Post by yihunt on Apr 6, 2008 11:23:14 GMT -4
Fewer show interest in Tri-County Trout Club's efforts
By Mary Ann Thomas
FOR THE VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Sunday, April 6, 2008
They huddled together like a woman's sewing group along a table in the back room of the Slovak Club in Creighton last week.
But these were members of the Tri-County Trout Club working with hooks, not needles, and applying strong twine, not thread, to synthetic re-creations of the insects that are the favorite prey of trout.
Outfitted with colorful spools of industrial-strength line, synthetic feathers and fur with a small vise to stay the hook, these anglers patiently and artfully transform metallic objects into woolly buggers or nymphs and other attractive insects.
But some members lamented that there were fewer of them spending a Monday night tying flies.
story continues below
"Fly-fishing is entertaining and a challenge," said Ron Marsh, 64, of Upper Burrell. "Some people don't have a group like this to tie with."
A handful of some of these same anglers turned out to meet Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission trucks brimming with year-old trout for preseason stocking on Bull Creek and Pine Creek last month.
A scant eight volunteers showed up in hip waders and wind breakers for the only preseason stocking of Bull Creek. Trout season opens Saturday at 8 a.m.
Another disturbing trend is evident, the anglers say.
"The majority of our stocking helpers are in their 50s, 60s and 70s," said Mike Walsh, a waterway conservation officer with the state Fish and Boat Commission who helps stock local streams. "And fewer and fewer people that are younger are helping us stock."
Duane Ometz, 41, the volunteer coordinator for the Tri-County Trout Club, has been working for eight years to bring together enough anglers to stock fish in local streams every trout season.
And it isn't easy.
"There's a real decline with the younger generation trying to actually volunteer to help out. There needs to be an awareness brought so youth today can get out here," said Ometz of Springdale.
Some outdoor enthusiasts wonder if such declines are indicative of a fading tradition or just an ebb in the flow of what has been a stable American pastime.
Just like the rest of the country, the state is selling less fish licenses to residents.
According to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the number of fish licenses bought by residents has slipped by about 12 percent from 839,488 licenses in 2001 to 739,314 in 2007.
Hooking volunteers
Trout stocking has typically attracted the heartiest and most dedicated of anglers, and arguably the wisest.
These are volunteers who know that they must give in order to receive: A well-stocked stream with trout distributed throughout extends fishing opportunities for weeks beyond opening day in waters close to home.
When volunteers actually walk the stream with a few hundred fish in a float box, ladling the trout into the water every 10 feet or so, populations can become well-dispersed through-out the stream, according to local anglers.
Conversely, a stream where the fish are concentrated in a few points accessible by car to everyone will be depleted quickly on opening day.
The Fish and Boat Commission now publicizes its stocking schedule in hopes of attracting volunteers, according to Tom Cochran, Southern regional hatchery manager for the state Fish and Boat Commission in Pleasant Gap.
"We have had some concerns raised by stocking truck drivers and folks from our law enforcement division," Cochran said. "In the last year or two, not as many people are coming out, ready to help as in years past."
More volunteers make it easier on commission workers and the approximate 4.6 million trout planned for state waters this year.
According to Walsh, fish become more stressed the longer they stay in a truck after arriving in the Alle-Kiski Valley following a several-hour drive from a regional hatchery.
Then, volunteers have about two minutes to carry the fish in a five-gallon pale to the water before they really begin to stress and possibly die.
"Bucketing fish is hard work," Walsh said. "And float stocking is even harder." Perhaps that explains the trepidation of some anglers to volunteer. The typical 32-degree water temperature and wintry conditions in March don't help either.
While a pale of fish weighs about 50 pounds, a metal cage fill with fish for float stocking can total 400 pounds, a formidable object to control in the thrash of spring waters.
Volunteers often have to refrain from float stocking after rain and seasonal thaws because of dangerous currents.
Even so, the average flows of Bull and Deer creeks are robust and challenging enough for anglers who walk the stream beds carefully -- remembering where the holes are -- yet planting their feet confidently enough to maintain control of themselves and the float basket.
Youthful expectations
According to local anglers, it becomes increasingly difficult to find time -- especially during the workday -- to stock fish and volunteer.
"It's hard to get time off work," said Don Orlowski, executive director of the Tri-County Trout Club and a teacher in the Freeport Area School District. "For myself, I have to take personal days to do that."
Young anglers face other issues.
"There are more and more demands placed on the available time you have for doing things," he said.
Yearlong sports schedules and more opportunities for kids are diminishing the free time of area youth, he said.
"Kids are stretched too thin," Orlowski said, "and we're starting to lose that contact where kids are involved in enjoying nature."
And the loss of a relationship with the outdoor world can be a product of generational creep, where parents don't fish or participate in outdoor activities, who then can't pass on the tradition to their children.
Orlowski hopes that the situation gets better as his group continues to offer public fishing events, classes and stream clean-ups.
"Unfortunately, things don't change unless something happens to precipitate change, he said. "Sometimes we take things for granted. And if we lose those trout streams, it may cause people to realize that they need to protect what they have."
By Mary Ann Thomas
FOR THE VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Sunday, April 6, 2008
They huddled together like a woman's sewing group along a table in the back room of the Slovak Club in Creighton last week.
But these were members of the Tri-County Trout Club working with hooks, not needles, and applying strong twine, not thread, to synthetic re-creations of the insects that are the favorite prey of trout.
Outfitted with colorful spools of industrial-strength line, synthetic feathers and fur with a small vise to stay the hook, these anglers patiently and artfully transform metallic objects into woolly buggers or nymphs and other attractive insects.
But some members lamented that there were fewer of them spending a Monday night tying flies.
story continues below
"Fly-fishing is entertaining and a challenge," said Ron Marsh, 64, of Upper Burrell. "Some people don't have a group like this to tie with."
A handful of some of these same anglers turned out to meet Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission trucks brimming with year-old trout for preseason stocking on Bull Creek and Pine Creek last month.
A scant eight volunteers showed up in hip waders and wind breakers for the only preseason stocking of Bull Creek. Trout season opens Saturday at 8 a.m.
Another disturbing trend is evident, the anglers say.
"The majority of our stocking helpers are in their 50s, 60s and 70s," said Mike Walsh, a waterway conservation officer with the state Fish and Boat Commission who helps stock local streams. "And fewer and fewer people that are younger are helping us stock."
Duane Ometz, 41, the volunteer coordinator for the Tri-County Trout Club, has been working for eight years to bring together enough anglers to stock fish in local streams every trout season.
And it isn't easy.
"There's a real decline with the younger generation trying to actually volunteer to help out. There needs to be an awareness brought so youth today can get out here," said Ometz of Springdale.
Some outdoor enthusiasts wonder if such declines are indicative of a fading tradition or just an ebb in the flow of what has been a stable American pastime.
Just like the rest of the country, the state is selling less fish licenses to residents.
According to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the number of fish licenses bought by residents has slipped by about 12 percent from 839,488 licenses in 2001 to 739,314 in 2007.
Hooking volunteers
Trout stocking has typically attracted the heartiest and most dedicated of anglers, and arguably the wisest.
These are volunteers who know that they must give in order to receive: A well-stocked stream with trout distributed throughout extends fishing opportunities for weeks beyond opening day in waters close to home.
When volunteers actually walk the stream with a few hundred fish in a float box, ladling the trout into the water every 10 feet or so, populations can become well-dispersed through-out the stream, according to local anglers.
Conversely, a stream where the fish are concentrated in a few points accessible by car to everyone will be depleted quickly on opening day.
The Fish and Boat Commission now publicizes its stocking schedule in hopes of attracting volunteers, according to Tom Cochran, Southern regional hatchery manager for the state Fish and Boat Commission in Pleasant Gap.
"We have had some concerns raised by stocking truck drivers and folks from our law enforcement division," Cochran said. "In the last year or two, not as many people are coming out, ready to help as in years past."
More volunteers make it easier on commission workers and the approximate 4.6 million trout planned for state waters this year.
According to Walsh, fish become more stressed the longer they stay in a truck after arriving in the Alle-Kiski Valley following a several-hour drive from a regional hatchery.
Then, volunteers have about two minutes to carry the fish in a five-gallon pale to the water before they really begin to stress and possibly die.
"Bucketing fish is hard work," Walsh said. "And float stocking is even harder." Perhaps that explains the trepidation of some anglers to volunteer. The typical 32-degree water temperature and wintry conditions in March don't help either.
While a pale of fish weighs about 50 pounds, a metal cage fill with fish for float stocking can total 400 pounds, a formidable object to control in the thrash of spring waters.
Volunteers often have to refrain from float stocking after rain and seasonal thaws because of dangerous currents.
Even so, the average flows of Bull and Deer creeks are robust and challenging enough for anglers who walk the stream beds carefully -- remembering where the holes are -- yet planting their feet confidently enough to maintain control of themselves and the float basket.
Youthful expectations
According to local anglers, it becomes increasingly difficult to find time -- especially during the workday -- to stock fish and volunteer.
"It's hard to get time off work," said Don Orlowski, executive director of the Tri-County Trout Club and a teacher in the Freeport Area School District. "For myself, I have to take personal days to do that."
Young anglers face other issues.
"There are more and more demands placed on the available time you have for doing things," he said.
Yearlong sports schedules and more opportunities for kids are diminishing the free time of area youth, he said.
"Kids are stretched too thin," Orlowski said, "and we're starting to lose that contact where kids are involved in enjoying nature."
And the loss of a relationship with the outdoor world can be a product of generational creep, where parents don't fish or participate in outdoor activities, who then can't pass on the tradition to their children.
Orlowski hopes that the situation gets better as his group continues to offer public fishing events, classes and stream clean-ups.
"Unfortunately, things don't change unless something happens to precipitate change, he said. "Sometimes we take things for granted. And if we lose those trout streams, it may cause people to realize that they need to protect what they have."