HARRISBURG, Pa (October 26) – During its quarterly business meeting today, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) encouraged anglers and boaters to take advantage of the many fall and winter fishing and boating opportunities available across the Commonwealth and reminded everyone to make safety a priority while enjoying the water.
Commissioners voted to approve the publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to Fishing in the vicinity of fishways (
58 Pa. Code § 63.16). Currently, the PFBC prohibits fishing both within a fishway and within 100 feet of the entrance and exit points of a fishway or any other fish passage facility located on or in connection with a dam. This regulation addresses needs at technical fishways including vertical slot fish ladders or Denil fish ladders that are engineered fish passage solutions that pass fish through constricted passage routes making them easy targets for anglers. However, at recently completed nature-like fishways, such as the structure added on the western side of the the Adam T. Bower Memorial Inflatable Dam (or Fabridam) on the Susquehanna River, these restrictions may not be necessary. Nature-like fishways, as the name implies, are fish passage solutions that mimic a natural stream channel where the diversity of habitat allows fish using the fishway to utilize cover as they would in a natural setting and disperse throughout the channel and not be easily targeted and caught by anglers. Under this proposal, a provision would be added to the regulation allowing for signs to be posted at fishways that permit angling, where appropriate. If adopted on final rulemaking at a future meeting, this amendment will go into effect upon publication of a second notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The Board voted to revise the limits of one section of Oil Creek, Crawford and Venango counties, managed as a Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only Area (DHALO) (
58 Pa. Code § 65.6). Oil Creek is a 40-mile-long stream that originates near the community of Lincolnville and flows southeast to its confluence with the Allegheny River near the City of Oil City. The stream is currently managed as nine stream sections for fisheries management purposes. Sections 02-08, which total 39.4 miles in length, are included in the Stocked Trout Waters program. Sections 02, 03, 04, 06 and 08 are managed under Commonwealth Inland Waters angling regulations (
58 Pa. Code § 61.1), while sections 05 and 07 are managed under DHALO regulations. Under this change, the upstream limit of Section 05 will be extended by 0.34 miles to the Drake Well Road bridge downstream to the Oil Creek hiking trail bridge, to provide a clear indicator of the line between Sections 04 and 05, and the difference in fishing regulations. This designation will go into effect January 1, 2027.
Commissioners voted to remove the Unnamed Tributary (UNT) to Yellow Breeches Creek, Section 01, Cumberland County, from the Catch and Release Artificial Lures Only program (CR-ALO) (
58 Pa. Code § 65.5). At the July 2026 Commission
meeting, the PFBC removed Yellow Breeches Creek, Section 03, which extends one mile downstream from the mouth of the UNT to Yellow Breeches Creek, Section 01, from the CR-ALO program. However, action was not taken to remove the UNT to Yellow Breeches Creek, Section 01, from the CR-ALO program. Since the UNT to Yellow Breeches Creek is no longer included in the STW program, and to align regulations with adjacent waters angling regulations (i.e., Yellow Breeches Creek, Section 03, and Childrens Lake), which are managed under Commonwealth Inland Waters (
58 Pa. Code § 61.1), the UNT to Yellow Breeches Creek must also be removed from the CR-ALO program. This designation will go into effect upon publication of a second notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The Board voted to remove a portion of Powell Creek, Section 01, Dauphin County, from the Waters Limited to Specific Purposes—Exclusive Use Fishing Areas Program (
58 Pa. Code § 65.21). Powell Creek is a 16.78-mile-long tributary to the Susquehanna River and is divided into four sections by the PFBC for fisheries management purposes. Section 01 extends 6.84 miles from the confluence of the North Fork and South Fork of Powell Creek downstream to the bridge crossing Powell Creek on Back Road (T-551) near the Village of Waynesville. This portion of stream is included in the Stocked Trout Waters (STW) program. A 0.35-mile portion of Powell Creek, Section 01, is designated as an Exclusive Use Fishing Area for Children and Special Population as outlined in 58 Pa. Code § 65.21. The Exclusive Use Fishing Area extends from 0.10 miles upstream from Lebo Road downstream to 0.25 miles downstream from Lebo Road. The property owner of the portion of Powell Creek flowing through the Exclusive Use Fishing Area posted their property and no longer allows anglers to access the stream. This designation will go into effect upon publication of a second notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Commissioners voted to approve the addition of five new waters to the PFBC's list of Class A wild trout streams and 11 waters to the PFBC’s list of wild trout streams. A list of waters proposed for
Class A wild trout and
wild trout stream designation can be found in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin. These additions and revisions will go into effect upon publication of a second notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin.
