Wading PA rivers?

BlackLabel · 02-20-2009, 12:48 AM

Just curious about what the reasoning behind not being able to wade in some of the streams? When I was at the Little Leigh I was thinking it was to not chance invasive species getting into the hatchery but I also heard mention of this on Spring Creek. Do they feel disturbing the stream bottom can have an adverse affect on the stream life?

**striper_seeker** · 02-20-2009, 09:18 AM

I assume you were in the Heritage section, in any event, the LL is only 40' wide in most places there is no need to wade it. Could you imagine if the daily hoards all decided it would be a good idea to wade that section... All thee other sections of the LL you can wade, just not the heritage section below the hatchery.

**akasquirrel** · 02-20-2009, 10:22 AM

in the case of the little lehigh i read an article somwhere that said that section of the creek used to in really bad shape (before it was a ffo with the no wading regulation) because it was in the park and got so much attention and it described the problem in this way: the "slime" that covers all the rocks and bottom of the creek was not thick enough to support the "fly" life underwater and the trout population was fading...so in order to restore the "slime" they wanted to keep ppl out of the water. i dont know how true this is but i agree that it is annoying to fish in the riffles with out being able to wade, it is impossible get a good drift, but the rest of the creek u can pretty much stay out with out any problems. I fish there probably 3 to 5 times a week when I am at home (i got to college at bloomsburg most of the year) and I dont really mind it too much cept for that one area.

**Nymphmeister** · 02-20-2009, 10:06 PM

This is just a pure guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if in a high use area like the Heritage section on the Little Lehigh, keeping the hordes of anglers from constantly walking back & forth over the banks helps prevent bank erosion & the concurrent widening of the stream channel and shallowing of the riverbed that goes along with that. Sort of like the way they fence cattle away from meadow streams to protect them in areas where the stream banks have been degraded. As far as I know, all PA Heritage Stream sections have the same regulation that doesn't allow wading. I think true spring creeks are more damaged by excessive wading than freestoners.

**AaronJasper** · 02-20-2009, 11:11 PM

I would agree. Most spring creeks have very soft banks the Little Lehigh and Spring Creek in the areas mentioned are no exception. They are sltreams that are super high use and if people were wading in the stream all the time it would do the same damage as if cattle were in the stream. I wonder how many anglers visit those sections of the streams annually. Wading is generally discouraged on my true spring creeks. SC is an exception because of the gradient and the substrate. While siltation does exist, the rocky substrate extends to the shoreline as well. Because of this SC does not have the weed growth that is found in streams like the Letort or Falling Srpings as well as some of the western spring creeks. Don't get me wrong there is plenty of plant life but not as much as it would have if the stream bottom was more silted.