IT'S OVER !


 
 
 Looks like sad news for the future Walleye fishing on the lower Shenango River. I've posted before that the Walleye fishing below the dam has been on a downward spiral the past three years. Numbers have dropped and no one seem to know why. Well it's been figured out and it's not going to get better for the future ! As a matter of fact I see no Walleye future for our river. I wrote the Fish Commission and found out that the stocking of Walleye seized in 2007 and they will not be stocking any more in the near future ! One of the best Walleye fishing areas has been depleted and halted by our Pa. Fish Commision ! They are blaming the high PCB testing count in Carp and Catfish. What else is new. They say the Walleye are also on an advisory of one meal per month . Basically the same as Erie Walleye fish eating advisories nothing new to most fishermen for the past twenty years. This was his last comment......... "The PFBC has a limited number of Walleye fingerling to stock each year. We decided that we wanted to achieve the highest amount of angler use from the Walleyes we stock. Therefore, in the Beaver River drainage, we have targeted our large reservoirs as the best place to stock Walleyes so that the largest number of anglers possible have access to them when they reach legal size. We stock Pymatuning Reservoir, Shenango River Lake and Lake Arthur with the maximum allocation each year to improve and maintain these fisheries. 10,000 Walleye fingerlings is a substantial commitment. Combining the finite number of Walleye we can produce in one year with the consumption advisory and the short duration of the fishery (a couple of weeks after the season opener), I decided that the large reservoirs were a better use for these fish. We will not be stocking Walleye fingerlings in this area in the near future, unless new sampling from DEP shows a decline in the contaminants in fish flesh." .......Great news to the future river fishing huh  ?  I would like to thank the Pa. Fish Commission for worrying about our health instead of improving our fishing in this state. One of the highest Walleye producing areas for decades and enjoyed by all wading fishermen young and old has been shut off the Walleye stocking list !  As far as Shenango Lake goes the Walleye fishing for me anyway has been about good as the Dead Sea. Nothing better than fishing a lake where jet skiers and ski boats blow by you at warp speed ! I bet those huge White Bass schools that plague Shenango Lake can't wait to devour those Walleye fry. Over the years I've seen more legal Walleye caught in the Sluices in one week than most local areas can produce in a year. Why would anybody shut off that kind of great fishing ? Probably someone who doesn't fish locally and has never seen the Shenango River Walleye night frenzy ! That will not be the case any more along that river. Seems a shame that a long time good steady producing Walleye fishing area gets the "coup de grace " from our own Fish Commission.

The Good Old Days On Shenango River ! As you can see this stocking program was working and producing steady legal Walleye every year.......take a good look cause the Fish Commission killed it !
















 
 That's right I'm going to eat a bunch of fresh river deep fried Cajon Walleye , smoke a cigar, and have a shot of Captain Morgan's rum with a cold beer ! We'll probably sit around and talk about all the Walleye we use to catch in the river till the Fish Commission screwed it up !!!!

Feeling your pain Captain...............
 
Check out the "Approved Year Round Trout Stream"  county guide for Mercer County then check to see if the trout are listed on the advisories for consumption.  I wonder if the trout stockings will cease also?
 
http://fishandboat.com/county.htm
 
Interesting as to how stupid the PFBC (PGC for that matter) people think we are.

I hear that ..........   This is the man who shut it down. This was his  reply ..............." I decided that the large reservoirs were a better use for these fish.  We will not be stocking Walleye fingerlings in this area in the near future, unless new sampling from DEP shows a decline in the contaminants in fish flesh."

I'm sorry I don't have better news.  If you have further questions on this matter feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Timothy A. Wilson
Fisheries Biologist
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Fisheries Management Area 1
13240 Hartstown Road
Linesville, PA 16424
814-683-1036
tiwilson@pa.gov

So no fingerlings make it through the gates?  I thought that was how the river got its fish in the first place.  Everyone has their own fishery they care about, but few of us get to pick where the commission puts our money.  I fish Arthur primarily, so the walleye stocking is good for me, as much as I target walleye.  Which is to say I don't.  If I had my way PA would stop stocking pellet heads entirely, since they are BS and the people who fish for them tend to be garbage strewing, line tangling, kayak owning aholes.  But if they did that fishing in the state would grind to a halt.  We're all at the mercy of fisheries we don't care about or care for.  
 
I live spitting distance from the pothole formerly known as Hereford Manor.  They needed several million dollars to rebuild that dam, and instead they drained it and now people walk their dogs there.  In addition to being a dependable year round pellethead depository, there were quite a few other fish there.  And the whole area benefited from the commerce.  
 
Whatareyougonnado though.

Not likely repairs being made on anything (not designated flood control (Tamarack)) but the Susquehanna River as that is John Arway's pet project since he was rocketed into office.  
 
As for stocking fish in the rivers; John holds a masters in biology and belongs to and supports special interest groups that push their agendas like Bass and Trout.  Ya wanna catch walleye in the future you will have to go to Lake Erie!  
 
The Susquehanna is a great bass river but suddenly started producing 'crosseyed bass' having 'multiple anal vents' and 'no lips'!  I'm guessing, after the cost of 'resurrecting the Susquehanna' so it meets 'BASS MASTERS' requirements as a 'Trophy Bass' fishery, there won't be money to repair any dams.  New boat launches, fish habitat and fighting municipalities to upgrade their sewage/runoff systems along the river's banks cost a lottttttttttt of money!  

Maybe some small fish or fry can make it through the gates. I'd have to say most would more than likely die from the pressure and impact of the sluices design. The Shenango River was receiving Walleye fry for years somewhere in the 5,000 to 10,000 numbers steady. Not really a large number compared to Shenango Lake or Pymatuning yearly stockings. I just can't understand how one sees a stocking program actually working and producing good number returns to fishermen gets shut off ! These Walleye were reaching maturity or legal size steady year after year with those stockings. I'd say about a five year cycle or more .  Shenango Lake gets up to seven million fingerlings and higher, and if your not seeing the numbers returning in catch ratios that's a problem. I have nothing against stocking Shenango Lake load it up with millions of Walleye, but why shut down the lower river when it's actually out producing the lake in over all numbers. I personally witnessed in 2009 over a hundred legal Walleye taken from the outflows the opening week ! The Walleye numbers where crazy from about 2008 to 2010 . Fantastic was the word from most fishermen those years. You wouldn't see a hundred legal Walleye taken from the lake in a month of fishing. Shenango Reservoir is strictly an early morning to late evening fishery due to unlimited horsepower , jet skies , ski boats. Once again it just doesn't make common sense to me, and I'm sure many others, to have such good Walleye fishing area shut off from future stockings for a bunch of phony excuses. 


Lots of room now to fish ! Just no fish to catch !  Oh wait I'm wrong...... tiny stocked Trout and native Pan fish !

No more stocking of these also !

 

brock, did the state say what or who was the cause of the introduction of pcbs into the water?
are there any plans to try to clean it up?

Many people know 'the outflow' area produced great fishing and the PFBC knew it too.  We know the PFBC can't just raise the cost of a fishing license when they want.  But; the PFBC can designate any body of water (they desire) to "Trout Approved Waters".  Wasn't long ago that the PFBC biologist determined waters, coming from the bottom of lakes such as Shenango would be cold enough to sustain a fishery at the dam outflows for trout.  Trout stocked waters produce income via the "Trout Stamp"!  Doesn't matter if  an angler fishes but one day, one week, only for or, never for trout.  The angler still has to purchase(except for those senior license holders pre-2015) the annual "Trout Stamp" to fish "Trout approved streams/rivers".  It is unlawful to fish in rivers and streams designated as approved trout waters open to year-round fishing without a current trout stamp.................  What a crock that is!
 
Your walleye Captain will have annihilated the trout population so the plan called for (beginning in 2007) purging the river of the toothy critters and eventually determine (it's a miracle!!) trout could survive (at least one day) at the outflow.   
 
Stop and think, of all the money spent on buying/raising/stocking trout and all the trout that perish for reasons other than getting hooked.............  what a waste of money.  Yeah... yeah I know 'the biologist' conduct mortality and so-called relocation surveys and to that I say phooey.  Those surveys are usually conducted on streams/rivers/lakes, when the PBFC needs an excuse to reduce/stop stocking one area so they can screw up other popular waters with the "Designated Trout Water" hooey.
 
While I'm on the subject; what's up with all the "restocking" horsecockey anyway, nobody with a half-a-brain fishes for trout past the first week? (nobody with a whole brain fishes for trout at all)  Sooooo, what's the need to restock all the lakes/river/streams with such(been told) a nasty tasting fish?  
 
Silly me, ya don't suppose 'Uncle Charlie' has a "put-n-take" fish hatchery too..............................  I gotta go!

BTDT you been attending the ZelieSam school of telling us how you feel?  TESTIFY!  
 
In my book, there are SO many places that are lacking any sort of fishery that you should never need to screw with one that HAS a good fishery.  And that place has never been a secret, but has a healthy amount of fishing pressure throughout the years.  Fish off the walleyes and everything else and replace with pelletheads and what happens?  Wall to wall troutiots slipping on rocks and drowning in the spring instead of guys that know enough about the river to wade safely.  That's just dumb.