The Schuylkill River has long supported recreation including boating, swimming, fishing, and trail use. The pool behind Felix Dam formed a four-mile lake of 132 acres holding 480 million gallons of water, and while it was popular for motor boating and water skiing from the 1960s to the 1990s, canoeists and many young couples in the early 1900s preferred the pools behind Shepp's and Leisz's Dams just downstream, which drew fashionable Sunday visitors. Swimming near the dams was and remains popular despite the danger, and kayakers now use rapids downstream near Kelly's Lock. The Schuylkill River Water Trail was recognized by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in 1999, with access at many public landings, though boaters still must portage around about six dams, and annual flotillas and festivals take place along the river. Fishing in the Schuylkill offers varied landscapes and waters and more than 20 fish species, with Smallmouth Bass especially sought from early spring through fall, strong fishing between Hamburg and Phoenixville, renewed interest in Channel Catfish and Flathead Catfish, and other catches including Musky, Carp, and Trout in the headwaters of the Schuylkill and Little Schuylkill Rivers. Shad, whose life cycle carries them from freshwater streams to the Atlantic Ocean and back after four to six years to spawn, were blocked from upriver movement by canal dams, but dam removals, fish ladders, and stocking begun in 1999 by the PA Fish and Boat Commission in the Reading and Tulpehocken Creek area and four other locations have helped restore their run, with fish reaching the first Fairmount Dam in Philadelphia. With new fish ladders and the removal of some canal dams such as Felix Dam, 100 miles of accessible waterway will be obstruction free. The Schuylkill River Trail is planned to extend 120 miles from Philadelphia to Pottsville, with many multipurpose sections already open for bicycling, walking, hiking, and in some places horse riding.