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Fishing the Pennsylvania Wilds of Clinton County, PA

Clinton County, Pa offers hundreds of miles of rivers and streams ranging from headwaters to major river system. From the West Branch Susquehanna River to Lick Run, a State Scenic River, we have just what you are looking for.  

Many waters in Pennsylvania are on private property, the listing or mapping of waters by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission does not guarantee public access. Please always obtain permission to fish on private property.

Click here for the 2011 PA Fishing Handbook
 

Approved Trout Waters
Baker Run – Cooks Run – Fishing Creek (confluence with Cedar Run downstream to mouth) – Greenlick Run – Hyner Run – Kettle Creek (county line downstream to Owl Hollow) – Kettle Creek Lake – Left Branch Young Woman’s Creek – Little Fishing Creek – Long Run – Rauchtown Creek – Right Branch Hyner Run – Young Woman’s Creek

Catch & Release Areas
Fishing Creek – 2 miles; from State Game Lands #295 boundary (located 300 yards downstream of the upstream SR 2002 bridge) downstream to a point 1.3 miles upstream of the lower SR 2002 bridge
Rauchtown Creek – 1.2 miles; from the confluence of Rockey Run and Krape Run downstream to the SR 0880 crossing upstream of the Ravensburg St. Park Picnic Area Young Woman’s Creek – 5.7 miles; from the Beechwood Trail downstream to a point 0.7 mile upstream of the confluence with the Left Branch Young Woman’s Creek

Trophy Trout Projects
Fishing Creek – 0.9 mile; from the private lane bridge at the Tylersville State Fish Hatchery downstream to the State Game Lands #295 boundary (located 300 yards downstream of the upstream SR 2002 bridge) and 2.1 miles; from a point 1.3 miles upstream of the lower SR 2002 bridge downstream to Fleming’s Bridge (SR 2004) at the Lamar Fish Hatchery
 

Fishing License in Clinton County

Fish and Boat Headquarters – Harrisburg 

Local Fish and Boat Law Enforcement
1150 Spring Creek Road, Bellefonte, PA 16823
Telephone: (814) 359-5250

Local Outreach & Education
450 Robinson Lane
Pleasant Gap, PA 16823
Telephone: (814) 359-5193
 

Cast yourself into every angler’s dream. Let the lakes and streams of the Pennsylvania Wilds lure you away from your cares. Throughout an area boasting two million acres of forested public lands and covering 12 counties, there are seemingly endless streams, rivers and lakes that beckon you to drop your line and catch that elusive native trout, largemouth bass, walleye, or frisky pan fish. Imagine dropping a line into a mountain stream surrounded by miles of undisturbed wilderness yet close enough to services that make your fishing getaway effortless. That’s the experience you’ll find in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
So, pack your rod, grab your creel, put up the “Gone Fishing” sign and venture to the Pennsylvania Wilds. Clinton County is part of the Pennsylvania Wilds.  Check their Fishing Guide for locations.

Click here for PA Wilds Fishing Guide

Click here for Tylersville State Fish Hatchery

Rock River and Trail Outfitters
57 Bellefonte Avenue
Lock Haven, PA 17745
(570) 748-1818
www.rockriverandtrail.com 
Rentals: kayaks, bikes, snowshoes, camping gear
Shuttle service, trip planning, groups, guided hikes, elk country tour
State Licensed Fishing Guide
Retail sales – all your outdoor needs
 

West Branch Susquehanna -2005 River of the Year
 www.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2005/05-0329-westbranchroty.aspx
 
Link to West Branch Susquehanna River Informational links:
http://mysite.verizon.net/rjmclaren/SUSQLinks.htm  

Kettle Creek - located in North Central Pennsylvania, offers excellent fly fishing. Running through three counties (Tioga, Potter, and Clinton), this creek is one of the most well known in all of Northern Pennsylvania. Its headwaters are several miles above Route 44 and are small. It begins as a tumbling, little brook trout stream that grows to 40 to 60 feet across.

Kettle Creek has a good population of wild brook and brown trout. Beautiful pockets, riffles, and small pools that travel through a scenic wooded area. Grass and trees line the banks making it a wonderful place to spend an evening fly fishing. Altogether Kettle Creek has sixty-seven miles of “Class A” trout waters.
 

Young Woman’s Creek – Young Woman’s Creek is one of Pennsylvania's better freestone streams. Both its Left and Right Branches and its main stream hold trout. The Right Branch of the creek has a Selective Harvest Area that runs from the Beechwood Trail downstream to the state forest boundary. It does have some stream born trout and as well as holdover brown trout.

Fly fishing Young Woman’s Creek is generally good anytime of the season because the water stays cool. It has a very good canopy of tree limbs that covers most of its water. The higher up the two branches you travel, the smaller the stream gets and the cooler the water stays. The stream can be accessed from SR 120 near village of North Bend.

Young Woman’s Creek is easy to wade and has of lots of long pools with riffles between them. There are various size rocks and boulders scattered throughout the water creating pockets and hiding places for the brown trout.
Young Woman’s Creek Basin drains parts of Potter and Clinton Counties, and more than 90%  is State Forest land. The southern half of the basin is in the boundaries of the Sproul State Forest and the northern half is in the boundaries of the Susquehannock State Forest. A strip of land adjacent to Young Woman’s Creek downstream from Bull Run is privately owned. Several private cabins are situated along Lebo Run and Big Spring Branch in the upper part of the basin.
 

Fishing Creek- Fishing Creek is one of Pennsylvania's best trout streams. Fishing Creek is the name of several trout streams in Pennsylvania but for many anglers, there is only one "Fishing Creek". It is the one in Clinton County near Interstate 80. Many call it the finest trout stream in Pennsylvania. It has an excellent population of wild brown and brook trout.

Fishing Creek twist around and at one point it is headed back in the opposite direction that it ran for miles. Another even stranger thing about it is the fact that during the summer, it runs underground in two different places along its length and then reappears. This is good because the stream reemerges with cool water. The entire stream stays cool even during the hottest days of the summer. The "Narrows" part of Fishing Creek may look like any freestone stream (not a spring creek) in the East but if you will notice, it always has a low layer of fog over it. About 25 miles of Fishing Creek is "Class A" water according to the state of Pennsylvania

Fishing Creek has two major limestone tributary streams that also add cool water to it - Cedar Run and Long Run. These are true limestone spring creeks that look like limestone spring creeks. They are narrow, 15 to 20 wide creeks with a lot of aquatic vegetation. Cedar Run has a good population of wild trout. It also has some fast water sections which adds some diversity of the normal slow moving spring creek. Its water stays in the fifty degree range.
 

Pine Creek - Pine Creek is about sixty miles long and it can be as wide as 100 feet. It has riffles that are a mile long. Ideal fly fishing conditions are when the height is between 1.5 - 2.0 feet measured at Cedar Run USGS station. When levels are between 2.0 - 2.5 feet Pine Creek is still very fishable but extra caution should be taken when wading and moving around. Pine Creek in northeast part of the Pennsylvania is a great fishery containing a variety of trout and smallmouth bass. It probably is one of the most popular of all the fisheries. Some parts of the creek are easily accessible from highways, and some other areas only can be accessed by boat or raft.

Hyner Run- Excellent trout fishing is available in Hyner Run, both brook and brown trout are stocked annually and native brook trout inhabit the upper reaches of Hyner Run.
 

Rauchtown Run is a stream in Clinton County Pennsylvania with extraordinary cold water and a wild trout fishery. At times this little brook is only feet wide and centimeters deep, nevertheless the waters hold wild brook trout.

Bald Eagle Creek -nearly forty miles long, it feeds Sayers Dam at Bald Eagle State Park and eventually empties into the West Branch of the Susquehanna near Lock Haven. It is a freestone streams that is stocked by the PFBC, local sportsman's groups and private parties. Bald Eagle Creek is a freestone stream.  It is limestone influenced from its confluence with Spring Creek to the inflow of Sayers Lake. Anglers fish for Bald Eagle Creek is stocked with trout sunfish, Crappies, Yellow perch, and  smallmouth bass.

Sinnemahoning Creek- is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River. Sinnemahoning Creek (meaning 'stony lick') is formed by the confluence of the Bennett and Driftwood Branches at the borough of Driftwood. The tributary First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek joins 3.7 miles downstream of Driftwood. Sinnemahoning Creek continues 11.9 miles to join the West Branch Susquehanna River at the village of Keating.
 

West Branch Susquehanna River - The West Branch Susquehanna River drains most of the Allegheny Highlands, a sparsely populated forest. Despite its beautiful scenery and clear water, the West Branch is virtually without fish until it reaches Lock Haven, primarily due to acidic coal mine runoff, and does not become a good fishery until the Williamsport area. From that point, fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye, musky, catfish and panfish gets progressively better.
The upper West Branch has gone through some tough times due primarily to acid mine drainage, but through the efforts of regulatory entities and the public it is making a comeback. On certain stretches of the upper West Branch, you can find good populations of smallmouth bass, channel catfish, and even a few trout in isolated areas.

The river resembles a classic smallmouth bass haven as it winds through the steep remote valleys of north central Pennsylvania. The river bottom is a combination of gravel, chunk rock, and boulders. The flow is characterized by deep riffle sections, runs, and long deep stretches littered with chunk rock, boulders, and a ledge thrown in for good measure here and there. Most of the river is able to be navigated in a canoe, kayak, or jon boat.
 

Lick Run – State Wild and Scenic River
If you enjoy wilderness fishing, then Lick Run is for you. It's a challenge to fish Lick Run because it is so brushy with logs and branches in the creek which offers great fish habitat. Pine and Laurel branches dip down to the water itself and the shady pools harbor some beauties. Lick Run is about 15 miles from headwater to the  State Game Land 89 gate at the Village of Farrandsville – located about 5 miles above Lock Haven.