duncsdad
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My Dad fished the PAradise when you could only make so many trips per year and had to sign in and all that. At that time they encouraged keeping 1 fish per trip. That fish was measured and replaced with a similar sized fish. They also asked how many fish you caught and they replaced 10% for hooking mortality. The season ended on July 4th.
Each day they signalled the begining of fish hours with a Klaxon horn.
When I started to fish the Paradise, at age 4, there was no more keeping of fish and no more Klaxon horn. My Dad had every Tuesday off and we went to the Paradise every Tuesday. It was a fairly long trip in those days, since, for you Cambria County folks, we lived in Portage.
When it came time to go to college, Penn State was my only choice due to the proximity to the Paradise. I must say, that I probably fished it at least 3 days per week during the school year and then again every Tuesday during the summer layoff.
At one point, Del Graff, trying to add to his resume in a bid to get the promotion to Executive Director (sound familiar Gary Alt fans?), wanted to turn the place that basically introduced America to flyfishing and the Catch and Release philosophy into a two fish use anything including live bait area so that he could push Project Future.
At a meeting at the Stackhouse, over 600 flyfishermen, including some that bussed in from various states, were set to address the Fish Commission and Del with regard to their feelings. However, in a procedural move, Del decreed that since there were only 2 persons there to speak for the change away from the current rules, only 2 persons could speak for those that wanted to keep things the way they were.
I was selected by the group (Lord knows why some college kid got that nomination) along with a gentleman that usually also fished every Tuesday and who I can only remmebr as Pat. Those that were for the changes basically stated that they didn;t want excluded any more form that less than a mile section of water and that Project Future was essential to trout fishing in PA.
My little speech centered around how the basic premise of Project Future had been tried in New York in 1924 as outlined in the book "A Complete Brown Trout" or at least I thin that is what the name of it was -- it has been about 20+ years -- and it failed miserably. Del's answer was that if he couldn;t get this project done in his backyard, then he would have no chance anywhere else in the state.
Pat's speech went a little differently. He outlined that he had been diagnosed with cancer and there was no hope for recovery. His only theropy was to do something that he loved and that something was flyfishing the Paradise. By doing so he had beaten the year-to-live sentence he had been given by 3 years at that point.
I am pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the house when he was done -- except for Del. He flat out said if they the commissioners voted not to make the changes he wanted, he would have the grass mowing stopped (something that was rather essential because of the no wading rule), would stop all stocking (at that time the Paradise got 50 fish per week for hooking mortality, 150 fish before Memorial Day, and a few worn out breeders after they were used the last time), and that no further repairs would be done to any dams, deflectors, or diverters so that the once deep pools whould become no more than what the stream was above or below.
The commissioner voted for no changes and Del said he would make good on his promise.
While we had won somewhat, I saw Pat at his car after the meeting. He was giving away his gear to those that had traveled so far to defend the Paradise. I asked him what he was doinf and he said, " That man just signed my death warrant and want those that came here today to perhaps use this gear to experience some of the joy that it brought me over the last couple of year. I know it won;t be here, but maybe somewhere." He gave me a leather streamer wallet stuffed witht he huge mariboo streams that we used to attract the huge trout up in the woods, where you could only fish from one side.
For about a year we continued to go back the Paradise and fight the weeds and brush to fish for a dwindling number of smaller fish, but I never saw Pat again. One day, I ran into a gentleman that we knew fron Johnstown and asked if he ever saw Pat on the stream. He told me that he had died less than a month after the meeting.
If you would like to hear some other Paradise stories, let me know.
_____________________________
Duncsdad
All Fishermen are liars except you and me. And I'm not too sure about you.
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Hello All! - 
His prices are outragous though.
I shop at Spruce Creek Outfitters and make fun of drake when I'm there too, he just doesn't know it yet.
RE: Hello All! - 
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