P.ENNSiWM J '•m: % *&i ^r^rwnrm** wmm, /A IAL STATE PUBLICATION OFFICIAL STATE PUBLICATION VOL. XIX—No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1950 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION D it. ivjsion o HON. JAMES H. DUFF, Governor PUBLICITY and PUBLIC RELATIONS J. Allen Barrett Director PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION MILTON L. PEEK, President RADNOR PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER BERNARD S. HORNE, Vice-President South Office Building, Harrisburg, Pa. PITTSBURGH WILLIAM D. BURK MELROSE PARK 10 Cents a Copy—50 Cents a Year GEN. A. H. STACKPOLE DAUPHIN Subscriptions should be addressed to the Editor, PENNSYL­ VANIA ANGLER, South Office Building, Harrisburg, Pa. Submit p PAUL F. BITTENBENDER fee either by check or money order payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Stamps not acceptable. Individuals sending cash WILKES-BARRE do so at their own risk. CLIFFORD J. WELSH ERIE PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER welcomes contributions and photos of catches from its readers. Proper credit will be given to con­ LOUIS S. WINNER tributors. Send manuscripts and photos direct to the Editor LOCK HAVEN PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER, South Office Building, Harrisburg, Pa. S * EXECUTIVE OFFICE Entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office of Harris- 1/ burg, Pa., under act of March 3, 173. C. A. FRENCH, Executive Director ELLWOOD CITY IMPORTANT! H. R. STACKHOUSE The ANGLER should be notified immediately of change in sub­ Adm. Secretary scriber's address. Send both old and new addresses to Pennsyl­ vania Fish Commission, South Office Building, Harrisburg, Pa. * Permission to reprint will be granted if proper credit is given. C. R. BULLER Chief Fish Culturist THOMAS F. O'HARA Construction Engineer Publication Office: Tele graph Press, Cameron and WILLIAM W. BRITTON Chief Fish Warden Kelker Street, Harrisburg, Pa. Executive and Editorial Offices: Commonwealth of ROBERT P. DEITER Comptroller Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fish Commission, Harris- burg, Pa. r? • COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION HARRISBURG, PA. -7 The Angler SAD, BUT TRUE When it comes to catching fish Ym most satisfied; When it comes to eating 'em I just love 'em fried, Pennsylvania's New Fish Broiled, or any other way— Management Program 2 There I call a halt! By Gordon L. Trembley When it comes to cleaning 'em % I, by choice, default. The Schuylkill Flows Green Again 4 When the bobber bobbles, then By Ellen A. Dietrich Disappears, I find • Happy satisfaction that rn is Year Try Ice Fishing 6 Stimulates the mind. By Don Shiner Stimulated thus, I go • Homeward with this thought: p ower or Pleasure 8 Life would be more pleasant if By Keith C. Schjyler Cleaner fish were caught. * T ackle Busters of Hidden Lake 10 When I hear 'em simmering By Richard L. Dolton -% In the frying pan I'm about as happy as S *amp Water II Any fisherman; By Albert G. Shimmel Stimulated thus, I think, » Happy life would be Ki| lers of Inland Lakes 12 If the task of cleaning 'em By Jack Anderson Never fell to me. Ba ss Extraction 14 When I'm full and satisfied By Harry P. St. Clair With the feast, I find • Haunting thoughts of cleaning 'em P,u 9 Memories 16 Pecking at my mind; By G. Linclc Holler Which, to wise philosophers, • Merely goes to show F 'shing Strange Waters 18 When a man is happiest By Dick Fortney He can find some woe. • P B ra- Reptiles and Amphibians . 24 -Bert Pruitt By Hal H. Harrison A Companionship That Will Never Be Forgotten PENNSYLVANIA'S NEW FISH MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Are plantings of young warm-water By GORDON L. TREMBLEY we must remember that they are being fish species such as bass and bluegills Chief Aquatic Biologist fished by upwards of 800,000 anglers needed annually in lakes and streams every year. Since the number of fish­ where those species are already well Pennsylvania Fish Commission ermen increases annually, we feel that established? Why does one water pro­ the value of our waters is increasing duce big yellow perch and another each case studies are made to deter­ too as our lakes and streams are pro­ only perch under six inches? Why is mine existing relationships between viding more recreation for more people it so difficult at times to catch a cer­ the different environments and the every year. tain species of fish in a lake even various species of animals (be it It is possible to put a value on a though that fish is known to be rabbits or bass) in those environments. pound of trout or bass. But the truly abundant? In each case an attempt is then made valuable things a fisherman brings These are but a few of the many to control or adjust the animal popula­ home from a day on a stream or a lake questions which have confronted fish­ tions or at times to manipulate the en­ are not in his creel but in his heart ermen and fish biologists in the past. vironment in such a way that the and any attempt at evaluation of these Steps toward shedding light on these greatest number of hunters or anglers things, fails. Thus it behooves us to and other problems in Pennsylvania may have a maximum sustained yield manage our waters so that they will be lakes and streams are now being taken of hunting or fishing. Expressed simply, most attractive and inviting to our by the Fish Commission in its new fish management aims to provide better fishermen as well as to others who do Fish Management Program. fishing. not fish. In recent years we have heard the The Pennsylvania Fish Commission, Pennsylvania is primarily a state of term "management" used frequently believing that greatest benefits from running waters—thousands of miles of as applied to our forests, our soils, and our public fishing waters can be real­ them. Had it not been that the glacier our game. Much less have we heard ized only when a systematic plan of fish receded after covering only the north­ the term applied to fish. Yet the fishes management is adopted, has authorized ern portion of the state, we might have in our lakes and streams represent a that such a program be undertaken. been further blessed with many lakes. crop just as surely as do the trees and This program, which is financed by As it is, we have somewhere between game of our forests, or for that matter monies from the fish fund earmarked 400 and 500 lakes—that is, standing the farmer's livestock. Experience has for this purpose, got underway last waters. Although we hope, in time, taught us that greatest returns are ob­ June. It is the purpose of this article to include all public fishing waters— tained when a crop is managed. Fish to acquaint Pennsylvania fishermen both running and standing—in our management is essentially similar to with the general scope of the program. fish -management program, we have the management of other animals. In In dealing with our waters today elected to direct our initial efforts in our management program to lakes and ponds of the Commonwealth. This may seem surprising in view of the predominance of streams. Here are the reasons for the decision. Over a period of many years much informa­ tion has been gathered on our streams so that we now know which are suited to trout and which to bass and other, warm-water species. Also we have general data as to the anglers' returns in many streams. This information is on file and is used as a basis for our present stocking policy. More studies are needed on streams particularly on the larger, warm-water ones. On the other hand, our lakes an ponds are pretty much of a closed book to us for very little scientific work has been done on them. In most cases our present information is largely concerned with kinds and numbers of fish stocked together with some data on anglers' catches. The many problems of environmental re­ lationships have not been investigated- This is largely because greater depths in lakes make them more difficult to study than streams. And, finally, we Raccoon Creek Park Lake, Beaver County. This new lake is a project oi the Pennsylvania believe that positive results in fish Department oi Forests and Waters. Initial plantings of largemouth bass, bluegills and bullheads were made here this fall. management are possible in lakes-— PENNSYLVANIA ANGLE* "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" and proof of the value of fish management lies in whether it can produce better fishing. As our waters become better known through studies, we must change some of our present policies in handling them. A typical example of needed management is found in some of our Pocono ponds and lakes where stunted yellow perch are found in large numbers almost to the exclusion of any other species. Obviously the perch in these situations Tionesta Dam, Forest County. Built by the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, as a flood control is an obnoxious species and should be project, this reservoir has furnished fishing for , Cranberry Glade Lake, Somerset County. This eliminated for the same reason that a several game species including muskellunge. Jake was built by the Pennsylvania Game Com­ mission to attract waterfowl. It first filled in farmer eradicates weeds. *a,«>. It has been stocked by the Fish Commis­ sion with only two species—largemouth bass and One of the most useful tools in the ant Lake, Canadohta Lake, Conneaut "'uegill sunfish. hands of the fish biologist today is the Lake, and Pymatuning Reservoir. Al­ use of poisons in eliminating stunted though small in numbers, these lakes an or unbalanced fish populations from are important and include the largest d perhaps more readily than in streams.