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Valley Creek
- Valley Forge, PA (Page 1 of 2)
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| The Story: (Courtesy of Charles R. Meck - Pennsylvania Trout Streams and Thier Hatches - 2nd Edition) |
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What a great history this stream holds! Just a little over200 years ago the lower end of Valley Creek sheltered Washington's discouraged, desparate Continental Army. Some of the most productive pockets and pools on the stream lie within a few feet of Lafayette's headquarters during the Revolutionary War. The very spot you're fishing could be a spot where Washington, Lafayette, or one of their soldiers crossed. Three miles of the lower end of Valley Creek lie within the boundary of Valley Forge National Park.
But all is not well not well with this fantastically productive brown trout stream. Wayne Poppich, who has a deep, sincere affection for this stream, has seen it recieve two doses of cyanide over the past 10 years. Five Years agao Valley received another shot of pollution. This time Conrail spilled PCBs into the stream. When the pollution occured the state stopped stocking the stream. As with Spring Creek in central Pennsylvania, which also became polluted, the halt to stocking Valley became a blessing in disguise, however. Hordes of early season anglers looking for recently stocked trout have vanished.
Yes, thousands of streambred browns inhabit this limestone stream located only minutes from Philadelphia. But as with Spring Creek, entirely too many trout die after swallowing an angler's live bait and hook. Why doesn't someone in authority protect this valuable resource by allowing only artificial lures on Valley Creek?
Poppich has said that if Valley Creek were located in central Pennsylvania, environmentalists woudl be more aware of teh stream's value; becuase it's located in sprawling metropolitan area, it doesn't get the respect it deserves. "Only because of its limestone aquifer has Valley Creek been able to withstand the ravages of man," says Poppich. "If the same exploitation happened to Ridley, French or Darby, they'd be dead streams."
The Valley Forge Chapter of Trout Unlimited of West Chester has devoted thousands of man-hours to preservation of the fishery on this stream. They have built channeling devices on Little Crabby Creek. A system of baffles allows spawning trout to migrate upstream. The local Trout Unlimited chapter also filed suit in one of the recent pollution incidentsand works with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources to remedy calcium sedimentation and warm-water discharge into Vally from a quarry site.
Trout Unlimited, Green Valley Association and the Open Land Conservancy also recieved cooperation from the Trammel Crow Company when the latter planned to divert one of Valley's tributaries, Little Crabby Creek. AFter Trout Unlimited talked with Trammel Crow, the company hired an architectural firm Curtis, Cox, Kennerly and Weston to design a new stream channel that would accomodate trout. This shows what can happen when companies and environmentalists cooperate on a worthwhile project.
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