"There is no use in your walking five miles to fish when you can depend on being just as unsuccessful near home."
Mark Twain

Despite Mr. Twain's thoughts on the matter, anglers travel a lot more than five miles to fish in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Rainbow, brown, golden and brook trout, walleye and muskellunge, small mouth, large mouth, and striped bass, and pickerel and panfish are regularly pulled from area lakes and steams by many successful fishermen. In addition to freshwater fishing, fly-fishing and ice fishing are also wildly popular here.

"It's the diversity that makes fishing here so special, says Chamber Vice President and fishing fanatic Andy Skrip. I can fish all year round and all of my favorite spots are less than 20 miles from my home. And unlike a lot of areas, the water in our lakes, rivers and streams is very clean and conducive to the growth of large, healthy fish."

While there are many great places to fish, such as Lake Wallenpaupack and the area's many state parks, it's the Lackawanna River that has made the biggest splash in recent years. That's because after a long but successful cleanup, the river has become a haven for trout fishermen. In fact, part of the river has been designated a Class A Wild Brown Trout Stream.

"To the best of my knowledge, there are people who actually book trips to come to the (Lackawanna) river and fish, says local angler Joe Rutkowsky. I mean people out of New York and New Jersey. I've fished for hours talking with people I don't even know."

Long time local fisherman Leo Healey reports that he has caught trout up to 28 inches long in the Lackawanna. "Brown trout that are stocked in the river, if they hold up for several years, they grow to astonishing lengths, he says. Even down in Scranton you can catch some that are 26 and 27 inches."

From the Stillwater Dam downstream to the southern limits of Carbondale, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocks brown, brook and rainbow trout at many different spots. From Carbondale down to the Lackawanna Avenue Bridge in Olyphant, the Lackawanna River is regulated under Class A Wild Brown Trout Water and does not receive any stocked trout.

We hope this brief description will be enough to lure you to our many excellent fishing spots, but if you still need convincing we suggest you take the bait and check out the following fish-friendly web sites. And remember to visit Chamber members such as Gander Mountain and River Essentials when searching for your fishing supplies.

Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission - click on Fishing and then on Frequently Asked Questions for excellent info about obtaining a fishing license.

The Pennsylvania Anglers Sportsmen's Association - a Northeastern Pennsylvania independent fishing association that began its 11th season in 2002.

Len Gorney's Fishing Links Notebook - great advice from a local fly-fishing guru.

Hunting

Even Elmer Fudd would get lucky here.

Whether scouring swamps for bears, flushing woodies from beaver ponds, searching for the elusive snowshoe hare that's always one step ahead of the hounds, or carefully making a beaver set, the Northeast Region has something for every sportsman.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission's Northeast Region includes 13 counties bordered on the north by New York and on the east by New Jersey. This part of the state offers many recreational activities, including the popular Pocono resorts, but it's the fall and winter hunting seasons that attract thousands of sportsmen.

This diversified habitat produces an abundance of wildlife and offers sportsmen excellent hunting opportunities for big and small game and trapping for furbearers. The Northeast is home to bears, deer, turkeys and snowshoe hares. It has cottontails, grouse, woodcock, squirrels, waterfowl, and stocked pheasants.

Bear
The Northeast Region is usually second only to the Northcentral in annual bear harvest. The swamps in Pike and Monroe counties are prime spots for those hunters willing to venture into them, and these two counties are consistent bear producers in the region.

Deer
The region is a prime white-tailed deer hunting area. Bradford County annually ranks among the state's leaders in deer taken by hunters and is known for producing bucks with nice racks, too. The many dairy farms in Susquehanna County produce plenty of deer, and those hunters who obtain permission to access private land find top-rate opportunities.

Wild Turkey
The thunderous gobble of the wild turkey lures many hunters to the Region's ridge tops and hollows. Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming and Sullivan counties are particularly popular with turkey hunters.

Rabbit
The best snowshoe hare hunting in the state can be found in the Northeast. The region's extensive swamps provide excellent habitat for the wide ranging yet secretive animals, making them a most challenging quarry for hunters and hounds. Best bets for hares on public ground are state game lands, state parks and state forests in Pike, Monroe, Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties.

The cottontail rabbit is still pursued by many hunters, and sections of the Northeast Region are practically overrun with bunnies. Agricultural areas in Columbia, Montour and Northumberland counties support enough rabbits to keep a hunter with a pack of beagle busy during the fall and winter seasons, and some tracts of game lands in these counties are intensely managed for small game, including rabbits.

Waterfowl
The Region offers some good waterfowl hunting. In addition to the Susquehanna and Delaware watersheds, beaver ponds and swampy areas provide ideal waterfowl resting areas. The habitat is great for early season wood duck hunting and for resident Canada geese, and then attracts migrating ducks later in the fall and winter

This wetland habitat also holds good populations of furbearers, particularly beaver, muskrat, mink and raccoons. Beaver trapping is popular in the region.

The Susquehanna and Delaware watersheds also attract eagles and ospreys, and both of these protected birds of prey are a welcome sight to hunters and nonhunters alike.

Fortunately, with its abundant wildlife resources, the Northeast Region has plenty of land open to public hunting. There are 53 separate tracts of State Game Lands consisting of 364,000 acres located in the region. Private landowners signed into one of the agency's Cooperative Access Programs (Safety Zone, Forest Game Project, Farm Game Project) have a combined acreage of over 377,000. These private lands are open to public hunting provided the hunter gets permission from the owner.