CLEARFIELD – On July 28 a Clearfield County man passionate about fishing in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River gave the Clearfield County Commissioners an update of what’s been done to improve the river as a fishery.
Pat Domico explained that in 1998, he and then-Head of Waterways in Clearfield County Ed Brown got a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission biologist to come to town. He said they shocked the river by JG Food Warehouse and filled their nets.
Domico said that was the start of what turned the river around. He said that after that the area was recognized by the state. He noted that the stretch of the river from the Hyde Bridge to the area by WOKW is the only stretch of the Susquehanna River to receive state trout stockings.
Domico said the river gets three stockings a year from the PFBC, as well as stockings form the Old Town Sportsmen’s Association. He said about 15,000 trout are stocked each year in the river.
Domico also brought up a recent partnership with Dutch Pantry. He said that pin-ups are being sold there for a $1 each. They will be placed on the walls of the restaurant, and the proceeds of the sales go toward trout stocking.
“The river is so much better now,” said County Commissioner John Sobel
“Forty years ago this river ran ugly,” said Domico. “Today it’s beautiful because people never gave up on it.”