Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association
The Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association is a non-profit conservation organization founded in 1961 by a group of anglers who recognized the need for the conservation of their beloved watershed.
Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association is part of the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s Cooperative Nursery Program. The Cooperative Nursery Program aims to provide high quality fishing opportunities throughout the state by raising trout species in hatcheries and nurseries to be released into high quality habitat streams and rivers. Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation operates the Alma Thornton nursery in Boiling Springs where they receive over 36,000 brown and rainbow trout fingerlings to raise to maturity and then released into the Yellow Breeches to increase habitat health and for anglers to enjoy.
The YBAC has over 1,400 members from across the area that work together to preserve and enhance the Yellow Breeches watershed through volunteer activities, fish stocking, and community events. They also work with a local business, TCO Fly Shop, to provide daily stream health reports that include water levels, temperature, clarity, water flow, and monitors the hatch rates for a couple of species of macroinvertebrates found in the watershed.
The Alma Thornton Nursery, opened as the Alma Lee Thornton Trout Nursery in 1974, is a newly renovated fishery that receives over 36,000 fingerling trout each year. Volunteers work to raise the trout to adulthood so that they can be released into the Yellow Breeches to optimize angling experience without affecting the health of the ecosystem. Each year volunteers raise the fingerling trout in the nursery and then release the trout into various areas along the Yellow Breeches main stem. The YBAC works with the Fish and Boat Commission on protecting and improving the watershed through the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Management of Trout Fisheries in Pennsylvania (2020-2024). This year, the YBAC installed a new aeration system in the stocking truck that improved airflow and reduced stress on the adult fish as they were being transported to the various stocking locations along the Yellow Breeches.
The YBAC host various events during the year including stocking events, fishing derby’s, fundraisers, and environmental education/outreach events. They send out quarterly newsletters to their members with stocking reports, nursery reports, and information about past and upcoming events.
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In 2022, the Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association’s volunteers and nursery welcomed 18,000 brown trout, 18,000 rainbow trout, and 350 Golden trout to be raised in the nursery until adulthood and then released into the watershed in the spring of 2023.
Important People to the YBCA
President: Andy Madison
First Vice President: Chris Kuba
Second Vice President: Mike Ritts
Treasurer: Chris Brandt
Secretary: Craig Sunday
Nursery Manager: Randy Raudabaugh
Stocking Manager: Rick Retchko