Why the PA Fish and Boat Commission Sucks...

[Pittflyguy]

Sick to my stomach is the only way to describe how I feel about what I saw this week. The news has been swirling for some time about the closing of Glade Run Lake in Butler county. Apparently the dam that held the lake was high risk and there was no money to fix it. OK…. I get that. There are a lot of things right now that there is no money to fix…. the rust spot on the rear lift gate on my Subaru for example or the lack of hard drive space on my MacBook!

But nothing…. and I repeat NOTHING provides an excuse for what I saw when I went to visit the lake. I heard from a friend that they were drawing the lake down. We headed up with our fly rods to see if we could enjoy some shallow water site fishing since that was all that was supposedly left. What we saw was an atrocity.

They gated off the area to keep people out and I totally understand why…..

The PA Fish and Boat Commission should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Supposedly they electroshocked and transported a few hundred fish to N. Park lake. What about the rest? You couldn’t have loaded up a stocking truck and taken them to other lakes? The Allegheny river? Offered them to private pond owners? Was it a money issue? Send out a call to action on the web for donations to help remove the fish from the lake! I would have helped and I’m sure many of you would have too.

I pay my license fee because I have to. I pay my license fee because they are supposed to support the fish populations of our state. This is a prime example of politics getting in the way of the right thing.

These images have been burned in my mind and will not soon forget them. If you are reading this blog chances are you have a passion for fishing and hopefully a deep respect for managing the resource that allows us to enjoy our hobby. I hope that you will take this opportunity to voice your displeasure with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for how poorly this was handled…. I know I will be.

 

[Fredrick]

WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[McSneek]

Interesting that you posted this in light of this article in the Tribune Review yesterday.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_746067.html

"The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission said it plans to lease portions of its 43,000 acres of waterways for natural gas exploration to generate money to rebuild more than a dozen dams that are in danger of collapse."

Article mentions Butler County. Guess they couldn't wait to see how the lease plans played out? Can't believe they couldn't remove more of these fish and place them elsewhere.

 

[gfen]

I assume they're mostly carp?

No one probably wants them, and it may not be advantageous to just dump 'em in the river. Yes, its sad and cruel to leave 'em out there to bake, but at the same time, no matter how hard fly fishermen might be fapping their golden bones, the bulk of the world considers 'em trash fish and its not like they're uncommon.

 

[ryguyfi]

All I know is that they recently fixed the dam at Brady's Run in Beaver county and supposedly restocked all the WW fish. I would think it would be pretty logical to take the fish from a place like this and stock it into another lake instead of all those fish going to waste.

 

[jdaddy]

That's what I was thinking gfen. Looks like carp to me. Even if they shocked them they would have thrown them back in. And invasive species that wrecks fisheries.

I thought the Asian folks liked the carps, no?

 

[JackM]

I'm not feeling the outrage, sorry, but I offer my sympathy anyway.

 

[bikerfish]

they say the same thing about the hereford manor dam, but they didn't drain the lake yet.
I have to belive there is a bigger agenda at work here. does the PFBC want to just rid themselve of these properties? after all, they are just liabilities, and both hereford manor and glade mill are in areas of growth. yep, drain them, fill them in, sell the land and build condos?
I've heard too many things to believe that it's just because the dams need fixed.
me smells something fishy, pun intended.

 

[Fishidiot]

While there are clearly a number of dead fish at the bottom of the lake, their identity is unclear. I'd suggest, in defense of the PFBC, that when a lake is drawn down it's likely impossible to recover all the fish in the lake due to water clarity, mud bottom, insufficient manpower, and other variables. I've seen this happen with lakes in my neck of the woods when they're drawn down (eg Opossum Lake). Some fish mortality is inevitable. Hopefully, slow growing game fishes such as bass and muskies could be, for the most part, recovered. The loss of shad, carp, etc - while regrettable - would not be a priority as other waterways have enough already and preservation of these species is less of a priority for the license buying public.

Undoubtedly, the lake will be re-stocked and - as so often happens - game fish make a full and rapid recovery.

 

[JackM]

biker, you're suggesting there is a nefarious plot to rebuild at taxpayer expense and then sell them to wealthy developers? I need proof that the government works that way.

 

[bikerfish]

whatever expense at filling in the lakes could be offset substantially by the value of the property.
I'm not saying I'm convinced that this is going on, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[tomgamber]

Funny no one posted this article..."Commission looks to save what it can"

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_746057.html

 

[tomitrout]

if it wasn't for the dam, that would just be a small stream thru a decades old clear cut....

 

[RLeep2]

Well, somebody evidently screwed up. Maybe it was the Commission, I dunno. Whoever it was should be held accountable.

But that's about as far as I'm inclined to go with it.

I see no cause to get all wound up like an Old Testament prophet and damn the Commission for all time and eternity, smite them with boils or fill their mouths with locusts, yea verily unto bursting.

They're still in the top quartile of state fishery management agencies in terms of forward-looking policies, IMO. Pennsylvania could have it much, much worse.

 

[BPS]

Well that's a horse of a different color. Lol

 

[bikerfish]

it's a cover up!!!
just kidding, hopefully they will fix the dam and the lake will return better than before, same with hereford manor. but from what I've heard from those that have attended meetings about it, things don't look good.

 

[NoMoreCornChuckin]

My wife is Korean and when I was stationed in Korea, I asked her, "why are the fishermen not keeping the carp they were catching? I thought all Asians like carp?" She replied with a loosely translated explaination of the ONLY way Koreans will prepare them, it was the same old story we tell of nailing it to a wooden board, letting it bake in the sun, throwing the carp away and eating the board! I almost choked laughing! She proceeded to tell me that only the "Filthy" Chinese and Japanese would stoop so low as to eat carp. Funny how some of us (myself included) tend to generalize the Asian Culture when clearly they have their own distinct characteristics and their own prejudices towards other Asians. I should mention that my wife, however, WILL eat live octopus, raw fish eggs, dog, live sea cucumbers, silk-worm pupae simmered in chicken broth, dried sting-ray and BBQ'd sparrow kabobs with the heads still attached....but a Carp......Oh, God forbid!

 

[BPS]

I love korean bbq but I hate kim chee. Never had silk worm pupae but it has to be better than kim chee. Some spicy bulgogi is the cats pajamas tho.

 

[gfen]

Scrapple.

All our cultures have their culinary idiosyncracies.

 

[Pittflyguy]

All... I know most of you think poorly of carp and that is fine. The carp in the pic are easy to see. There were dozens of bass and crappie as well. Supposedly according to the article the electroshocked roughly 100 bass and put them into N. Park lake....

Sorry to disagree.... I think the whole thing just kinda sucks.