w December 1995/ $1.50 Pennsylvania "V Stmigkt&alk The 1996 Summary's New Look There's a new look to the 1996 Summary of Fishing Regulations and Laws booklet that all anglers receive with their fishing licenses. The booklet is now printed in the conve­ nient digest size, it's colorful and more readable, and it contains advertising. When the Fish and Boat Commission approached the General Assembly seeking legis­ lation to address the Fish Fund's critical revenue needs, we were told to look for alterna­ tive sources of revenues. One of the first ideas identified by several members of the General Assembly was the idea of putting advertisements in some Commission publications. At the January 1995 meeting of the Fish and Boat Commission, the Commission di­ rected the staff to explore including advertising in the Summary booklets, distributed to the more than one million purchasers of fishing licenses. We surveyed all the other states and found that, of those responding, most states had some sort of advertising program for publications similar to the Summary of Fishing Regulations and Laws. In a few states, the advertising revenues covered the entire cost of the publication; other states had more Peter A. Colangelo modest programs. Executive Director Under state purchasing procedures, the Commission had to open competition for a contract Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission to publish the Summary to firms from across the country. The Commission issued a re­ quest for proposals to more than a dozen firms seeking bids to undertake the work of sell­ ing advertisements, laying out, publishing and distributing the Summary. Although we received expressions of interest from many companies, only two firms submitted propos­ als. After a thorough evaluation following state contracting procedures, WJF Marketing Services of Lebanon, Oregon, was selected as the contractor because of lower costs and a better technical proposal. WJF is the publisher for similar publications in several other states. We completed the contract in late July 1995. Since the new Summary has hit the streets, we've received about 30 phone calls and letters, mostly from fishing license issuing agents. Several issuing agents expressed dis­ appointment that they were not contacted to purchase advertisements in the new Sum­ mary. The Fish and Boat Commission gave the contractor the list of all issuing agents as a potential source of advertisers. WJF contacted many potential advertisers, but be­ cause of the tight publication schedule in the first year of this program, they did not contact all the issuing agents. Several issuing agents who were contacted declined to partici­ pate in this new program. All issuing agents will have the opportunity to place ads in the 1997 Summary. A few issuing agents have expressed reservations about Summary booklets contain­ ing ads for their competitors. This is a new program, and we understand their concerns. The Commission wants to ensure that each purchaser of a Pennsylvania fishing license receives a Summary. The angler is already in the agent's business when he or she pur­ chases the license and receives the booklet. Obviously, distributing the Summary does not reduce business from those customers. Most issuing agents already sell or distrib­ ute publications that contain advertisements, and the business impacts of the Summary are no different. The Fish and Boat Commission does not endorse any product or ser­ vice advertised in the booklet. If we had continued the old format for the Summary, it would have cost the Commis­ sion more than $60,000 more than we spent for this new format. We hope to save even more next year as the booklet attracts even more advertisers. It's sometimes hard to get used to something new, but we don't believe the new format detracts from the important information in the Summary. Considering the tight schedule for the first year of production of this new format, we believe the vast majority of anglers will be pleased with the new look and won't object to the ads. For next year, we promise that our contractor will do even better in making sure that everyone who wants to adver­ tise in the booklet has the opportunity. The Commission wants to thank all its issuing agents and all the purchasers of fishing licenses for their understanding and support. ?>**a. (Po&^ylo- December 1995 Pennsylvania Angler December 1995 Vol. 64 No. 12 Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Howard E. Pflugfelder Pennsylvania President New Cumberland Donald N. Lacy Vice President ANGLER. Reading The Keystone States Official fishing Magazine ^^ Donald K. Anderson Meyersdale Making Jigs by Darl Black 4 Samuel M. Concilia North East Ross J. Huhn Northeast Corner Trout Lakes by Mike Bleech 8 Saltsburg Paid J. Mahon Clarks Green On the Water with Carl Richardson 12 EnochS. "Inky" Moore, Jr. Newville Index to Pennsylvania Angler Volume 64 Leon Reed Honesdale William J. Sabatose (January 1995 Through December 1995) 13 Brockport J. Wayne Yorks Benton Mid-Winter Blue-Winged Olives by Charles R. Meek 15 Boating Advisory Board Gary Miles Innovative Ice Fishing byGlennSapir 19 Chairman North East Green Drake Season by Frank Sincavage 22 Gary Babin Lancaster Clayton Buchanan The Royal Wulff by WaltYoung 25 Pittsburgh Thaddeus Piotrowski Bloomsburg SMART Anglers Notebook^ Carl Richardson 31 Vincent P. Riggi This issue's front cover, photographed by Mike Bleech, shows Worth Hammond Clarks Summit with a 3 1/4-pound brook trout he caught through the ice in a northern tier lake. Ex Officio members: Details: Page 8. Peter A. Colangelo, Executive Director; John F. Simmons, Director, Bureau of Boating; North Branch Susquehanna River Walleyes John C. Oliver, Secretary, Department Walleye anglers in northeast Pennsylvania have a lot to look forward to. Robert of Conservation and Natural Resources E. Moase, Commission Area 4 Fisheries Manager, and Fisheries Technician Tim Magazine Staff Copeland surveyed the North Branch Susquehanna River last October. They were Editor—Art Michaels Editorial Assistant—Charlene Seifert initially planning to survey smallmouth bass so they could compare new data • with information gathered from summer samples. Instead, they found walleyes- Art Director—Ted Walke tons of them. • "We electrofished at two sites, Tunkhannock and Wysox," Moase says. "At Circulation—Eleanor Mutch the Tunkhannock site our electrofishing catch rate was 202 walleyes per hour. Circulation—Patti Copp At the Wysox site it was 247 per hour. This catch rate is the highest I've seen. Staff Assistant—Rose Ann Bartal In the past a good walleye catch rate for electrofishing was about 30 or 40 per Staff Assistant—Nita Lynch hour. This is a super year." Regular contributors Darl Black From Sunbury upstream to the New York state line, the North Branch flows Mike Bleech about 164 miles, with another small portion in Susquehanna County. Moase Charles R. Meek electrofished young-of-the-year walleyes, each about six to nine inches long. Vic Attardo "By the fall of 1996, some of those fish will be legal-sized, based on growth Pennsylvania Angler (1SSN0031-434X) is published monthly by the Pennsylvania Fish &. Boat Commission, 3532 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17109. ©1995. studies we've done in the past," Moase says. "In 1997 there should be a lot of Nothing in this magazine may be reprinted without the written permission of the legal-sized walleyes in the North Branch." Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Subscription rates: one year, $9; three years, $25; single copies are $ 1.50 each. Second class postage is paid at Harrisburg, What's more, Moase was working with a crew of one, which means only one PA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Pennsylvania Angler Circulation, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106- person aboard the survey boat was netting fish at the bow. 7000. For subscription and change of address, use above address. Please allow six weeks for processing. Send all other correspondence to: The Editor, Pennsylvania "When I was netting, I couldn't keep up with the number of fish there. The Angler, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000. Editorial queries and eontributioas are welcome, but must be accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelopes. Material catch rate would have been ever higher if we had been working with a full crew accepted for publication is subject to Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission standards and requirements for editing and revising. Submissions are handled carefully, but with another person netting fish." the publisher assumes no responsibility for the return or safety of submissions in his possession or in transit. The authors' views, ideas and advice expressed in this Moase says there will be some natural selection there, and we will lose some magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinion or official position of the Pennsylvania of these fish. "But even so," he says, "there's a pile of fish out there. Fish & Boat Commission or its staff. The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission receives federal aid in sport Fish restoration. Under appropriate federal acts, the I think it's a banner year. I'm making jigheads and gearing up for it. U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap. If you believe that you have been discriminated We're buying another freezer here."-Art Michaels. against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire more information, please write to: The Office of Equal Opportunity. Department of the Interior, Washington. DC 20240. December 1995 Pennsylvania Angler Makjng by Darl Black mm Homemade bucktail and marabou jigs My first homemade jig made history. It was April 1973. I was The combination of wet marabou and bucktail, badly chewed participating in my first bass tournament with the Quaker City by the big fish, was not a pretty sight.