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Outdoors with Tom Venesky: Hoping deadly deer disease doesn’t come here

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On the Books: Bridget Jones is still as crazy as ever in ‘Mad About the Boy’

<p>A stretch of Harveys Creek will become inundated with monster trout this spring.</p><p>During its quarterly board meeting last week, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission added six waterways to the Keystone Select Stocked Trout Program. Implemented last year in eight streams across the state, the program calls for a higher number of trophy trout to be stocked in certain streams sections that are under Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only (DHALO) regulations.</p><p>The current stocking rate for trophy trout, those measuring 14 to 20 inches in length, is 5 to 10 per mile.</p><p>Stream sections that are part of the Keystone Select program receive trophy trout at a rate of 175 to 225 per mile.</p><p>It&#8217;s quite an increase, and this year anglers that fish Harveys Creek will benefit.</p><p>The delayed harvest section of Harveys Creek, which extends from Jackson Road downstream to Pavlick Road, was added to the Keystone Select program this year. A total of 4,500 trophy trout will be stocked among the 14 waterways in the program. Under DHALO regulations, fishing is allowed year round but anglers can only harvest trout only between June 15 and Labor Day and the trout have to be a minimum of nine inches. For the rest of the year, these waters are managed on a catch-and-release-only basis and the creel limit is zero. Tackle is limited to artificial lures and flies.</p><p>The large trout will be stocked during the preseason and in-season spring stocking periods to coincide with the period of peak angler use. Both of these stockings will include a number of these larger fish.</p><p>Until this year, the nearest waterway to Luzerne County in the program was the South Branch of Tunkhannock Creek in Lackawanna and Wyoming counties.</p><p>Waterways Conservation Officer John Cummings, whose district includes Harveys Creek, said he supports the move to add the section to the Keystone Select program.</p><p>&#8220;The location of it in proximity to an urban area allows plenty of anglers to access this stream,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We do get anglers on Harveys Creek year round.</p><p>&#8220;The hatcheries have always taken good care of us on Harveys Creek with excellent trout. This program is a huge gain for anglers.&#8221;</p><p>Cummings also said Harveys Creek is suitable for trout because it has a pretty reliable flow even during the summer and plenty of riffles that oxygenate the water, in addition to a consistent tree canopy that keeps water temperatures cooler.</p><p>The Keystone Select program was well received in its first year in 2016, said PFBC spokesman Eric Levis. Fisheries staff interviewed 231 anglers following the preseason and in-season stockings, and of those 36 percent said they were fishing the streams because of the greater number of large trout. In addition, 70 percent said they planned to make more trips to the stream because of the increased number of large trout, and 97 percent were in favor of expanding the program.</p><p>Levis said more angler interviews will be conducted this year before any decision is made to expand the program to more waters.</p><p>The addition of more trophy trout to the stretch of Harveys Creek won&#8217;t mean a decrease in the number of overall trout stocked. While some waterways are allotted trout based on a certain mass per mile, Levis said fish are stocked based on numbers for the Keystone Select program.</p><p>As an example, he said, a waterways that received 2,500 regular-sized trout in 2016 and is now getting 500 trophy trout under the program will still be stocked with a total of 2,500 trout. The overall mass would increase due to the larger trout, but the overall number will stay the same, Levis said.</p><p>&#8220;The Keystone Select Program has proven to be a big hit with our customers,&#8221; PFBC Executive Director John Arway said. &#8220;It added an element of excitement to trout fishing and has helped establish the waters as destination fisheries, drawing anglers from all over and providing economic boosts to the local communities. Adding these new waters will make 2017 an even better fishing season.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mike McDevitt of Danville assists in stocking trophy trout on Wiconisco Creek in Dauphin County last year as part of the Keystone Select program which increases the number of large trout released in certain streams. A section of Harveys Creek was added to the program for 2017. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_Key1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mike McDevitt of Danville assists in stocking trophy trout on Wiconisco Creek in Dauphin County last year as part of the Keystone Select program which increases the number of large trout released in certain streams. A section of Harveys Creek was added to the program for 2017. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Changes to Harveys Lake</strong></p><p>At its January meeting, the PFBC board approved a final rulemaking order which opens Harveys Lake in Luzerne County to year-round fishing but prohibits harvesting trout from March 1 to the opening day of trout season. Under the current regulations, the 658-acre lake is closed to all fishing for a two-week period from April 1 to the opening day of trout season. Trout harvest is permitted at all other times of the year. A number of area residents have asked to open the lake to year-round fishing, as it supports excellent fisheries for Black Bass, Walleye, Yellow Perch, Rock Bass and Bluegill. The change will take effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Harveys Creek to receive more trophy trout under the PFBC’s Keystone Select program