Post by yihunt on Jan 4, 2010 11:11:44 GMT -4
Fishing: Catfish, walleye stocking on 2010 agenda
Sunday, January 03, 2010
By Deborah Weisberg
As new year resolutions go, launching the new trout management plan may be the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's biggest challenge. But the agency is also putting new emphasis on whiskers and walleyes.
"Channel catfish are an under-utilized species, although perceptions are changing," said commission southwest regional biologist Rick Lorson, who is heading up a statewide plan to assess the 56 reservoirs the agency stocks with catfish, plant larger fish, and promote catfishing as relaxing, warm-weather, family fun.
According to its latest study in 2005, anglers make about 230,000 catfishing trips to rivers and lakes each year and spend $41 million in tackle, gas and other expenses. About 41 percent of those trips are to waters stocked with channel cats.
Mike Purcell is a fan.
"Gotta love 'em! They are fierce and aggressive and put up much more of a fight than their cousin the flathead," said the Allegheny County fisherman, adding that while channel cats will eat anything from dead fish to stink baits, the 10-plus pounders seem to prefer live or freshly-killed bait.
Purcell fishes rivers with sturdy equipment, including 8- to 10-foot rods, braided 60- to 80-pound line on bait cast reels with alarm clickers, and a double-hook rig (size 4/0 to 8/0) with a 2- to 4- ounce slip sinker, depending on current. He baits the top hook with a live bluegill and the bottom hook with fresh-cut bait and targets drop-offs, the mouths of tributaries, bridge piers and river bends. In the after-dark and pre-dawn hours, Purcell focuses on structure near-shore.
At lakes, he puts out two rods, one with his river set-up and the other with a single hook and cut bait on a slip sinker.
"I target areas that funnel into coves, structure in shallow water leading into deep creek channels, old road beds, bridge piers and points," he said.
While native catfish reproduce well in western Pennsylvania rivers -- except for the Beaver River, which is stocked -- that's not the case in lakes, where the commission plants channel cats.
"This year, it will be about 241,000 fish," said Lorson. "Most of our catfish-stocked lakes are in southwestern and southeastern Pennsylvania, because they're close to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and likely to attract more anglers."
Some of the more abundant channel cat fisheries are lakes Arthur, Somerset, Loyalhanna, Canonsburg, Greenlick and Wilma, and the upper end of the Youghiogheny Reservoir.
Lorson's plan, he said, is to transition from stocking 1- and 2-inch channel cats to putting in 8-inchers, which will increase the cost. But even at 40 cents each for the larger stockies, they're a bargain compared with trout, which cost $2.30 a piece to raise in state hatcheries.
Walleye resolutions
The commission is further along in its walleye assessment program, which began three years ago when it ended stockings on most rivers across the state to determine if natural reproduction could sustain populations. Ending the river program could mean more walleyes for lakes, according to the agency's northwest regional fisheries biologist Tim Wilson, who is managing the walleye project.
River sampling for natural reproduction will continue for the next five years, but so far, surveys on various parts of the Allegheny River have been encouraging, Wilson said.
"Most spots we checked on the Allegheny showed walleyes are reproducing, although we'll continue to see how it goes," he said. "Walleyes move and spread out as they mature, and there's a fairly significant migration in fall and winter as they move into pools closer to the areas where they want to spawn."
Wilson said fall young-of-year sampling showed good reproduction around the Oil City area, in part because Oil Creek offers habitat conducive to spawning.
"Walleyes like to spawn in clean gravel with riffles and there's a big area like that just below the creek mouth," Wilson said. "Tidioute looked better this year than last, and Templeton and the navigational pools around Pittsburgh also showed evidence walleyes are reproducing."
Wilson said reassigning former river allocations to reservoirs could mean changes for some of the 70 lakes the commission currently stocks. Angler opinion surveys will influence those decisions, Wilson said.
"We'll be looking at walleye populations but we'll also be looking at whether people are fishing for what we've stocked," he said. "Some waters may come off the program and we'll promote the good ones more. We want to get the most bang for our buck."
Most walleye stockings occur in the northwest and northeast corners of the state. Wilson said the better stockings in the southwest region include those in the Allegheny Reservoir; lakes Edinboro, Woodcock, Arthur, Kahle and Canadohta; and the East Branch Dam in Elk County.
Other 2010 plans
Also on the Fish and Boat Commission's to-do list for the new year:
• Finalize the new 5-year strategic plan and begin implementation of the new trout management plan.
• Finish inspecting Marcellus shale sites, particularly those close to wetlands and streams getting top priority.
• Push for greater flexibility from lawmakers to raise license fees annually and to market more creatively, by offering such things as family discounts.
• Push for Congressional passage of the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act and reauthorization of the Sport Fishing and Boating Restoration Act (Wallop-Breaux), which generate supplemental funding for the agency.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
By Deborah Weisberg
As new year resolutions go, launching the new trout management plan may be the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's biggest challenge. But the agency is also putting new emphasis on whiskers and walleyes.
"Channel catfish are an under-utilized species, although perceptions are changing," said commission southwest regional biologist Rick Lorson, who is heading up a statewide plan to assess the 56 reservoirs the agency stocks with catfish, plant larger fish, and promote catfishing as relaxing, warm-weather, family fun.
According to its latest study in 2005, anglers make about 230,000 catfishing trips to rivers and lakes each year and spend $41 million in tackle, gas and other expenses. About 41 percent of those trips are to waters stocked with channel cats.
Mike Purcell is a fan.
"Gotta love 'em! They are fierce and aggressive and put up much more of a fight than their cousin the flathead," said the Allegheny County fisherman, adding that while channel cats will eat anything from dead fish to stink baits, the 10-plus pounders seem to prefer live or freshly-killed bait.
Purcell fishes rivers with sturdy equipment, including 8- to 10-foot rods, braided 60- to 80-pound line on bait cast reels with alarm clickers, and a double-hook rig (size 4/0 to 8/0) with a 2- to 4- ounce slip sinker, depending on current. He baits the top hook with a live bluegill and the bottom hook with fresh-cut bait and targets drop-offs, the mouths of tributaries, bridge piers and river bends. In the after-dark and pre-dawn hours, Purcell focuses on structure near-shore.
At lakes, he puts out two rods, one with his river set-up and the other with a single hook and cut bait on a slip sinker.
"I target areas that funnel into coves, structure in shallow water leading into deep creek channels, old road beds, bridge piers and points," he said.
While native catfish reproduce well in western Pennsylvania rivers -- except for the Beaver River, which is stocked -- that's not the case in lakes, where the commission plants channel cats.
"This year, it will be about 241,000 fish," said Lorson. "Most of our catfish-stocked lakes are in southwestern and southeastern Pennsylvania, because they're close to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and likely to attract more anglers."
Some of the more abundant channel cat fisheries are lakes Arthur, Somerset, Loyalhanna, Canonsburg, Greenlick and Wilma, and the upper end of the Youghiogheny Reservoir.
Lorson's plan, he said, is to transition from stocking 1- and 2-inch channel cats to putting in 8-inchers, which will increase the cost. But even at 40 cents each for the larger stockies, they're a bargain compared with trout, which cost $2.30 a piece to raise in state hatcheries.
Walleye resolutions
The commission is further along in its walleye assessment program, which began three years ago when it ended stockings on most rivers across the state to determine if natural reproduction could sustain populations. Ending the river program could mean more walleyes for lakes, according to the agency's northwest regional fisheries biologist Tim Wilson, who is managing the walleye project.
River sampling for natural reproduction will continue for the next five years, but so far, surveys on various parts of the Allegheny River have been encouraging, Wilson said.
"Most spots we checked on the Allegheny showed walleyes are reproducing, although we'll continue to see how it goes," he said. "Walleyes move and spread out as they mature, and there's a fairly significant migration in fall and winter as they move into pools closer to the areas where they want to spawn."
Wilson said fall young-of-year sampling showed good reproduction around the Oil City area, in part because Oil Creek offers habitat conducive to spawning.
"Walleyes like to spawn in clean gravel with riffles and there's a big area like that just below the creek mouth," Wilson said. "Tidioute looked better this year than last, and Templeton and the navigational pools around Pittsburgh also showed evidence walleyes are reproducing."
Wilson said reassigning former river allocations to reservoirs could mean changes for some of the 70 lakes the commission currently stocks. Angler opinion surveys will influence those decisions, Wilson said.
"We'll be looking at walleye populations but we'll also be looking at whether people are fishing for what we've stocked," he said. "Some waters may come off the program and we'll promote the good ones more. We want to get the most bang for our buck."
Most walleye stockings occur in the northwest and northeast corners of the state. Wilson said the better stockings in the southwest region include those in the Allegheny Reservoir; lakes Edinboro, Woodcock, Arthur, Kahle and Canadohta; and the East Branch Dam in Elk County.
Other 2010 plans
Also on the Fish and Boat Commission's to-do list for the new year:
• Finalize the new 5-year strategic plan and begin implementation of the new trout management plan.
• Finish inspecting Marcellus shale sites, particularly those close to wetlands and streams getting top priority.
• Push for greater flexibility from lawmakers to raise license fees annually and to market more creatively, by offering such things as family discounts.
• Push for Congressional passage of the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act and reauthorization of the Sport Fishing and Boating Restoration Act (Wallop-Breaux), which generate supplemental funding for the agency.