Are you allowed to fish a stretch of stream above the upper limits of a stocked trout stream. With this weather I would really like to fish a stream near my parents house about a mile above the upper limit of the stream section thats stocked. I would wait to fish it april 14th but I will be in Idaho at school and would love to fish this before I leave. Any info would be appreciated.

I don't have the answer to your question but a similar question. I am looking at a stream (Stream-B) that is not stocked but a trib to it IS stocked (stream-C). The 1st stream is a trib to another stocked stream (Stream-A) but it has a stem that is seperate from the other stocked trib (Stream-C).

Can I fish any of the unstocked stream (Stream-B) ?

i could very well be wrong, but if the stream your fishing is not on the approved trout water list (found in your PA fishing summary) then you can fish it year round. been goin by that for awhile and havent got into any trouble...

the majority of the stream is stocked. I want to fish the extreme headwaters of siad stream. The upper stocking limits are at least a half mile downstream of where i want to fish, maybe even closer to a mile.

I think you're okay on that, I thought there was some clause about no fishing downstream of stocked waters. I would like to know if I can fish a seperate stem of an unstocked stream that is upstream of the confluence with a stocked stream.

Another thread addresses this issue. The location of stocking does not determine the definition of where the stream is "closed to fishing" during Mar 1 to Opening Day. If it is designated ATW, without boundaries stated in the Summary of Regulations, then every part of that stream is CLOSED, even if stocking only occurs in some portion of it. As previously noted, if it passes into a county or originates from a county where it is NOT designated ATW, then I think, emphasis on think, that it is not closed in the county where it is not listed as an ATW.

I was literally just gonna ask this! Thanks jack for clarifying.

Here is an example of the ATWs is Somerset County:

Allen Creek – Beaverdam Creek – Beaverdam Run – Bens Creek – Breastwork Run – Brush Creek – Casselman River (from MD-PA state line downstream to Moser Road (T-353) Bridge) – Clear Shade Creek – Cub Run – Elk Lick Creek – Flaugherty Creek – Gladdens Run – Glade Run – Jones Mill Run – Kimberly Run – Kooser Lake – Kooser Run – Laurel Hill Creek – Laurel Hill Lake – Little Piney Creek – McClintock Run – Middle Creek – Miller Run – Piney Creek – Piney Run – Raystown Branch Juniata River – Shafer Run – Shaffers Run – South Fork Bens Creek – Stonycreek River (from Yonai Road (T-515) Bridge downstream to railroad retaining wall 0.25 mile downstream of Covered Bridge Road (T-565) Bridge) – Tub Mill Run – Whites Creek – Wills Creek – Youghiogheny River Lake tailwaters

As you can see, the Casselman River has a downstream boundary stated, as does Stoneycreek River. On these two waters, outside of the defined boundaries, the stream is not ATW. All the other streams must be understood to be ATW from headwaters to mouth within the stated county.

Jack is correct. In all likelihood, you CANNOT fish where you are talking about.

It comes down to whether the stream, or certain limits, are listed as ATW. In most cases, they list the stream as ATW, without listing limits. In that case, the ENTIRE stream is ATW, and it is illegal to fish even if you are outside of the stocking limits. In other cases, they'll list an upper or lower boundary to the ATW, and then it is ok, so long as you are outside of the boundary.

As far as the trib comment, I believe, but will have to check, that the "all waters downstream" thing pertains only to where the extended season is in play, from Sept. 4 through the end of February. It is meaningless for the month of March. As for what is CLOSED, it is ATW's only. Even if a tributary is an ATW, that is a different stream, all that matters is whether YOUR stream is listed as an ATW.

Pat feel free to check but I always have to re-emphasize and re-affirm that "downstream areas" only appears in the regulation when stating where the Extended Season applies. The language is (again) "all waters downstream of ATWs."


Here is the NO FISHING prohibition in the Code (58 Pa. Code § 63.3):

It is unlawful to fish in approved trout waters regulated under § 61.1 (relating to Commonwealth inland waters) from 12:01 a.m. on March 1 to 8 a.m. on the first Saturday after April 11 and in approved trout waters regulated under § 65.12 (relating to Regional Opening Day of Trout Season Program) from 12:01 a.m. on March 1 to 8 a.m. on the first Saturday after March 28.

Here is the Extended Season language. It appears, to my knowledge, in the "chart" of Seasons, Sizes and Creel Limits for Commonwealth Inland Waters (58 Pa. Code § 61.1):

Extended Season:
Approved trout waters and all waters downstream of approved trout waters...

and then again in 58 Pa. Code § 65.26, as follows

Extended trout seasons.
(a) General rule. The extended trout season is in effect from the day after Labor Day until the last day of February of the following year on approved trout waters and all waters downstream of approved trout waters. A creel limit of three trout per day and a minimum size limit of 7 inches applies during this season.

Well, the language you posted is what I woulda checked on, so yep, the "all waters downstream" merely describes what is open to harvest during the extended season, but has no bearing whatsoever on what is closed during the closed season.

ATW's are closed during the closed season. Everything else is open on a C&R basis.

Unless specific limits are given, if a stream is listed ATW in a county, then the ENTIRE stream is ATW within that county, regardless of the stocking limits.

The section I want to fish is right on the huntingdon, centre county line with the centre side being mostly what I am interested in. I checked centre and its not listed as an ATW so it sounds like I am fine if I am on the centre county side. Thanks for the responses.

Quote:

This is probably a good guideline but you may care to check the PFBC lists. Here in Adams Co there are a couple streams that are listed as ATWs for the county with no posted stocking limits. Presumably, they're off limits anywhere in Adams.
However, if you check the Wilderness and Class A lists or ATWs open to fishing....there are delineated sections identifying these same waters as being under these other categories (which are indeed open to fishing).

The wilderness trout streams, and class A list are not special reg of any sort that I know of. It's not a regulatory designation, it doesn't effect regs in any way. It's more about getting the streams increased protection from the DEP, I think making either list puts them in the exceptional value category. But yes, a stream can be on either list and still be ATW, and thus still be off limits for fishing right now.

In most cases, these situations are the situations where the PFBC specifies limits on the ATW sections, thus making the wild trout part open to fishing. But if they don't, it's not.

Bottom line: It either is, or isn't an ATW. If it's ATW and also on one of these lists, then it's still off limits to fishing in March. The only way an ATW is open to fishing in March is if it's under a special regulation, such as DHALO, Trophy Trout, and the like. Those ARE regulatory designations.

Then again:

APPROVED TROUT WATERS OPEN TO YEAR-ROUND FISHING