The accessible fishing pier at Lake Nockamixon sits at the midpoint of the lake in the day use area, and the park office will loan you a rod if you hand over a photo ID. That is a useful thing to know about Bucks County fishing. A lot of the good water here is public, reachable from a parking lot, and cheaper to fish than most people assume.
Licenses, permits and what they cost
A valid Pennsylvania fishing license is required of anyone age 16 and over. There is no license for kids under 16, though there are good reasons to get them a voluntary one (more on that below). Licenses run by calendar year, not by 12 months from purchase.
Current Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission prices, from the PFBC license page. These include the $1.00 issuing agent fee and a $0.97 transaction fee, and they are subject to change.
| License or permit | Price |
|---|---|
| Resident annual, ages 16 to 64 | $27.97 |
| Senior resident annual, 65 and over | $14.47 |
| Senior resident lifetime, 65 and over | $86.97 |
| Non-resident annual, 16 and over | $60.97 |
| Non-resident Pennsylvania student, annual | $27.97 |
| One-day resident (excludes March 15 to April 30) | $14.47 |
| 3-year resident | $79.97 |
| 5-year resident | $131.97 |
| 10-year resident | $261.97 |
| 3-year non-resident | $178.97 |
| 5-year non-resident | $296.97 |
| 10-year non-resident | $591.97 |
| Trout permit, annual | $14.97 |
| Lake Erie permit, annual | $9.97 |
| Combination trout and Lake Erie permit | $20.97 |
| Voluntary youth license, under 16 | $2.97 |
The multi-year licenses are the quiet bargain. A 10-year resident license works out to roughly $26 a year.
The trout permit is separate, and you probably need it
A trout permit is required on top of the license if you take or possess trout, fish special trout regulation waters, fish Class A Wild Trout Waters, or fish designated stocked trout waters between March 1 and May 31. In Bucks County that covers Tohickon Creek, Neshaminy Creek and most of the other stocked streams during the busiest stretch of the year. Buy it with the license and stop thinking about it.
Where to buy
Online at HuntFish.PA.gov, or in person from a licensing agent. Agents include bait and tackle shops, some sporting goods retailers and a number of county treasurer offices. The online purchase prints to a phone, and you can have a durable plastic card mailed if you want one.
Free fishing days, exemptions and mentored youth
Pennsylvania holds two Fish for Free Days each year when anyone may fish without a license. All other regulations still apply, including size and creel limits. The dates shift, so check the PFBC calendar before planning around them.
A few people are exempt year round: landowners and resident family members fishing their own land, an adult who is only helping a child cast, bait, net or untangle, certain anglers with disabilities, and some active duty military residents.
The Mentored Youth program is the best deal in Pennsylvania fishing. A child under 16 gets either a free mentored youth permit or the $2.97 voluntary youth license, and can then fish stocked trout water on mentored youth days ahead of everyone else. The mentor must hold a valid license and current trout permit and stay within arm’s reach, roughly six feet, of the fishing child. The youth may keep two trout of at least 7 inches. The adult keeps none. It is a genuinely good morning if you have a kid who can hold a rod.
Where to fish
Lake Nockamixon
The county’s biggest fishing water. Lake Nockamixon covers 1,450 acres inside 5,286-acre Nockamixon State Park at 1542 Mountain View Drive, Quakertown, PA 18951, 215-529-7300.
Five launching facilities serve the lake and all of them are open 24 hours a day. The Marina and Tohickon ramps suit sailboats and larger hulls. Three Mile Run and Haycock are the ones paddlers and small motorboat anglers use most. The motor limit is 20 horsepower, or 15 kilowatts for electric, so this is not a place for a big outboard.
DCNR lists it as a Big Bass Lake. Species include largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleye, muskellunge, pickerel, striped bass hybrids, channel catfish, carp and panfish. Fishing is prohibited from boat docks, launch and mooring areas and within 100 feet of them, from bridges, below the spillway to the silt dam, and inside the marina and boat rental buoys.
Lake Galena at Peace Valley Park
Peace Valley Park covers about 1,500 acres at 264 Creek Road in New Britain Township, just west of Doylestown. Lake Galena is the centerpiece and it is the most walkable big-water shoreline in the county, with paths and a bikeway following much of the perimeter. Mooring spots are limited, 160 dry and 6 wet, handed out by annual lottery. Boat rental is 215-345-1097.
Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park
Core Creek Park runs to about 1,200 acres at 901 Bridgetown Pike, Langhorne, PA 19047. Lake Luxembourg is the lower county’s answer to Nockamixon: bass, panfish, catfish and carp, with an easy shoreline and plenty of parking. Boat rental is 215-757-1225. There is also a dog park here, which matters if you are in the habit of bringing the dog along.
Lake Towhee and Silver Lake
Lake Towhee Park sits on Old Bethlehem Road in Applebachsville, 549 acres with 17 rustic family campsites. Small, slow warmwater lake, and a good first stop for a kid with a bobber. Silver Lake Park in Bristol Township covers 465 acres off Bath Road, wrapped around the Silver Lake Nature Center and about 4.5 miles of trails.
The Delaware River
The Delaware is the largest free-flowing river in the eastern United States, and key segments joined the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 2000 as the Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River. Along the Bucks County shore you are fishing for smallmouth bass, channel catfish, striped bass, walleye, carp and, in spring, American shad. Access is easy from the towpath side, from Tinicum Park, and from pull-offs along River Road. If you would rather be on the water than beside it, see our guide to kayaking and tubing the Delaware.
Trout
Tohickon Creek at Ralph Stover State Park is the best-known trout water in Bucks County. The park is small, 45 acres at 6011 State Park Road in Pipersville, and the creek runs through a gorge below the High Rocks overlook. The PFBC stocks it, and parking fills fast after opening day.
Statewide the PFBC stocks adult trout into 684 streams and 130 lakes, with roughly 3.2 million adult trout planned annually from state hatcheries plus about 1.1 million more from cooperative nurseries. Stocking usually begins in late February and continues in season. The searchable stocking schedule lets you pick Bucks County and see every scheduled date and water, and it carries the useful warning that all stocking events are subject to change without notice. The trout stocking overview explains the program.
Other Bucks streams worth checking in the stocking list include Neshaminy Creek, Tinicum Creek and Cooks Creek. Cooks Creek is the outlier and the prize. It is designated an Exceptional Value Cold Water Fishery under Pennsylvania Chapter 93 water quality standards, and the Cooks Creek Watershed Association describes it as the only wild brown trout and native brook trout fishery in Bucks County. Fish it carefully and read up on PFBC trout water classifications first, because special regulations apply to wild trout water that do not apply to a stocked pond.
On stocked trout waters in the regular season the statewide daily limit is 5 trout combined, with a 7-inch minimum. Opening day is set by the commission each year and stocked waters are closed to fishing for a stretch before it. Extended and delayed-harvest sections carry their own rules.
Species and regulations
Seasons, minimum sizes and creel limits change, and they differ between Commonwealth inland waters, the Delaware River and estuary, Big Bass waters like Nockamixon and Panfish Enhancement waters. Rather than reprint a table that goes stale, check the current seasons, sizes and creel limits page or carry the PFBC Summary Book on your phone. It is free and it is the document a waterways conservation officer will be working from.
The shad run
The American shad run up the Delaware is a real event. Shad move out of the ocean and push upriver to spawn in spring, and PFBC survey fish have measured from 7 to 23 inches, with females running larger. The population has been struggling. Commission monitoring found female mortality and spawning abundance indices past their benchmarks, and management responded by cutting Pennsylvania’s Delaware River limit to two shad per day, with the Lehigh and Schuylkill going catch and release. If you fish the run, know the current limit before you keep anything.
Fish consumption advisories
This part matters and it is often skipped. Pennsylvania has issued a DO NOT EAT advisory for all fish species throughout the Neshaminy Creek basin in Bucks and Montgomery counties, including the sections in Neshaminy State Park and Tyler State Park. The contaminant is PFOS, one of the PFAS compounds, and tissue samples exceeded the 0.2 parts per million threshold. The advisory was issued jointly by the Pennsylvania departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health and the Fish and Boat Commission. Read it directly: Neshaminy Creek Fish Advisory.
That advisory is about eating the fish. Catch and release fishing on the Neshaminy is not prohibited. For every other water, including the Delaware River and the county lakes, Pennsylvania publishes a general advisory plus water-specific and species-specific ones in the Public Health Advisory section of the PFBC Summary Book. Check that section before you take anything home, especially if you are feeding children or someone who is pregnant.
Launch permits, boat rentals and access
Two separate permit systems apply here and people mix them up constantly.
County lakes. Bucks County requires a launch permit for each vessel at Peace Valley and Core Creek. Verified fees:
| Permit | Fee |
|---|---|
| Bucks County resident | $15 |
| Resident senior, first permit | Free |
| Resident senior, additional permit | $15 |
| Non-resident | $30 |
| Non-resident senior | $20 |
Buy at the parks office Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, at the boat rental when it is open, or online through Bucks County Parks and Recreation.
State waters. At PFBC access areas and state park or state forest launches, an unpowered boat needs EITHER a boat registration OR a PFBC launch permit OR a Pennsylvania State Parks launch permit. Not both. Registration and the launch permit each cost $22 before agent fees, registration running two years and the launch permit available in one-year and two-year terms. The PFBC lays out the difference between the two. Motorboats need current registration regardless.
Rentals: Peace Valley 215-345-1097, Core Creek 215-757-1225, and Nockamixon Boat Rental 215-538-1340 for canoes, kayaks, rowboats, pedal boats, paddleboards and small motorboats. All three are seasonal.
Cold water and life jackets
From November 1 through April 30, every person aboard must WEAR a Coast Guard approved life jacket on any boat under 16 feet and on all canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. Carrying one is not enough during those months. The rule exists because cold water shock sets in below 70 degrees water temperature, causing involuntary gasping and loss of breathing control, and because the PFBC reports that a disproportionate number of Pennsylvania boating fatalities happen November through April. The full rule is on the PFBC cold weather life jacket page.
Water temperature lags air temperature by weeks. A mild 60-degree afternoon can sit over water in the 40s.
Fishing from shore, and taking a kid
You do not need a boat here. Good bank and pier options:
- The accessible pier at Lake Nockamixon, midpoint of the lake in the day use area, with loaner rods at the park office.
- The Lake Galena shoreline at Peace Valley, where the perimeter path puts you on water the whole way.
- Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek, flat ground, close parking, restrooms.
- Lake Towhee, small and slow, which is exactly what a beginner wants.
- The Delaware from the towpath side, where you can walk a bike or a wagon in and pick a spot.
For a first trip with a child, skip trout and target sunfish and crappie at Towhee or Luxembourg on a warm afternoon. Bites are frequent and nobody has to stand still. The towpath doubles as flat, easy access, which is one reason it also makes a good bike ride. More waterside spots are in our Bucks County parks and trails guide, and the rest of our local coverage lives in the guides index.
Sources and Further Reading
- PFBC: Buy a Fishing License or Permit
- HuntFish.PA.gov
- PFBC: Mentored Youth Program
- PFBC: Adult Trout Stocking Schedule
- PFBC: Trout Stocking
- PFBC: Seasons, Sizes and Creel Limits
- PFBC Summary Book, including the Public Health Advisory
- PFBC: Launch Permit vs Unpowered Boat Registration
- PFBC: Cold Weather Life Jacket Requirement
- PA DEP: Neshaminy Creek Fish Advisory
- DCNR: Nockamixon State Park
- DCNR: Boating at Nockamixon
- DCNR: Ralph Stover State Park
- NPS: Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River
- Bucks County Parks and Recreation
- Cooks Creek Watershed Association
Fees, stocking schedules and water conditions change. Verify current license prices, seasons, size and creel limits and any consumption advisory with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission before you go. Spot something out of date or wrong? Send us a correction and we will fix it.
