Does "Shelter-in-place" mean no going out to ffish?

wbranch wrote:
After reading all the posts I'm thinking it's probably better that I not go to Ohio for spring steelhead. I can make it up on a tank of gas but would need to fill up at least once to get home. Besides I'm assuming all the motels in PA are closed but don't know if Ohio is under any ban for all non essential businesses to be closed. The forecast for Ne Ohio is rain and showers all week anyways so the streams will likely be blown out.
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Ohio is under a shelter-at-home and essential business only are open.

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/03/ohio-issues-stay-at-home-order-for-all-residents-to-combat-spread-of-coronavirus.html

 
Yes, it took a pandemic for you to sound sensible :pint: ;-)

I went smallmouth fishing today on a medium sized river. Didnt see a soul
 
troutbert wrote:

Regarding fishing, there were 15 vehicles at one of the parking areas along Spring Creek yesterday. That's not maintaining social distancing.
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People think it's a vacation. It'll only change once there's enough confirmed cases throughout PA that they are afraid to step inside the grocery store.

With that said, I doubt those anglers were in any real danger. However, busy parking lots along streams, in parks, etc. is a bad look and will eventually draw attention with such activity coming under scrutiny if further restrictions are deemed necessary.

I'm not going to tell anyone to quit fishing or doing anything else in solitude. But be smart about it. If it puts you in a situation where you find yourself making extra trips into grocery store or stopping in gas stations for drinks and snacks, then perhaps you should stay home.

Calling up a bunch of your buddy's to carpool to Spring or Penns or the Little J is probably not a genius move either.
 
I would like to see someone trying to convince the authorities that it classifies as exercise or grocery shopping......Good luck with that one.

As Forest Gump might say,
"This virus is like a box of chocolates, you'll never know when or where you'll get it.
 
PennypackFlyer wrote:
I would like to see someone trying to convince the authorities that it classifies as exercise or grocery shopping......Good luck with that one.
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I would start with,"well, I was alone until you got here".
 
While I commend our Governor for the steps he has taken so far, he/they really need to do a better job clarifying things.

The business definitions on the "Essential List," are important to me as my wife & I are still considered "essential". However the definitions are vague and as a result are leading to a lot of exemption requests that may not be necessary and waste a lot of time. Philadelphia's order on the other hand, is much more detailed and easier to understand, at least as far as business closures go.

Also, Governor Wolf completely sidestepped a question asked of him at a video press conference just a few minutes ago whether running, dog walking, etc are permitted in the counties under the "Stay at Home" order.

His answer (paraphrasing), "If it isn't life essential, don't do it," but he he didn't go so far as to say, don't do it or else," which only leads to more confusion. These are very unpopular measures but it's better to be safe than sorry.

I hate to say it, but I honestly can't see allowing the mob scene that can be Opening Day go on as planned in some of the Southeastern Counties when you are telling people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.

Parking lots full of cars, hoards of people trying to stay 6 feet away from each other in the few honey holes that exist in some of those Delco/Montco/Phila Stocked Trout Water streams is a disaster waiting to happen...

...all for for a couple of fish!!
 
Video of "stay at home" order by PA Gov. Wolf for certain counties >

https://www.facebook.com/nbcphiladelphia/videos/224881282224261/

“Today, I’m issuing a Stay at Home order for Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, & Montgomery counties,” Wolf said on Twitter. “Starting at 8pm, residents must stay home unless someone’s life depends on leaving. Our roads will stay open, and so will our grocery stores and pharmacies."........
 
I have a suspicion that once the reality of what Opening Day is hits the radar of those making SIP/Stay at Home decisions, that we may get some crystal clear clarification on whether we can be fishing. And we probably won't like it.

It'll be much easier to enforce a simple "no fishing" stance, than to trust the public and have to make judgment calls on what constitutes fishing that practices safe social distancing. Problem solved.

FWIW, I wouldn't voluntarily go fishing in any scenario where I'd need to be within 6 feet of someone. On the streams I fish, I generally don't tolerate anyone within 6 miles of me well.
 
Swattie87 wrote:
I have a suspicion that once the reality of what Opening Day is hits the radar of those making SIP/Stay at Home decisions, that we may get some crystal clear clarification on whether we can be fishing. And we probably won't like it.

It'll be much easier to enforce a simple "no fishing" stance, than to trust the public and have to make judgment calls on what constitutes fishing that practices safe social distancing. Problem solved.

FWIW, I wouldn't voluntarily go fishing in any scenario where I'd need to be within 6 feet of someone. On the streams I fish, I generally don't tolerate anyone within 6 miles of me well.
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If opening day was this weekend, I garuntee you there would be a hoard of folks out fishing. But it's not, we're still a few weeks out from it. I really dont know what to expect at that point. Crackdowns on defying the stay at home orders could really limit the amount of guys out on the opener.
 
Kudos to Wolf for limiting this stricture (for the time being anyway) to those counties where it makes immediate sense.

One size does not necessarily fit all.

If subsequent events show a need to extend the order elsewhere in the state, so be it. That'll be OK with me as well.

But this is a measured and prudent response for now. Except of course for you folks who are immediately affected. Then of course, it sucks. All I can say is that despite being in a (currently) unaffected county, I do not plan on fishing while this is going on. It would be selfish, IMO and I probably couldn't enjoy myself anyway. That's just how I'm wired. If you safely drift through a stop sign, I have no opinion about it one way or the other. But if I do it, it's a moral failing. It isn't always easy being me...:)
 
Wanted to put this out there, from the Governors website:

Stay at Home Guidance:
https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-Stay-At-Home-Order-Guidance.pdf

See Page 1, "Allowable Individual Activities", the third bullet point lists

"Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking or running if they maintain social distancing."

Under the "Allowable Essential Travel":

"Any travel related to the provision of or access to the above-mentioned individual activities or lifesustaining business activities (see below for details about life-sustaining business activities)."

Interpret it as you like, to me it sounds like as long as you are traveling from point A to B, it seems like driving to go do an outdoor activity is perfectly fine.
 
Same applies to Oregon. Outdoor exercise is permitted. What better exercise than to walk a half mile in towards the river while in waders, fishing a couple hundred yards of stream, and then walking out?
 
If you’re driving more than a few miles to fish, and parking next to other cars, and stopping for gas and food then please don’t go fishing. More people have died from Covid than have died from not going fishing. Just because it’s legal doesn’t always make it the right thing to do. It is indeed a tough argument. We all still need to get outside and stretch out. It’s tough to argue with those who live super close to a stream that they shouldn’t be out there hiking and fishing. Maybe I’m just jealous that I live a little too far away from my favorite fishing.

Be safe out there!
 
This reminds me of the access arguments. One side says, "ask permission if you can, or don't fish..."

"...the other side says, "if there's no signs, the law says you can access..."

 
I don’t associate the number of cars in a parking lot of the size typically used by anglers with the presence or absence of social distancing. And I’m not all beside myself when I am walking or biking one direction on a ten ft wide trail and another individual is doing so in the opposite direction.

As for the recent order for the affected counties permitting “engaging in outdoor activities” seems to me to be a reasonable compromise with little risk.
 
Driving straight to and from a stream and fishing by yourself is social distancing. I can't believe some argue against it.

If there are a bunch of people at a parking lot then stay 6 feet away. Pretty damn simple.

 
Yeah definitely wasn’t trying to get into the semantics of the wording. Me personally, some of my favorite fishing is in my township and maybe 10 minutes from my residence. I don’t think that driving a few miles to go get outside regardless of if it’s fishing or not is any worse than driving to a crowded grocery store to fight over toilet paper.
 
Troy wrote:
Driving straight to and from a stream and fishing by yourself is social distancing. I can't believe some argue against it.

If there are a bunch of people at a parking lot then stay 6 feet away. Pretty damn simple.
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Pretty damn simple hasn't worked out so well for PA and for the US. We've got the bronze medal currently for most cases worldwide and I suspect we're on track to win the gold.

The problem is this is a very infectious virus and the population as a whole is only as good as our weakest link. While fishing in and of itself is perfectly fine, at some point, you'll get a higher density of people in an area than it is safe for and people will start doing stupid things. Our local conservancy closed a preserve because of the amount of people that tried to park there, including those who disobeyed signs to not park along the road or in neighbors' properties.

The AT is experiencing a similar problem:

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/everybody-stay-off-the-appalachian-trail-during-coronavirus-says-trail-organization.html

People don't have common sense, clearly. If the parking lot is full, just go home. Or just don't venture out in the first place.
 
All I know is I'm being the perfect model of social distancing. I'm following the regulations perfectly and if we are still allowed to fish I'm going to fish. There is no moral decision for me since I won't be doing anything we are being told not to do.
 
salmonoid wrote:
Pretty damn simple hasn't worked out so well for PA and for the US. We've got the bronze medal currently for most cases worldwide and I suspect we're on track to win the gold.
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While I am in no way condoning those who scoff at the measures enacted to control the virus, one must also remember that we have a much larger population than many other hard hit countries. Spain, France, Germany, and Italy don't quite have 260 million people combined, we have 330+ million. Comparing the US against countries that have individually have 80 million or less can easily cloud the real picture. Those countries that I mentioned currently have a combined total of over 170,000 cases. The only real measure of how bad we have done compared to other countries is to wait until the dust settles and compare per capita statistics.

Sorry for getting off track there...
 
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