Public Meeting Scheduled for Update on Minsi Lake

​HARRISBURG, Pa. (Sept. 2) – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced today that it will host a public meeting in Bangor, Northampton County, on October 3 to provide an update on reconstruction of the Minsi Lake dam.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Bangor Area High School, located at 123 Five Points Richmond Road, Bangor, PA 18013. The meeting is free and open to the public. 

Also today, the PFBC announced it was lifting all seasons, sizes and creel limits at the lake for warmwater species, effective Sept. 3. 

The lifting of the regulations does not apply to trout. The lake is scheduled to receive a fall trout stocking on Oct. 5 and will be stocked with trout for the opening day of the 2017 season. Therefore, anglers must follow inland regulations when fishing for trout. 

The lake holds bass, white perch, walleye and trout.

“We have temporarily lifted the regulations in order to reduce the number of warmwater fish in the lake in advance of the drawdown and fish salvage,” said Jason Detar, Chief of the PFBC Division of Fisheries Management. “We want anglers to fish the water and make good use of as many warmwater fish as they can.”

Last month, Governor Tom Wolf announced that he was releasing $25.7 million in capital budget funding for the repair of five high-hazard, unsafe dams, including Minsi Lake, and the design of two other dams. High-hazard, unsafe dams have deficiencies of such a nature that if not corrected and the dams were to fail, substantial property damage and a probable loss of human life could occur.

During the public meeting, PFBC engineering and fisheries staff will discuss the timeline and details for draining the lake, conducting a fish salvage and rebuilding the dam. The water level at the lake was lowered by approximately three feet in May 2013 and has remained at that level since.

The 117-acre lake is expected to be fully drained early next summer. A fish salvage will then be conducted to move as many fish as possible to other waters. 

The construction project is expected to start in summer 2017 and last through 2018. The lake is expected to be refilled and open again for public use in spring 2019. Stocked trout angling should also return to Minsi Lake in 2019.

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