Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Streaming in

Waterway draws fly-fishermen from all over the world

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN

A cold, steady mid-March rain couldn't stop John Roberts from fishing Yellow Breeches Creek. Roberts drove 95 miles from Ashburn, Va., to spend a few days fly-fishing at the Allenberry Resort.

"It's a great place to fish," Roberts, 67, said.

He was on a return trip. He had been astounded by the fishing he found there after he took a friend's advice to try the waters, which he had been reading about in fishing magazines.

Roberts isn't the only out-of-state angler attracted to the Yellow Breeches near Boiling Springs. Special regulations and an aggressive stocking program combine to make a 1-mile stretch between the town and the Allenberry Resort a fly-fishing mecca.

The Breeches, along with the world-famous LeTort Spring Run in the Carlisle area and Big Spring Creek around Newville, make the Cumberland Valley "a fly-fisherman's paradise," said Jim Hutcheson, president of Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited.

Nobody has put together a study on the economic impact of fly-fishing in the area.

Anecdotally, the sport brings in significant dollars, said Omar Shute, director of Cumberland County Economic Development Corp.

The Yellow Breeches Outfitters shop in Boiling Springs sold thousands of out-of-state fishing licenses each year before the state made them available online, Hutcheson said.

"They come from all over the United States for fly-fishing," said Nettie Page, who greets guests at Allenberry's front desk. "It is probably at least a quarter of our business."

At the Boiling Springs Tavern, fishermen in full regalia are welcome to use the bar entrance for lunch, said Nancy McCollum, the tavern's day manager.

Reading-based TCO Fly Shop recently opened its sixth store in Carlisle. "We always wanted to have a shop in the area because of the history of the streams like the LeTort and the Breeches," manager Corey James said.

Guides who work the stream said they draw clients worldwide, although the majority come from nearby metro areas -- Washington, Philadelphia, New York, or neighboring states such as Ohio and West Virginia.

"This is the closest consistently good area to fish [to Washington]," said Hutcheson, who moved to South Middleton Twp. from Washington for the fishing when he retired from the U.S. Foreign Service.

A lot of trout streams run through sparsely populated mountains and forests. The Yellow Breeches watershed is near urban and suburban areas. That poses challenges.

"When people develop it, they want to see the stream, so they cut down brush and trees. That leads to bank erosion. The stream is wider and shallower in a lot of places," said guide Tom Balz, who has fished the Breeches for 40 years.

Farming and development can release sediment. Sediment that is not flushed out can bury the gravel areas where trout like to spawn. Those changes can affect aquatic insects, disrupting the feeding cycle and diminishing the fishing, said John Eby, head of the Yellow Breeches Watershed Association.

Most of the dams along the 49-mile long stream have been removed. That will help flush out sedimentation, Eby said.

The 21-page action plan in the creek's Rivers Conservation Plan includes efforts to educate farmers, developers and municipal officials about protecting the stream. The plan also includes projects to help stabilize stream banks and reduce erosion.

So far, efforts to protect the Breeches seem to be a success.

"Undoubtedly it has changed. But it has changed so subtly over time," Balz said. "The water quality is still pretty good, all things considered."

CHRIS A. COUROGEN: 255-8112 or ccourogen@patriot-news.com