MILADY GOES A-TROUTING-AND THE TROUT LOSES OFFICIAL STATE JULY, 1934 PUBLICATION VN G LE R* Vol. 3 No. 7 PUBLISHED MONTHLY Want Good Fishing? by the OBEY THE LAW Pennsylvania Board of Fish Commissioners # S3 E3H COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS Five cents a copy •*• 50 cents a year OLIVER M. DEIBLER Commissioner of Fisheries ataa £3 £3 83 Members of Board OLIVER M. DEIBLER, Chairman ALEX P. SWEIGART, Editor Greensburg South Office Bldg , Harrisburg, Pa. JOHN HAMBERGER Erie DAN R. SCHNABEL E3KE3 Johnstown LESLIE W. SEYLAR McConnellsburg NOTE EDGAR W. NICHOLSON Philadelphia Subscriptions to the PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER should be addressed to the Editor. Submit fee KENNETH A. REID either by check or money order payable to the Connellsville Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Stamps not ac­ ROY SMULL ceptable. Maekeyville 4 GEORGE E. GILCHRIST PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER welcomes contribu­ Lake Como tions and photos of catches from its readers. Proper eredit will be given to contributors. H. R. STACKHOUSE Secretary to Board All contributions returned if accompanied by first class postage. C. R. BULLER Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries Pleasant Mount ^ ' === ======—: z^ _~i* IMPORTANT—The Editor should be notified immediately of change in subscriber's address Permission to reprint will be granted provided proper credit notice is given PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER 1 Perhaps an outstanding factor in this It is my conviction that fishing as a increase in fishing interest has been sport offers the maximum in returns on more available time for the average health and contentment. It is an ideal person to indulge in outdoor sports. recreation. Shortening of the working week and re­ ducing the number of working hours a ^ANGLER/ day has made possible for many in­ THE "SPLASH" dividuals, even in the larger cities, an FISHERMAN JULY, 1934 opportunity to fish or hunt. And it is significant that many good fishing *S a rule you'll find fishermen to be a waters are easily accessible from most II mighty considerate group. Sports­ VOL. 3 No. 7 Pennsylvania cities. The automobile manship is a characteristic of the ang­ undoubtedly has also been a factor in ling fraternity that can't be denied. attracting our people to streams and But, just as in any sport, now and then lakes. Within two hours drive of one of those fellows who doesn't give a Scranton, for instance, are some of the hang for the feelings of other fishermen EDITORIAL finest warm water lakes and ponds in on the stream does his share and more Pennsylvania. To enjoy an evening's in spoiling the day's sport. I refer to fishing on one of these lakes, and even­ the angler who splashes through the ing fishing is highly effective for bass water, edges in on another man who has or piekerel, it would not be necessary to carefully worked his way into a promis­ leave Scranton before four o'clock in ing pool, and sees to it effectively that FISHING IS A SOUND the afternoon. Good roads in many trout are frightened so that the man INVESTMENT IN HEALTH sections of the Commonwealth have cut ahead of him has little if any chance driving time considerably, and made the of taking a fish. IME and again we hear the expres­ automobile just that much more effec­ T sion "it is not all of fishing to tive as a method of transportation to fish." Seemingly contradictory at first fishing waters. Fortunately these anglers are not ex­ glance, this quotation assumes the pro­ ceptionally numerous. Unfortunately, portions of a really weighty argument what they lack in number they more for the gentle creed of that patron saint than make up for in noise. It is an un­ of angling, Izaak Walton. There is re Pishing is essentially restful. Cer­ written code of the angling fraternity laxation in fishing second to no other tain features of the sport make it so. that the other fellow merits considera­ outdoor sport. The clean air along a It takes thoughts away from the exact­ tion but for the "splash" fisherman, no fishing stream and the beauty of the ing cares of business. In casting, there code exists save his own. He doesn't go stream itself provide an atmosphere that is always that anticipation of a strike; home with a sportsmanlike catch, and he assures complete rest for the man or in still-fishing, waiting for the instant generally manages to place the other woman who indulges in angling. It is when a bass starts its run to the accom­ fellow in a similar position. a noteworthy fact that men high in paniment of a whirring reel and rod tip public life, professional men and busi­ swishing to the surface, or the slower, ness men who want to relax after a more methodical biting of a sucker or A sporting chance is all the average strenuous day in an office, and others catfish. An atmosphere of calm along fisherman asks and certainly this is who engage in intense mental work find fishing waters is the greatest tonic in within his rights. When he is on the ideal recreation in fishing. the world for frayed nerves and ex­ stream he likes to think things over. If hausted vitality. the fish aren't just hitting right, he doesn't show his temper by lashing the water with vicious casts, and swearing Healthful pastime is one of the out­ at everything in general. Summing it standing needs in modern American The people of Pennsylvania are for­ all up, consideration is the formula for life. Competitive sports provide an out­ tunate in having available for outdoor happy days astream. Just figure that let for this phase of human life in the sports a vast network of streams and there's a big stream with plenty of room larger cities. Wherever available, how­ millions of acres of game cover where for everyone if each fisherman shows ever, outdoor sports hold an appeal that they can fish and hunt. Pollution, it is real angling courtesy. Good sports­ is irresistible to millions of Americans. true, has greatly curtailed our fishing manship will mean happier fishing trips The desire to fish and hunt is an inher­ areas. Thousands of miles of water­ for our anglers. ent instinct that has come down through ways that should provide angling are the ages. Certainly these two oldest unfit for fish life, but there are still sports in the history of mankind are many of our streams, such as the North drawing many additional thousands of Branch of the Susquehanna, that are Pennsylvania men and women to our ideal havens for our anglers during waters and hunting covers each year. their days astream. Commissioner of Fisheries. a PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER LIFE OF THE INLAND WATERS DESTROYERS OF FISH MIDSUMMER sun is reflected from the A water of the reed-fringed flat and to all appearances, life along the shoreline of a central Pennsylvania bass stream has been driven into hiding by the intense heat. Weeks have passed since the last heavy rain storm lashed the buttonwoods border­ ing the stream and sent a wall of brown red water through the flat from the tribu­ tary streams. Drought conditions have been recorded in the pools and riffles by gradually receding levels. In more than one tiny pocket left by the receding waters minnows and other small fish have been trapped and died. Of fish life's greatest destroyers, drought ranks first. But drought is aided in the destruction of life in the inland waters by natural enemies that give no quarter. Fang, scale and feather are leagued against the fishes of stream and lake. Fish-Eating Birds Of the creatures that prey on fish, birds perhaps are the least harmful as a group in Pennsylvania waters. While individually a great blue heron may destroy many fish during its summer visit, this bird is com­ paratively rare. The American osprey or fish hawk is in a similar category, and although the smaller green heron or shikepoke is more THE WATERSNAKE, ARCH ENEMY TO FISH LIFE abundant, its food consists chiefly of toads, frogs, lizards, and occasional minnows have built their nest. Wheeling gracefully ish white, the breast feathers being slightly found along the shorelines. above the flat, the male bird presents a splotched with brown. The upper portions In a lightning-blasted tree stub a short picture of rhythm and power in flight. Its of its body and head and the pinion feathers distance from the stream, a pair of ospreys breast, head, neck and lower parts are gray- of the wings are dusky brown. A dusky stripe ocrurs on each side of the head. As it circles above the stream, the sun accentu­ ates the striking gray-white of its under- plumage. Suddenly its rhythm of flight is broken and the osprey drops like a plumet toward the water. So great is the force of its fall that it is submerged beneath the surface, to rise an instant later with a large sucker in its claws. In the clear water of the flat, many fish are targets for its unerring plunge for prey. Frequently, fish that swim in schools near the surface, such as the sunfish and yellow perch, are taken. More serious in their inroads on inland water fishes are the belted kingfishers. These small, crested birds, not much larger in body than the robin, predominantly blue and white in color and having long sharp bills, stage their forays from branches of trees or stubs overhanging the stream. King­ fishers during the summer take heavy toll of fish life.