June 1990/$!.50 Pennsylvania The Keystone States Official Fishing Magazine ^--e :r% Straight Talk This issue of the Angler is dedicated entirely to bass fishing for an important reason. Interest in bass fishing in Pennsylvania has been increasing in recent years, and it has become one of the most desired angling opportunities in the state. This change in fishing interest and the diversity of opportunities anglers and boaters seek will play an important part in how Pennsylvania's fishery resources are managed in the future. As the Fish Commission begins a major planning effort for managing the fishing and boating resources of the state into the 21st century, one of its goals is to become more responsive to your needs as a resource user. Commission biologists have spent the last two decades gaining a better under­ standing of the potentials and limitations of the Commonwealth's aquatic re­ sources. The Fish Commission is more aware of the many problems the resource faces from the continued demands placed on it. It is time to use this knowledge to plan for the future use and protection of fish and boating re­ sources statewide. It is also time to inform every citizen about resource prob­ lems and management alternatives. If you drink a glass of water in a restaurant in Philadelphia or hook a steel- Responsive Management head on the shore of Lake Erie, you are a resource user who relies on the continued protection and quality of that resource. Every user should be knowl­ edgeable and concerned about the quality and management of the water resources in Pennsylvania. Within the decade, crucial decisions will be made about our common wealth, the aquatic resources of Pennsylvania. The optimum management of these resources will require your help and commitment. As a resource management agency, the Fish Commission has accepted the re­ sponsibility to educate Pennsylvanians about the aquatic environment. Our staff has to present the facts and management options to you as users and seek your opinions. Your opinions have to be included in future management plans that meet your expectations while protecting the resource. The Commission has already responded to your opinions and needs by devel­ oping a nationally recognized environmental education program that is designed to reach every student in the state's school systems. This was accomplished by asking teachers what their environmental education needs were and designing a program to met those needs. Recently the Commission asked your opinion on increased funding for trout and salmon management. Your letters and testimony at six public meetings provided overwhelming support for a way to increase funding to maintain the coldwater program. During the next few years, the Commission's entire staff will be planning ways to manage the state's fishing and boating resources better for future generations. They will be seeking your opinions, thoughts and ideas through phone surveys, mail questionnaires and on-site censuses. The goal is to become more responsive to the needs of anglers and boaters using Pennsylvania waters. As you pursue Pennsylvania's many fishing and boating opportunities this summer, let your needs and concerns about the future of the resource be known. Make an effort to get involved and stay involved in the protection and wise use of Pennsylvania's aquatic resources. Your involve­ ment and support will help the Commission meet the goal of being more responsive in planning and managing Pennsylvania's aquatic resources and ensuring rewarding fishing and boating opportunities in the future. Edward R. Miller, P.E. Executive Director Pennsylvania Fish Commission June 1990 Vol. 59 No. 6 Pennsylvania Fish Commission Pennsylvania David Coe President State College William J. Sabatose ANGLER Vice President The Keystone State's Official Fishing Magazine Brockport Marilyn A. Black Cochranton Spoons for Hot-Water Bass by Bill Ignizio Leonard A. Green Spoons are versatile, productive bass-getters 4 Carlisle Ross J. Huhn Tackle for Pennsylvania Bass Fishing by C. Boyd Pfeiffer Saltsburg Successful bass fishermen choose different rods, reels, lines and lures for Calvin J. Kern the variety of smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing in Pennsylvania 7 Whitehall The Natural Approach to Bass Fishing by Michael Lacy T. T. Metzger, Jr. Raise your score by reviewing Pennsylvania's best natural baits and how Johnstown to fish them 11 Leon Reed Honesdale Pennsylvania's Bass Management by Darl Black J. Wayne Yorks Learn how the Commission manages largemouth and smallmouth bass. Benton Lean this way and let the Commission area fisheries managers whisper to you the where-to-go-fishing secrets 14 Boating Advisory Board Bass Fishing in Pennsylvania and Around the World Gerald Sedney by Nick Sisley Chairman How does Pennsylvania bass fishing compare with the bass action in Erie other parts of the country and in other places around the world? 19 Clayton Buchanan Pittsburgh Worm Fishing for the 1990s by Darl Black Donald J. Little Today's plastic worm techniques are more effective and more refined Philadelphia than the rubber-worm days of the 1950s 22 Judy Obert Greentown Bass Fishing Down the Tubes by Jim Weller Thaddeus Piotrowski If you're not fishing tube lures, you're missing out on some bass action 26 Bloomsburg KIDSPACE! by Steve Ulsh Magazine Staff Largemouth bass or smallmouth bass? Do you know the difference? 28 Editor—Art Michaels Art Director—Ted Walke Pennsylvania's Biggest Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass: Circulation—Eleanor Mutch How, When and Where Anglers Caught Them by Art Michaels Staff Assistant—Rose Ann Bartal Scanning the information from the Commission's Angler Recognition Staff Assistant—Charlene Glisan Program is a must for all Pennsylvania bass anglers 29 Pennsylvania Angler (1SSN0031-434X) is published monthly by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. 3532 Walnut Street. On the Water with Dave Wolf Harrisburg. PA 17109. © 1990. Nothing in this magazine Quiet places 31 may be reprinted without the written permission ot'lhe Penn­ sylvania Fish Commission. Subscription rales: one year, $9; three years. S25: single eopies are SI.50 each. Second class postage is paid at Harrisburg. PA. POSTMASTER: Send The covers address changes to: Angler Circulation. Pennsylvania Fish Com­ mission. P.O. Box 1673. Harrisburg. PA 17105-1673. For sub­ Smallmouth and largemouth bass splash into the spotlight in this entire issue. scription and change of address, use above address. Please allow Doug Stamm photographed the smallmouth bass on the front cover, and on the six weeks for processing. Send all other correspondence to: The Editor. Pennsylvania Angler. P.O. Box 1673. Harrisburg, back cover, Judy Payton proudly hefts a 5 1/2-pound Raystown Lake largemouth PA 17105-1673. Editorial queries and contributions are wel­ bass she caught on a plastic worm. WCO Alan Robinson took the picture. If you come, but musl be accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelopes, MalerialitcceptetltbrpubliailiotiissubjccltoPeiinsylvtuiia like to catch bass on live bait, check out page 11, and lure fishermen will want to Fish Commission standards and requirements for editing and scan the articles beginning on pages 4, 22 and 26. Turn to page 19 to compare revising. Submissions are handled with care, but the publisher assumes no responsibility for the return or safety of submis­ Pennsylvania bass fishing with the action available in other parts of the country sions in his possession or in transit. The authors' views, ideas and advice expressed in this magazine do not necessarily re­ and in other parts of the world. For the lowdown on Pennsylvania's biggest flect the opinion or official position of the Pennsylvania Fish largemouth and smallmouth bass catches in 1989, see page 29. Commission or its staff. by Bill Ignizio It was a perfect day. A few wispy clouds models sport rattles inside a hollow body, bend in front and are usually floated high in a brilliant blue sky, making for a noisy presentation when fish outfitted with a rubber skirt. temperatures held in the upper 70s and the want something a little extra. The impor­ It is the angled design that calm lake surface reflected a rich turquoise tant factor is that all are relatively light. causes the thin metal lures hue. Yes, it was absolutely perfect for almost Therefore, they rarely sink into the vege­ to wobble tantalizingly back any outdoor activity you could think tation. to the boat. of...except for bass fishing. At least, that's There are those who find it difficult to how my partner and 1 felt after several hours believe that bass can actually see a topwa­ Retrieve of failing to arouse the interest of a single ter spoon worked in areas thick with weeds. Although plastic or thin fish. Actually, it is possible they often do not. metal topwater spoons hang Finally, we nudged in closer to the heavily Some anglers have theorized that the fish up less than most lures, it is weeded shoreline to try our luck there. While home in on these lures by the motion they a good idea to begin your re­ I experimented half-heartedly with a detect topside or through vibrations given trieve the instant the lure weedless popper, my friend tied on a plas­ off. Whatever the case, they work. And touches down. This practice tic spoon. Now, if you like your lures to to the pragmatic summer fisherman, that's almost always guarantees a twist, turn, shake, rattle and roll on retrieve, all that counts. snarl-free retrieve. this is not the bait for you. The unusual Because plastic spoons show little in the A number of fishermen topwater attractor merely slithered quietly way of action, most bass anglers add some use casting gear in heavy over weeds without fuss or fanfare.