Fishing Opportunities INTERSTATE within 5 miles of Beltzville Lake by Linda Steiner photos by Bob Steiner I-476 used to be called the Northeast Extension of the Wildlife Refuge. Fishing for stocked trout begins, too, in Turnpike. Know it by its old name or the newer number- Chester Creek and in Ridley Creek, which has more than designation, to travel I-476 is to make the transition from the half a mile of Catch and Release, Fly-Fishing Only water flat land and gentle piedmont of southeastern Pennsylvania downstream from the falls in the state park. Darby Creek, to the glacier-carved landscape of chasm-like valleys and Little Darby Creek and Ithan Creek also offer stocked trout natural lakes of the northeast. The fishing opportunities fishing in the county. along I-476 change as well, offering an unusually wide Driving into Montgomery County, anglers can fish variety. Add the other two interstate routes in the Poconos, for stocked trout in Mill Creek and continue northward I-84 and I-380, and you have eastern Pennsylvania highways to Stony Creek, Wissahickon Creek, Kepner Creek and that are inviting vacation destinations. Skippack Creek. Nearing the county line, don’t overlook Unami Creek, Perkiomen Creek and Deep Creek Dam I-476 for trout. Let’s look at the fishing within 5 miles of these highways, I-476 crosses a corner of Bucks County, which is home to beginning south to north on I-476. The road begins in a portion of Unami Creek and the East Branch of Perkiomen Delaware County, near the city of Chester, as an offshoot of Creek, and more stocked trout. I-95. Water accesses appear right away, to the Delaware River Then, we’re in Lehigh County. The Allentown area and to Darby Creek, including at the John Heinz National abounds with places to fish. Start with Swabia Creek, near Promised Land State Park–Upper Lake 8 Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November/December 2010 www.fishandboat.com Macungie, and cast a line in the Little Lehigh River, one of the region’s famous trout streams. The Little Lehigh has two Catch and Release, Fly-Fishing Only sections, 1.8 miles and 1 mile long. The latter begins approximately at Fish Hatchery Road. Cedar Creek offers trout angling from the Lake Muhlenburg outflow down to the stream’s mouth. North of Allentown, you’ll find Jordan Creek, Coplay Creek and Big Trout Creek, also for trout. I-476 edges Northampton County, where highway travelers can fish close by for trout stocked in a .6-mile section of the Lehigh Canal. Northeastern Pennsylvania begins with Carbon County, at least on most maps. In the southern part of Carbon County, fish for trout in Aquashicola Creek, the Lehigh Canal in the Long Run Level, near Weissport, and Pohopoco Creek, where it flows out of Beltzville Lake and downstream to the backwater of Parryville Dam. Beltzville Lake, a 950-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment that also has a state park, features bass, muskellunge, pickerel, walleye and panfish. Accesses to the Lehigh River Gorge are scattered north of Jim Thorpe to White Haven. Fish for trout in Drakes Creek, then visit Hickory Run State Park for Sand Spring Run and Sand Spring Lake; Hickory Run, with a 2.9-mile Catch and Release project, and Hickory Run Lake; and Mud Run, with a 2.5-mile Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only area. Follow I-476 north into Luzerne County to the brawling Lehigh River, which offers trout below 90-acre Francis E. Walter Reservoir. The lake is stocked and offers warmwater fishing. White Deer Lake and Greeley Lake both offer bass, pickerel, and panfish fishing. www.fishandboat.com Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November/December 2010 9 Fishing INTERSTATE Opportunities INTERSTATE Tobyhanna Creek is stocked with trout and has a one-mile Delayed Harvest, Artificial Lures Only area north of Pocono Pines. For small-stream trout fishing, try Wright Creek and centerpiece of this area is Lake Wallenpaupack, which at Pine Creek. At Wilkes-Barre, access the North Branch nearly 5,500 acres offers an array of warmwater fishing Susquehanna River at Nesbit Park. opportunities. The reservoir is a special regulation Brood In Lackawanna County, near Scranton, trout fishing can Stock Lake. be found in the Lackawanna River, Roaring Brook, with its Farther east, in Pike County, 195-acre Fairview Lake 3.9-mile Catch and Release area, and Gardner Creek. Lake receives stocked trout. South of I-84, Promised Land State Scranton is southeast of the city. Near Clark’s Summit, I-476 Park has two lakes in the Panfish Enhancement special regu- ends, merging with I-81. Since we’ve covered I-81’s fishing lation program, and Lower Promised Land Lake is stocked opportunities earlier, let’s exit onto I-84/I-380. Although both with trout. Nearby are Pecks Pond, for warmwater fishing, routes take us into the heart of the Poconos, where they split, and Little Mud Pond, which gets hatchery trout. Fifty-acre let’s choose I-84. White Deer Lake is north of the highway, as is Greeley Lake, both of which have bass, pickerel and panfish. On State I-84 Game Lands 180, Shohola Lake has warmwater fishing, while On the edge of Lackawanna and Wayne counties, I-84 Shohola Creek, below the impoundment, has stocked trout. gives access to stocked trout in Jones Creek and the West Reaching the Delaware River, stop to fish or launch a boat at Branch of Wallenpaupack Creek, which has a 1.6-mile accesses from below Milford to upstream of Matamoras. Delayed Harvest, Artificial Lures Only section. The I-380 Instead of driving I-84, when we left Scranton, we could have chosen to travel I-380. We didn’t, so let’s go back and do it now. Once on I-380, headed southeast, we have a chance to fish for trout in the Lehigh River, where it’s a smaller stream in Lackawanna and Monroe counties. Brady’s Lake, on State Game Lands 127, holds 250 acres of warmwater angling. East of the highway are Gouldsboro and Tobyhanna state parks. Anglers can fish Gouldsboro Lake’s nearly 300 acres and Tobyhanna Lake’s 170 acres for bass, pickerel, panfish and more. Reaching I-380’s end at I-80, within our 5-mile radius, is stocked trout fishing in Pocono Creek. On our drive this time, we’ve sampled the limestone spring creeks of the southeast and the bog-water streams of the northeast as well as sprawling reservoirs and small ponds. Eastern Pennsylvania has a full spread of diverse angling opportunities. Stop to fish or launch a boat at accesses below Milford to upstream of Matamoras. 1010 PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Angler Angler && BoaterBoater •• November/DecemberNovember/December 20102010 www.fishandboat.comwww.fishandboat.com.