Access lost to sweet spot for steelhead at Pennsylvania’s Manchester Hole on Walnut Creek

Erie, Pa. — Public access to one of Erie’s most popular steelhead fishing spots appears to be gone or severely hampered because of repeated angler misconduct.

A key property on both sides of the Manchester Hole on Walnut Creek has been posted by the owner after years of problems with litter, trespass and other offensive behavior. He and two neighbors reportedly were affected.

Although all Erie steelhead streams get pressured in fall, Manchester Hole was an especially big draw because fish often collect below a waterfall there.

Ongoing efforts by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and PA Steelhead Association to keep Manchester Hole open to fishing ultimately floundered, and the property owner erected “No Trespassing” signs in early October.

“Sad to say, it was a lack of angler etiquette,” said Josh Feltenberger, a steelhead association board member. “(The owner) is the nicest guy in the world, so to get him fired up to this point tells you how out of control the behavior was.”

“It was just complete and utter lack of respect … by 3% of anglers who ruined it for everyone.”

The commission had stepped up patrols “within our staffing capabilities,” said agency spokesman Mike Parker. “But we are unable to provide 24-hour coverage of that area.”

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And earlier this year, the commission board approved a change in regulations that limited angler access and fishing to one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset on Walnut from Route 5 downstream to the Manchester Road Bridge.

This was in response to complaints by property owners about anglers’ headlamps and flashlights intruding into their homes and creating a nuisance.

Angling is allowed on other streams from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and round-the-clock on Walnut from Lake Erie to the Manchester Bridge, and on Elk Creek from Route 5 to the lake.

However, restricted hours and additional patrols failed to ease tensions, and the steelhead association announced on its Facebook page that Walnut south of the Manchester Bridge would be posted “No Trespassing” at noon on Oct. 9.

That prompted more than 220 responses, many of which expressed support for the landowner and derided anglers.

“Not surprised,” posted Brian Brown. “I would have done it 20 years ago if it were mine.”

Nick Policastro also expressed a lack of surprise and went on to note that he has seen “some of the most disgusting ‘outdoorsman’ (sic) in the tribs … garbage, snagged fish, 0 (zero) care for those around them.

“Even saw a guy run upstream, just out of sight, to cut the eggs out of a hen and leave her lay slit ass to gill to die – then run up to the road. She was still flopping when I walked up … disgusting. They don’t respect themselves let alone the land and the fish.”

Bill Strawn wrote: “We need to police our own and call them out for their ignorance of landowner rights. That goes for the snaggers as well.”

Property postings go against the tide of efforts by the Fish & Boat Commission, the steelhead association and other stakeholders to preserve and expand access to fisheries.

In 2004, the commission implemented a Lake Erie stamp, which anglers must purchase to fish the Erie watershed, to generate revenue for acquiring access on streams.

Funds have been used to purchase properties and easements and, in more recent years, for other projects around the lake.

The Erie Access Improvement Program has so far paid for the acquisition of about 30.5 miles of stream frontage in the watershed, said Parker, noting that in 2024 alone 1.49 miles were added.

The steelhead association has been around since 1996, when three anglers, alarmed by a rash of postings, saw the need to enlist other fishermen in strengthening landowner relations.

With more than 280 members today, the association’s goodwill efforts include stream cleanups, and the December delivery of holiday fruit baskets to property owners on important steelhead streams in partnership with Gem City Outdoorsmen, Northwestern PA Trout Unlimited, 3-C-U, and S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie.

“When we deliver the baskets, it’s an opportunity to find out about issues and problems that we can address,” said Dr. Chris Larson, steelhead association president. “It’s usually around 100 baskets. This year it’s 97 we’ll deliver Dec. 13.”

Larson expressed sympathy for the landowners at Manchester Hole who put up with intolerable antics.

“Anglers were cutting across their property, defecating on their property and littering. They tore down a fence, they tore down a sign the Fish Commission put up, they tore down owner signs, and flipped off one of the owners.

“It was horrible for a long time.”

Larson emphasized that the Manchester Hole troublemakers constituted a “tiny minority” of steelheaders but suggested that, with angling pressure growing on other Erie tributaries, measures should be taken to stave off similar problems elsewhere.

“We wanted to see the hours changed on all streams, not just at Manchester Hole. No one needs to be fishing at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning,” he said. “We’d also like to see stiffer penalties for snagging, and Erie needs more WCOs (waterways conservation officers).”