PFBC Meeting

I received word from Bob Bachman that they decided to continue to stock the 10 creeks that were changed last year.

I am beginning to see why people get fed up with this.

the pfbc says one thing and does another. I hope they can see that is why license sales are going down. these poor decisions will regulate them right out of business.

if you want to boost license sales and usage: make fishing special again.

make the common fishing experience in PA an uncommon life experience. make it special by doing the right thing, which we know is not always the easiest thing.
 
Why can't they get it through their head that lack of interest in fishing (actually, all outdoor activities) has nothing to do with access. Many people, especially kids, just don't have as much interest in it anymore. They'd rather play video games and go to bars, while dressed like they enjoy the outdoors. Lowering the license cost by a pile of pennies isn't going to change that.

Plus according to their "surveys" most of the license holders don't harvest fish. So why make more harvesting opportunities?

I think the PFBC is trying to prove that they're more needed than what they actually are.
 
DAD: Good news son, you can use bait in the DHALO section of the local stream now!

SON: Is there an app for that?
 
TimRobinsin wrote:


I am beginning to see why people get fed up with this.

the pfbc says one thing and does another. I hope they can see that is why license sales are going down. these poor decisions will regulate them right out of business.
Click to expand...

Those of us that see fishing as more than sitting in a lawn chair dunking worms, are not the PFBC's target audience. Nor do we make up a large enough population of license buyers to make an impact in fishing license sales.

So, therefore, the commissioners' poor decisions will keep them in business.
 
I'm disgusted.
 
Yeah this is pretty wacky stuff! It goes from DHALO to kids with bait. yeah, thats the ticket! Well if your goal is to kill the fish you just got paid to stock, by all means employ the method with the highest mortality. and let the ones who didn't pay kill them. They should let the other freeloaders with senior licenses participate in this welfare scam too!

Don't dare consider the wishes of the satisfied users.

You can't make this stuff up...

What we need is a member of the state legislature Bill Gabig their arses.

I remember the Big Spring Meeting and their arrogance that they were gonna make the NPDES Permit match the Discharge numbers and hear the Director of Fisheries say hey gang this is a Done Deal.

And see William Gabig, Freshman Congressman come out of the wings and say...Hold on a minute....it sounds to me like the public isn't happy with this. And low and behold the Hatchery closed and the fishery rebounded.

 
After this plan falls flat on its face, what will their next step be? Maybe they can plant tagged fish in each stream. Catch thatfish and win a prize. That would get the fish "utilized" quickly.
 
How is this supposed to simplify the regulations? If anything the just complicated it even more. These areas are already heavily pressured by bait fishermen. Big deal so now they just made it legal! I'm glad I choose to stay far away from the regs areas. If they weren't a 3 ring circus before they sure will be now!
 
There is a 60 day comment period coming up. I highly encourage that you make your voice known with your thoughts on this or any other topic.

I will be working on sharing with everyone how you do that. I like that you are vetting this out on Paflyfish, but a proper and clear response to the PFBC is going to be very important. Rants and just sounding off will not work. I like all the coaching that many people shared with Tim.

Here is the full press release and meeting minutes along with exhibits will be published here.

I would suggest reading up on the facts and work on a response. I'm not for these proposed changes.
 
SteveG: Individuals who specialize in these sociological surveys related to fish and wildlife issues have reported that there are substantial numbers of kids who indicate that they would like to fish, but do not have anyone to teach them or take them. I don't recall the percentage, but I do recall that it was shockingly higher than I would have ever expected. The number makes it sound as though it is we adults that are letting these kids down and not the reverse. So kudos to those adults who do take kids fishing or offer to do so.

 
If the goal here is to attract more youth anglers, why not create more kids-only sections on streams? Stock them heavily, advertise them, hold more events(not just the usual catch em and rope em derbies, but educational events as well), etc.

The new proposal is not the right approach IMO, and can certainly hurt these DHALO areas.

 
TimRobinson: "If you want to boost license sales and usage: make fishing special again"

Tim, from my standpoint as an individual who has been trout fishing for 52 years and as a biologist who has seen streams turn around from regular stocked trout streams with few or no wild trout in the stocked stretches to Class A streams while being stocked, (and streams that have gone from completely degraded, ie Schuylkill River, to wild trout streams) I can only think that you are speaking about some type of fishing other than trout fishing because the opportunities have never been better in my lifetime.

And Streamerguy, this is not a single prong approach to getting kids fishing; it is part of an integrated approach (think "mentored youth day," family fishing days held at Pa lakes, ice fishing instruction at lakes, etc) to getting more kids excited about fishing, getting more adults to take them, and getting them fishing more frequently.
 
So they take the delayed harvest regs area on Big Pine Creek and make it all tackle C&R. Talk about a waste, Big Pine is NOT a trout stream. It's a smallmouth bass fishery. Nearly all those trout will be dead by july and the anglers will not be permitted keep one of them! On the other hand the PFBC changes the regs on all the other delayed harvest areas and open them to bait fishing. Does anybody in PFBC have a brain or common sense? I agree with Chaz, this IS disgusting!
 
By the way I read section K in the minutes, the Class A stocking policy was a done deal. So the Executive Director can stock over any wild population with board approval.

I like how the breakdown of public comments are presented (257 total comments = 144 totally against, 118 wanting more defined criteria, 2 for stocking all Class A's, I forget the rest), and recorded, and individual copies distributed to each commissioner, yet it's still ignored.
 
Where is section K available to read? I didn't see it in the minutes.

Truly disgusting
 
What other agency would it be worth voicing our lack of confidence in how the PFBC is running things? Its ridiculous how they say one thing, and then do the exact opposite. I really think this is just a ruse to make it look like they're "needed".
 
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?
 
by the way, I just saw at the end of the first paragraph you could interpret that as: only 16 youth will get to the water or that adults are the mode by which youth will get to the water.

I left it because it's kinda funny
 
What I meant to say is:
 

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