Pennsylvania The Keystone State's Offieial Fishing and Boating Magazine Just before the July meeting of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, a flurry of correspondence fell on us related to some proposed changes in Lake Erie fishing regulations for 1982. Most of these seem to have been inspired by a venomous column in the Erie Times News, which used such expressions as, "the silent arts of corruption," and "the sacrilegious hands of the very people entrusted to protect our natural resources." We were likened to Aaron Burr, having come forward "sword in hand, to slash away at the very rigging that holds the flag aloft." Such criticism is unjust and reflects a fundamental misreading of our proposal. The Commission's well-established objectives for the new Lake Erie commercial regulations, effective in January of 1982, were to reduce the commercial catch of yellow perch, increase the size and age of the yellow perch caught by commercial interests, and stabilize the harvest of walleye. To meet these objectives, the Commission imposed several new restrictions, including a quota on both yellow perch and walleye. Thus, 1982 became the base year for data concerning the effects of the commercial regulations. For 1983, we are proposing changes designed in a large measure to give us the flexibility we need to manage the resource and meet our objectives in light of the actual data, which is being gathered and assessed in 1982. The proposed changes for 1983 are very minor in scope compared to the severe restrictions placed on the commercial interests for 1982. Under our law, regulations must bear a rational and substantial relationship to the purposes for which they are established. Where two or more regulatory options exist to accomplish a valid governmental purpose, governmental agencies should generally choose the option that has the least detrimental impact on the private interests to be regulated. The Pennsylvania Fish Commission has been mindful of these fundamental principles in proposing and adopting new regulations for Lake Erie. We are convinced that the Lake Erie commercial regulations, as modified, will continue to meet or exceed our goals for reduction in the catch of yellow perch and stabilize the catch of walleye. Regulations such as these are never intended as permanent restrictions because the fishery is dynamic and constantly changing. Our roles in management and regulation are not made any easier by irresponsible reporting. •Pennsylvania SEPTEMBER 1982 Vol. 51, No. 9 Susquehanna River Shad: Welcome Home by Dave Wolf With a little help from their friends, the American shad is re-findinj; its home in the Susquehanna. Ole Bull State Park by David A. Wonderlich Fine fall trout fishing can be found on Kettle Creek in this state park. River Catfishing in the Keystone State by Curt Sutherly 10 The author provides ideas on how to take these critters in Pennsylvania's larger rivers. Old-Time Bass Flies Still Catch Fish by Don Shiner J7 The author shows how he redesigned and reconstructed these fish- getters with up-to-date materials. The Angler's Poison Ivy Test by Lou Elkes 15 Touch this subject with a ten-foot pole, and you may still be sorry. You'll be safer if you can answer these questions correctly. Fall Brook Trout Fishing by Harry W. Murray 1' The author explains his secrets of brook trout fishing success. The Little Yellow Cranefly by Chauncy Lively 20 Tying and using this fly, which the author "discovered" on the stream, lets you hook more trout. Pennsylvania Tigers by Steve Ulsh 28 The hotspots may be well-kept secrets, but the musky and musky hybrid stocking program is good fall news to all. The Cover Boating 27 The Law and You 22 Mail 25 Book Review 23 Straight Talk 2 Currents 22 Profiles 30 Angler's Notebook 24 Cranefly pattern page 20 Making a musky mad is often the result of fooling him. and the one on this month's cover, drawn by Staff Tom Duran, is just about to throw the lure. Nevertheless, musky fishermen, take heart—there's EDITOR Art Michaels good news on page 28. ART Tom Duran PENNSYLVANIA FISH BOATING ADVISORY BOARD PHOTOGRAPHER Russ Gettig COMMISSION Calvin J. Kern. President John A. Hngva Clayton Buchanan, Chairman CIRCULATION Eleanor Mutch Whitehall Johnstown Pittsburgh .1. Wayne Yorks, Vice Ross J. Htihn Nicholas Apll Benton President Saltsburg Fairless Hills I'OSTMASTKR: Send .1579 forms to Pennsylvania Marilyn Black Robert L. Martin Charles Chattaway I'ish Commission. P.O. Bo\ 1673. Harrisburg, PA Meadville Bellefonte Monongahela 17120. Pennsylvania .inglei (ISSN 003 I-434.X). « 1982. Walter F. Oibbs Jerome E. Southerton Sherwood Krum is published monthly. Second class postage paid at Titusville Honesdale Hawlev Harrisburg. PA. Subscription rates: one year. $5: three years. S!4; single copies arc 50c each. Send check or Leonard A. Green Leon Lyon money order, and all correspondence, to Pennsylvania Carlisle Bellefonte Fish Commission. P.O. Box 1673. Harrisburg. PA 17120. Susquehanna River Shad: .4k by Dave Wolf he shad lies in the currents heavily laden with commercial fisheries. Shad migrated throughout the spawn. Her homing instincts have brought her to Susquehanna and its tributaries as far north as the T the river, the place of her birth. She has spent New York State line. Despite the fact that shad sold four years at sea, and now it is her turn to do her part for 10 to 12 cents apiece back then, commercial fishing to replenish her species. was a successful economic venture. Her journey up the Susquehanna is stopped short, By 1830. the shad runs were in serious trouble, however, below the expanse of the Conowingo Dam. because the construction of dams and canals began to The concrete barrier is too much to conquer. Like her hinder their spawning runs. Later, pollution and use of descendents of the past 50 years, she may be forced to fish weirs, baskets, and other devices took their toll on spawn in the only waters available to her—the waters the shad in the Susquehanna. below the barrier. But her instincts carry her upstream toward the churning discharges of the turbines. She Restoration pulls to her left into the easier currents and finds her In 1866. restoration projects began. The governor way through the open gates that lead her to the fish signed legislation to keep fish passages open, and trap. The trap is being operated by independent biologists at the expense of the Philadelphia Electric Company, urged by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and other agencies interested in the restoration of the shad to the Susquehanna. Within an hour the gates are closed, and she finds herself on an elevator ride. She will then be placed into a stainless steel tank, sorted with others of her species, and moved to another stainless steel tank with constantly moving water. There she waits for transportation that will carry her to the waters of the Susquehanna near Harrisburg, above all four dams, and subsequent release. After her release she moves upriver once more, unhindered this time, in search of suitable spawning grounds. Little does the roe know that environmental agencies and organizations, as well as sportsmen throughout the state, are pinning many hopes on her upstream migration. Shad runs in the past The mighty Susquehanna, often referred to as one of the greatest waterways in the east, has known shad runs for a long time. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Susquehanna hosted the finest shad runs in the east, which supported magnificent Dave Wolf is a Fish Commission Information Specialist in charge of exhibits and media relations. 4 Welcome Home formed the Pennsylvania Fish Commission—a Shaffer announced an agreement, stating that the two Commission that consisted of one individual. Still, power companies operating the Conowingo Dam attempts at ladders and passages met with little would buy a fish collecting facility at a cost of success, and the shad numbers continued to decline. $500,000, and transport the migratory fish to waters Despite apparent failures, there were encouraging above. Another three companies spent $250,000 signs, and on April 23, 1873. an act was passed and over the next five years to collect and plant an signed to establish a three-member Fish Commission. estimated 50 million fertilized shad eggs above all four Susquehanna dams in an effort to develop a run Restoration efforts continued of shad with instincts to return to the upper reaches of Shad rearing and the planting of fingerlings, as well the Susquehanna. The agreement, worked out by the as fishways and ladders, were all experimented with as State Federal Advisory Committee for Susquehanna the restoration efforts traveled the long, hard road of River shad studies and the power companies involved, most conservation efforts. gave the restoration efforts a much needed shot in the Then in October of 1970, Governor Raymond P. arm. "This agreement," the governor said, "is a historic document that marks the culmination of several years of cooperative effort on the part of government and industry to restore the spawning runs of the American shad in both the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers." Governor Shaffer congratulated the Pennsylvania Fish Commission for its untiring efforts concerning the project, and praised the five power companies involved for their cooperation. He stated, "We all hope this decision will result in a series of fish ladders up which the fish will swim to their historic spawning grounds." Initial success On September 4, 1981, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that restoration efforts were meeting with success. Shad had reproduced for the first time in the upper Susquehanna in 150 years! As a result of the cooperative effort of state and federal fisheries resource agencies and the power companies operating hydro-projects, 1,165 adult shad were transported from the Connecticut River to the Susquehanna at Tunkhannock in May, 1981.