bigjohn........so that is kind of what I was trying to get at, it is not a simple black and white answer. In regards to Fishing Creek, it is Class A and we know it can support a healthy population of wild fish. So what is the real issue here? Either the general public is uneducated about the fishery, or, they want to harvest fish at a level the creek would not be able to sustain. This is a prime example of an area where maybe a slot limit would make sense. But that may not allow enough harvest to appease the masses. As was mentioned above, we are not MT, but we never will be if we take the approach of managing the fishery for harvest vs the actual resource. There are not easy answers to this. PFBC is in a tough spot, especially given their dependence of license sales as their primary revenue stream. This is why I think we need to get all parties in the room. Given the increase in C&R angling in recent years, maybe we are at a point where the locals would be ok with no stocking there if they were educated about the wild trout and that just because PFBC would not be stocking it, that doesn't mean all the fish would disappear....that could be overly optimistic too. If their concern is just to able to harvest a few thousand trout on the opening weekend, then the solution gets cloudy. I guess the point is, what does the angling public of PA want? Good wild fisheries, or scenic trout raceways. Again, no one is talking about no stocking anywhere, just on these Class A and B, primarily, water ways.
Ken is correct, stocking and wild trout do not go together. The data is out there, and it shows that stocking adult trout over wild trout is very detrimental to the wild trout population. The two really can't co-exist if you want to protect the wild trout fishery. Also, to his point about disease, just look at the recent gill lice issues that have surfaced this year.
