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Fishing in Ridley Creek

CRC programs along Ridley Creek have enhanced the environment for fish and fishermen alike by decreasing streambank erosion, replacing unsightly and inhospitable invasive plants with native species that feed aquatic life, and  by promoting more environmentally responsible development.    

Species found in Ridley Creek include a “carryover/second generation” of brown trout from stocked fish. The PA Fish & Boat Commission, with the help of local fishing organizations, stocks Ridley Creek in the State Park with thousands of brown trout and rainbow trout in the spring and in the fall.  

Since the historic removal of the two dams spanning  Ridley Creek by Delco Anglers and their partner organizations in 2004 and 2005, anadromous fish, including hickory shad, American shad, blue-backed herring, and striped bass can now make their way up into the Lower Ridley Creek.  Anadromous fish are migratory fish lay their eggs upstream, swim downstream to the ocean for most of their adult life, and then swim back upstream in the same stream to spawn.  To learn more about anadromous fish, click here.  

Public Fishing Access

For a list of publicly accessible fishing locations in the Ridley Creek Watershed, click on the highlighted text.

There is a wheelchair accessible fishing platform on the multiuse trail along Sycamore Mills Road in Ridley Creek State Park.  Contact the Park for special parking permits.  

>Local Fishing Organizations 

Fishing  for Kids

• Trout Day, April, Chester Creek ( Delco Field and Stream)

• Kids Derby, May, Chester Creek (Delco Field and Stream)

• Youth Fly Fishing Day, May, Smedley Park (Trout Unlimited, The Sporting Gentleman). For more information, see www.sportinggentleman.com

Trout Stocking Season

Regular season and fall season:  The regular trout fishing season goes from mid- April to September, and the fall season begins in October.  For Opening Days for the next season, click here.

For  regulations and other information, click here.

Trout Stocking Sections in Ridley Creek

Ridley Creek is stocked from the Colonial Plantation to the Sycamore Dam, and from the dam to Dismal Run (the latter is delayed harvest, fly fishing only) in the spring and again in the fall.  For a full listing of sites and dates stocked by the PA Fish & Boat Commission, click here.  

Three local fishing organizations, Delaware County Field and Stream, Delco Manning Trout Unlimited, and Delco Anglers, assist the Fish Commission by stocking trout .  These groups also purchase additional adult trout to stock in Ridley and Chester Creeks.  Thanks to the efforts of Delco Anglers, the stocking of the Lower Ridley Creek between Brookhaven Road and Chestnut Parkway by the Fish Commission will begin in 2007.

More Fishing Resources:

• Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

• The Sporting Gentleman (located in Media)

• USGS Gauge Sites: real time data on Ridley Creek flow just above the water intake dam

• Ridley Creek State Park 

• Delaware River Shad Hotline: 610-054-0577

Where to Buy Licenses and Bait and Tackle:

To be added in the near future.