Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2017 - 57

CURRENTS
PFBC Adds Waters to Popular Keystone Select Stocked Trout Waters Program
For the second consecutive year, the
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
(PFBC) is adding more waters to the popular
Keystone Select Stocked Trout Program,
bringing the total to 22 waters holding 14- to
20-inch trout.
The eight new waters, which will be stocked for
the 2018 trout season, include:
* Armstrong County, Buffalo Creek, Section 03 (3.70 miles)
* Berks County, Tulpehocken Creek, Section 06 (1.95 miles)
* Fayette County, Meadow Run, Section 06 (2.20 miles)
* Lebanon County, Quittapahilla Creek, Section 04 (1.10 miles)
* Lycoming County, Lycoming Creek, Section 04 (1.30 miles)
* Monroe County, McMichael Creek, Section 04 (1.44 miles)
* Snyder County, Middle Creek, Section 04 (1.20 miles)
* Tioga County, Pine Creek, Section 06 (1.06 miles)
The PFBC announced earlier this year that it was adding
six waters to the program, which was first launched in 2016
with eight creeks.
"We were confident when we created the Keystone Select
Stocked Trout Waters Program that anglers would enjoy the
opportunities to catch trophy trout and wouldn't mind driving
the additional distances to these destination areas," said PFBC
Executive Director John A. Arway. "The addition of these
eight streams now makes it even easier for anglers to fish a
Keystone Select Stocked Trout Waters stream within just a few
hours of their home."
Under the program, approximately 6,500 large trout will be
distributed among the 22 waters. The trout will be stocked at a
rate of 175 to 225 per mile, which is comparable to the numbers
of similarly sized fish in Pennsylvania's best wild trout waters.
The waters are regulated under Delayed Harvest Artificial
Lures Only (DHALO) regulations, which provides the
opportunity to catch these fish multiple times. Under DHALO
regulations, waters are open to fishing year-round, but anglers
can harvest trout only between June 15 and Labor Day, and
the trout have to be a minimum of 9 inches. For the rest of the
year, these waters are managed on a catch-and-release-only
basis, and the creel limit is zero. Tackle is limited to artificial
lures and flies.
The six waters added earlier this year include:
* Berks County, Tulpehocken Creek, Section 7 (1.84 miles)
* Cambria County, Chest Creek, Section 3 (1.80 miles)
* Fulton County, Big Cove Creek, Section 3 (0.93 miles)
* Luzerne County, Harveys Creek, Section 4 (1.70 miles)
* McKean County, Kinzua Creek, Section 4 (2.29 miles)
* Venango County, Oil Creek, Section 7 (1.55 miles)
The original eight waters include:
* Chester County, Middle Branch White Clay Creek,
Section 3 (1.67 miles)
* Dauphin County, Wiconisco Creek, Section 3 (0.74 miles)
* Lackawanna and Wyoming counties, South Branch
Tunkhannock Creek, Section 4 (0.99 miles)
www.fishandboat.com 		

* Lawrence County, Neshannock Creek, Section 3
(2.67 miles)
* Lycoming County, Loyalsock Creek, Section 5
(1.49 miles)
* Potter County, First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek,
Section 4 (1.67 miles)
* Somerset County, Laurel Hill Creek, Section 3
(2.33 miles)
* Westmoreland County, Loyalhanna Creek, Section 3
(1.67 miles)
Also, commissioners approved a pass-through grant of
$65,000 to the United States Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for use on
Phase 1 of the project to design and permit the rehabilitation
of Beechwood Lake Dam in Clymer Township, Tioga
County. The facility is a high-hazard structure used for flood
control and recreation. It is owned by the Commonwealth
and managed by PFBC.
The federal funds will be added to a previously approved
pass-through grant of $445,000 for Phase 1, which includes
an environmental evaluation of the lake, the preparation
of a supplemental watershed plan and a flood damage
assessment, if necessary.
Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 2018. The NRCS
will then fund 100 percent of the costs of the design and
permitting process of Phase 2, which is expected to be
completed in 2020, if funding is available. The $4.1 million
construction phase is expected to begin no earlier than 2021.
The NRCS will fund most of the construction costs. The
PFBC will fund approximately $1 million.
Commissioners adopted a final rulemaking order which
allows wake surfing in or on the wake of a motorboat
provided the boat's propulsion system is specifically designed
for the activity. Traditional motors have propellers which
face away from the boat, creating a potentially dangerous
situation if an individual is wake surfing and falls into the
wake and the path of the blades.
Newer motors, like Volvo Penta's Forward-Facing
Drive, have propellers mounted on the inside of the
engine's mid-section and face the boat, effectively creating
a safety barrier between the blades and the person who is
wake surfing.
"These motors are specifically designed to reduce the
chances of an individual who is wake surfing from coming
into direct contact with the propeller blades during a fall,"
said Colonel Corey Britcher, Director of the PFBC Bureau of
Law Enforcement.
The amendment will go into effect upon a second
publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
In addition, commissioners added 99 waters to the list of
wild trout streams, adjusted the section limits of two waters
and removed one water from the list. Three stream sections
were added to the list of Class A wild trout streams.
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * November/December 2017

57
http://www.fishandboat.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2017
