“I was blindsided by this whole thing,” Philipsburg resident Terry Irvin said. “I looked at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s stocking schedule for 2022 and Cold Stream wasn’t on the list.”
Irvin acts as a liaison between the Commission and the Philipsburg-Osceola Fly-Fishing Club, which is advised by Mike Minarchick. Irvin has helped to coordinate with the club to arrange a field trip for students to help with float stocking Cold Stream. Last year, that section of Cold Stream was stocked with approximately 1,500 hatchery trout.
Little did Irvin – or probably anyone else in Philipsburg – know, but at the Oct. 25, 2021, meeting of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, commissioners voted to make section 2 of Cold Stream a Class A Wild Trout Stream, resulting in its removal from the stocking list. Section 2 is the 1.27-mile section immediately above Cold Stream Dam. This designation also forbids anyone else from stocking trout there.
According to Commission fisheries biologist Jason Detar, the 1.27-mile section of Cold Stream immediately above the dam has well above the minimum biomass of wild brown and brook trout to meet the Class A standards. For those well versed in the numbers, in 2019, an electro-fishing survey found the stream to have a wild trout biomass of 60.18 kg/ha. The Class A minimum is 40.00 kg/ha.
A stream designated Class A has a population of naturally reproduced trout that should provide good fishing for those who are skilled enough to catch them. Under 58 Pa. Code §57.8a, it is the policy of the Commission to manage self-sustaining Class A wild trout populations as a renewable natural resource and to conserve that resource and the angling it provides. When waters are designated by the PFBC as Class A wild trout streams that were previously stocked with trout, the stocked trout previously allocated to the water are moved to a nearby location whenever possible.
According to Detar, the 1500 trout that had been previously stocked in Cold Stream will be placed in Cold Stream Dam, as well as in sections 2 and 4 of Black Moshannon Creek. Putting them in the dam will still give local anglers and kids a chance to catch them, but Black Moshannon Creek is more than a bike ride away and section 2 is an artificials-only section – not kid friendly. Since the Commission no longer provides stocking numbers, we will likely never know where the trout go. What portion of those trout will go to Cold Stream Dam and what portion will go to the special regulations area of Black Moshannon Creek?
The commissioners were likely not aware of the significance of this stream to the community, and in fact, I would be surprised if any of the commissioners ever cast a line in Cold Stream. During the meeting, one commissioner even asked where Cold Stream Dam was.
Philipsburg Borough manages 177 acres of mostly wooded land on the southeastern side of town. This includes Cold Stream Dam (visible from Route 322), athletic fields, walking paths and over a mile of Cold Stream. Collectively this area is known as The Cold Stream Recreation Area.
Cold Stream is a rhododendron and hemlock-lined gem of a stream. During the past two years, the borough has spent time and resources to upgrade a trail along their section of Cold Stream to make it better for anglers, hikers, and people just enjoying nature. Pipes were installed, brush cleared and wood chips placed on the trail.
Frank Josefik, president of the Central Counties Concerned Sportsmen, fishes Cold Stream and prefers not to take sides, but he made two observations. “I’ve seen a bunch of kids who rode their bikes to fish that section of Cold Stream. If they stop stocking, you might as well write it off for the kids, and fishing pressure will decrease drastically.”
Mike Welder, president of the West Decatur Sportsmen, feels bad for the kids.
“They are taking away more and more of the areas where kids can easily fish,” he said. “That means that people who like to fish for stocked trout are crowded into fewer and fewer places. Do they want to sell licenses or not? They are just pushing more people away from fishing.”
If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I have been and continue to be a supporter of the Commission’s wild trout program. Class A Wild Trout streams are my favorite places to fish. The data shows that this section of Cold Stream is Class A – I am not disputing that. What I and others are disputing is the decision to end stocking.
Why should the stream remain stocked?
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission spends tens of thousands of dollars each year to get young people hooked on fishing, which is great. However, in this case, they have no problem taking away the only stream where Philipsburg area youngsters can walk or ride their bikes to fish. Does this make sense to any rational person?
Studies have shown that stocking over top of a wild trout population depresses the wild trout population. Yet Cold Stream has over 50 percent more wild trout than minimum Class A threshold, and it reached that level while being stocked every year. Will the population of wild fish increase even more if stocking is stopped? Is it worth taking these stocked trout away to find out?
Lastly, even if you conclude that it is worth removing the stocked trout from Cold Stream, in reality, that will not really happen. Cold Stream Dam is a shallow impoundment with lots of surface area. On some yet-to-be-determined day in the late spring or early summer, the water in the dam will become too warm for trout.
Even the PFBC acknowledges that any stocked trout remaining in the dam will seek colder water when that happens, and swim up Cold Stream. So, what has the Commission changed by not stocking the stream in the first place?
Irvin contacted Representative Scott Conklin, who has been responsive. Irvin has also talked with numerous PFBC staff, both in Harrisburg and at the northcentral office in Bellefonte. According to him, they remain steadfast in their position to end stocking. My repeated attempts to talk with Detar went unanswered. Finally, after my third call, he sent me an email suggesting that I should watch the nearly four-hour video of the Commission meeting.
In Pennsylvania, there are at least 13 Class A stream sections that remain on the stocking list. The appointed commissioners have the power to add Cold Stream to the list if they choose.
Unfortunately, changing the commissioners’ minds could be an uphill battle. Similarly to Cold Stream, Freeman Run in Potter County was just removed from stocking. At the most recent PFBC Fisheries Committee meeting, Commissioner William Brock made the motion that Freeman Run be put back on the stocking list. No other commissioner would even second his motion.
At the January 24 Commission meeting, over a dozen comments from the public (including one from former commissioner Bill Sabatose) were read to the commissioners – all requesting that Freeman Run be returned to the stocking list. The commissioners did not even acknowledge their concerns.
As Terry Irvin said to me, “The Fish and Boat Commission tells us to ‘Take a Kid Fishing,’ but we have to have someplace to take them.”
Mark Nale is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. He can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com
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