Today the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission released their Biologist Report for Big Spring Creek. It outlines the development of the fishery, particularly the brook trout population and habitat restoration. While there are a number of perspectives on the stream, the PA Fish & Boat Commission, and the way that environmental renewal ought to take place, the results of this August survey are noteworthy.

If you are unfamiliar, Big Spring Creek is one of the many popular South-Central PA limestone streams. Along with the LeTort in Carlisle and the Falling Springs in Chambersburg, Big Spring sits as a historically productive and valuable waterway. Rising out of a (you guessed it) big spring southwest of Newville, the relatively broad stream meanders through the woods and front yards of a gentle valley. The first mile-and-a-half are managed as catch-and-release, fly fishing only.

Now, I don’t mean for this to be a treatise on Big Spring. I intend to put something on the creek together sometime in the future, because I love the place. I’ve had some incredible memories on that water, and need more time to do it justice in that regard.

Okay, one quick story. It was the middle of winter, and there was at least two feet of snow on the ground. I’d driven up from Virginia, as the spring creeks’ flows and temperatures aren’t impacted by silly little events like blizzards. This was probably 15 years ago, and at that time you did not wade in the upper reaches. If you did, you’d get sucked into feet of sediment where large fish would feed upon your remains.

Okay, one quick tangent. I saw that happen to a deer once on Big Spring. Well, the aftermath anyways.

Back to the original story. I wasn’t going to wade, but I did have on my 3mm neoprene waders. Nothing keeps you toasty like neoprene waders. I was fishing a big streamer (yes – the practice existed before Instagram) against the undercut banks, and a fish lumbered out and lazily bit the thing. My 3 weight bent immediately, and all I felt was dead weight. I was sure that the trout had spit my fly out only for it to get stuck in a root up under the bank. I started to jerk the rod, only to feel it jerk back. Roots do not do this.

The brown trout had a reddish hue which contrasted incredibly against the snow. It had football proportions, or, more appropriately, Australian Rules Football proportions. At over 20” it wasn’t the biggest fish in “the ditch,” but it was stunning.

“The Ditch,” as it was known, was the first few hundred yards below the PA Fish & Boat hatchery outflow at the headwaters of Big Spring. If you ever wanted to fish the raceway with the brood stock at the local hatchery, the ditch was the next best thing. Better, if you include telephone pole obstacles and muskrat holes as sporting challenges. But what made this artificial and superficial fishin’ hole fun made the rest of the stream barren. A ghost of its former glory. A one-trick trout.

Again, I’m not prepared to discuss the particulars of the ecological issues that faced (and still face) Big Spring. This isn’t meant to be a history of this amazing stream, either. I’m not a biologist, nor am I even local any more. But the report released by the Fish & Boat Commission says something. Brook trout are coming back.

There are still rainbows and browns, and the data shows that they get pretty stinking big. But Big Spring was once a destination brook trout spring creek. They lived, fed, and bred in some unique ways. In spite of the numerous cattle crossings and small mill dams, they thrived and got fat. Reading Shenk, Marinaro, Fox, and Koch makes you wish you could have seen it back in the day.

When we come into a stream to do habitat restoration, we’re never going to recreate what once was. That, by definition, is gone. Sometimes, it isn’t a bad thing. But moving towards a better tomorrow is a good thing. Sure, politics and opinions can muddy the already silted waters. That is fly fishermen and environmentalists for you. We often want it to be fixed… our way. The most successful ventures in this field are the ones where secondary and tertiary preferences can be put aside for the benefit of the resource.

The brook trout seem to be appreciating what everyone is doing. The Fish & Boat Commission, the Cumberland Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and undoubtedly countless others have worked hard to put this beautiful little fish back into storied waters. For a creek that has lots of riveting stories from the past, the story currently being written about it has a lot of potential.