Attn: fish commission

[Fish huckster]

The state " f" ing p**ses me off!!! They close a good panfish lake down for trout that they haven't even stocked yet!!! IDIOTS!!!! If there are any dcnr or fish commission guys on this forum... Please... I dare you to comment on this one!!! Or pm me if you dare !!!

[ice-phanatic]

I know what you mean. But what lake are you referring to?

[Fish huckster]

Lower lake promised land

[Fish huckster]

I'm pretty sure if there were some shanty members who were fish commission they would prob keep that a secret. They'd prob get beat up pretty good for all the STUPID things they come up with. Iv sent e mails, tried calling. I never get a return phone call for some reason?!

[charlijones]

He has a very good and valid argument but going about it the wrong way, not busting on you but if you really want change the best way to go about it is to start a petition and send it along with a nicely written letter stating our point of view.  Don't take away our ice fishing since we already have a short season, allow us to ice fish these lakes and we won't keep your precious trouts.

Or at least wait until ice out til you stock and keep the lakes open for ice fishing, there are a few others that the bite got hot and then they were closed, Winola and FEW reservoir just to name 2 of them.

[IM-POUNDING- R -U]

PELLETHEADS =$$$$$$$$$$$$  Thats all i got to say about that!!! Stupid people can only catch stupid fish.

[JPM80]

I am new to ice fishing, first year, and I don't follow the logic of closing a lake due to trout when other species available for fishing. I fish Tuscarora lake primarily and even though they do a fall stocking of trout, lake is open for fishing during March. Just need to throw the trout back in which I have done. Why is one lake open and another closed?

[icefishermik]

I am new to ice fishing, first year, and I don't follow the logic of closing a lake due to trout when other species available for fishing. I fish Tuscarora lake primarily and even though they do a fall stocking of trout, lake is open for fishing during March. Just need to throw the trout back in which I have done. Why is one lake open and another closed?

same here at canoe

[pocono]

You have a very good point, since a lot of lakes aren't stocked till late march and most times the ice is off anyway.

[salmonrebel]

Ya shouldn't take it out on any PF&BC officer.
It isn't their fault to any of these regulations. They don't make them up. They just
are required to enforce them. And, no... I am by no means a PF&BC officer.
I do belong to a local conservation club. And we do, from time to time have a couple PF&BC officers
from our local districts come to our meetings. They are very courtious and respectful.
As my club and the PF&BC do work together on a couple local projects every year.
And many of us in my club have asked about trout stocking.
The main issue, me and many of my fellow members have, is the stocking of trout
in almost every mudhole in Pa. As we've mentioned, that it would be nice to have more
stocking of walleye, pike, and channel catfish among other species in many of these
other bodies of water. In response, it was mentioned for any given waterway to be considered
for these warmwater species, it depends whether that body of water can sustain them
and what kind of an impact they will have on that body of water?
To have any suggestions looked into like I mentioned, or regulations you want change...
The officers told us, as was mentioned in a prior post to mine.
You have to get a petition going, and send it to our legislaters in Harrisburg.
Although, one thing's for sure.
Stocked trout in Pa is a cash cow for the state. Has been for a number of years
now. So, like it or not... It isn't going to go away anytime soon.

[JiggerMan]

Lower lake promised land

whats so special about Lower Promised land...   couldn't you just fish the upper.  all the same fish but no trout. 

PELLETHEADS =$$$$$$$$$$$$  Thats all i got to say about that!!! Stupid people can only catch stupid fish.

that's what I say about  Bass fishing. 

[JiggerMan]

I would guess they close waters to fishing even though the trout are not going in until late march so the trout that are already in there stay there which in turn will insure all the more of them in the body of water. 

they probably don't stock the trout until later because of to things.  one ice is usually gone and two so guys that fish there even they its closed don't poach all of them out before the season opens.

I think the decision of which ones get closed and which ones remain open to C&R  is based on ability to patrol or have eyes on the guys fishing when the trout are there.   

[Fish huckster]

Jogger man, that could be, however, there's a ranger station between the two lakes, and almost every time I'm there fishing there is a a ranger that pulls a drive by. It's not like there's a lack of staff. Iv even had one come out and measure the ice thickness in the hole I was Fishin in! I do realize there are some idiots out there that would stoop so low as to poach a stinky trout in the closed season though!! But most guys follow the rules and regs. You would have to be pretty brazen to go there and try to poach all the trout considering how many are in there and how many they stock. I'm not sure that's even possible.

[JiggerMan]

the station between the two lakes is a DCNR station not PFBC.  two different entities of enforcement.  Im not sure the dcnr could even do anything to you for fishing.  they would have to call the local PFBC officer and have them come.  they come out and measure the ice because they monitor it for the safety of the park recreation goers. 

[Fish huckster]

Oh! I didn't realize that.

[NEZ]

Ya shouldn't take it out on any PF&BC officer.
It isn't their fault to any of these regulations. They don't make them up. They just
are required to enforce them. And, no... I am by no means a PF&BC officer.
I do belong to a local conservation club. And we do, from time to time have a couple PF&BC officers
from our local districts come to our meetings. They are very courtious and respectful.
As my club and the PF&BC do work together on a couple local projects every year.
And many of us in my club have asked about trout stocking.
The main issue, me and many of my fellow members have, is the stocking of trout
in almost every mudhole in Pa. As we've mentioned, that it would be nice to have more
stocking of walleye, pike, and channel catfish among other species in many of these
other bodies of water. In response, it was mentioned for any given waterway to be considered
for these warmwater species, it depends whether that body of water can sustain them
and what kind of an impact they will have on that body of water?
To have any suggestions looked into like I mentioned, or regulations you want change...
The officers told us, as was mentioned in a prior post to mine.
You have to get a petition going, and send it to our legislaters in Harrisburg.
Although, one thing's for sure.
Stocked trout in Pa is a cash cow for the state. Has been for a number of years
now. So, like it or not... It isn't going to go away anytime soon.

Well put, we have the fish commission come to our meetings at times also and they are very respectful to us.  The only way to get change is thru the legislaters in Harrisburg.

[Byron/PA]

I'll just point out that everytime I have sent a well written, factual, respectfull letter to the PFBC with concerns, I have received a reply fairly quickly, often by phone.

[charlijones]

"In response, it was mentioned for any given waterway to be considered
for these warmwater species, it depends whether that body of water can sustain them
and what kind of an impact they will have on that body of water?"

That sounds like a patented response, however, they are contradicting themselves, why not just come out and say that it's all about the license sales and trouts sell licenses.  If they were truly concerned about impact on lakes they wouldn't have loaded Frances Slocum with alewives, big mistake there.

I would be glad to sign a petition and help create a letter that we could all share some input on.  Of course we'd have to speak their language and point out the revenue gained by the local towns near the Pack, Promised Land, Wayne County, Rickets Glenn, and all the lakes we fish.  Also the revenue gained by bait shops, sporting goods stores, clothing, boots, etc. etc.  All of the during the season when most people stay at home or travel to sunny climes to avoid the cold weather.  We buy licenses in January and help sustain the PFBC revenue during the slow season.  Our argument is based on common sense and could be easily resolved.

Can anyone answer as to why certain state lakes are stocked with trout but also stay open during March, Frances Slocum, Harveys Lake, Hunters Lake,  while other similar lakes are closed March 1st, Oxbow, Winola, FEW,..  any intelligent person can see this just doesn't make any sense at all.

[Fish huckster]

Well put Charlie and that's my thoughts exactly!

[97dend]

I'll just point out that everytime I have sent a well written, factual, respectfull letter to the PFBC with concerns, I have received a reply fairly quickly, often by phone.

Me too

[Spider1]

I would think that stocking all the lakes they stock in an organized fashion would take a lot of... well, organization. It's not the kind of thing that can be done piece meal. They set a time schedule and they need to stick to it, and they stock the fish early because otherwise you would have every yahoo in the area catching them on fish chow before they can get used to natural foods. These guys know what they are doing, they've been doing it a long time. And yes it is about the money, otherwise they couldn't afford to do it.

I fish the upper lake much more than the lower, the perch are bigger in the upper lake and I've never seen a crappie in the lower lake. I've met the wco's up there and they are good guys just doing their job. They don't make the rules. I was a bit ticked off when they closed the upper last year a couple weeks early cuz they were worried about the ice when it was still a foot thick and 90% locked up. Their kneejerk reaction to seeing a little open water. The thing is, they make much more money during the summer than the winter any time. The winter fishing season doesn't mean much to the town up there, if it did, they would cater to the ice crowd more. As it is, you gotta be lucky to get waxworms at the general store most of the time. They got them, but only for the Saturday morning crowd and they usually run out early. Heck, they don't even stock ice jigs!

The thing is, the average guy on the job as a guppy cop or dcnr oficer doesn't make the rules, they just enforce them. If you want to have any input don't go on a fishing website and throw a hissy fit. Go to the fish commission meetings and sign the speaker sheet and get up in front of everyone and state your case intelligently. It might not do much, but at least the guys that do make the decisions will hear your side and they might be able to explain the reasons for their decisions. Anyway, it'll do more than stomping yer feet and holding your breath on a website that the commissioners don't really care much about. jmho

[sloughdog]

the station between the two lakes is a DCNR station not PFBC.  two different entities of enforcement.  Im not sure the dcnr could even do anything to you for fishing.  they would have to call the local PFBC officer and have them come.  they come out and measure the ice because they monitor it for the safety of the park recreation goers.

Just a clarification but DCNR rangers can enforce any of the fishing, hunting, vehicle and crime laws. Not that it matters concerning this topic.

The idea that they need to understand the impact warm water species would have on a lake is unfounded. They put trout in places they cannot survive all the time and have been doing so for decades. PFBC is pretty much responsible for wiping out native trout (brookies) from many of our lakes and streams by stocking rainbows and brownies both of which are non native species to PA. Brown trout originate from Europe and have become "native" from their ability to out compete other trout and reproduce in lesser quality of water. Rainbows I believe originate from the Pacific Coast and Asia (not 100% on this though).

Spider1 you are spot on, got to get in front of our legislatures and fish comm board to get anything rolling with this. Even with the stocked lakes open year round to fishing there is all kinds of confusion because of the way it is written in the regulations.

[Fishbreath]

Just a clarification but DCNR rangers can enforce any of the fishing, hunting, vehicle and crime laws. Not that it matters concerning this topic.

The idea that they need to understand the impact warm water species would have on a lake is unfounded. They put trout in places they cannot survive all the time and have been doing so for decades. PFBC is pretty much responsible for wiping out native trout (brookies) from many of our lakes and streams by stocking rainbows and brownies both of which are non native species to PA. Brown trout originate from Europe and have become "native" from their ability to out compete other trout and reproduce in lesser quality of water. Rainbows I believe originate from the Pacific Coast and Asia (not 100% on this though).

Spider1 you are spot on, got to get in front of our legislatures and fish comm board to get anything rolling with this. Even with the stocked lakes open year round to fishing there is all kinds of confusion because of the way it is written in the regulations.

Before you mentioned it I was thinking the same thing that MOST  stocked lakes the trout don't survive during the summer. Strictly put & take, put them in and take them out. the ones that don't get caught either get eaten by other fish or just die from lack of oxygen.

[fishafrey]

The next Fish and Boat Commission Meeting is May 5-6 in Hawley, PA. It likely to be at the PPL facility on Wallenpaupack. There are a lot of guy from NE PA on here and here is you chance to say your piece infront of the Commissioners.
You can also contact their headquarters in Harrisburg or any of the regional offices or directly contact your Commissioner.
The time and place of the meeting will likely be posted in April sometime.
http://fishandboat.com/images/exec/minutes/public_comment_rules.pdf

Also Representative Mullery is having a Fishing, Boating Meeting
Tuesday, March 25th
 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
 Luzerne County Educational Conference Center
 133 S. Prospect St., Nanticoke