The stockings were done by the streambanks with care, in the hopes that good fishing soon would be there.
On Wednesday, agents from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission teamed up with volunteers to release thousands of brook and brown trout into local streams.
According to PFBC Waterways Conservation Officer Eric Shellgren, the commission had 1,900 fish for West Branch Tionesta Creek.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry
Stocking
Arden Tremblay of Warren releases a bucket of brook trout Wednesday into West Branch Tionesta Creek at Chapman State Park.
The adult brook and brown trout released Wednesday were grown at the PFBC State Fish Hatchery in Corry.
The "put-and-take" program is intended to provide recreation for fishermen.
"It's recreationally based," Shellgren said. "Anglers pay for a trout stamp."
The addition of hatchery-grown trout to local streams "takes the focus off of targeting wild fish," he said.
There was plenty of targeting of the recently-released fish in West Branch on Wednesday. For hours after the stocking, numerous anglers could be seen lining both sides of the creek just downstream of the Chapman Lake spillway.
Arden Tremblay of Warren and his brother, Ron, participated in the release of the fish. They were impressed by the size of the trout released and were looking forward to trying to catch some of them. "I have to go fishing up here now," Arden Tremblay said.
When trout are released when the water temperature is cold, like in the spring, they become more quickly acclimated to their new surroundings because the water temperature is more like that in which they were grown.
The commission's website lists the following dates for upcoming stockings in Warren County:
Saturday, May 12, Chapman Lake, meet at 10 a.m. at Chapman State Park office;
Monday, May 14, Pine Creek, meet at 9:30 a.m. on Route 27 in Grand Valley;
Tuesday, May 15, Spring Creek and Blue Eye Run, meet at 9 a.m. at Spring Creek Fire Hall;
Wednesday, May 16, Brown Run and Fourmile Run, meet at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Route 59 and Brown Run;
Friday, May 18, Jackson Run (two locations), meet at 9:30 a.m. in Chandlers Valley;
Monday, May 21, Tionesta Creek and Twomile Run, meet at 11 a.m. at the intersection of Routes 666 and 948 in Barnes;
Tuesday, May 22, East Hickory Creek, Perry Magee Run, and Tidioute Creek, meet at 9:45 a.m. at the Tidioute Post Office;
Thursday, May 24, Farnsworth Branch, meet at 10 a.m. at the Clarendon Post Office;
Tuesday, May 29, East Branch Tionesta Creek, meet at 10:30 a.m. at Kane Post Office.