Lake Fisheries

     In the Stonycreek and Upper Conemaugh, the PA Fish & Boat Commission manages only one lake fishery - Lake Rowena near Ebensburg.  But many fisherman use area reservoirs owned by water authorities or companies such as Manufacturers Water Co., which historically was run by Bethlehem Steel Corp.  These reservoirs are technically not open to fishing, but on some of the waterways the owners tend to "look the other way" as long as the people fishing are well behaved.  

     The most popular of these dams is the Quemahoning Reservoir, the largest dam in the basin holding 12 billion gallons of water.  The Que, owned by the Manufacturers Water Co., is located just upstream of Hooversville near Route 601.  The Que Reservoir is known to hold musky and pike, although the best place to fish these big species is by boat.  A private club has leased an access area where boats are put on the reservoir.  Large and small mouth bass, perch, bluegills and various other species can be caught from shore.  

     The two other reservoirs owned by Manufacturers are Hinckston Run and Saltlick, which are north of Johnstown and only lightly fished.  Both dams hold about 1 billion gallons of water.  

     The second-largest reservoir in the basin is Indian Lake south of Route 30 holding 3.4billion gallons of water.  Indian Lake also supports a substantial warm water fishery, but is privately developed.  

     Beaverdam Run Dam, owned by Highland Sewer & Water Authority, holds 2.6 billion gallons above Beaverdale, and although fishermen who've sneaked into the lake say the fishing is great, the Authority keeps a pretty fair watch.  

     Reservoirs owned by the Greater Johnstown Water Authority are Wilmore Dam in the Mainline area of Cambria County and North Fork and Dalton Run dams on tributaries to Bens Creek off Route 985 south of Johnstown.  The Johnstown authority has indicated that once their filtration plant is completed and operational, they will consider opening these reservoirs to public fishing.