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PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP — Every angler that stopped to watch the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stock a certain section of Harveys Creek on April 1 had one word to describe what they saw — Awesome.

This year, the PFBC designed a 1.7-mile stretch of Harveys Creek, from Jackson Road downstream to Pavlick Road, as part of the Keystone Select Program.

Implemented last year, waters in the Keystone program are stocked with big trout, between 14 and 20 inches, to give anglers an increased opportunity to land a true trophy fish.

Keystone waters are also designated as Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only, which means they’re open to fishing year round, anglers can only use flies and artificial lures and no fish can be kept except between June 15 and Labor Day, when the daily creel limit is three.

Speaking of three, that’s all the fish that could fit into a bucket to be stocked into the Keystone section of Harvey’s Creek. Fish culturist Dan Franklin, who brought the load of trophy trout from the Benner Spring hatchery, didn’t have an easy time netting the monster rainbows from the truck tanks and getting them into buckets.

Alongside the trout, anglers watched in awe and eagerly took buckets of the trophy trout to stock them in the stream.

Harveys Creek was added to the list of Keystone streams this year and it’s the only such waterway in Luzerne County.

“For the area to get something like this from the Fish and Boat Commission is awesome,” said Joe Emelett of West Nanticoke. “Most people have never caught a trout this big. It’s very impressive.”

Waterways Conservation Officer John Cummings has two Keystone waters in his district — Harvey’s Creek and the South Branch Tunkhannock Creek in Wyoming County. At both places, Cummings hears the same comments when the stocking truck unveils the monster trout.

“Everyone tells me the fish are gorgeous,” he said. “Tunkhannock Creek had quite a turnout of anglers after we stocked, and I expect Harveys Creek to draw a lot of people as well.”

The PFBC hatcheries raise between 30,000 to 32,000 trophy trout each year that are between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half years old. Brian Wisner, director of the Bureau of Hatcheries, said those fish were used to spawn and after that they go into the general population to be stocked.

The trophy fish are fed a different diet, Wisner said, to increase their size and coloration.

“People are noticing,” he said. “I’ve seen pictures posted where anglers think they caught a holdover trout because of the colors, but it’s really right from the hatchery.”

Wisner added the trout could get even bigger if they were kept in the hatcheries for another year or two, but that isn’t feasible because they would take up too much space.

Leighton Yamelski, 15, of West Nanticoke, carried buckets of trophy trout all afternoon and said the heavy fish tired him out when the stocking was finished. Anglers watched with anticipation every time Yamelski popped up the lid and poured the bucket of trout into the stream.

Yamelski helps the PFBC with a number of its stockings, but said releasing huge trout into a stream is something different.

“This is the best stocking I ever did,” Yamelski said. “Seeing these fish gets me excited for opening day, and if I did catch something like this I would get it mounted. It would be amazing.”

And that’s what motivates Wisner and the PFBC’s hatchery staff to keep producing monstrous trout.

“One of the big bonuses we get is watching kids or other anglers catch these fish,” Wisner said. “It’s a great feeling knowing the fish we raised helped someone have the memory of a lifetime when they catch them.”

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Leighton Yamelsi, of West Nanticoke, holds a large rainbow trout before stocking it in Harveys Creek as part of the Keystone Select Stocking Program.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Keystone1-1.jpg.optimal.jpgLeighton Yamelsi, of West Nanticoke, holds a large rainbow trout before stocking it in Harveys Creek as part of the Keystone Select Stocking Program. Tom Venesky | Times Leader

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocked nearly four million trout for the 2017 season which begins on April 15.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042915trout4-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocked nearly four million trout for the 2017 season which begins on April 15. Aimee Dilger file photo |Times Leader

The PFBC expects a large turnout on opening day as long as the weather cooperates.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_firstdayfishing03-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe PFBC expects a large turnout on opening day as long as the weather cooperates. Times Leader file photo
Area anglers could reel in some big-time hauls this season

By Tom Venesky

[email protected]

Keystone Select Stocked Trout Waters

• Local streams in the program include South Branch of Tunkhannock Creek (.99 mile, from state Route 6 downstream through Keystone College Campus) and Harveys Creek (1.7 miles from Jackson Road downstream to Pavlick Road)

• 3,200 large trout designated for the program. All fish are 2-3 years old, measuring 14 to 20 inches

• Keystone waters are catch-and-release only except from June 15 to Labor Day when the creel limit is three

• Fishing may be done with artificial lures only constructed of metal, plastic, rubber or wood, or with flies and streamers constructed of natural or synthetic materials. All such lures may be used with spinning or fly fishing gear.

• The use of bait is prohibited, and bait can not be possessed on any Delayed Harvest water.

• A current trout/salmon permit (or Combination Trout/Salmon/Lake Erie permit) is required.

Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky

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Stocking trout at Harveys Creek

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