Donegal Creek, 10-19-14, Lancaster county

[caveman]

I got up before sunrise to swing some streamers thru the creek below 772. First hole I fished drew a blank, The next I had a fish miss my streamer three times then I switched patterns and he swung at it twice more again. then he went down, It looked like a good fish for the stream, Moved down again and caught 6 rainbow about 7 inches from the hole in front of me, all clipped fins,Just a few yards down, I caught 3 more. Was this stocked with a new batch of fingerlings?

Then on my way out I caught a 11 inch brown from the first hole on a greenie weenie. Nice morning and finished up by about 9 am.

 

[raftman]

Yeah, they just stocked a ton of rainbow fingerlings.

 

[dc410]

This is the third year that the Rainbow fingerlings were stocked in the fall of the year. I think I remember Mike saying that this program was to continue until 2015 on the Donegal.

 

[caveman]

They weren't hard to catch, they are hungry. I think I could of tied on just about any dry and they would have taken that also.

 

[dc410]

Yep. If you have a young angler in your life that is showing some interest in FF it would be a great opportunity to get them into their first trout on a fly rod.

 

[Mike]

1700 RT stocked averaging approx 7.25 inches. This will most likely be the last fingerling stocking, as survival/residency from fall to late June or early July has varied from about 10-20%, depending upon the year. The survival/residency rate did not improve by cutting the stocked numbers nearly in half from the first to the second year. No holdovers from the first year stocking were found this year within the evaluation site. One or two were captured elsewhere, however, indicating very limited survival beyond 1.5 years in the stream. Two years in a row, however, the electrofishing survey designed to evaluate the success of the fingerling program has also documented a Class A equivalent wild brown trout population. I anticipate that once the fingerling study is completed following the 2015 electrofishing survey, the stream will most likely be managed as wild brown trout stream.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
1700 RT stocked averaging approx 7.25 inches. This will most likely be the last fingerling stocking, as survival/residency from fall to late June or early July has varied from about 10-20%, depending upon the year. The survival/residency rate did not improve by cutting the stocked numbers nearly in half from the first to the second year. No holdovers from the first year stocking were found this year within the evaluation site. One or two were captured elsewhere, however, indicating very limited survival beyond 1.5 years in the stream. Two years in a row, however, the electrofishing survey designed to evaluate the success of the fingerling program has also documented a Class A equivalent wild brown trout population. I anticipate that once the fingerling study is completed following the 2015 electrofishing survey, the stream will most likely be managed as wild brown trout stream.

Thanks for the info, Mike.

It appears that wild brown trout are really thriving in many more streams in the state. Great news for many anglers. Also great news for the FBC since limited funds can be used for stocking more marginal streams, and a quality wild trout stream will be preserved and protected.

Trout and trout fishing is headed in the right direction, IMO. More Class A wild trout streams with less or no stocking in them, leaving more stocked (and harvestable) trout for the marginal streams, which tend to exist in the most populated areas.

 

[Fishidiot]

afishinado wrote:
It appears that wild brown trout are really thriving in many more streams in the state. Great news for many anglers. Also great news for the FBC since limited funds can be used for stocking more marginal streams, and a quality wild trout stream will be preserved and protected.
Trout and trout fishing is headed in the right direction, IMO. More Class A wild trout streams with less or no stocking in them, leaving more stocked (and harvestable) trout for the marginal streams, which tend to exist in the most populated areas.

Agree wholeheartedly.

 

[NickR]

Wow, that is really good news Mike.

 

[geebee]

but if they stop stocking rainbow candy, what will the browns eat ? 🙂

kidding.

 

[wgmiller]

The Donegal needs left to its own devices. It can support a healthy brown trout population and certainly those fish will enjoy not having to compete for food with stocked fish. Not to mention, IMO, it is suffering from reduced flow due to development in the headwaters/municipal water supply area. It is also in need of significant stream cleanup and bank restoration in some areas.

 

[foxtrapper1972]

I know there are a few wild fish in there. The club still stocks it and a few Browns hold over and may look like wild fish after a while. The stocked Rainbows seem to disappear fast. The stream has no where near the water it had a few years ago and the silt is absolutely terrible below 772 to the confluence with Chiques. In my view I doubt the creek will ever amount to much of a wild trout fishery.

 

[NickR]

Never going to be one of the top spring creeks in PA but it does offer some decent fishing for wild fish. The Class A electroshocking surveys would point to it being a viable wild trout fishery. I think it is a great thing whenever PFBC decides to stop stocking over wild fish and if you like trout fishing you should too.

 

[wgmiller]

foxtrapper1972 wrote:
In my view I doubt the creek will ever amount to much of a wild trout fishery.

It'll be interesting to see what another electroshocking survey yields, but I'm fairly certain it easily contains the biomass to be considered a "Class A" stream. Will it ever reach the caliber of Spring, Lackawanna or other notable wild trout streams? Probably not. But once the stocked fish disappear I believe the Donegal will be able to hold its own as respectable wild brown stream in Lancaster County.

 

[caveman]

I always see lots of minnows and manage to catch a fair number of chubs whenever I am there. I did catch one rainbow the next day after I was there that was about 14 inches long. I failed to notice tho if it was adipose was clipped or not. This stream has some good hatches in the spring and a fairly good scud population. I think it would be best left alone.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Donegal at this point is a decent wild brown trout stream.
However GEO is right and it needs [d]some[/d] lots of restoration work.

Mike,

I'm seriously not even trying to be a jerk but, have you guys ever thought of trying this experiment in Clark's Creek in the FFO area with fingerling brown trout?
Ya know, a stream that's cold with better than marginal habitat and c&r regs. I can fathom why you guys would stock a species that hasn't historically done well in said watershed that gets warm with poor habitat. Seems to me, logically, that your success with the experiment would be better. That is, unless that isn't what you were hoping for...

 

[krayfish2]

Sal,

That FFO area needs some serious work. Bank stabilization, removal of dead falls, etc. It's in pretty sad shape. If you fish the right riffs, you can pick up little 2"-4" natives. I don't think I've ever caught any little browns though. I know there's some natural reproduction of them but don't know where they hide.

That stream stays plenty cold, even on the hottest summers. Planting of fingerlings would be an interesting experiment. I guess there's enough food in there for them to eat. I think the siltation and widening of the creek has caused a lot more 'dead water' that's filled in with sand on the bottom. Especially in the FFO section. I understand that there's progression in habitat but ugh. If you had a mile of clean bottom with clinging mayfly nymphs and now it's silted over.....bye bye hatches.

IMHO, the only things it has going for it is that the area is beautiful and it's a short drive from many urban areas. The fishing is 'meh' at best or at least that's how I've found it to be over the last 10 years. If you shine up a turd.....all you have is a shiney turd. LOL.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Agreed.

However, they have chosen some seriously bad watersheds for habitat and temps statewide for this "experiment", and I feel once again that it put serious doubt into any of the findings it brings.
It's as if they wanted a predetermined outcome and this is how the are going to get what they wanted all along just like some other "experiments".

IMO Clark's Creek is a way better choice for such a project.

 

[foxtrapper1972]

What watersheds would be good for fingerling stockings?

The fingerling Rainbows in Donegal just vanish. They must swim downstream or are eaten by predators or die.

The Tulpehocken does not seem to be working as far as I know. I think the Little Juniata has been a success. Not sure about Penns Cr.

 

[icyguides]

I think predation is probably the main issue for the fingerling bows in the donegal. Mink are fairly abundant on the stream and so are herons. On top of all that there is a family of river otters that are known to prowl the area around the mouth of the chiques, which is very near the bottom stretch. This year I saw a bunch of $h!t on rocks where the chiques and donegal meet that looked like otter to me. It's easily conceivable that they would wander upstream especially given how easy prey the fingerlings make.

I fished the donegal the week after the fingerling stocking and it was a predator's dream. With the low water there were just massive schools of the fingerlings stacked into the few decent holes.

From my experience the stream rarely gets above 70 in the summer and the wild browns seem to be surviving fine, so i don't think temperature is the main issue.

The stream could definitely use some habitat work. The DFCA does what it can, but just doesn't have the resources or man power to accomplish a whole lot. I'm not sure what or if Donegal TU does anything with the creek, even though it is their namesake.

Like Geo said, the loss of water has been pretty shocking too. The creek just doesn't hold water like it used to. It's somewhat speculative but development of the headwaters area has been blamed. In my opinion the lower flows are probably the biggest threat to the creek because it leads to loss of habitat, higher temps, etc.