was a sportsman’s dream, but it’s getting the short end of the stick now.

Streams Known to be Stocked Since 1982

1. Baker Run

2. Beaverdam Run

3. Cooks Run

4. Drury Run

5. Greenlick Run

6. Halls Run

7. Hyner Run, Left Branch

8. Hyner Run, Right Branch

9. Long Run

10. Paddy Run

11. Rauchtown Creek

12. Shintown Run

13. Tangascootack Creek

14. Trout Run

15. Young Woman’s Creek, Left Branch

Streams Stocked as of Today

1. Fishing Creek

2. Hyner Run (they say it’s stocked to the mouth, but they stock only through Hyner Run State Park)

3. Kettle Creek

4. Little Fishing Creek (about a half mile is actually in Clinton County)

5. Young Woman’s Creek (main branch)