Author: Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Welcome to the Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Founded in 1964, we are one of Pennsylvania’s oldest chapters, and help protect many miles of central Pennsylvania’s finest streams. Some of our waters include Muncy Creek, Loyalsock Creek, Black Hole Creek, Pine Creek, Slate Run and Lycoming Creek

BEGINNERS FLY TYING COURSE OFFERED BY SUSQUEHANNA CHAPTER TROUT UNLIMITED

Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited is pleased to announce that it will be offering a beginners fly tying course on Tuesday evenings starting on January 21 and running through February 25, 2025. The course will be taught by Dave Rothrock and Rick Kintzer. The cost will be $20 for adults and $10 for youth under 18 years of age who must be at least 12 years old and must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult throughout each session. Tools and materials will be provided. The classes will be held weekly from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Covenant Central Presbyterian Church, 807 West 4th Street in Williamsport (entrance and parking is at the rear of the church – enter off of Campbell Street). You can register by sending an email to susquehannatu@gmail.com or by call or text to Walt Nicholson at 570-447-3600. Please list the names of everyone you are registering, and contact information (email and phone number).

This class is for beginners only. If you have taken a class from us in the past you will not be learning anything new.  Changes have been made for this year’s class and it should offer a better learning experience and more opportunities for the student to tie flies and to learn the different techniques.

The Intersection of the Legacy of the Logging Era and Catastrophic Floods in North-Central PA

Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited will host an important presentation by Dr. Benjamin R. Hayes, Director of the Watershed Sciences and Engineering (WSE) Program at Bucknell University, on how the legacy impacts of the “Lumber Era” and catastrophic floods in north-central Pennsylvania initiated substantial landform changes and stream destabilization in our major stream floodplains and have significant implications on watershed management and planning.

In gravel bed streams such as Loyalsock, Muncy, Lycoming, and Fishing Creeks, the fluvial (stream flow) response to Sept 2011 flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee was characterized by (1) large-scale new channel creation and old channel abandonment with chute development on the insides of bend meanders, (2) extensive erosion of gravel from channel margins and transport downstream in large pulses, (3) headwater landslides and alluvial fan activation, (4) major floodplain erosion and deposition, and (5) breaching of human-made berms and reconnection of the main channel to prehistoric floodplain side-channel branching.  Streams in this region appear to be in a phase of disequilibrium largely in response to major shifts in sediment delivery from their watersheds caused by historic logging practices and a series of floods over the past 100 years.

This presentation emphasizes the important influences of drainage basin physical characteristics and historic land-use changes and stream flows in understanding current channel dynamics and basin response to heavy precipitation and flooding. Streams in this region are likely to remain in a prolonged phase of readjustment for many decades as complex response to historical land-use change continues. In this disequilibrium phase, most significant rainfall events will likely trigger additional readjustment and channel change. The findings have significant implications for watershed management and planning.  

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 7 pm at the Covenant Central Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, rear of 807 West Fourth Street (enter off of Campbell Street) in Williamsport, PA.  The public and all persons interested in watershed management and flood mitigation and stream projects are welcomed and encouraged to attend. For more information, please see our website at https://susquehannatu.com/ and https://www.bucknell.edu/fac-staff/ben-hayes.

Fishing when Nobody Else wants to fish Program to be presented

The public is invited to a meeting of the Trout Unlimited Susquehanna Chapter featuring a program about “fishing when nobody else wants to” presented by Robert McCullough III. He will primarily discuss fishing at night, as well as during the Winter.

     The meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Covenant Central Presbyterian Church at 807 West Fourth St. in Williamsport. Parking and entrance to the Church is at the rear of the building with access off of Campbell Street.

     McCullough will cover both the how-to, as well as interesting experiences that he has had. Question and answer time, as well as open discussion will follow the presentation.

     He has enjoyed a long and successful career in the criminal justice system where he has achieved many professional accomplishments, was selected for notable State-level appointments and received numerous professional awards. McCullough also served as a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Deputy Fish Warden for 17 years.

     Now retired, he enjoys fishing local trout streams on an almost daily basis.

     For more information, please see our website at https://susquehannatu.com.

Program on Pennsylvania’s Forest Health to be Featured at Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited Meeting

     The public is invited to a meeting of the Trout Unlimited Susquehanna Chapter featuring a program about PA forest health presented by Sarah Johnson, Forest Health Program Specialist with the PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry.  Sarah will present on the impacts of forest pests, diseases, invasive plants and non-biotic factors on the health of Pennsylvania’s forests and how declines in forest health can negatively impact water quality, specifically in cold water streams.  The major forest health factors impacting Pennsylvania right now are non-native insect pests of Eastern Hemlock trees, Gypsy Moth and non-biotic factors causing Oak tree decline and mortality, Beech Bark and Beech Leaf Disease in American Beech trees, and several invasive plant species that multiply and spread very aggressively in streamside corridors.  She will also talk about large woody debris addition to streams, as well as aquatic organism passage best practices. 

     Sarah is DCNR’s Forest Health Specialist for northcentral PA, covering the Susquehannock, Tioga, Tiadaghton, and Loyalsock State Forests.  She has a BS degree in Restoration Ecology from Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio, an MS degree in Forestry and a PhD in Forest Ecology from Penn State University.  Previous to her work with the Bureau of Forestry, Sarah worked for the PA Chapter of The Nature Conservancy as a Forest Ecologist & GIS Analyst.

     The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 9th at 7:00 pm at the Covenant Central Presbyterian Church, 807 W. 4th Street, in Williamsport.  Parking and entrance to the Church is at the rear of the building with access off of Campbell Street. For more information, please see our website at https://susquehannatu.com.

Susquehanna Chapter Trout Unlimited Picnic and Meeting at Trout Run Park on September 11, 2024

Want to learn about our TU chapter activities and conservation project updates, perhaps try out fly casting as a first-timer or sharpen your skills under the instruction of experienced fly fishers?  Would you like to learn more about fishing from a kayak?  The public is invited to a picnic and outdoor meeting of the Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited to be held at Trout Run Park on Wednesday, September 11th.  Several fly rod and reel outfits will be available for those to try out who do not have one.  A demo on fishing from kayaks will also be presented and you may want to check out the fishing platform adjacent to the park on Lycoming Creek constructed by our members, as well as some of the habitat structures placed along the stream to create fish habitat and control bank erosion.

Meet, greet and picnic will begin at 5:30 PM at the Trout Run Park Pavilion, with hotdogs, corn-on-the-cob and drinks provided, followed by the demos.  Participants are encouraged to bring a dessert or side dish to share, but if you can’t, please come anyway.  Trout Run Park is located just south of the village of Trout Run and can be accessed from the old Rt 15 highway.  A map and directions on how to get there from Williamsport can be found on the link to Google Maps at https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3815903,-77.0550486,15z?entry=ttu, or Trout Run Park – Google Maps or as found on the Susquehanna TU website at https://susquehannatu.com.