Towanda Creek travels 35 miles across southwestern Bradford County. From its headwaters near Grover to its confluence with the North Branch Susquehanna River near Towanda, the stream offers a wide variety of angling opportunities. Biologists from the Area 4 Fisheries Management Office documented these opportunities during a general inventory of Towanda Creek that took place in June, July, and August of 2007. Flows in Towanda Creek were low throughout the survey. Nevertheless, plenty of large gamefish were concentrated in the deeper pools. We remind anglers that Towanda Creek is located entirely on private property. Anglers should ask landowner permission prior to accessing the stream, should remain courteous to landowners at all times, and should refrain from littering.

Low flows in Towanda Creek at Powell

Towanda Creek begins its journey as a wild trout stream. Wild brown trout were present in Towanda Creek from the headwaters downstream to West Leroy. Wild trout were relatively scarce throughout this stretch, but some large wild brown trout and holdover hatchery trout of all three species were present at most of our upstream sampling sites. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocks adult trout in Towanda Creek from South Avenue in Canton downstream to the SR 3001 bridge near West Franklin, a distance of 14.7 miles. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission manages Towanda Creek from the SR 3001 bridge near West Franklin downstream to Con’s Road (T –350), a distance of 1.7 miles, as a Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only Area. Much of the trout stocked portion of Towanda Creek can best be described as a transitional fishery. Transitional fisheries are those that become too warm for trout during the summer months but do not possess the physical habitat and/or fertility necessary to support substantial warmwater gamefish populations.

Warmwater fish species become dominant in Towanda Creek near West Leroy. From here downstream to the Delayed Harvest Area, Towanda Creek serves primarily as nursery water for juvenile smallmouth bass. Young-of-the-year smallmouth bass were abundant in this stretch but adults were rare. Adult smallmouth bass became abundant in Towanda Creek downstream from the delayed harvest area, and their numbers and size distribution steadily improved as the stream neared its mouth. Some of the other warmwater fish present in sufficient numbers and sizes to provide a fishery in the lower portions of Towanda Creek were white suckers and rock bass. Additionally, Young-of-the-Year walleye were present in Towanda Creek downstream from the Route 220 bridge. The complete list of fish species found during the survey is in the table below.

Fisheries Biologists Aaron Frey and Scott Koser electrofishing the lower end of Towanda Creek

Adult smallmouth bass from Towanda Creek

Gamefish in Towanda Creek congregate in deeper pools such as the one in the upper part of this picture during low-flow periods

Table of fish species captured in Towanda Creek during the 2007 survey

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