Birdsboro trout rodeo

[Keppenbill]

As some may know today was the trout rodeo at Hay creek. what could have been a good thing ended with me picking up three bags of trash and a bag of dead fish. This was hosted by the sportsmen club, half of the fish found dead were 20 plus inch's. Just because you pay $95 dollars to fish does not mean u have the right to kill fish and trash a stream.

 

[troutmagnet]

yeah i live close to there and people throw trash there and snag so many of those big fish....its outragous people snag fish and think there really "sportsman"

 

[SBecker]

$95 to fish a contest?

 

[Keppenbill]

That's what i was told 90 or 95 all you can eat plus beer. and they were snagged they would hook up then one guy would walk out with a net they weren't even brought to hand one after another. Not to mention they dug in the stream bed with a loader to make the dams.

 

[SBecker]

Lol wow

 

[troutmagnet]

yeah 80 or 90 bucks and you get a fenced in hole with 15 20 plus incherrs.........snag fest basicly

 

[Keppenbill]

Ya they built dams to make people think they were doing a good thing for the stream and then turn around and get drunk and kill fish and call it sport.

 

[jdaddy]

Keppenbill wrote:
Ya they built dams to make people think they were doing a good thing for the stream and then turn around and get drunk and kill fish and call it sport.

Why is it that no one reports them to DEP or give some of the members of local conservation organizations a heads up? They do not obtain the proper permits for this work thus they have no stream studies performed. The fines would be rather heavy handed for this activity if we could get the DEP out there while they are in the act or provide video documentation.

Where is the "all you can drink going on"? That is a public park with no drinking allowed.

 

[NickR]

I would love to get involved somehow with this stream. Hay Creek certainly could benefit from some increased regulations or a delayed harvest zone.

 

[Keppenbill]

I believe a majority of the members of the sportsmen club are on birdsboros payroll. Also its been going on for so long they have the idea that there grandfathers did it so they should too. As far as getting involved i clean up trash the problem is people look at it as a junk stream because of the way it get treated Which it isn't. There are other streams that get attention that don't really need it when hay would greatly benefit the help. It starts with one person.

 

[steveo]

A few years back our TU chapter pulled the proper permits and took out those dams. We also did bank stabilization and some other improvements in the park. The sportmans club came in a few months later and undid all of our work (without permits of course). No one was interested in hearing about it. They are very well connected!

 

[Jimbo87]

Hmmm....this is really a shame. Steveo - did you/your chapter try any legal means to have your work supported? After they ripped it all out, that is.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I once went to fish right after the event, and it was one of the most disgraceful derbies ever. The regulars were still snagging large fish, trash everywhere, and a fair amount of foul language, despite there being children present. What was really ironic was I was able to take three stream bred browns that were rising on a no. 20 B.W.O. even after all this madness. Shows the potential Hay actually has or had, given half a chance.

 

[Keppenbill]

Yes i remember the dams being removed they were told the dams must be taken down after the rodeo this year. The problem is with it being such a small town most people are a member of the club. You would think they would want there home stream to be healthy for there kids and future generations to enjoy.

 

[steveo]

I'll have to ask a few guys what was done after they rebuilt the dams. We have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get permit before we move a single rock and these guys get away with doing what ever the please.

 

[jdaddy]

Keppenbill wrote:
Yes i remember the dams being removed they were told the dams must be taken down after the rodeo this year. The problem is with it being such a small town most people are a member of the club. You would think they would want there home stream to be healthy for there kids and future generations to enjoy.

Without proper permitting it does not matter if this was performed at the direct express request of the township. DEP has control over permitting, not local municipalities, as we all "live down stream". The fact is they don't have the right to make the modifications even if they put it back the way it was before their modifications. They CANNOT put it back to the way it was as they have destroyed a ton of macros and displaced tons of legacy sediment which is now covering the macros. Simple fact is they don't have the legal right to do these modifications. Additionally, they are unneeded. Simple as that.

 

[NickR]

Maybe newspapers should be contacted.

 

[Chaz]

All rightous indignation aside, Aren't stocked trout put there to be harvested?
If you have a problem with a rodeo on a wild trout stream that is something that ought to be persued, but don't give me crap about the dang stockers, they can make more.
And before you get your panties in a wad, I know Hay Creek is a wild trout stream, and that should be the point of your gripes.

 

[troutmagnet]

hay creek is 5-10 mins from my house and i would love to go back there and fish and not have to worry about the "idiots" fishing that creek. Once they stocked and i was by my self at the bottom of the hole with my fly rod and a big brownie swam and sat in front of me......i wasnt even fishing for him and 4 people were up my butt withing 3 feet and hooked my fly line like 5 times......i just left. Its sad i hooked up with a big brownie in a spot not many people fish and my buddy saw him with a lure in his side the next day. The rodeo is a joke and people will keep 10 trout if they can, i fished the hole creek twice thios year, and the "sportsman" get drunk for there adult rodeo and i have seen fights in the parking lot a few times.

 

[Keppenbill]

Its not just about the trout Its the health of the stream, they used a backhoe to dig up the stream and in turn took another foot off an already eroded bank that's my main concern. Also the trash but who's wants to see trash all over.