PFBC Wired Refuge Areas

[troutbert]

A few years ago I thought I read that the PFBC was going to get rid of the wired refuge areas.

But yesterday I saw two of them along Upper Jerry Run in Cameron County. And the signs looked new.

Does anyone know what happened with that? Was it just a proposal, that got voted down or tabled?

I Googled "PFBC refuge areas" and found nothing. I don't think there is anything in the regs booklet about them either.

For those who have never heard of them, they were/are short stretches of stocked streams that are entirely closed to fishing until June 15.

The idea apparently being to keep some stocked fish in the stream for awhile to extend the fishing provided by the stocked trout further into the season.

For some reason these wired refuge areas were/are found mostly from about Cameron County extending to the west, through NW PA.

 

[FarmerDave]

Dwight, it could be they just aren't doing them anymore for trout. Could it be for bass or something else?

That is just a guess. because I know of a few streams that are designated that way that have no trout. Both are tributaries of a lake.

I'm not familiar with that stream but googled it. Is there some kind of project going on there to improve the stream? AMD?

 

[afishinado]

I thought the same, the refuge areas were a thing of the past. Had to dig back into the minutes of the PFBC meeting to find this.

Looks like they kept some refuge areas mostly in Cameron & Mckean counties. The list is above in the link.

 

[Chaz]

I think they discontinued them a few years back, per the other post. But I don't remember them ever approving the measure.
edit:

The sections of the following waters that have designated as refuge areas will remain in the program so long as they are maintained by a local sponsor. Any refuge areas that are not maintained by a local sponsor in the future will be proposed for removal at a later date.
County
Water Area
Cameron
Hicks Run
Cameron
Mix Run
Cameron
Upper Jerry Run
Cameron
Wykoff Run
Clearfield
Jack Dent Branch
Elk
Medix Run
McKean
Chappel Fork
McKean
Kinzua Creek
McKean
Kinzua Creek, South Branch
McKean
Skinner Creek
McKean
Sugar Run
McKean
Sugar Run, North Branch
McKean
Tionesta Creek, East Branch
McKean
Two Mile Run
McKean
Willow Creek
McKean
Wilson Run
Warren
Two Mile Run

 

[troutbert]

afishinado wrote:
I thought the same, the refuge areas were a thing of the past. Had to dig back into the minutes of the PFBC meeting to find this.

Looks like they kept some refuge areas mostly in Cameron & Mckean counties. The list is above in the link.

Thanks very much!

 

[SlingerFlyRods]

troutbert if you were to cross the sinnemahoning you would find my cabin sitting along renovo road at the bottom of Montour. I fish jerrys often and know exactly what you meant when the signs looked "new" everyone else beat me to it

hope you had a good time fishing it

 

[salmonoid]

For the streams that are still in the program, they are still getting fresh signs and are being rewired when the wire gets removed or is knocked down. This whole program baffles me a bit, in that the streams that I have fished that have stretches in the program are marginal waters to begin with. The refuge areas only serve to concentrate opening day pressure in smaller amounts of stream stretches, and as angling tails off over the year, then greater amounts of water are opened up. If they were really concerned about refuge areas, why not open the streams up from opening day to June 15, then shut them for the rest of the year, which would allow any fish that manage to survive to find thermal refuges and spawn in safety.

 

[double00]

Actually fished "the wires" (as the refuge areas as sometime called) today on Medix Run on the way home from brookie fishing. Found no remaining stockies in any areas that I fished. In my experience, not many holdovers anywhere there ever since exact day and times of in season stockings have been publicized.

 

[streamerguy]

FarmerDave wrote:
Dwight, it could be they just aren't doing them anymore for trout. Could it be for bass or something else?

That is just a guess. because I know of a few streams that are designated that way that have no trout. Both are tributaries of a lake.

If I'm thinking of the same streams you are, they are used to protect the walleye during the spawn.....or used by the PFBC to collect them for hatchery use. Don't remember which. The lake doesn't support very many wild 'eyes so it wouldn't really make sense for them to shut down the streams for the spawn. Either way, walleye are involved with those refuge areas...

I can't speak for the other refuge areas, but looking at Chaz's list I recognize a lot of those as being trout streams.

 

[jagger]

I fished medix in refuge on the 16th and caught 7 only 1 native tho

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

So am I to understand that both the refuge areas on big spring and middle spring are now open? Or am I remembering them wrong and they are propagation areas?