My impression is that the PFBC is standing pat on their fingerling stocking program. Chestnut Ridge TU has traditionally supplemented this with adult trout from their nursery and this will continue. Other friends of the Yough led by the fishing guides at Nemacolin have recently (this May) stocked 6,000 intermediate size trout 6-9 inches long and they plan to continue fund raising to make this a regular addition. http://www.nemacolin.com/press/curren ... stocks-the-yough-for-2014
The TU chapter is investigating the feasibility of adding massive amounts of gravel to the middle Yough to create suitable habitat for natural reproduction. This has been successfully piloted on the Pit river in California.
I didn't stay for the entire Q&A session as the introductory presentations lasted until after 9 PM. Perhaps Grobe stayed longer and can add to my observations?
A HUGE THANK YOU to all that attended! Totally blew my mind how many people showed up, I believe we were over 100 in attendance. I talked to many of the Commissioners after the event including Arway, he was very impressed with the turnout and was blown away by the angling opportunities from Confluence down to West Newton. The best part of the Yough is that its all open to the public, NO PRIVATE WATER.
I agree with your observations. Basically a fluke stocking in 2010 resulted in higher fish numbers the following years from the Cassleman down to below Ohiopyle. It only makes sense, bigger fish have a better chance at survival. The guides believe this is a great blueprint on how to manage the fishery a little better, stocking yearling fish over fingerling fish. What we experienced from 2011-2013 was based off of MANY days on the river. It's hard to believe this stocking wasn't the main contributor to the higher catch rates. The problem is the BIOLOGISTS need data to make changes. The yough is extremely hard to survey properly which Lorson admitted in the meeting. But until we get him the FACTS that he wants, I don't think any changes will take place. A group of us are taking scale samples of fish we catch in hopes to convince him that the majority of fish being caught on that river are from yearling stockings not fingerling stockings. When he gets enough data he will be able to make a scientific decision moving forward with the management plan. Our worry is we won't be able to get him enough info before he submits his plan in September of 2015 which stinks because it will be another 10 years before they do another sample.
They talked about how much the Casselman has cleaned up even over the last 10 years. It's changing for the better so rapidly even the Biologists can't keep up with it. Those of us who fish it often can tell by the diverse and heavier hatches that keep occurring each year. This is having a positive effect throughout the entire river system.
I asked the question about if the local community experienced such an increase in catch rates after the 2010 stocking, what would the cost difference be if they stocked 10,000 yearling fish instead of 64,000 fingerling fish and why would that not be considered at least to try? He never gave me an answer on the $ but said their hatcheries were not capable of that at this point due to fecal matter and something with the DEP.
Someone asked about limestone deposits in the lake itself to better the water coming out of the dam. It sounded like it was a huge expense to take on.
There was questions about changing the regs to Catch and Release, he said he didn't think it was necessary to improve the fishery.
Dale brought up the success of the Pit River and asked if we could mimic that on the Yough. Once again $ was an issue. So if something like that were to happen it will have to come from local groups to try and generate money to make that type of thing happen.
The bottom line is we will continue to get fish from TU, and also the fundraising stocking at Nemacolin. These will be our chances to show the Biologists that the yearling program is more productive on that river then the current fingerling program. Samples will continue to be sent to his office and the facts that he receives will hopefully help change a few things in the future.
There were so many positives that came out of this meeting though. We took a step in the right direction and we can't stop trying to make things better. Chestnut Ridge TU and the local guide services will continue to work together to try to maximize the full-potential of the fishery. If you guys want to get involved I ask that you join our local TU chapter because if we all combine our efforts good things will happen. I went to the last Chestnut Ridge meeting and we are in need of support, we could use some more people in attendance.
I don't know about you guys in Southwest PA but I'm sick of traveling over an hour away to experience good fishing for trout. I know we have our wild trout streams and delayed harvest areas, but how cool would it be if we all came together and made something special happen on the Yough?? If you guys have any questions about anything Yough related please feel free to PM me or show up at the October 8th TU meeting, we will recap it all there. Thanks again for everyone for their support, we still have lot's of work to do!
