Mike - thanks for the response.
If you want to encourage youth angling the problem starts with the adults. you even said that sociological studies suggest kids need more adults to take them fishing to get them interested. That makes sense. Especially since the driving age is 16 and that is presumably how many youth would get to the water.
so how does a year round open bait season help all these kids who can't drive to the stream? an adult will take them, december through march, over the school year, right? what is the adult going to do while the youth is fishing...the kid's homework? mentor them, right? my apologies for the snarkiness, I'm just trying to think this through.
if a parent/gaurdian/mentor/adult really wants to teach a youth to fish it will happen and it will happen with or without these regulation changes because we (you,me, and most of the people on this forum) are the kind of people who see value in fishing and we will pass that value on to our children without the "help" of reg changes. we are already involved.
but we are not the people you need to get involved, you need new blood. so how about more more outreach? more programs geared towards overcoming the real obstacles that keep adults from engaging youth in fishing?
school programs, community programs, partnerships with organizations that currently engage with youth, PFBC fish camps and schools, more fish for free weekends for youth, start sponsoring tv programs and shows that highlight fishing in the commonwealth get those programs in front of kids on you tube and vimeo and all those social media sites . I am sure these already exist but push these programs, get more exposure. I don't know many parents that would refuse to take a kid fishing if a kid asks.
I know you have these programs as I am a certified instructor through the PFBC fishing skills program. I think that program is great but lets hype it up and get it out there. lets stay engaged as a fishing community and a government agency. you guys need a PR department.
I have had parents come to me to book days on the water to learn to fish so they can teach their children. In some cases they have never fished before ever and had no idea where to start. while I can understand this and relate to this through my own personal experience I also have to believe that this is indicative of a problem that has to be solved through outreach/education, not regulation/passiveness.
lastly,
The priority needs to be on improving these fisheries so that trout fishing opportunities can continue to increase. fewer people are buying licenses for trout fishing because:
To the average person trout fishing in PA is not special in most places.
why do you want to make it easier to get people into special reg areas? because fishing IS special in those areas.
so why not take the reverse approach elevate more areas to standards that are found in special reg areas. create more quality fishing opportunities using these areas as an example of what you can do? why not elevate the quality of fishing in a majority of areas instead of lowering the standard and the quality of the fishing experience in a few?
