2023 ADULT STOCKING PROGRAM CHANGES

Each year, the PFBC adjusts its adult trout stocking program based on several factors. A waterway may be added, extended, reinstated or removed depending on existing or pending changes to angler access, changes to designations on streams managed for wild trout populations, water quality issues that may threaten the survival of stocked trout, and maintenance being performed to dams and other infrastructure that result in the drawdown of impoundments or decreased water flow.

PRESS RELEASE - 2023 Adult Trout Stocking Schedule Now Available!

WATERS ADDED OR EXTENDED

Kinzua Creek, McKean County

A fall stocking will be added to the 4.7-mile section of stream managed under Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only (DHALO) regulations, extending from the Guffey Road bridge downstream to the Allegheny National Forest boundary near Westline.  Formerly, this water had been stocked on a preseason and in-season only basis.

Pine Creek, Tioga County

A fall stocking will be added to the 3.4-mile section of stream managed under DHALO regulations, extending from Marsh Creek downstream to Bear Run.  Formerly, this water had been stocked on a preseason and in-season only basis.

South Branch Tunkhannock Creek, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties

A fall stocking will be added to the 1-mile section of stream managed under DHALO regulations, extending from the State Route 6 bridge downstream through the Keystone College campus.  Formerly, this water had been stocked on a preseason and in-season only basis.

Sheppard-Meyers Reservoir, York County

This 46.9-acre impoundment will be reinstated into the trout stocking program with a preseason stocking.  Maintenance and repairs to the dam have been completed and the reservoir is scheduled to be refilled to full pool in the early spring of 2023.  Formerly, this water had been stocked on a preseason only basis.

WATERS REPLACED

When survey data suggests that a waterway is no longer suitable for adult trout stocking based on a loss of angler access, environmental factors, or designation as a Class A wild trout stream, the PFBC makes every attempt to reallocate fish to a comparable location nearby. When inadequate angler access is the reason for a removal, locations are monitored for improvement, so these waters can be considered for reinstatement to the stocking program if access is improved. When a water is designated as a Class A wild trout stream, it is among the "best of the best" of the wild trout streams in Pennsylvania. These streams support a population of natural reproducing trout of sufficient size and abundance that support a long-term and rewarding fishery, and do not require stocking to sustain the fishery. Removing a newly designated Class A stream from the Stocked Trout Waters (STW) program allows the PFBC to optimize stocked trout angling opportunities by establishing a new STW in a nearby water or improving existing opportunities in a nearby STW by increasing the allocation of fish stocked during the preseason and/or in-season stocking periods.