Clarks Creek, Special Regs, Dauphin County, March 11, 2013

I was taking a nap when the dog started howling. I looked out the front window and saw a chase lounge go by at 100 mph. The sky looked really strange and junk was airborne higher than the trees. You could hear rumble and what sounded like high pitched turbo engine. Ran to basement. Came up 5 minutes later and the neighborhood was wrecked. It crossed just south of you and tossed 80' trees onto rt 322 causing it to be closed. It seemed to hop over the pizza place and touch down just above Abe's store. It came up over the hill 400-500 yards from ky house. Wrecked my neighbor's roofs. I had just put up a 8x10 shed. Fully loaded....tossed across the yard. The twister went over the hill and bounced its way up Stony Valley. That was pretty scary.
 
Was this the storm system in 2011, the remnants of the Joplin, MO storms that came through? End of June, I believe, in 2011?
 
For those of you that fish Clarks Creek here is some interesting Reading. Pay special attention to the fish survey and to what sections held the most fish. The fish survey was done late in the summer.

http://www.dauphincd.org/water/Clarks%20Creek%20Coldwater%20Conservation%20Plan.pdf
 
so...it's not my imagination.
 
Clarks is terrible nowadays and full of snakes,coyotes and bears. I think it got polluted too. If you've never fished it,don't. I'll keep fishing it and take one for the team. I'll let you all know when the fish return.
 
You forgot to mention that Clarks has the biggest swarm of mosquitoes in the state. So along with the snakes, bears and an occasional beaver, I'll take one for the team once in a while and let everyone know when it's safe to go down there.....
 
Biggie, your telling the truth there. There has been days where I just had to leave because I only had a t-shirt. The mosquitos there last year were horrible.
 
Yeah those moskitos eat DEET for for lunch.

 
Cons:
Lacks decent amount of larger fish.
Mosquitos are in fact overbearing at times.
Clogged with log jams now that ofcourse, the fish migrate to.
Hatches are minimal.
Snags are optimal.

Pros:
Like stepping into a mountain stream, 20 mins from Harrisburg.
Nice amount of wild brownies.
A terrestrial fishermans top tier stream.
Native brookies in its very tiny tribs.
Best fishing is out of regs area.

Thats what I can come up with off the top of my head. No, its not for everyone, but I love the place. From the moss on the rocks, to the fog in the air, and especially the natural air conditioning in the summer.
I call it my home water and I'm glad for it.

Kray, I always thought it sucked that its just not your cup of tea being how its walking distance from your front door.

Crep, cant believe I never saw that link. Thank you.
 
Squaretail wrote:
No, its not for everyone, but I love the place. From the moss on the rocks, to the fog in the air, and especially the natural air conditioning in the summer.
I call it my home water and I'm glad for it.

Crep, cant believe I never saw that link. Thank you.
Click to expand...

I agree Squaretail.
A lot of streams have some pretty big cons.....but their pros much outweigh them depending on one's taste or point of view. Clarks is a gem.

Yes, good information filled link.
Most streams, particularly bigger ones, or ones with considerable local value (which describes many of the streams we discuss on this forum)......have a "conservation plan" or watershed management plan and most of these are posted online. I've spent a lot of time reading them the last couple years. Oftentimes, there is very good (if you can tolerate scientific jargon) info about local land use, pollution, macros, etc. Some of these plans also have good data on fish populations that are a result of DEP or PFBC surveys. Conservation plans are a wealth of info.
 
Fishidiot wrote:
Clarks is a gem.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. For being so close to a populated area, it is a slice of heaven within a very short driving distance. Most importantly, it seems to be protected from the overdevelopment that inflicts many of our cherished waters (Trindle, Letort, etc.).
 
I keep wanting to fish this stream. It's really not far from Ephrata. The snakes and bears make it all the more appealing to me. I keep hearing the best fishing is outside of the special regs water, so I want to research that first before heading up.
 
crepuscular wrote:
For those of you that fish Clarks Creek here is some interesting Reading. Pay special attention to the fish survey and to what sections held the most fish. The fish survey was done late in the summer.

http://www.dauphincd.org/water/Clarks%20Creek%20Coldwater%20Conservation%20Plan.pdf
Click to expand...

Given the relatively short survey sections electrofished, and the proximity of some of the survey sites to stocking points, I'm not sure there is a huge statistical variation in the number of salmonid species found in any particular section. However, the secret is out - the first verified publication of native salmo truttas in the North America:

p 24
Native brown trout, pictured above, that were found during the fish survey of Clarks Creek
 
Yes there is great water outside of the regs. I grew up on the lower end and love my home stretch.
 
Given the relatively short survey sections electrofished, and the proximity of some of the survey sites to stocking points, I'm not sure there is a huge statistical variation in the number of salmonid species found in any particular section. However, the secret is out - the first verified publication of native salmo truttas in the North America:

p 24
Native brown trout, pictured above, that were found during the fish survey of Clarks Creek
Click to expand...


You are obviously correct about the statistical differences between electrofishing sites. The fish portion of that plan was its weakest section in my opinion. That said, my point was simple, there are fish spread out in that creek and especially later on in the season. So maybe the stocking points are not as important seeing as the sampling was done in August I believe. People were talking about the amount of fish in the special regs section. So I simply pointedout that there are still fish in the open waters later on in the year. And the fact that there are reproducing brown trout is a good thing, no? It's not a secret but the fact that is is documented in the plan is also a good thing. Also the simple fact that the implementation plan was was completed, makes Clarks Creek eligible for funding for future stream improvement work.
 
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