Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2007 11:26:18 GMT -4
Anglers counting down the days to their first crack at the bigger trout being stocked this year by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) can count on finding fish. A study conducted last spring on trout residency in the days following stocking indicates that for the vast majority of waters, hatchery trout distribute themselves within proximity of the stocking site.
The 2006 study involved 135 stream sections that were evaluated using electrofishing at randomly selected stocking sites 10-20 days after stocking and the start of the open season. (Electrofishing is a common fisheries survey process which passes a mild electric current through water, drawing in fish so that they can be evaluated.) The intent of the study was to determine the percentage of the stocked trout remaining within 300 meters of the stocking points. In all, 259 samples were taken and scored as “excellent” (>90% recaptured), “good” (75% - 89.9%), “fair” (40% - 74.9%), “poor” (19% - 39.9%) or “very poor (<9.9%). The results: 72 percent of the sites studied held numbers of trout that were excellent, good or fair.
That should be reassuring news for trout anglers, says Tom Greene, Coldwater Unit Leader for the PFBC. “We don’t want all trout staying right at the stocking point, nor do we want them traveling too far. Seeing the number of fish we collected within 300 meters of stocking sites is a good indication that we’re getting an appropriate amount of dispersal on most stocked waters,” said Greene.
Not surprisingly, streams that had a great number of fallen logs, undercuts banks and boulders with few erosion problems tended to provide higher recapture rates than waters without those habitat features. However, there was enough variability in the recapture rates in these streams that fisheries biologists say habitat structure factors alone were not the only things affecting how many trout stayed within the sampling sites. In fact, the study suggests that no single variable appears to determine how many trout stay near the point of release.
While seven sub-basins sample showed no poor or very poor sites, Greene said that excellent to very poor sites occurred throughout the state. “There was no discernable pattern of trout re-captures rates on a statewide basis,” he said.
For example: In sub-basin 9, a drainage that is part of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River basin, four of nine sites showed poor recapture rates. However three sites there had recapture rates in excess of 90%.
Fast Facts: 2007 Pennsylvania Trout Season
Regional Opening Day: Saturday, March 31 (view counties)
Statewide Opening Day: Saturday, April 14
Time: 8 a.m.
Fishing Hours: 24 hours a day, after the 8 a.m. opener
Stocking: Some 3.4 million trout – each on average 30% larger than in recent years – will be stocked by the Fish and Boat Commission in 745 stream sections and 128 lakes.
Creel limits:
Regular season (opening day thru Labor Day) -- 5 (combined species)
Extended season (Jan. 1-Feb. 28 & day after Labor Day-Dec. 31) -- 3 (combined species)
Licenses & Permits: In addition to a valid fishing license, trout anglers 16 and older must posses a Trout/Salmon Permit or Combination Trout-Salmon Stamp/Lake Erie Permit
The 2006 study involved 135 stream sections that were evaluated using electrofishing at randomly selected stocking sites 10-20 days after stocking and the start of the open season. (Electrofishing is a common fisheries survey process which passes a mild electric current through water, drawing in fish so that they can be evaluated.) The intent of the study was to determine the percentage of the stocked trout remaining within 300 meters of the stocking points. In all, 259 samples were taken and scored as “excellent” (>90% recaptured), “good” (75% - 89.9%), “fair” (40% - 74.9%), “poor” (19% - 39.9%) or “very poor (<9.9%). The results: 72 percent of the sites studied held numbers of trout that were excellent, good or fair.
That should be reassuring news for trout anglers, says Tom Greene, Coldwater Unit Leader for the PFBC. “We don’t want all trout staying right at the stocking point, nor do we want them traveling too far. Seeing the number of fish we collected within 300 meters of stocking sites is a good indication that we’re getting an appropriate amount of dispersal on most stocked waters,” said Greene.
Not surprisingly, streams that had a great number of fallen logs, undercuts banks and boulders with few erosion problems tended to provide higher recapture rates than waters without those habitat features. However, there was enough variability in the recapture rates in these streams that fisheries biologists say habitat structure factors alone were not the only things affecting how many trout stayed within the sampling sites. In fact, the study suggests that no single variable appears to determine how many trout stay near the point of release.
While seven sub-basins sample showed no poor or very poor sites, Greene said that excellent to very poor sites occurred throughout the state. “There was no discernable pattern of trout re-captures rates on a statewide basis,” he said.
For example: In sub-basin 9, a drainage that is part of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River basin, four of nine sites showed poor recapture rates. However three sites there had recapture rates in excess of 90%.
Fast Facts: 2007 Pennsylvania Trout Season
Regional Opening Day: Saturday, March 31 (view counties)
Statewide Opening Day: Saturday, April 14
Time: 8 a.m.
Fishing Hours: 24 hours a day, after the 8 a.m. opener
Stocking: Some 3.4 million trout – each on average 30% larger than in recent years – will be stocked by the Fish and Boat Commission in 745 stream sections and 128 lakes.
Creel limits:
Regular season (opening day thru Labor Day) -- 5 (combined species)
Extended season (Jan. 1-Feb. 28 & day after Labor Day-Dec. 31) -- 3 (combined species)
Licenses & Permits: In addition to a valid fishing license, trout anglers 16 and older must posses a Trout/Salmon Permit or Combination Trout-Salmon Stamp/Lake Erie Permit