Post by yihunt on Aug 1, 2010 11:08:08 GMT -4
Program is providing 'quality-sized' panfish
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A program aimed at providing anglers with more big panfish seems to be working well.
Panfish — bluegills, crappies, yellow perch and the like — are a staple of Pennsylvania's fishing scene. Some past federal surveys have shown they rank second only to trout in popularity among the state's anglers, said Dave Kristine, a fisheries biologist in the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's area 3 office in Pleasant Gap.
For years, though, they were taken for granted. That changed when additional research done in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that the number of big panfish being caught from various Pennsylvania lakes were declining.
"Historically, we had viewed panfish as an underutilized species and thought that we could never impact their populations," Kristine said. "But then, in our own trap-net work and in talking with anglers, we began to notice declines in the number of quality-sized keeper fish."
That's when the commission created a program that the numbers say has helped.
In 1994, in an attempt to provide anglers with more "quality-sized" panfish, commission biologists suggested the state adopt panfish-enhancement regulations on some bodies of water. The rules — for the first time — would put a limit on the number of panfish anglers could keep from a particular water in a day's time, and create minimum-size limits.
Panfish enhancement regulations set the minimum size for crappies and yellow perch at 9 inches and for sunfish at 7 inches, with the limit being 50 fish per day, with no more than 20 coming from any one species. Commissioners approved them in 1997, and they were put in place on lakes beginning in 1999.
In the years since — the enhancement program is one of the longest-running warmwater management programs in the state — they seem to have met their goals, Kristine said. Comparisons of the number of big panfish coming from lakes in the program before and after the new regulations were put in place show that anglers are catching more quality fish.
"That told us that our regulations were having a biological impact," Kristine said. "We tripled the number of legal-sized crappies in those lakes, and we not only improved catch rates, but the percentage of quality-sized keeper sunfish has gone up.
The regulations have not worked equally well at all lakes, or even in some cases.
Enhancement regulations meant to produce more big crappies and sunfish at Cross Creek Lake in Washington County have been positive. Surveys of the lake done in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed "the abundance of legal-sized bluegill has shown a dramatic increase" compared to past work dating back as far as 1986, reads a report done after the most recent of those. Likewise, the number of legal-sized crappies was also highest in 2005 and 2007.
But enhancement regulations meant to produce more big yellow perch at High Point Lake in Somerset County have not succeeded, said Rick Lorson, the commission's area 8 fisheries manager in Somerset.
"They have not," Lorson said. "The idea was and remains popular with anglers, but it has not produced more quality-size yellow perch, based on what we've seen in our survey work. In fact, our recommendation will be to remove the regulations from the lake."
The regulations have not, on a statewide basis, necessarily led to gobs of monster-sized fish either, as was revealed through a question from commissioner Bob Bachman of Lancaster County.
"Are there very many big fish coming out of those lakes, or are they all being cropped off at the limit?" he asked.
They are being cropped off, Kristine said.
How or if it might be possible to get fish beyond that is a question that biologists have not yet found an answer to, said Leroy Young, director of the commission's bureau of fisheries. Slot limits are not necessarily the answer, but what else might be remains unclear, he said.
What is known is that anglers are OK with the regulations. Surveys of fishermen done by the commission have shown that they are as OK with panfish-enhancement rules as they are with statewide panfish rules, Kristine said.
For that, as well as the biological reasons, biologists may sooner, rather than later, recommend that additional lakes in the state be added to the program, Kristine said.
"Overall, it's been very successful," he said.
Commissioner Bill Worobec of Lycoming County seemed to agree. He noted that it's a resource-based one that has improved fisheries while simultaneously increasing angler satisfaction.
"I think there's a lot to be learned from that," Worobec said.
Waters in the program
There are 19 waters in the panfish enhancement program in the state, nine of them in Southwestern Pennsylvania alone. Some of those waters are managed for yellow perch, crappies and sunfish under the regulations. At others, just one species is managed under the rules. Local lakes in the program, and the specific regulations in place on them, are:
Westmoreland County: Lower Twin Lake, crappies; Upper Twin Lake, crappies; Northmoreland Lake, sunfish and crappies.
Washington County: Cross Creek Lake, sunfish and crappies.
Somerset County: High Point Lake, yellow perch; Quemahoning Reservoir, sunfish, crappies and yellow perch.
Cambria County: Beaverdam Run Reservoir, yellow perch; Hinkston Run Reservoir, sunfish and crappies; Wilmore Dam, sunfish, crappies and yellow perch.
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A program aimed at providing anglers with more big panfish seems to be working well.
Panfish — bluegills, crappies, yellow perch and the like — are a staple of Pennsylvania's fishing scene. Some past federal surveys have shown they rank second only to trout in popularity among the state's anglers, said Dave Kristine, a fisheries biologist in the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's area 3 office in Pleasant Gap.
For years, though, they were taken for granted. That changed when additional research done in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that the number of big panfish being caught from various Pennsylvania lakes were declining.
"Historically, we had viewed panfish as an underutilized species and thought that we could never impact their populations," Kristine said. "But then, in our own trap-net work and in talking with anglers, we began to notice declines in the number of quality-sized keeper fish."
That's when the commission created a program that the numbers say has helped.
In 1994, in an attempt to provide anglers with more "quality-sized" panfish, commission biologists suggested the state adopt panfish-enhancement regulations on some bodies of water. The rules — for the first time — would put a limit on the number of panfish anglers could keep from a particular water in a day's time, and create minimum-size limits.
Panfish enhancement regulations set the minimum size for crappies and yellow perch at 9 inches and for sunfish at 7 inches, with the limit being 50 fish per day, with no more than 20 coming from any one species. Commissioners approved them in 1997, and they were put in place on lakes beginning in 1999.
In the years since — the enhancement program is one of the longest-running warmwater management programs in the state — they seem to have met their goals, Kristine said. Comparisons of the number of big panfish coming from lakes in the program before and after the new regulations were put in place show that anglers are catching more quality fish.
"That told us that our regulations were having a biological impact," Kristine said. "We tripled the number of legal-sized crappies in those lakes, and we not only improved catch rates, but the percentage of quality-sized keeper sunfish has gone up.
The regulations have not worked equally well at all lakes, or even in some cases.
Enhancement regulations meant to produce more big crappies and sunfish at Cross Creek Lake in Washington County have been positive. Surveys of the lake done in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed "the abundance of legal-sized bluegill has shown a dramatic increase" compared to past work dating back as far as 1986, reads a report done after the most recent of those. Likewise, the number of legal-sized crappies was also highest in 2005 and 2007.
But enhancement regulations meant to produce more big yellow perch at High Point Lake in Somerset County have not succeeded, said Rick Lorson, the commission's area 8 fisheries manager in Somerset.
"They have not," Lorson said. "The idea was and remains popular with anglers, but it has not produced more quality-size yellow perch, based on what we've seen in our survey work. In fact, our recommendation will be to remove the regulations from the lake."
The regulations have not, on a statewide basis, necessarily led to gobs of monster-sized fish either, as was revealed through a question from commissioner Bob Bachman of Lancaster County.
"Are there very many big fish coming out of those lakes, or are they all being cropped off at the limit?" he asked.
They are being cropped off, Kristine said.
How or if it might be possible to get fish beyond that is a question that biologists have not yet found an answer to, said Leroy Young, director of the commission's bureau of fisheries. Slot limits are not necessarily the answer, but what else might be remains unclear, he said.
What is known is that anglers are OK with the regulations. Surveys of fishermen done by the commission have shown that they are as OK with panfish-enhancement rules as they are with statewide panfish rules, Kristine said.
For that, as well as the biological reasons, biologists may sooner, rather than later, recommend that additional lakes in the state be added to the program, Kristine said.
"Overall, it's been very successful," he said.
Commissioner Bill Worobec of Lycoming County seemed to agree. He noted that it's a resource-based one that has improved fisheries while simultaneously increasing angler satisfaction.
"I think there's a lot to be learned from that," Worobec said.
Waters in the program
There are 19 waters in the panfish enhancement program in the state, nine of them in Southwestern Pennsylvania alone. Some of those waters are managed for yellow perch, crappies and sunfish under the regulations. At others, just one species is managed under the rules. Local lakes in the program, and the specific regulations in place on them, are:
Westmoreland County: Lower Twin Lake, crappies; Upper Twin Lake, crappies; Northmoreland Lake, sunfish and crappies.
Washington County: Cross Creek Lake, sunfish and crappies.
Somerset County: High Point Lake, yellow perch; Quemahoning Reservoir, sunfish, crappies and yellow perch.
Cambria County: Beaverdam Run Reservoir, yellow perch; Hinkston Run Reservoir, sunfish and crappies; Wilmore Dam, sunfish, crappies and yellow perch.