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Stony Creek
Just north of Harrisburg, there is a series of small creeks on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River. They offer fine freestone stream trout fishing in a secluded environment. Stony and Clarks creeks are the two most popular.

Although Stony Creek is only about a 20-minute drive (expect delays during afternoon rush hour) from the state capital of Harrisburg, it offers good fishing in relative seclusion because more than 11 miles of its upper reaches have no vehicle access. You must walk or ride a bicycle on an old railroad bed to reach the stream, which holds mostly stocked fish. Some sections can go unfished for weeks.

Stony Creek is a small stream with classic freestone features. As its name implies, it is rocky, but it also has beautiful pools with flat water and large fallen hemlocks. The riffles hold mayflies, stoneflies, and caddis, and the entire stream fishes well with baitfish and terrestrials patterns in summer.

Locals say Stony Creek offers the best fishing in the area, especially when water conditions are ideal--neither high from runoff nor low from lack of rain. Because the area is rocky and remote, you must keep a watchful eye for poisonous snakes; more than a few rattlesnakes have been seen along the stream.

The local Doc Fritchey chapter of Trout Unlimited maintains two limestone diversion wells on Rausch Creek, a Stony Creek tributary, to offset the effects of acid precipitation. The diversions take water from the stream, run it through wells filled with crushed limestone, and then direct the water back into the streambed. The diversions raise the pH from an acidic 4.0 above the wells, to 6.0 dowstream. Since the installation of the second well, some natural reproduction has been detected. Stocked trout died within months before the installation of the diversions. For more information, visit the Doc Fritchey Trout Unlimited Chapter web site at: www.dftu.org/diversio.htm

To reach the stream, go to Dauphin and turn onto Susquehanna Avenue, which follows the stream to its headwaters. The paved road becomes a dirt road (an old railroad bed), and there is a parking area at a gate across the road. Vehicles are prohibited beyond the gate.