Opening Day weekend has special meaning for anglers fishing the Little Juniata River this year because public access battles at the confluence with Spruce Creek have finally ended.

But while the Little J's navigability was upheld by Huntingdon County Common Pleas Court last year, ensuring wading anglers hassle-free fishing, the river remains a symbol of how tenuous access can be.

As Pennsylvania trout anglers check their gear in preparation for tomorrow's 8 a.m. opening across most of the state, 80 percent of trout-stocked streams remain on private property. Landowners could effectively end trout fishing in the commonwealth if they all decided to post "no trespassing" signs.

"We get to fish by the grace of landowners," said Tom Greene, the commission's chief coldwater biologist.

"We have to be good stewards of their property, which means practicing proper etiquette and not littering, because we lose water all the time."

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is hoping to stem that tide with the access acquisition plan it launched in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council last fall.

It is seeking to replicate the sort of easement agreements it is making with landowners on popular Erie steelhead streams on waters elsewhere in the state.

"Even where access is a non-issue, we're trying to be proactive so it doesn't become an issue," said Jackie Kramer, hired by the commission in January to implement the plan.

"We're holding small meetings with stakeholders statewide to identify sites where easements might be donated or purchased."

This year, the commission reported losing just one significant stream -- Dotters Creek in Monroe County -- to landowner postings. Others, including Horm Run in Jefferson County, were removed from the trout stocking list because of low angler use, fish movement or water-quality problems. None of the new postings was in western Pennsylvania, where the changes have been mostly positive.

"That's not to say there isn't a posting here and there, but there were no large tracts to speak of," said Greene.

"We have to lose 25 percent of a stream before we remove it from the stocking list."

In this region, the commission has expanded the stocked stretches of Montour Run and North Fork Dunkard Fork Wheeling Creek and has added Little Neshannock Creek, a tributary of Neshannock Creek, to the Approved Trout Waters list. A roughly 4-mile section of Little Neshannock, from its confluence with the West Branch downstream to its mouth, was stocked for opening day and again Monday. The Little Neshannock flows under Route 80 east of West Middlesex.

The stream offers both walk-in and more easily reached spots.

"Our conservation officers and sportsmen's clubs worked with landowners to make this happen," said commission biologist Al Woomer.

"It's a very good stream to have as a stocked-trout fishery. It also has some smallmouth bass -- although it's too small to be a really good bass fishery -- and there are [forage] species like creek chubs, darters and common shiners."

Montour Run's stocked section was extended for an additional mile above Beaver Grade Road because it has performed well as an easy-to-get-to metro fishery.

"We entertained the idea of making it a special regs section," said commission biologist Rick Lorson, "but we opted not to at this time, although we haven't ruled it out for the future."

In Greene County, the commission is attempting to compensate for the demise of the hugely popular Duke Lake by extending the length of the North Fork Dunkard Fork Wheeling Creek for a quarter mile into the space where the lake was and by putting additional fish into Lake Wilma in Blackville on the West Virginia border.

The commission manages the Consol Coal-owned lake for largemouth bass, crappies, channel catfish and bluegills and began adding trout three years ago when Duke was breached.

More trout are slated for at least a dozen waters, including Spring Creek in Cumberland County, Cowanshannock Creek in Armstrong County, Raystown Branch Juniata River in Somerset County and Yellow Creek in Bedford County.

In Clearfield County, the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section of Sandy Lick Creek was extended by about a half mile from the confluence with Laborde Branch downstream to the Rt. 219 bridge.

For a statewide list of Approved Trout Waters and stocking schedules visit www.fishandboat.com.

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