Brook trout meeting on schedule

Posted on: November 13, 2015 | Bob Frye | Comments

Blog--Brook troutWild brook trout populate the Kettle Creek basin. Rules to protect them are under consideration.

Do you have a camp and/or fish in northcentral Pennsylvania, with a special affinity for those beautiful wild mountain brook trout that live there?

If so, this one’s for you.

The brook trout enhancement program did not, as a whole, work.

But there is one notable exception.

According to Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission biologists, five of seven streams in the Kettle Creek basin in Potter and Tioga counties had “significant increases” in the number of wild brook trout that grew to 7 inches, said Jason Detar, head of the agency’s fisheries management division.

There might be a number of reasons for that, he said. The basin is large and has a good amount of habitat, he said. It also gets more fishing pressure than similar waters, given the number of camps in the area, he added.

That combination of things may lead to a change.

Commissioners did away with the brook trout enhancement program – which allowed for all-tackle catch and release fishing on some streams, in hopes it would lead to more and bigger brookies — last year. But commission biologists want to continue managing the streams in the Kettle Creek basin in a similar way, Detar said. They’ll propose that in January, he added.

Commissioner Bill Sabatose of Elk County said he’d support that idea, but on one condition.

“I won’t go along with any of this until you have a public meeting up there and explain to people what you’re doing,” Sabatose said.

That’s been scheduled.

It’s set for 6-7:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 at The Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park, located at 4843 Park Road in Austin. The public is invited to attend.

Bob Frye is the everybodyadventures.com editor. Reach him at 412-838-5148 or bfrye@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

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