FFO Caldwell Creek

[dennisw]

Does anyone know for sure what has happened there at the FFO part of Caldwell Creek? Is still designated as such and has the state quit stocking it? I see nothing in the stocking schedule that shows it to be stocked or was stocked.

 

[DanL]

I see two entries for Caldwell in the stocking schedule. Does the FFO fall under these? Wasn't sure ifyou checked this so posting just to be sure, but maybe these aren't near the FFO....



Caldwell Creek 2 CALDWELL CK W BR: Lat: 41.6933, Long: -79.5693 SELKIRK BDG (SR3004): Lat: 41.6860, Long: -79.5753
Date Brk Brn Rbow Meeting Place Time Hatchery
03/19/15 X Grand Valley-SR27 9:30 AM Corry
Commonwealth Inland Waters
Caldwell Creek 4 STONY HW RN: Lat: 41.6733, Long: -79.5921 MOUTH: Lat: 41.6332, Long: -79.6152
Date Brk Brn Rbow Meeting Place Time Hatchery
03/19/15 X Grand Valley-SR27 9:30 AM Corry
05/05/15 X Grand Valley-SR27 9:30 AM Corry
Commonwealth Inland Waters

 

[dennisw]

That is two different sections........the West Branch stocking actually stops at the Selkirk Bridge where the FFO starts. The FFO section runs from Selkirk Bridge down to Stony Hollow Run where the second stocking starts on the stocking list. I tried to e-mail PFBC from the contact icon but I keep getting page unavailable.

 

[RLeep2]

If I recall correctly, the fly water on the main stem of Caldwell Creek was included in the Commission's pilot or experiment or whatever you want to call it to try and support the fishery solely via the stocking of fingerlings. I believe the special reg water on Little Sandy over to Polk was also included in this program.

My understanding is that this program has been a resounding fizzle in both stream sections and that 2015 is the last year of the pilot.

I have no idea whether this means that stocking of catchables will resume in the Caldwell reg water in 2016. I assume it will. There really isn't much point in having a special regulations area without fish...

 

[streamerguy]

WB Caldwell only gets stocked with adult trout above the C&R ALO section. The C&R ALO section doesn't get stocked........and shouldn't.

The main stem of Caldwell gets stocked with adult trout both above and below the C&R FFO section. The C&R FFO section itself is part of the fingerling program.

The C&R FFO on LS is also part of the fingerling program. Above the FFO section still gets a few adult stockies.

RLeep2 wrote:
My understanding is that this program has been a resounding fizzle in both stream sections and that 2015 is the last year of the pilot.

I have no idea whether this means that stocking of catchables will resume in the Caldwell reg water in 2016. I assume it will. There really isn't much point in having a special regulations area without fish...

Yeah. The program didn't go well on either FFO. The vast majority of the fingerlings are moving to other sections and even leaving the streams all together.

This is the final year of the study. I too assume these sections will go back to adult stockings starting next spring, but we'll see I guess.....

 

[Chaz]

The Class A water
Warren Cty; West Branch Sec 3 Brown Trout Caldwell Creek
Confluence of Three Bridge Run
downstream to West Branch Bridge on Flat Road

 

[dennisw]

Thanks for the info guys.....I forgot that the FFO section went to a fingerling stocking.....I have a cabin on the upper portion of the West Branch that is stocked so I know each section fairly well. I have never fished the West Branch that is C&R only.....though I have caught a few stream born browns behind my camp but very few........maybe time to stop stocking that.

 

[Sylvaneous]

Yeah, I live about 5 miles from the Little sandy water. It has a wild trout population already, but the real attraction for me in years past was that there were standard sized stocked trout to catch in March and early April. Now it's some wild fish, which you don't usually see much of until May and the stockies that drift in from the stocked water. Not stocking 1 mile on an otherwise stocked stream doesn't really make sense.

 

[FarmerDave]

Sylvaneous wrote:
Yeah, I live about 5 miles from the Little sandy water. It has a wild trout population already, but the real attraction for me in years past was that there were standard sized stocked trout to catch in March and early April. Now it's some wild fish, which you don't usually see much of until May and the stockies that drift in from the stocked water. Not stocking 1 mile on an otherwise stocked stream doesn't really make sense.

I agree 100%.

But C&R regs for stocked trout, doesn't make much sense to me, either.

 

[PennKev]

Sylvaneous wrote:
It has a wild trout population already, but the real attraction for me in years past was that there were standard sized stocked trout to catch in March and early April.

I would argue that you have things backwards.

"Big" Sandy is loaded with stockies if that's your thing. The wild population in LSC should be treated with more regard. It is quite good, especially when compared to other streams in the area.

 

[Camp]

THAT explains the terrible fishing in the FFO section of Caldwell. The only trout I caught there was sub-legal over several visits the last couple years. I thought it was my ineptness, now I understand why every other stream has fished better. Hope they return to at least regular stocking.

 

[albud1962]

It was my impression that the fingerling program was sort of a smoke screen to slowly reduce stocking over wild fish populations. It was thought the smaller fingerlings would not compete as much with the wild fish. If the wild fish population responded positively, then future stocking would be curtailed.

I believe that is what happened at Donegal Creek. With less stocked fish, the angler pressure was also lessened. The program was being used at Bald Eagle Creek below Spring Creek. The problem here is that many of the rainbows being stocked ended up in lower spring creek and might have negatively affected the wild brown population. I have seen the fishing decline somewhat on Lower Spring. I have also seen more anglers on this part of the creek.

 

[streamerguy]

albud1962 wrote:
It was thought the smaller fingerlings would not compete as much with the wild fish.

I personally think the opposite. From my experiences on one of the fingerling stocked streams, the fingerling hatchery fish seem to be holding in areas where your normal adult hatchery fish couldn't(because they're too big), or simply wouldn't. The fingerlings are smaller and can hang out in smaller holding lies......often where most of the smaller and mid-sized wild fish are. On top of that, the fingerlings are moving a heck of a lot more than the regular adult stockies. They're not sticking around in the usual "bridge holes" and whatnot.

With that said because they're moving so much and leaving these streams all together, their numbers are pretty low(outside of the first few months). So the fish that are present could possibly push out/compete with the wild fish, but there aren't many of them. So in the grand scheme of things the fingerling program probably isn't hurting the wild populations tooo much, but I do believe it would impact the wild fish a lot more if the fingerlings didn't move out of these areas.