More Reasons To Hate This Communist State

I live in PA (unfortunately) and I just purchased my PA and NY licenses online.  The annual non-resident NY license ($40) was only $3 more than what I paid for my annual resident license in PA ($37).  What's up with that Donnie?  We hear all the time about how taxes, fees, tolls, etc. are ridiculous in NY, but look at the price of a fishing license.  The annual resident license in NY is $19, half what it is here in PA.  Just another example of getting shafted by the Commonwealth.  If my family and job weren't here, I would leave immediately.  

my non-rez pa license last year cost me 60 some dollars and even though i used it but a few times, i still think it was worth every penny.  sure wish i lived over with you groundhogs

Its not worth the fine.  On a theoretical level, it is hard to believe that a state "licenses" people to fish. 

aside from the subsidization, don't forget about the stocking programs also.  Right or wrong, PA stocks a ton more fish than NY.  That is primarily trout, but also other species like musky, wipers, etc.
 
Only thing I wish PA would adopt that NY already has done is the lifetime license.  For $300 you can buy a resident lifetime license that is good for the rest of your life no matter where you live (same with hunting, or buy both for $500).  Wish PA had that, as I'd have bought both a long time ago.
 
Thanks,
Rick

I'm not exactly a senior.  In NY there is no minimum age.  If I were able to buy a PA lifetime license now (instead of 65) that would equate to about $10 a year for a license.  Instead, they have lost at least 10 years of license purchases from me since I'll be out of state or out of country for a total of 10 years since I bought my last annual license.
 
Thanks,
Rick

The ONE thing I buy ALL year that I feel I get my money's worth and don't feel like I'm paying too much????
 
My PA fishing license!

I will say the faster we get Fat Eddie out the better

Actually, for a lot of us that live here, "pellethead" fishing is just a part of our fishing season. For me a small part. I do enjoy smashing a few of them now and then, but it is by no means the highlight of my season. Lake Erie and the Bay are filled with a good variety of fish, and the fishing here is year round.
    I can't speak knowledgeably about how PA does or does not "manage" other gamefish. What I can say (from personal experience) is I cream ALOT of fish here in PA......ALL YEAR LONG. Big ones, small ones, native ones, hybrids and crossbreeds. Managed well or not, there's not many placed I'd rather fish. Just my opinion though.

ORIGINAL: RhnstnCowboy

Slickfish,

They make up a small part of my fishing too.  Mosty when ice fishing is over and before smallmouth spawn...   I catch a lot of fish in PA, too, but when I get a chance to go elsewhere I like to.  I have found much better river smallmouth fishing in WV, VA, TN, NC, and KY...  plus more remote caneoing, camping and fishing opportunities. Less people and less hassle from the law. They are my favorite fish to target, so that is usually where I go several times a year...

The upper Allegheny and French Creek are just as good if not better than WV,VA,TN,NC and KY smallmouth waters

If PA went to a lifetime license, they would lose too much future revenue from us younger guys that would jump at that opportunity.  Being fully funded from license sales, it would really hurt them several years down the line.  Not fishing for pelletheads at all, I can say my PA fishing and hunting licenses are some of the best purchases I make every single year!

The Yough has pretty good smallmouth fishing.  I fish it all the time and I do pretty well.  I have fished French Creek and the Upper Allegheny a number of times and it is pretty good water, but to say that they are better than the water in WV, VA, KY, TN, NC etc. just isn't true.  The New, Greenbrier, Shenandoah, Potomac, Big South Fork of the Cumberland, French Broad, Buffalo, Nolichucky, Cacapon (the list could go on and on) are as good if not better than any single water in PA.  (Fished the Susky, too) 

Lake Erie has great smallmouth, too, but I am just not that big a fan of fishing lakes.  Just my personal preference....  I have fished all of the other waters I mentioned several times and I can attest to this...  Plus, just not the fishing, but the overall experience is superior; less people, less trash, less rangers, less pollution, better water quality, better camping opportunities, prettier secenery.  Better overall in my book.  Not "bad mouthing" just a comparison of the places I have fished for smallmouth and just my opinion...   

True that

Rhinestone is a troll.    Don't feed the trolls!

true that

I totally agree with slick . .  .   There is great year round fishin all over PA, If you know where to go you can have a "good" day just about 365 days a year.  Pelletheads are fun while the good bite lasts, but many of the stocked rivers/streams hold fish all year, try off season on the yough or little mahoning ( to name a couple )for trout, I've caught fish in both all year long. The Yough the allegheny and French creek all hold great numbers of nice sized bass, not to mention all the other species you encounter at these places. The numbers of lakes and ponds in the state ( both public and private ) is incredible and the fishin in them can be downright fantastic  !!!   To be honest I think PA is one the best all around fisheries available to us in this little corner of the USA....  So grab a map a pole and some boots, head out there and find some new (to you) water, I'll bet your pleasantly suprised !!!!
 
 
So that said . . . .   $40 for license  Not  Bad !!! . . . .  especially when I get so much use out of it . . . .