why is it time to lower limits??

I fished all weekend and seen plenty of fish....little harder to catch on account of the visibility but they are there

Thanks for starting this thread. 
 
There are already more than 1 million fish stocked annually. Other things have to be considered like habitat, returns, mortality and angler attitudes. 
 
I used to love fishing for steelhead in Erie. I waited for the run all year. Something happened though, between a decade and a half of combat fishing, catching fish bigger than I ever thought I would, fishing in places like Iceland for huge native trout without another person around, and really starting to think about the process of stocking and the involvement of money in the whole thing. The enjoyment just isn't there for me anymore. When I went to Erie this year I spent more time on the banks than I did in the water. That's me though.
 
I posted this in the other thread before you opened this:
 
I don't think limits are the answer to anything. At the end of the day it's going to come down to the anglers. Anglers who release fish are going to release them no matter what the limit is. I very rarely kept a trout in PA when the limit was much higher. I very rarely keep one now that it's lower.
 
And some people are going to keep fish no matter what the limit is. If they really want to, they'll keep as many as they want without regard to the limit. I've seen it plenty of times.
 
In my opinion, if you are for CPR out of principle, then that's a discussion you should be having with other anglers. It's certainly tough, especially when you're dealing with stocked fish that are paid for with license money.
 
I think anglers should self-regulate, taking into account the most recent knowledge and advice, population numbers, experience, etc. Developing a culture like that takes a lot more than passing a law on a limit in Harrisburg though.

Lower limits?  Hell, I've seen more guys skunked this year than taking out limits.  I don't think I've seen three on a rope this year.  If the same fish is caught again and again, it's not going to survive anyway. What are you going to lower it to? One?  Then if you give one away, to a guy who's driven 300 miles with no luck, you are done for the day?  Ridiculous. And if you make it one, guys will string their first, and if they get another better, let the first half dead one go.  Not  the answer anyway.  The years the east side creeks were full of fish for months in the early 2000's, I saw many limits kept. There are many other factors than folks keeping fish. There were so many fish then, I would give guys two, just to get rid of them.  Talking about my Russian friend.  Nowadays, you can walk many of the eastside creeks and never see a fish for hundreds of yards, if at all.  Or they are all in one little pool, like on 16 mile a couple of weeks ago, which looked like the Walnut Creek Circus.
 

Everyone going hunting tomorrow should be using tranquilizer darts. That way everyone can shoot a nice buck. Just think about how great hunting could be if we everyone used darts. It would be just like shooting fish in a barrel. Maybe the game commision could use all the money they get from licenses and tags to stock more buck. Great big 50 pointers. Everyone can shoot the same buck 27 times

Yep that would be a Great idea.  Then we can have bucks who are adicted to the tranqulizers, and who will jump out in front of hunters just to get their next fix.  And then it won't just be in deer season.  They'll start mugging hunters in squirel season too.  Where will it end?  When the deer start coming in to town and creating a nuisance just to get tranked by the game warden?  And relocating them won't work they will just come back.

If they are catching them legally and using the fish what business of yours is it what someone does with their fish.  If that's all you can find to complain about in the world today I feel sorry for you.
 
Get the laws changed if you want it to be less fish.  I'm assuming people with more knowledge on the subject than you are setting the limits.

My freezer full of'em and I love it!!!!!!! Ahhh...da widdle non-native, farm raised, stocked feeshy got smoked and eatid...BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! 
 
I only keep what I eat and thats all part of MY fishin experience there buddy, you have yours, I'll have mine.

fishink
If all someone is looking for is meat for the freezer, it's a lot cheaper to buy some filets at the local market than to go fishing. At least in the US. When you add up license fees, equipment, gasoline, hotels, food and the value of your time, Erie steelhead is some pretty expensive stuff.

 
I agree and doubt many PA trout anglers keeping fish are just looking for "meat for the freezer" or some kind of financial advantage.   In rural PA there is a rich heritage of farming, hunting, fishing, and living off of our land.  This is what influences myself and most PA anglers I know who keep a few Steelhead each year. 
 
I'd rather eat a few Erie Steelhead a year that I caught and processed myself (PCBs and all), than buy a fish filet from the grocery store that was probably caught on a boat in Asia, shipped half way around the world, and then had who knows what done to preserve it every step along the way.
 

Science tells me there will be more fish if more are put back. Or is it common sense that tells me that?

I go fishing for catch rates. The more fish I catch the better the time I have. They should probably open up a grocery store, Mcdonalds, Or something near you so you don't have to go hungry anymore.
 
Like I said. keeping 1 fish is fine. I highly doubt you yourself goes fishing, enjoys nature, enjoys the fishing. Keeps what he eats, and enjoys a 30 pound steel head meal in one sitting.
 
Tell me why its such a big deal if the keep rate was lowered. Please?

mike55

I go fishing for catch rates. The more fish I catch the better the time I have. They should probably open up a grocery store, Mcdonalds, Or something near you so you don't have to go hungry anymore.

 
you should probably go fish a stocked trout pond or raceway

You do realize that these fish are pretty special right. There are two places on our side of the country you can steelhead fish and erie happens to be one of them. Maybe thats why people come from all over to do it..Ask eries economy you talk about how important these fish are. The more fish the more people that will come to fish them. Tons of fish still but apparently there are not as many as there used to be and thats all people complain about on these boards. I cant tell you how many times I have seen "fishing is not what it used to be, im not coming back" Seriously.... Tons of fish still. We smack em everytime we go up. We also put them back for another day. I agree its not just for me. Its for you two. So keep your one fish, and be happy you greedy "Fisherman"

Its irrelevant to me whether you keep everything you catch or you are strictly catch and release. I personally keep maybe 2 a year and release everything else. My issue is with those who waste the fish. Yes its a put and take fishery and yes there are still plenty of fish but those who keep a freezer full just to throw bad meat out a year later, or take them home to bait traps or use in compost are the ones I have an issue with. They are a living being, hatchery fish or not and deserve more respect than a majority of the jackasses carrying them on ropes.

LoganWade03

They are a living being, hatchery fish or not and deserve more respect than a majority of the jackasses carrying them on ropes.

 
uh oh...I don't want to go all PETA on you Logan, (cause I think they're whack-jobs)  but think about it for a minute.
what do you  think is more "respectful" ?
Killing a fish and dragging it out on the rope?
or stocking obnoxious numbers in shallow,  hard bottom,  gin clear  ditches to be  tortured   by piercing them  with sharp steel, making them  fight for their  life,  playing them  to the point of exhaustion (that often results in  death latter) suffocating  them while pics are taken and hi-fives go'round  then putting them back ...just  to do this OVER AND OVER AND OVER again day and night for 9 months??
 
it would seem to me, the "lucky ones" end up on ropes LOL
 
 
But i can dig what you're saying, i hate to see 'em wasted too.
But the truth is, it's more motivated my own GREED than some "noble" cause
I'd rather they didn't waste and put 'em back  , cause I want MORE DUMB FISH  for ME and my friends  to catch
 
I'm different from some of the posers here...
cause I'm honest and  "out and proud" ...
i LIKE fishing in a bucket
I LIKE not having to walk miles  to catch a bunch of big fish
and I WISH I liked the taste of steel...cause I'd be whacking and stacking my limit every time up
 
 
 
..L.T.A.

I agree with you that peta is a bunch of idiots and I agree with you that their lives in the streams are awful. I'm just saying don't waste em and don't drag them around on a rope and let them suffer, kill them immediately if you are keeping them.