Trout stocking may return to Turtle Creek
This time last year weeks of record rains had caused landslides and flooding, and several Allegheny County creeks had changed color. Turtle Creek on the Allegheny-Westmoreland border was a milky white after water in abandoned mines poured deposits of aluminum into headwaters near Export. Conditions were so bad that the state Fish and Boat Commission temporarily dropped the popular urban waterway from the trout-stocking schedule.
Thursday morning the creek was low and cloudy at the Saunders Station Road crossing. Members of the Turtle Creek Watershed Association gathered around Mike Depew, a Fish and Boat fisheries biologist, as he performed a series of water quality tests. He filled a bucket below the bridge, returned to his truck and analyzed beakers and tubes of water, documenting a series of data.
“I’m not seeing anything like what we had last year,” said Mr. Depew. “The color is a little milky but not bad. I’d say the creek looks good.”
Previous testing upstream at Delmont showed similar results Wednesday. In weeks the state Department of Environmental Protection is expected to report on water taken for lab analysis. Mr. Depew said Fish and Boat will return days before opening day for a final test before deciding whether Turtle Creek will get its scheduled stockings of browns and rainbows April 9 and April 22.
Scholastic angling
Austin Aikins, 17, of Lower Burrell and a student at Central Catholic High School in Oakland, was among 62 high school anglers tapped for the 2019 Bassmaster High School AllState Fishing Team. Austin was included in a Post-Gazette feature about high school fishing teams published in December 2018.
Fly Fishing 101
Penn’s Woods West Trout Unlimited will hold its annual seminar for people interested in fly fishing 9 a.m.-2 p.m. March 30 at the Wilkins School Community Center in Regent Square. Rob Reeder and Scott Loughner, TU fly fishing instructors and co-creators of Days on the Water fishing courses, will explain fundamental skills including gear usage, knots, flies and casting. Lunch is included. Free with registration by March 27 at robreeder0827@gmail.com.
Support for the Great Lakes
Weeks ago a broad coalition of maritime, environmental business and labor groups, as well as regional agencies, legislators, cities and tribes issued an agenda of shared priorities for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes. The combined waterways are the source of drinking water for more than 48 million people in the U.S. and Canada and host to a $6 trillion regional economy that supports more than 1.5 million jobs, according to a coalition statement. Organizers urged members of Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, protect the lakes from Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species and invest in drinking and wastewater infrastructure.
Outdoor adventures indoors
The annual Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour, a collection of short movies about epic global outdoor excursions, will swing through Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater, Downtown, April 5-7. Tickets are $15-$100. Get details through Venture Outdoors, 412-255-0564 and ventureoutdoors.org.