Trout stocking

I hear what you are saying wf about 4 or 5 years ago I helped stock salmon creek in forest county I carried a bucket about 200 yds up stream and when I got back I got a ten minute lecture from the warden for going so far from the bridge and he said no doubt some of them would die. in the mean time the local trout club was trying to set up there float stocker and they had buckets of fish sitting there on the bank well they were trying to fix something and the warden said absolutly nothing to them. I told him when he was done lecturing me that they need to quit whining about never having any help when they treat people like this and he just laughed at me.needless to say they can stock there own fish from now on as far as I am concerned.

My grandfather likes to help stock trout in the local streams, and this year since i was off of work i tagged along to a stream i haven't fished in years. they put a big pally, 20+ inches at every stop. But the real thing that bothered me about it was that, instead of putting it in a bucket, the warden just netted it, and then preceded to walk casually to the stream. the one died, and i know one walk was about 200-300 yards from the stopping point, but not sure if that fish survived or not. But the warden is actually a nice guy, and some people told him that unless the stream is right by the road that it isnt good for the fish and he stopped doing this. But from the sounds of it, the warden that SF and WF dealt with were just ignorant, and is just another reason for people to not help them. just my 2 cents

I would have said upfront that I,m taking some fish away from the first pool ,or not helping.
You do get alot of grief with the volantires.
Some are real lazy.The nearest spot he goes to.
But I see no harm if a guy wants to put some away from the truck followers.

Please, I know this is a tad long, but read...

I had a conversation with a warden this year after getting checked for my license (has happened twice now by the same warden.  I didn't have it on display the first time because I didn't want to poke holes in my wading jacket.  Received no fine because I was of course respectful.)  The next time, I didn't have my usual gear on and was wearing a cut off ;) and a bandanna, however, did have my license displayed.  I then asked him what he thought the fish were feeding on (the fish were rolling on the bottom and nudging nymphs and larvae)... he said probably worms, minnows, and crayfish hahah.

I am perplexed with most commissioners lack of knowledge of aquatic life, trout diets, and just general knowledge at all... they've become so accustomed to stocking fish in waters that don't support fish, worse yet, stocking in class b's that do support repro, and checking licenses on guys like me who don't even touch a fish after it's caught.  I simply turned the hook out out of three stocked trout in front of him before being checked the second time.  Yet, the fellow downstream with three on a stringer was not bothered because he was wading in some fast water. 

And these guys all supposedly have degrees in biology, and better yet, the majority come out our beloved Penn State.  What a joke...

... on an even bigger tangent.  I have some physical problems and receive some narcotic and schedule 4 drugs on a monthly basis.  Upon a routine drug screen that is randomly done to ensure no abuse, the nurse came in and asked me if I had taken any drugs other than what the doc prescribed (which is percocet and Klonopin).  I replied no and asked what the tox screen was showing.  She said, Oxy... I said, um, yea, percocet is oxycodone and metabolizes as oxy.  She replied no, only oxycontin and roxicodone do that and my screen should show hydrocone, which of course is vicodin.  She then asked another nurse who agreed with her.  I started to get a little mad and said to get the doctor.  He of course explained that all was okay, and I'm sure was embarrassed his patient, who doesn't even have a degree in the health field, knew more about drug metabolites than his nursing staff.  They apologized a dozen times and said to each other, maybe we should get on google tonight and write this stuff down.

GOOD OLD AMERICA! nurses with degrees who can't even distinguish what pain meds metabolize as administering and distinguish the results and wardens who don't even know what a nymph is.   

i can assure that someone w. a bio degree today, if they are to be a fish commissioner, should know something about fresh water aquatics with everything going on today.. if not, maybe they should rethink the credential requirements. 

DuUd,

WCO's do NOT generally have degrees in biology. And they are NOT commissioners.

If you want to regale us with your genious, at least get your facts straight.

By the way minnows are often found among the rocks/gravel, and trout ( browns in particular ) DO eat crayfish.

i never said it WAS a requirement, I said maybe they should RETHINK.  they're all idiots in my eyes.  Far better things to be doing oppose to riding around checking licenses at access points.

ugh... dude, I understand all of that.  All I was trying to state is that maybe wco's/pfbc should start to focus on other things of more importance and some are incompetent when it comes to fishery knowledge.  Sure, those enforcing the law don't need it, but shouldn't they have it?  Is that all there is to being a WCO?  Writing tickets?  Driving around at access points?  They sure as heck don't patrol any areas that their money is not invested into. 

of course you'll say, why should they...

conversation over... redundant.

In the streams I've fished, the inches were all in goldens.  A few bows in browns in the 15+ but nothing over 20.  

Most fish wardens do not have a degree in Biology.......and I would bet most are not in depth anglers........they are Law Enforcement Officers.......bottom line.......

Scampbells88--I'd dare say you have no clue or idea as to what a WCO does or doesn't do.....if you are so much better......take the civil service exam and provide some quality service to the residents of the Commonwealth of PA....

Stocking Note-- 2 minutes in the bucket.....that is all..........so, even if the stocking helper or WCO is taking a stroll with the fish-- he or she is to STOCK the fish within' 2 minutes of being given the bucket......

You would be surprised where our WCO's come from..........some do have in depth knowledge of fishing and fishing skills.......others do not.....some have awesome boat handling skills, while others do not.......the bottom line is that if you want a job with benefits you take the civil service exam........if you do well, you might be offered a job........all trainees receive many many months of training (police academy and then 6 months or so with the Fish and Boat Commission learning PFBC laws, rules, regs...etc....there is plenty of training on wetlands, pollution, fish ID etc....) so, the officers are trained but most are not going to be able to tell you a sulphur from cahill.......some will.......the officers come from all walks of life and certainly earn their paychecks.........anyone who thinks or even states, all they do is drive around.....certainly has no clue as to what these men and women do on a daily basis......remember....67 counties with what, maybe 80 full-time officers.........do the math....how can you cover every stream.....every minute.........the bottom line is this....most folks don't want to do this thankless job........they, PFBC try to put classes together when money allows........and even so, if they start with 12 cadets, they may only graduate 9.......people just say---not worth the money.........

and believe you me........I am not a fan of the PFBC........just get educated before you start spouting off about something you know absolutely nothing about

I also helped stock a well known local trout stream last week.   For the most part, the stocking crew was very receptive on where to put the fish.  They had a set amount of buckets that they typically put at each stop, but they'd let us carry the fish up and down stream from the bridges, and when we told them one hole was pretty heavily fished, they went ahead and put 5 extra buckets at that stop.  They even asked where a good place to stock was at one hole they were unfamiliar with.

Now that said, this stream had 2 truck loads of fish stocked in it, and only 16 large fish were put in total.  10 breeder Rainbows 16" to 20" and and 6 large browns in the same size range.   They said that no Palaminos are stocked after the opener.   I think the whole "bigger fish" think is totally bunk.  Who cares if the average trout went from 11" to 12".  Does that increase anybody's fishing experience?   They still put way too few large trout in.   I'd rather they cut the amount of average sized fish in and put in more lunkers.  I've already caught about 100 trout so far this season, and only 2 were nice fish.  One 20" Palomino and one 16" rainbow.      I think one out of every 10-15 fish should be 16"+, and they should put in more 20" fish.  I've been trout fishing for 30 years, probably caught 1500+ trout, and seen thousands more caught and I've only ever seen 2 trout ever caught over 24".     Catching something I'd consider worth mounting is almost impossible as things stand right now.

Keep the average fish the same size, stock maybe 15% fewer of them, and replace those fish with an equal dollar amount of trophy trout.   For these things I stand.... 

well forgive me 2b... you are retired from the pfbc aren't you? must have hit the sour spout.

I still think the ones in the counties I frequent are dumb... dumber than steel.

if thats how you feel you should tell them that when you see them and explain what you expect of them. im sure it will help. just sayin'

I'm sure they'll really know i mean business when I tell em that I'm so important that a friendless old man has devoted his entire life to waiting around on the internet to respond to everything I post on one website. When I mention the name commander, they're probably likely to collapse in awe and respect.

Seriously, dUUd, I'm glad that trying to pick apart my posts is one of the few things keeping you from sinking into the abyss of loneliness and depression, all alone in your basement.

ORIGINAL: Cold

I'm sure they'll really know i mean business when I tell em that I'm so important that a friendless old man has devoted his entire life to waiting around on the internet to respond to everything I post on one website. When I mention the name commander, they're probably likely to collapse in awe and respect.

Seriously, dUUd, I'm glad that trying to pick apart my posts is one of the few things keeping you from sinking into the abyss of loneliness and depression, all alone in your basement.

just curious. do you really think anybody pays that much attention to your posts? tell the authorities. crying here wont help. just askin' just sayin'