NO MORE STOCKING!!!!!

[StarvinMarvin]

what were debating about here, we have no control over, and the PFBC has made it very clear there intentions are to stop stocking class B trout streams by 2016 and reexamining C and D in the mean time. but i do believe the limestoners in state college would turn elbow to elbow if it just stopped i know id be out there

 

[studiomule]

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin%E2%80%99/2013/04/largemouth-love-new-hatchery-rearing-strategies-prep-bass-real-world

While this article is about bass, I find it interesting how they want the fingerlings to acclimate to the natural world and diet before stocking them. Wouldn't it be nice if the trout that are stocked would be a little 'smarter', rather than going from pellets and raceways and right into the stream.

 

[Peterm]

While I knew when I posted this question it would generate some interesting debate.... Seems to me nobody seems to think stream enhancements and water quality are part of the equation...... Wouldn't more attention to water quality naturally generate better habitat for the fish thereby giving us more and a better quality fisherie???? I just think if the focus was more on habitat it would make for a better day streamside for both the worm dunkers and, the fly chuckers

 

[Mike]

Peterm: The amount of steam enhancement that would be required to replace the stocking program with restored streams to the point of supporting somewhat equivalent wild trout populations would be cost prohibitive, even if it were physically possible and the money for the program still somehow existed.

 

[Fishidiot]

Peterm wrote:
Wouldn't more attention to water quality naturally generate better habitat for the fish thereby giving us more and a better quality fisherie???? I just think if the focus was more on habitat it would make for a better day

Frequently not.
Stream and habitat improvement projects have their place (I'm involved in many of them) but the fact of the matter is that the capability of a stream to hold wild trout is often a product of temperature rather than cover, bank stability, sediment control etc. Here in my neck of the woods in Adams County, we have a bunch of stocked trout streams and almost all of them don't hold fish after mid summer. These are tree covered, shaded streams that simply just get too warm. In fact, my local fly fishing only stream has had more improvement work than any other stream I'm familiar with - I have personally pounded a lot of rebar there - but in spite of all this work this section will never hold wild trout because it gets over 80 degrees in summer with no thermal refuge.
All the habitat work will never get wild trout if a stream just simply gets too warm.
I realize that you're making the assumption that we're talking about habitat work on streams with good quality cold water. However, since your thread is caps and exclamation points one tends to assume you mean to stop all stocking. It's worth remembering that many of our state's stocked stream sections have very few, if any, wild trout due to warm water. Removing them from the stocking list would simply result in no trout fishing on these streams and bigger crowds elsewhere.

 

[ratgunner]

I think I'll go fishing.

 

[troutbert]

Peterm wrote:

Seems to me nobody seems to think stream enhancements and water quality are part of the equation......

I don't recall anyone stating that. We've simply been discussing another topic, i.e. fisheries management.

Water quality, physical habitat restoration, riparian buffers, etc. are also important topics. But just different topics than the one we've been discussing.

The fact that people are discussing topic A does not imply that they think topic B is unimportant.

We've had plenty of threads on habitat restoration, water quality etc. on here, so there is plenty of interest in those topics.

 

[JackM]

Fishidiot wrote:

... Removing them from the stocking list would simply result in no trout fishing on these streams and bigger crowds elsewhere.

And in trying to make this point earlier, I was not implying that our precious little gems would get overrun. More likely, it will be those famous waters that no one minds mentioning. The brookie waters would still be nearly all your own.

 

[ratgunner]

PennKev, you say "let the kids fish for bluegills in ponds" ?!? Reminds me of that Queen who once said "let them eat cake". :-o

 

[troutbert]

Fishing for bluegills in ponds is what I did when I was a kid. And it was a lot of fun. And I still enjoy it. It's not a "low" form of fishing at all. It's some of the most fun fishing you can do. I think it's the best way to introduce young kids to fishing. Much better than stream fishing for trout, IMHO.

 

[ratgunner]

So do I but the best was always moving water for me. I love rivers and streams. The kids should enjoy the trout wether they're in ponds lakes or streams. That's my point;the youth deserve to have a good stream experience like I did growing up not just catching little bluegills. I'm not knocking gills I fish for them often.

 

[troutbert]

I fished for bluegills in a pond when I was a kid and loved it. I still do.

You seem to be assuming that pond fishing bluegills is inferior to any sort of trout fishing, including the opening day type of fishing, where people are packed in, fishing for stocked trout.

No way. I would much rather fish a good bluegill pond than fish that way. And I thought so as a kid, too.

Particularly for young kids, fishing on a good bluegill pond or lake is the best way to introduce them to fishing. It's fantastic fun. I'm thankful that my parents introduced me to fishing that way.

If my earliest exposure as young kid had been the crowded type of opening day fishing, I might not have got interested in fishing.

I did a lot of fishing for bluegills from when I was very young, then started bass fishing in those ponds. The first time I went trout fishing, I was about 12 or 13 and it was doing that opening day fishing on a crowded stream. I didn't enjoy it. The people were so packed in that you couldn't get a place to fish the good pools. Some had camped overnight and roped off "their" area. There was trash all over the place. People were hooking each others lines continuously.

Some people have nostalgia for that type of fishing, and think of it as a "tradition" etc. That's putting lipstick on a pig, IMHO. It's a degraded form of fishing.

When you're fishing for bluegills in a pond, you're fishing for wild fish. And they are beautiful, colorful fish.

 

[midnightangler]

I'm with troutbert 100%. My grandfather had pond full of BIG bluegill. I learned to fly-fish on that pond with poppers, and it was a lot of fun. The pond behind my parents house had wild pumpkinseeds in it. They were small, but as pretty as any fish you'll ever catch. There is nothing wrong with that kind of fishing.

I've actually never fished a stocked trout stream on opening day in my lifetime, although I've fished stockeds streams within the first 2-3 weeks quite a few times. Funny story: last year my dad landed a freshly stocked brown on Pine creek and he actually asked me what was wrong with it. Apparently he's used to seeing wild trout and thought it must be sick. I told him all the stocked fish look that way.

Those pale, beat-up trout that the PFBC stocks are not worth catching. I would rather foul-hook a sucker on an egg pattern than ever catch another freshly stocked trout in my lifetime. I don't like touching them.

 

[ratgunner]

Okay then we should stop stocking trout and stock panfish in ponds for the future anglers ? And I wasnt talking about introducing children to fishing I'm talking about kids stepping up to a higher level. Like I said I enjoy panfish too but they dont hold a candle to trout or smallmouth bass from moving water IMO. look how many people travel so far and spend so much money to fish for trout and bass. Not many do so for bluegills. So I'm pretty sure I'm not in the minority on this.

 

[midnightangler]

I'm talking about kids stepping up to a higher level.

Higher level = wild trout.

 

[troutbert]

ratgunner wrote:
Okay then we should stop stocking trout and stock panfish in ponds for the future anglers ?

As I said earlier in this thread, I don't favor ending stocking trout. I favor ending stocking over wild trout.

Regarding stocking panfish in ponds. Most ponds and lakes have had panfish introduced soon after the pond was built, and they have continued to reproduce and maintain their populations. There is no need for further stocking once they are established.

The PFBC and DCNR and county parks people etc. should make an effort to maintain and improve panfish opportunities throughout the state. That's great recreation for both young people and adults. And good panfishing opportunities will get more kids started in fishing than any other type of fishing.

 

[ratgunner]

They would need to be restocked if everyone who trout fishes had to fish for gills and kept them to eat. That could be a good thing for most ponds are overpopulated and only have stunted fish.

 

[Gorosaurus]

I am rather thankful for the stocking program. The waters within 30 minutes of my house do not hold but very, very small stocks of wild fish. They could never handle real angling pressure - essentially no trout fishing without a sizable commute.

 

[ratgunner]

I agree and I think the PF&BC is doing a good job. There's always room for improvement though.