I don't post stream reports much any more because I've seen what happens if you're not careful.

However, I think this stream deserves more attention because from what I've been told, and what I saw, are pretty different. Also, I think more "good presence" can help the stream, and frankly I don't think the meatheads would have much interest in it.

Trout Creek. I mean, yeah, its got the name and all but yet no one talks about it so you'd think that its one of those sort of ironic things because development and time have ravaged it and turned it into warm drainage ditch, right?

Wrong. Completely so.

I went out to check this out the other day in the spirit of adventurism, and not leaving my 15 mile foot print (9.9 miles, thank you very much!). I've heard so much about it being a nasty little dead stream in a ghetto fabulous area overrun with bums and riff raff.

This is only partially true, maybe not at all, but hell I'm running off a sample of one day, so who knows. I do know that I decided to strip my car of anything valuable, carry only my knockaround rod and beat up line, and bring something with a little more snot than a 5wt if things went sour.




Its certainly not in the nicest part of Allentown (South 8th Street), although the immediate area isn't too bad, it gets that sort of look about it when you go about one block in any direction. I drove by Mack Park and kept going, I only pulled over to really take a look when I hit Trout Creek Park, right below the trestle bridge.



It looked pretty good, actually. I saw a couple of decent size fish move from my shadow and decided I'd go down further and fish upstream. I saw a surprisingly clean park, reached the end and got ready to hop into the stream, went down past Imperial Paving and was pretty happy with what I saw. The stream looks really good. Its not very big, nor deep in many places, but its clean (mostly) trash free, and seems to have a really good mix of runs and pools.



That's, I believe, the parking garage for Good Shepard up there. Outside of the main park area, its defiantly dirtier, but none the less there's a great natural riparian buffer, lots of trees and great looking water. There's also a surprising amount of fish in the water, maybe nothing giant, but they're defiantly there.

Not just suckers, either, but actual trouts.



Man, what's it say for safety when even children can be carjacked and their cars joyridden and dumped to be stripped? Seriously though, its not so bad. There's a collection of normal enough looking people walking by, and surprisingly, it appears there's been a lot of in stream work done. There's bank reinforcement, in stream deflectors and buffers, etc. I'm not an expert, but I was taken aback by how good it was. When I started seeing the dumped rock banks covered with fresh grass held in by burlap, I knew someone was really making an effort.




That explains that, eh? This stream looks fantastic, I can't stress enough how many (smaller) fish I saw through the park, and I think its amazing that in the heart of a rundown part of town is this magnificent little stream.

I grew continually amazed by the amount of fresh springs running into it, including one healthy weedchoked little brook that, of course, had its own particular stamp of A'town on it…



That's a 17" truck tire, with aluminum rim, if you're interested. What you can't see is the swarms of midges up in the air there, to say nothing of the crane flies and mayflies on the main portion of the stream.

I only fished from a bit below the main park area up to where the train trestle enters into Trout Creek Park. Its a really nice area, and its under a lot of major work. In addition to the streamside improvements, there was a lot of fresh riparian buffer planting, turns out I read that they're working on revitalizing the whole park.

Hopefully, with the improvements they work on policing in the area. Again, I didn't see anything that left me wary, but more than a few people have commented its an awful place to live. I'm defiantly planning to go back again.

So, with that said, the "report" bit:
The water was up, cold, and clear. I'd say this is just about perfect for a 3 or 4wt, depending on how heavy you like to cast. The casting is never long, the water rarely above knee deep. I saw a surprisingly amount of fish, from a few inches up to significantly bigger. Fish were caught both on the surface and underneath.

I didn't take a water temp (deal), but with the amount of fresh springs it has to be cold.

Insects sighted were craneflies, midges, and size 16ish mayflies. I don't know which ones, I don't profess to care. :)

I'll defiantly go back.

Wow, nice report Gary. I never even knew a stream was in that part of Atown.

cool report. for growing up so close to it, i can't tell you how many times i've passed by and thought "nah...not worth it." gotta check it out sometime.

I like the first photo. It should be titled: "Don't make me euthanize this reel."

Gfen,
I tried to tell you earlier about this stream, thats what i was talking about in an earlier post, this is a rather nice lil limestoner,an yes there are plenty of stream bred trout, unfortunately when you are located smack dab in the middle or sirt of ,one the biggest cities in Pa you will get folks that haven't herd of a garbage can .
fortunately its location keeps some folks away too, and thats their problem, if what people look like or where a stream is located defines that stream ,the less the merrier i say.
i laugh at guys who carry guns, usually they are not even qualified to produce when the moment arrives.Keep the guns at home folks unless you are trained to use them an are prepared for the aftermath,this is flyfishing afterall isnt it?
BTW i am a life meber of the NRA an have been for 20 years an going ,always in good standing too.
Gary maybe sometime we can meet up an fish this stream together, i didnt get to fish it this fall, but tricos were fun a few times this summer
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace

becker: most people probably don't. allentown's funny like that. this year i'm going to visit as many trickles as i can possibly find within a 15 mile range of my door step.

jay: see above. you should, it was nice in its current flow, not sure what happens in the summer. what really impressed me was the amount of work being done on otherwise forgotten stream. it makes me sad to see what we've done to the more popular streams of the area, and how llittle attention they get.

jack: buy this magazine or the dog gets it.

lonerick: there's a time and a place for everything. the ghetto is a reason for high capacity magazines. its possibly the only time that i think 5 isn't enough. i'm ill prepared for the litiagation aftermath, but everything in its turn should it come to that. 6 pounds of pressure can move the world. none the less, people should take a look at this. i'll reevaluate my thoughts on it after a summertime visit, for now i'm a fan.

Gary - Next time you're "out west" let me know. I'd be happy to explore this stream with you.

I fished that stream and wasn't even aware of potential crime issues or any of that. Maybe it's just because I'm a naive out-of-towner.

Gfen, check your PM's

That is a decent stream. I have visited it a few times. Probably not worth going to if you are more than 20 miles away, but it is something different to check out in that area for sure. Each time I was there I didn't see anyone else fishing it.

I do get an uneasy feeling when I am there too. It is not the best neighborhood.

Most of the garbage has been washed down from the floods to the lower end of the park now. When will this country ban plastic bottles? Seems to be 90% of the waste I see. And it is everywhere . . .

Govtmule and I checked it out over the summer for Tricos, but were a little disappointed when we didn't see any that day. Maybe we gave up too soon.

I have yet to come remotely close to needing...."assistance", and I have fished some ugly ones. Funny, the worst situations I ever saw were in Pulaski away from populations. But I have yet to fish this particular stream.
Great report/tale Gary. Easily followed and understood. Kinda reminds me of the Spring Creek that runs through Harrisburg.

Quote:

I fished that stream right through the public housing projects. It was a nice day and there were people out and about, but there were no issues, no sign of hostility.

First great report.

Dan I thought the very same thing when I read this report last night. Its the one picture that does it, the clarity and tint of the water are almost exactly the same as Spring.

I remember some nice browns in that stream, hopefully they are still there.

Quote:

It is neither his first, nor his only, great report. comma.

He's taunting us-MORE GFEN,MORE GFEN.