Opening day angler counts

[SNPbound]

Guess I just don't have the time to build one? Obviously you didn't read my last post did you?

 

[Maurice]

SNPbound wrote:
I don't fish any stocked water why should I pay for the trout Maurice? I am unable to get involved because of my work schedule being an average of 65 hours a week and having a family. Plus I don't eat the fish anyway. So Maurice why dot you enlighten me to what it's all about anyway since you seem to have all of the answers.

If you don't fish stocked water you have no skin in the game. Why are you so passionate over the subject?

[here is the I have all the answers part,, for the other readers of course] Volunteering is not for everyone anyway, It requires a certain amount of selflessness and sacrifice. You recognize the need, formulate a plan and devote time or monies to take it to fruition. Often the investment is an effort in giving back. So if you receive nothing (enjoyment or satisfaction ) from stocked trout (being a wild stream only fisherman) I can see lack of desire.

What I cannot grasp is the degree of desired entitlement for something you have no interest in. Sort of like saying (I wan't gov't cheese too or an Obama phone, yet having no desire to consume or use them)

There is a place in successful volunteering for everyone... When you come into a scenario where volunteering is active, you need to either Lead, Follow, or get out of the way. Pick your place and be happy with it.

So, you said your piece, I said mine.

Happy Easter!

\ /
oo
^

 

[bearfisherman]

Sand - I am just telling you what I was told - I don't know the regulations. When you have drivers that have a 3 hour drive just to get to the stream, then a couple hours of stocking, then a 3 hour drive home, you have time problems. Especially when you have stocking 6 days a week for 3 months.

Marvin - The problem we have around here is that there aren't a lot of good float stocking opportunities on our streams. We have too many fragmented stretches on our waters - the WCO is all for it, just no place to do it. I'll let you know if I hear anything though.

 

[caveman]

A driver can be "on duty" 14 hrs a day, 11 of those hours can be driving time.

 

[OldLefty]

Maurice:

Thou hast effectively communicated you thoughts...and I wholeheartedly agree. I become a bit confused when someone conveys a position such has been offered.

Furthermore, I believe our license/trout stamp dollars are used to pay for more than raising and stocking trout. Surveys of waterways, management plans, etc. are left to the professionals, and rightly so: and they don't work for free.

Perhaps I hold a different perspective. I consider my license dollars are money well spent. In fact, I consider what I pay to fish in one of the most trout-rich areas of the U.S. an incredible bargain. Perfection and total efficiency are totally elusive - even impossible- to achieve in any endeavor man chooses to pursue. Obviously, this includes the PFBC and its mission and focus. However, since I've had the opportunity to fish in a couple of European countries where I've had to pay significant amounts of money to fish a single section of stream or river per day (some fees exceed $250.) I've come to appreciate more strongly what I have here at home.

 

[SNPbound]

I am passionate because its being perceived that they ( the fish commission) isn't responsible for doing a bad job stocking and gives excuses for not making an effort to stock better and it's being put upon the anglers for not volunteering enough. Maybe if the people in charge would be less concerned about the topics on this forum and go out and do their job we wouldn't be having anyone saying they need more volunteers. I know for a fact the Stevens trade is building float stocking floats. What would we do without volunteers. As for volunteering I've done my fair share of stream work and put in my time. I guess why I'm passionate is why do we invest so much money in a put and take fishery And not invest money in stream repairs and conservation efforts? The stream repairs around my area have been done to streams that run right through cattle pastures and have not potential to ever regain a good population of naturaly reproducing population of fish. Maybe mike can answer this one as to why the efforts are put into these streams and the access is not allowed such as the work on conowingo creek. I was recently told by officer scmidt that the population of wild trout in conowingo creek isn't very established, but I have since heard that during the residency shocking survey they found a good population of these wild browns? Mike can you offer any input?

 

[TimRobinsin]

This is one of the best posts I have read on here in years. Thank you Lefty

OldLefty wrote:
Maurice:

Thou hast effectively communicated you thoughts...and I wholeheartedly agree. I become a bit confused when someone conveys a position such has been offered.

Furthermore, I believe our license/trout stamp dollars are used to pay for more than raising and stocking trout. Surveys of waterways, management plans, etc. are left to the professionals, and rightly so: and they don't work for free.

Perhaps I hold a different perspective. I consider my license dollars are money well spent. In fact, I consider what I pay to fish in one of the most trout-rich areas of the U.S. an incredible bargain. Perfection and total efficiency are totally elusive - even impossible- to achieve in any endeavor man chooses to pursue. Obviously, this includes the PFBC and its mission and focus. However, since I've had the opportunity to fish in a couple of European countries where I've had to pay significant amounts of money to fish a single section of stream or river per day (some fees exceed $250.) I've come to appreciate more strongly what I have here at home.

 

[djs12354]

Nicely done by both gentlemen

 

[jbomb]

Maybe if the people in charge would be less concerned about the topics on this forum...

I'm glad the people in charge are concerned about the topics on this forum and forums like it. Wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[Chaz]

You could probably use a ice fishing sled for float stocking.

 

[LongWader]

I am with Maurice on this one. I think that PA does an excellent job and I am very pleased with the quality, distribution, and quantity of fish stocked. Maryland on the other hand had to close three of its hatcheries due to Whirling disease which it got because it did not have a good facility to raise fish from eggs and had to buy fingerlings elsewhere, had a major pump failure at one of the good hatcheries it has left and lost many of its larger fish, and ended up overcrowding its remaining facilities to compensate which led to smaller and skinner fish than in past years. To make matters even worse their new procurement process was so onerous that no private hatcheries wanted to sell them any fish. The one bright spot was the larger and very robust rainbows it got from the Freshwater Institute in West VA which the put and take guys complained bitterly about because they are not as easy to catch as the regular stocked trout. I had a blast catching them and they tend to holdover well, but I am in the minority. So if you don't like PA program just come over and try Maryland on opening day. Then maybe you might develop an appreciation for what you have.

 

[salmonoid]

SNPbound wrote:
I am passionate because its being perceived that they ( the fish commission) isn't responsible for doing a bad job stocking and gives excuses for not making an effort to stock better and it's being put upon the anglers for not volunteering enough. Maybe if the people in charge would be less concerned about the topics on this forum and go out and do their job we wouldn't be having anyone saying they need more volunteers. I know for a fact the Stevens trade is building float stocking floats. What would we do without volunteers. As for volunteering I've done my fair share of stream work and put in my time. I guess why I'm passionate is why do we invest so much money in a put and take fishery And not invest money in stream repairs and conservation efforts? The stream repairs around my area have been done to streams that run right through cattle pastures and have not potential to ever regain a good population of naturaly reproducing population of fish. Maybe mike can answer this one as to why the efforts are put into these streams and the access is not allowed such as the work on conowingo creek. I was recently told by officer scmidt that the population of wild trout in conowingo creek isn't very established, but I have since heard that during the residency shocking survey they found a good population of these wild browns? Mike can you offer any input?

Just because a local TU chapter chooses to work on stream enhancements in an impaired stream doesn't mean that the PFBC is at fault. Read some of the watershed surveys for Conowingo - it sure looks to me like there is viable fish population there. If it is on private land/water and access is an issue, that's probably because some slob anglers trashed the landowners properties at some point. Interestingly enough, I found out Saturday evening that a local impaired water that I fished Saturday morning WAS float stocked, in at least two sections. This was bad for me with kids, in one sense, in that there weren't a ton of fish in one hole, but its good for me in an individual sense because it means I can walk a mile or two of stream later this week and expect to see a few fish spread the whole way around. I may have to contend with cow turds floating by, but that's not the PFBC's fault.

I'm intrigued by your notion that the PFBC should supply float boxes. Do you have a plan for the logistics of storing and hauling these boxes to potential sites? Should they run a second truck behind the stocking truck with float boxes on it that people can obtain on loan (for a small deposit) and then pick them up a few hours later downstream? That alone is reason enough for volunteers to be responsible for providing the float boxes and the labor to man them while float stocking; the logistics of providing the boxes make it impractical for the PFBC to be the supplier and the storage facility, IMHO.

It's just an interesting position to take for someone who fishes for wild fish to attack the stocking program...

 

[FarmerDave]

I didn't read the whole thread.

A couple years ago I decided to fish opening day, but I promised the wife I would be home early. Arrived at a stocked stream fairly near where I live at 8:00. Absolutely nobody there. Drove to a couple more access points... nobody there, either. What the...?

I had never fished that stream before, but had scouted it. So, I was beginning to wonder if it was even stocked.

Picked a spot and fished for a little bit. Nothing. However, I didn't stay long. I had picked the spot figuring nobody else would because it was a mud-hole. Sure enough, two car loads stopped, but I was done.

Drove back to the first access point where it looks more like a trout stream. By then there were maybe a half dozen cars but people were spread out significantly. Walked downstream from the bridge a couple hundred feet and had a long stretch to myself. Caught 2 or 3 for dinner at the first place I tried. About that time a man with his son was approaching from upstream. Apparently that had just arrived as well. I offered up the spot to them and went home.

Sometimes a few minutes is all it takes.

Total cost of the three trout consumed that year was about $30/lb give or take.

If I go this year, I will be taking a newbie with me. And I likely won't keep more than 2.;-)

I aint telling you the name of the stream.;-)

Years ago, my brother and I had a tradition of going crappie fishing on opening day of trout.

 

[SNPbound]

Good story?

 

[JeffK]

I'll be out tomorrow doing angler surveys in NJ - it's a great way to spend Opening Day. This year we have stocked a number of water bodies with 50% brookies/50% rainbows to see which provides more Opening Day catches. Scuttlebutt the last few years is that the brookies don't bite as well on Opening Day. This year it will be put to the test.