TEN CENTS OFFICIAL STATE VOL. 11 No. 5 PUBLICATION ' AN G LE f? MAY, 1942 ARTHUR H. JAMES PUBLISHED MONTHLY GOVERNOR by the COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF FISH BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONERS Publication Office: Telegraph Press, Cameron & Kelker Streets, Harrisburg, Pa. Executive and Editorial Offices: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Board of Fish Commis­ sioners, Harrisburg, Pa. CHARLES A. FRENCH Commissioner of Fisheries Ten cents a copy—50 cents a year MEMBERS OF BOARD CHARLES A. FRENCH, Chairman Ellwood City ALEX P. SWEIGART, Editor JOHN L. NEIGER South Office Bldg., Harrisburg, Pa. Scranton JOSEPH M. CRITCHFIELD Confluence NOTE CLIFFORD J. WELSH Subscriptions to the PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER Erie should be addressed to the Editor. Submit fee either by check or money order payable to the Common­ J. FRED McKEAN wealth of Pennsylvania. Stamps not acceptable. New Kensington Individuals sending: cash do so at their own risk. MILTON L. PEEK Radnor CHARLES A. MENSCH PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER welcomes contributions Bellefonte and photos of catches from its readers. Proper credit EDGAR W. NICHOLSON will be given to contributors. All contributions returned if accompanied by first Philadelphia class postage. H. R. STACKHOUSE Secretary to Board Entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office C. R. BTJLLER of Harrisburg, Pa. under act of March 3, 1873. Chief Fish Culturist, Bellefonte IMPORTANT—The Editor should be notified immediately of change in subscriber's address Please give old and new addresses Permission to reprint will be granted provided proper credit notice is given A 0^ m \ Vol. 11. No. 5 ^ANGLER/ May, 1942 EDITORIAL Most pleasing indeed is the fine cooperation extended to the fishermen of Pennsylvania by the farmer and landowner of our state. The ever increasing friendly relationship between the fisherman and the landowner only serves to prove that our educational program designed to stamp out the destructive work of careless sportsmen is taking root. Much progress has been made in gaining a better understanding of the problems of both the fisherman and landowner and we feel quite certain that in the future many additional miles of fine fishing waters will again become the mecca for outdoor recreation to the public. Sportsmen generally, are awake to the part they must play in considering the rights and ownership of those upon whose lands they find their sport and it can only be through a medium of diligent cooperation and mutual understanding that the desired end, the removal of the "Trespass Notice," can be accomplished. Keep up the good work! Insist upon your fellow-sportsman playing his part in this program! Be fair and considerate and the future will see few if any streams closed to public fishing. Let us not only confine our home efforts to eradicating the abuse of our streams; but likewise concentrate our efforts in making more and more fine streams available for the day when "our boys come marching home to us again." Commissioner of Fisheries PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER Me j PAN FISH "lings b(j &r „ that t]" s, *s W "asi J*h, fair ( ' foij Ptior ! free r'Vs ^all, fate* 1 SUPPOSE most members of the angling Mi I fraternity started even before the teen tn6 age by fishing with a cut switch rod and °un( cord string line, with sunnies as their i•' giv quarry. I know I started that way, and meant most to us. Failure, taken pi** as when we caught a "whopper", we carried him with a grim determination to find a r^ker home alive in a pail to be deposited in for our errors only helps to spur us % ^ Mother's wash tub where he became a price­ new success. Our failures are often ble~<i, f ' less addition to our home made aquarium, in disguise. Those blank days were *»y where they offered an endless source of blessing because it was through then'agg^ amusement. I well remember a time when we actually learned to appreciate the ten , our tub aquarium contained no less than a panfish as a source of pleasure. 6 Saj dozen sunnies, a sucker or two, a catfish, It has often been said that a cr't and a turtle the size of a dollar watch. These invariably returns to the scene of his f'j Well, we do not ask credit for a cr'| fish were all taken from polluted water. A el rather high sulphuric acid content with the aspect, but we did return to the sc | addition of a high discoloration from mine our first contact with the little pan& our boyhood days. No, we did not ret1* culm made this stream a very unlikely look­ a ing place to find any type of fish life, and the polluted mine waters because j although this condition existed for some life had long before succumbed to tb*f twenty odd years, the persistent little sunnies increasing amount of sulphuric acid sewage dumped into it. Today, when somehow managed to live in it. Suckers, cat­ 5 fish, carp and eels too, managed to get of our streams are so dry that a du ., along under these unwholesome conditions. be raised on their beds, some of the p° streams, especially the one referred to I As a boy I sat for hours watching the have a fair abundance of water. Vvfl actions of these fish in their restricted quar­ curse of proud civilization's haughtt; ters and wondered at the beauty of the vance has seemingly scourged the flfl humble little sunfish taken from such an our streams, still remains a mystery to 1 environment. I wondered why the sucker Needless to say, we found the lit" j lay prone upon the bottom, the "cattie" kept fish living neighbors with the baSs| swimming round and round as a caged ani­ pickerel and on those days when the y mal, and the sunnies stood motionless in lously selective bass were not in a 1' mid-water, only to move when annoyed by to either fight or play we turned i the actions of their less handsome company. pan fish for pleasure. We found the ^| These questions were only a part of the mys­ rock bass, fall fish and perch far more *| teries to be solved as time went on, but at to respond to our efforts with the l1-,! the moment they were the source of great rod. These noble little vest pocket e| wonder, the majestic multicolored sunnies of their larger cousins were more frel always being the chief admiration of our willing to do combat with the drop' boyhood gang. lure that by experience we knew Years passed by and we no longer thought their liking. of the sunfish as majestic, as was the case Why, after all should the bass fa*1"' in our boyhood days. We had grown into so snobbish, and turn their arrogan* manhood and put away our boyish pastime from our well selected lures as thoug , of toying with sunfish and tub aquariums. aristocratic breeding they chose c° \ We had our initiation into the mysteries of more in keeping with their own blue I angling with artificial lures for real fish. code of ethics? After all, these over-sw­ Trout were our main interest now. We eated bass are nothing more than ove*} wanted to pit our skill against real game fish, sunfish, and the walleye is simply a i*1 I so we hunted new worlds to conquer. This and even of uncertain lineage, of the we did with a certain degree of success, family. which accounts for the fact that we were As years roll by, we, by well earl1,! gullible enough to remain with this fishing perience learn that during the heat °.\ game for so many years. Bass and pickerel day during the sultry months of Jyi'L* also received their quota of attention along August, we must if we wish to en]"', with the trout; and there were many red amount of pleasure, discard our '; PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER Le and turn to the pan fish for sport. rod and fine terminal tackle. There was a One of the favorite and most effective ^ay even be the case on an evening different story! These fish had to be played methods is the fly and spinner combination. ten aU indications such as barometer lest the little bamboo stick break or the A small, #0 or Birdseye spinner ahead of K?P"Jin, ' wind, water and temperature point leader part. a bright fly will usually bring results, but ^ a perfect evening for the larger The menu of these gamey little fellows is it must be remembered that they should fish. You will notice, I purposely said as varied as is that of the more sought for be fished SLOW and DEEP. A red ibis fly i., Same fish, thereby indicating my feel- larger game fish, and as long as light tackle in size 12 is our favorite for this procedure. at the lesser pan fish are also game fish is used, the bait may be worms, grubs, Last season we fished one of the editor's | small degree of consideration. crickets, hoppers, and last but not least, favorite streams for pickerel, and not being Pect to hear some roars from the side- leeches. On my last trip to Lake Carey I too successful, turned our attentions to the 1 fi L en we sPeak °^ sPort angling for watched a young lad catch yellow perch rock bass we found hiding in the shadows * -to, ^ut * am convmced that the fel- almost as fast as he could bait with leeches. cast by an old-fashioned covered bridge.