Lehigh Gorge Trib Question

[Rainier42]

Anyone FF the creeks feeding Buttermilk and Luke's Falls in the Lehigh Gorge or are these creeks considered dead due to mining. Haven't been able to find any info on them online.

 

[Swattie87]

The streams feeding them are tiny, too small for me, and I’m a small stream guy. Go see how much water is coming over those falls (if any) in August or September most years. That will give you the picture. Can’t say I haven’t thought about it, but I didn’t think long.

 

[REDNECK_FLYFISHER]

Those two are way to small , I never even cast a fly into them to even try. But if you want a lehigh trib go a few miles east toward Hickory Run state park. On the way you will cross over Black creek . There are a good amount of native browns in there, may be worth a try.

 

[Rainier42]

Thanks for your responses. Have FFed the other creeks in the area and was just curious about these two.

 

[wildtrout2]

Regarding Lehigh Gorge tribs, Bear Creek is a gem. Had several 40+ trout days there. The only issue is access. It's well posted/private up top, so off of the river at it's mouth is the only public access. It can be done with proper river flows, ain't easy though. When I had more ambition, vigor, and lung capicity, I fished Bear though.

My first trip was via this inflatable raft, then I wised up a LOT and started crossing with my kayak. 😉 It's about a 3 mile ride down the Lehigh bike trail from Glen Onoko to where Bear comes in.

I don't generally give names of wild streams I fish/fished, but if you go through the trouble of getting to Bear Creek, you've earned the experience.

Edit: Be very aware of FEW dam releases!

 

[Millsertime]

🤣 that cheap looking raft mixed with rhodo looks like a disaster but a good story!

 

[dryflyguy]

I fished Black Creek many years ago, but due to it's tiny size, only fished it a very short distance. I only caught one real small native brookie though. I wasn't aware it had any native browns at all.

Regarding Lehigh Gorge tribs, Bear Creek is a gem. Had several 40+ trout days there. The only issue is access. It's well posted/private up top, so off of the river at it's mouth is the only public access. It can be done with proper river flows, ain't easy though. When I had more ambition, vigor, and lung capicity, I fished Bear though.

My first trip was via this inflatable raft, then I wised up a LOT and started crossing with my kayak. 😉 It's about a 3 mile ride down the Lehigh bike trail from Glen Onoko to where Bear comes in.

I don't generally give names of wild streams I fish/fished, but if you go through the trouble of getting to Bear Creek, you've earned the experience.

pretty neat way to haul the kayak!

 

[wildtrout2]

🤣 that cheap looking raft mixed with rhodo looks like a disaster but a good story!

Since you mention "a good story", I'll tell it. As mentioned, the reason I wised up a LOT was because on my first trip with that raft I learned a valuable lesson.

After having a great day on the stream, I got back to my raft and I thought it looked like it could use a tad more air before making the trip back across the river (you know where this is going). I took the precaution of bringing my pump along, just in case. So, I was adding some more air when the raft popped! I over did it!! I was freaked out, since it's a long distance back across that river.

It was a chambered raft and only the sides popped, leaving the floor chambers still inflated. It was enough to support me. I wasted no time straddling what remained of the raft and began to paddle my way back to the other side. As I got about mid river things went south on me. I lost ballance because of the unstableness, and my rod went into the depths, along with the paddle floating away. lol At least my small day pack with my camera stayed with me and I made it back to the west bank of the river, using my hands as the paddle.

This is when I realized a sturdy kayak was the only safe way to attempt this river crossing in the future. I'd made several trips afterwards. Live, and you WILL learn! 😉

 

[Swattie87]

I employed a similar method to get to that stream, and as wt2 alludes, I wouldn’t recommend it. I didn’t get wet, but it wasn’t a good idea. This was after attempting to reach it by crossing the Lehigh on foot, in dead low late Summer flows. Don’t try that either…the Lehigh at 200 cfs out of the dam will still lift you off your feet at knee depth. Way more gradient to that river than it would appear…it may look like a flat tailout where you’re trying to cross, but it’s not flat. Bear is a nice stream, but I only fished it that once. Similar, or better, fishing nearby that doesn’t require you to be captain of a vessel to get to.

 

[mute]

Sounds amazing. What does said stream look like? Similiar to the other tribs to the lehigh in the same area?

 

[wildtrout2]

Sounds amazing. What does said stream look like? Similiar to the other tribs to the lehigh in the same area?

Yes. Tannic, high gradient and boulder strewn, with lots of pocket water and a lot of great pools. It really is an awesome stream. The last time I fished it was back on June 21st of 2012, per my log records. The stream temp was 60F and I caught 27 trout that day. Biggest being an 11.5" wild brown. I've had 40+ trout days on Bear.

At it's mouth there are some neat old mill ruins. Back in the day there was an old, roughly 4' in diameter gear from the mill that was partially locked into the streambed. Sadly, some a$%h&#@s dug it up out of there and made off with it. That gear had to weigh hundreds of pounds, so I have no idea how they got it out of there.

Here's a good pic along Bear Creek to give an idea of what it looks like. I liked how the sun was poking through the trees. Also, here is my very first wild trout with multiple eye spots (posted this lots of times), that I caught the day I overinflated my raft.

 

[Swattie87]

What wt2 said. A little more Brookie heavy than the other area tribs of similar size. Though I caught it pretty low, and in mixed streams that will skew the catch rate toward the Brookies. So maybe not? Generally small fish, but decent numbers.

For anyone thinking about walking in from the top, the headwaters are in a gated Poconos community, and the obvious entry point (an old gated road grade) is heavily posted (rumored locally to be owned by a retired judge). It gave off the don’t even think about it vibe the one time I was in there. 10 years or more ago now, granted.

There’s a lengthy bushwhack option (maybe, there’s a lot of rhodo up there) via SGL in sideways. But repelling 800 vertical feet through a wall of rhodo into a small steep stream in a gorge isn’t my deal. The mouth via the rail trail is the viable way in if you wanna do it. And even that means you’re crossing a whitewater rafting river and fishing a super steep tannic stream on the other side, well out of cell reception. And I recommend you think about it. 10/10 in PA for difficulty of access. Only a small handful I’ve fished I’d put in that category.

 

[Streammagic237]

What wt2 said. A little more Brookie heavy than the other area tribs of similar size. Though I caught it pretty low, and in mixed streams that will skew the catch rate toward the Brookies. So maybe not? Generally small fish, but decent numbers.

For anyone thinking about walking in from the top, the headwaters are in a gated Poconos community, and the obvious entry point (an old gated road grade) is heavily posted (rumored locally to be owned by a retired judge). It gave off the don’t even think about it vibe the one time I was in there. 10 years or more ago now, granted.

There’s a lengthy bushwhack option (maybe, there’s a lot of rhodo up there) via SGL in sideways. But repelling 800 vertical feet through a wall of rhodo into a small steep stream in a gorge isn’t my deal. The mouth via the tail trial is the viable way in if you wanna do it. And even that means you’re crossing a whitewater rafting river and fishing a super steep tannic stream on the other side, well out of cell reception. And I recommend you think about it. 10/10 in PA for difficulty of access. Only a small handful I’ve fished I’d put in that

You sure know how to make me wanna fish a stream 😇.

I have 200' of 5/8 static that has been sitting coiled on the wall far too long .

 

[wildtrout2]

What wt2 said. A little more Brookie heavy than the other area tribs of similar size. Though I caught it pretty low, and in mixed streams that will skew the catch rate toward the Brookies. So maybe not? Generally small fish, but decent numbers.

For anyone thinking about walking in from the top, the headwaters are in a gated Poconos community, and the obvious entry point (an old gated road grade) is heavily posted (rumored locally to be owned by a retired judge). It gave off the don’t even think about it vibe the one time I was in there. 10 years or more ago now, granted.

There’s a lengthy bushwhack option (maybe, there’s a lot of rhodo up there) via SGL in sideways. But repelling 800 vertical feet through a wall of rhodo into a small steep stream in a gorge isn’t my deal. The mouth via the tail trial is the viable way in if you wanna do it. And I recommend you think about it. 10/10 in PA for difficulty of access. Only a small handful I’ve fished I’d put in that category.

Well described.
I'm going to come clean at long last!! lol The very first time I was introduced to Bear Creek (2010ish), a buddy of mine told me about the campsite at the mouth. He said we could stay up there (in the mountains) with a friend of his who lives in the area, and we could use his big quad to bring our gear down the mountain to Bear Creek, and camp for the weekend.
My buddy and I rode right through that posted property, past all the posted signs, down a very rough trail through the woods, that eventually led to the campsite at the bottom. So, there you have it. I finally got that off my chest after all these years. lmao 😆

 

[Andrwhite610]

Well described.
I'm going to come clean at long last!! lol The very first time I was introduced to Bear Creek, a buddy of mine told me about the campsite at the mouth. He said we could stay up there (in the mountains) with a friend of his who lives in the area, and we could use his big quad to bring our gear down the mountain to Bear Creek, and camp for the weekend.
My buddy and I rode right through that posted property, past all the posted signs, down a very rough trail through the woods, that eventually led to the campsite at the bottom. So, there you have it. I finally got that off my chest after all these years. lmao 😆

I’m telling…

But could one swim the length across the Lehigh at bear ck on a warm day or is that silly talk?

 

[Swattie87]

Well described.
I'm going to come clean at long last!! lol The very first time I was introduced to Bear Creek (2010ish), a buddy of mine told me about the campsite at the mouth. He said we could stay up there (in the mountains) with a friend of his who lives in the area, and we could use his big quad to bring our gear down the mountain to Bear Creek, and camp for the weekend.
My buddy and I rode right through that posted property, past all the posted signs, down a very rough trail through the woods, that eventually led to the campsite at the bottom. So, there you have it. I finally got that off my chest after all these years. lmao 😆

I think the statute of limitations has passed. But clearly you thought better about it since. And I suspect if there wasn’t a gate, that it was added since. Was def a gate there when I was there. 2015ish?

 

[troutbert]

What wt2 said. A little more Brookie heavy than the other area tribs of similar size. Though I caught it pretty low, and in mixed streams that will skew the catch rate toward the Brookies. So maybe not? Generally small fish, but decent numbers.

For anyone thinking about walking in from the top, the headwaters are in a gated Poconos community, and the obvious entry point (an old gated road grade) is heavily posted (rumored locally to be owned by a retired judge). It gave off the don’t even think about it vibe the one time I was in there. 10 years or more ago now, granted.

There’s a lengthy bushwhack option (maybe, there’s a lot of rhodo up there) via SGL in sideways. But repelling 800 vertical feet through a wall of rhodo into a small steep stream in a gorge isn’t my deal. The mouth via the tail trial is the viable way in if you wanna do it. And even that means you’re crossing a whitewater rafting river and fishing a super steep tannic stream on the other side, well out of cell reception. And I recommend you think about it. 10/10 in PA for difficulty of access. Only a small handful I’ve fished I’d put in that category.

So it's State Gamelands, but there is no way to drive into it? If the Game Commission needs to do maintenance work, they can't drive in there?

 

[Swattie87]

I’m telling…

But could one swim the length across the Lehigh at bear ck on a warm day or is that silly talk?

Probably. But the river is moving quick, even in the parts where it looks like on the surface it isn’t. It’s tough to explain, but it’s some sort of illusion your brain plays on you when you’re looking for the slowest moving water you can. The slowest moving spots on the Lehigh are still pushing good. You’d have to gauge how much it would carry you downstream. And if you miss, walking the bank on the Lehigh in the Gorge isn’t a whole lot of fun. I’d have a PFD on. And I consider myself a good swimmer. Our swim team coach in HS coincidentally was also the PE instructor. We did swimming for a whole quarter of the year for PE. He asked me to join the swim team - I was committed to a different Winter sport and couldn’t, but for reference. The Lehigh regular guys (if they see this) will probably tell you the same, or worse.

Edit: I don’t remember what the water right at the mouth looked like, but the time I tried to cross on foot, I attempted to cross just upstream of the mouth in what I thought was the calmest water I could find, in reasonable distance to Bear’s mouth. I thought it was a relatively slow flowing tailout and it was, for the Lehigh. At 200 cfs (super low) it was capable of dumping me at knee depth, and maybe 1/3 of the way across. The push was like nothing else I’ve fished of similar size in PA. I’m 6’0 185. I turned back. So you’d be swimming in knee deep fast flowing boulder strewn tannic water on a whitewater rafting river.

 

[wildtrout2]

I think the statute of limitations has passed. But clearly you thought better about it since. And I suspect if there wasn’t a gate, that it was added since. Was def a gate there when I was there. 2015ish?

Statute of limitations! lmao 🤣 I imagine the gate was added afterwards, since I don't recall seeing one at the time. Each subsequent trip I made since that epic journey, I accessed Bear from the river.

 

[Swattie87]

So it's State Gamelands, but there is no way to drive into it? If the Game Commission needs to do maintenance work, they can't drive in there?

There’s a SGL to the north that is adjacent to LGSP, which the bottom 3/4 mile or so of Bear is in. Bear is posted above that. So you can get to it all on public land, via SGL and LGSP, and fish the bottom 3/4 mile or so of it, but that’s the bushwhack/repel through rhodo option I described above. Worse than the one you and I did this past Summer, gauging from what I could see while fishing the stream - I only went in once, via the mouth, and if I ever do it again, that’s how I’d do it, with a better vessel this time.

The one you and I did this Summer also is in the “10/10” club in my book, though for different reasons. Bear via public land on foot I’d gauge as harder to get to/get out of, admittedly, haven’t done it though. Similar distance, more gradient and elevation to cover on Bear, rhodo situation similar I’d say. May be the only two I’d put at 10, thinking about it. A noticeable decrease after those two I think. Bear is maybe a little easier to get to by boat, meaning you can do it in a day, but that’s about it.

Edit: The road grade terminates on posted property within that community. Not sure how far down it would get you, if you had permission to use it, but I don’t recall a good grade to walk on on my hike back down to the river after fishing it to where it’s posted. Lot of boulder hopping IIRC.