Brown trout swim onto the scene

Brown trout swim onto the scene
By Bob Frye
TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, March 2, 2008

Ask most anglers and they'd probably say Erie's steelhead fishery is one of the best of its kind. But could it be even better?

We're apparently going to find out. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is embarking on an effort to further improve the fishing by mixing in a few brown trout.

Dave Miko, chief of the commission's bureau of fisheries management, said the agency hopes -- no later than 2009 -- to begin stocking 50,000-100,000 brown trout each year in Lake Erie itself or its tributary streams.

"We're looking at this as a way to bolster that steelhead fishery and provide some variety," Miko said.

Anglers already catch some brown trout in Lake Erie and its tributaries. Those may be fish that grew to adulthood after being stocked as fingerlings by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation or the 3-CU cooperative nursery in Erie, Miko said. They might be adult fish stocked by the Fish and Boat Commission, too.

But if the Fish and Boat Commission adds fish to the mix, catches could go up, Miko said.

There are still some things to work out, however. Chief among them is how and where the commission is going to raise the fish.

Sportsmen will handle part of the work. The 3-CU nursery raises 14,000 brown trout for the commission each year now. A new group, the Wesleyville Nursery on 12 Mile Creek, wants to raise 10,000-12,000 more.

The get to 100,000, though, the commission would have to raise 25,000-75,000 fish on its own. It's unclear which hatchery or hatcheries -- if any -- can handle that, said Brian Wisner, director of fish production for the commission.

"I think if you're going to put this effort into Erie, you're going to need another hatchery. Period," said commission president Bill Sabatose of Jefferson County.

Commissioner Sam Concilla of Erie County said he's not advocating that yet. For now, the answer might be to partner with sportsmen and local municipalities to create another cooperative nursery in Erie, he said.

Also to be determined is whether to stock fish in spring or fall and where to put them. One option is to release them into the main lake and Presque Isle; another is to put them into its tributary streams.

"The question is, how do you get the best bang for your buck?" said commissioner Bob Bachman of Lancaster County.

Concilla said he hopes to see some brown trout stocked as soon as this fall while those details are worked out.

"I'm all for it," he said.

The idea of stocking brown trout into Lake Erie is so new that no one asked the agency's hatchery staff last fall to factor the additional fish into the "crop" hatched then.

That means it's unclear how many trout, if any, the hatcheries will be able to supply for stocking in Erie this year. That answer won't be known for another month or so.

The commission wants to track how many of its brown trout wind up on the end of anglers' lines, though, so any fish that are released will be fin clipped. Anglers will be asked to report their catches via a resurrected Lake Erie log program or an open lake angler survey. Commission crews will also count the brown trout they see while collecting steelhead brood stock in Trout Run and Godfrey Run each November.

Bob Frye can be reached at bfrye@tribweb.com or 724-838-5148.

ORIGINAL: ShutUpNFish

Here we go....expect the prices of our licenses to go up next year!

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the browns stocked!  But I can't stand the constant attitude and search for excuses for seeking for more funds in this state fish/game!  I say stock 100,000 less steelhead and replace them with the browns....The streams are already un-naturally overrun by steelies.  Not that I'm complaining, just saying it wouldn't hurt.

Bottom Line....expect a license increase in '09 if this all goes through...mark my words.

And quit whining about the pressure, deal with it, it will always be there