Tulpehocken Creek, 5/4/2008

D

dthompson

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Mar 11, 2008
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Fished below the bridfeg to nowhere today. Got one solid 16 inch Rainbow and one 12 inch brown. Nice day to be out, was very crowded if i must say. Met Wes from Tco reading shop, nice guy.
ther rainbow tok a 18 PTBH and the brown on a copper john, Cant wait to get to penns in 2 weeks.
:-D
 
they really screwed up that stream by stopping the fingerling stocking in there, used to be one of my favorite streams
 
Timmy,

Express your feelings to "Mike" via PM or email. I had a correspondence with him last year on this very subject, and he offered some insight. He was also very accepting of any input or opinions.
 
I thought about it Jay but then I figured why bother. Most folks don't agree obviously or you would here more people echo my comments and everytime I hear someone say they were fishing there they say there were a ton of anglers, so someone likes it.

What do you think, you fish there alot I thought I heard you say right? I just feel like they took what was a cool stream with some unique qualities and turned it to a put and take

I was there a half dozen times last year when there were good hatches and not many fish on them at all, partly because I think more of the fish in there are stockies now.

With the price of gas and the reports I have heard from folks who have been there this year, I haven't even bothered
 
I am finding that while its still a fine stream, I am not enjoying it as much as I used to.

There are still tons of rising trout all over the stream, but it doesn't quite seem as good as it was a few years ago.

I withheld comment until recently, but after a lot of thought, it seems to be less than it used to be. It is still a great stream, and I still love to fish it though.
 
I went back and forth with "Mike" on here - I can't belive people can't see that the river was better when it was fingerlings only. At least for me it was - better fish, better fishing, and less people. Oh well, they shot that in the a**...
 
I haven't fished it since last year, I'll have to go try it again one of these days

see any sulfurs up there yet?
 
I too liked it better with fingerling stocking. My understanding is that they may stock at least some fingerlings in the future.
 
I would love to at least know the rationalization for the decision. I also think they have some water quality and temperature problems there that have affected the fishing the last couple seasons. I remember when I started fishing there 4 years ago the hatches seemed so much heavier than last year and the year before

Nobody has seen sulfurs up there yet this year?
 
The other thing is I thought that TU paid for the fingerling stockings up there, not the state
 
Mike, the SE region Fish biologist reads and posts on this site. I recall him saying that the reason the Tully is no longer stocked with fingerlings is that the raceways at the hatcheries were full because the larger fish that they stock now (they have to hold them longer to grow bigger) and thus the fingerling stocking was eliminated on the Tully. Maybe Mike can confirm or clarify that.

Also, I heard rumors that the Tulpehocken TU was thinking about stocking fingerlings, I’m not sure if they've ever done that. I have not caught a juvenile fish in the stream in over a year.
 
As I understand it the fingerling program was terminated mostely due to lack of return on the fingerlings, especially above Rebers Bridge. This is probably due to lack of habitat and possibly poorer water quality. Mike would know for sure. As a member of Tully TU, I haven't heard or read about them stocking fingerlings.

The adult stocking program is definitely more attractive to the average angler as the fish are easier to catch. I for one don't like the adult program but it appears the PFBC would rather have a heavily used fishery than a better quality fishery with quality fish in it. However, a combination of both may be what is needed (i.e. - adult fish above Rebers bridge and fingerlings below)
 
LR, Good point. Not sure if the segregated stocking would work either though. With no habitat above Reber's I think the fish would just move. Based on what i've heard TU is done with stocking all together. Not sure if that is the best move, especially on waters of SEPA. I just know I was on the tulp last night (DHALO) and it aggrevates me to see the amount of dudes that I saw - there were even a couple of guys sitting on buckets chuckin' some type of soft plastics below the road to nowhere - I guess the PFBC got what they wanted..?
 
no habitat above Rebers Bridge! What!? Theres plenty of habitat above Rebers. That was the only place I used to fish there, above rebers

Sounds like the PFBC wanted a local put and take for the folks of reading and they got it. Its a shame they didn't take into the consideration the folks like myself that used to drive an hour each way to fish the place once a week cause it was so unique in this area. Oh well, they wanted to sell more licenses and I guess they did.

Reading this thread makes me glad I haven't even bothered to drive there this year cause it sounds more like the pennypack than the Tully I knew
 
I've gotta agree with timmy on that.

I prefer to fish above reber's.

The waterworks, pallisades, and the dam deflectors are my three favorite spots, as a matter of fact.
 
Thank you, Jay & Timmy - I've enjoyed fishing the palisades for 3 or 4 years. I thought those rock ledges and holes made for good habitat. Anyway, I don't enjoy it as much anymore. "Granted, the paper mill is a great spot, probably heavier hatches and all, but the crowds!. I've not been there this year either. Back to fingerlings only, please.
 
I don't believe that there is a lack a habitat near the dam area, I think that many of the fingerlings ended up as fish food for the predator fish which inhabit the upper section. When the dam is alowed to spill over, it gets "stocked" with the monsters from the deep found in Blue Marsh.
 
What type of predator fish inhabit the upper section aside from bigger trout? I fished the palisades area a lot but in all those trips I never made it up to the dam deflectors area that Jay mentioned. That being said, I never caught anything but trout and suckers in that creek. Not even a smallie, what predators were lurking that I missed out on? We talking about bass, muskies, catfish, what?
 
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