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After nearly two centuries, a stream is reunited
In the crisp fall air of September 2023, Irwin Run in Elk County, Pa., was about to breathe as a free stream for the first time in more than 170 years. For decades, a “waterfall” where State Route 3002 crossed the stream had been created by an 8-foot drop from a culvert’s outflow to the…
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Revitalizing PA Trout Fisheries
The Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania are home to some of the most scenic wild trout fisheries in the eastern United States. Each spring, anglers descend upon renowned streams to enjoy beautiful surroundings, bountiful mayfly hatches and plentiful trout. Some of these rivers occupy prominent places in the annals of American fly fishing; others are nascent…
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The True Cast – Keep the faith: Everything happens for a reason…
Over 25 years ago, I was nearly broke. My loving, supportive wife and I had moved to Colorado from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to chase a dream of me becoming an outdoor writer. After a few years, although I’d knocked out a couple books and sold some stories here and there, that wasn’t exactly paying the bills.…
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A Fishery Lacking Fish
Brook trout habitat will expand once abandoned mine drainage (AMD) cleanup takes place on Beech Creek in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s Beech Creek winds its way through rugged hills that echo with the bugles of wild elk in the fall and thunder with the gobbles of turkeys in the spring. A mid-sized freestone stream lined with hemlock,…
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West Branch Susquehanna: A river in recovery
WEST BRANCH SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, NORTH CAMBRIA, Pa. The angler stood in the shadows, peering intently at the water like a heron waiting for the moment. Then the cast. The line tightened. Allison Lutz smiled, subtly, as she netted the 12-inch-long wild brown trout. The smile was not so much about this individual fish. It was…
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Homegrown wild trout conservation
It took a trip across the country for a Pennsylvanian to discover anglers quietly making a difference back home.
I spent my childhood summers in Easton, Pa., around the water. Though I never went fishing, I did tube down the Delaware River, play in and picnic beside Bushkill Creek, chase minnows and crayfish in the various streams around my neighborhood, and watch men and women enjoy fishing on warm summer afternoons. I did not…
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PA’s Coldwater Habitat Program gets it done in ’21
Pennyslvania's Coldwater Habitat Program had another productive year in 2021, its efforts resulting in an astonishing reduction in sediment and nutrients across the state's waterways. The team has highlighted a handful of the projects in a newsletter that will be shared with the more than 14,000 TU members in the Keystone State, along with the…
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