Fisher Run is a tributary of

Catawissa Creek Catawissa Creek (colloquially known as The Cat) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in th ...

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Main Township and Beaver Township. The stream is impaired by

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

. It is considered to be a high-quality coldwater fishery and

Class A Wild Trout Waters Class A Wild Trout Waters are the highest biomass class given to streams in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. They are considered to contain the highest-quality naturally reproducing trout populations in Pennsylvania. Th ...

. The watershed of the stream has an area of .

Course

Fisher Run begins on

Catawissa Mountain Catawissa Mountain is a mountain in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Its peak height is above sea level, making it the fifth-highest mountain in Columbia County. Streams that flow near the mountain include Roaring Creek, Cataw ...

in southwestern Main Township. The stream flows east in a valley and crosses a road within a few tenths of a mile. A short distance later, it turns northeast for well over a mile. It eventually crosses Fisher Run Road and then Iron Bridge Road. Immediately after crossing Iron Bridge Road, the stream turns southeast and enters Beaver Township. In Beaver Township, the stream almost immediately reaches its confluence with Catawissa Creek. Fisher Run joins Catawissa Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Fisher Run has one unnamed tributary. It is known as "Trib 27549 To Fisher Run".

Hydrology

Fisher Run is considered to be impaired by

and metals. It is one of several streams and creeks in the watershed of Catawissa Creek with this impairment. The pH of the stream is between 6.0 and 6.9. The total concentration of

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength of ...

is 4 milligrams per liter.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Fisher Run is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The elevation of the stream's source is approximately above sea level. Most of the upper reaches of the watershed of Fisher Run are on rock of the

Pocono Formation The Mississippian Pocono Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, in the United States. It is also known as the Pocono Group in Maryland and West Virginia, and the upper part of the Pocono Formation is somet ...

and most of the lower reaches are on rock of the

Mauch Chunk Formation The Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It is named for the township of Mauch Chunk, now known as borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and for nearby Mauch Chunk Ridge where th ...

. However, the southern part of the watershed is on rock of the Spechty Kopf Formation and the Buddys Run Member of the

Catskill Formation The Devonian Catskill Formation or the Catskill Clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit (up to ). It is equivalent to the Hampshire For ...

. The main

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s in the watershed of Fisher Run are the Leck Kill soil, the Hazleton soil, and the Watson soil.

Watershed, history, and etymology

The watershed of Fisher Run has an area of . Most of the watershed is in Main Township. However, substantial areas of it are in Catawissa Township and Roaring Creek Township. A small portion of the watershed is in Beaver Township. The upper reaches and most of the rest of the watershed of Fisher Run are in

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 58 Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 58 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. They are one of six State Game Lands in Columbia County and Montour County and are the second-largest of those State ...

. However, the stream flows through

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land in its lower reaches. Fisher Run is most likely named after Isaac Fisher.

Biology

The

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

considers Fisher Run to be a high-quality coldwater fishery. It is also considered by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

to be Class A Wild Trout Waters between its headwaters and its mouth. The stream is inhabited by

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

, which also reproduce naturally throughout the stream.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed
{{authority control Rivers of Columbia County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania