Be careful it might happen where you live

Last month a measure to allow New Mexico landowners to restrict angler access cleared the House by a 32-31 vote margin sending the bill to the Gov. to sign into law. Like HB 141 in Utah, SB226 restricts access to rivers and streams that cross private property! This is a trend that started in Montana with Huey Lewis and his friends posting access points on a few streams and finally made it to Montana Supreme Court where it was defeated but not without a lot of support from sportsman and a ton of money. If you think it can not happen here think again money talks and those of us who relay on our free access to streams could be in danger if someone sees fit to close it, a good example is Big Fishing Creek with no Sunday fishing (that's not bad) and the cabin occupied rule ( if the cabin is occupied you can not fish there- now how the hell do you know if someone is there!), our Fish Comm. did nothing! If you see a property owner and your fishing take the time to thank them and for heavens sake pick up any litter even if it is not yours, help us all keep our stream access.
  Another disturbing trend from the PA Fish Comm., now they want to change the delayed harvest areas time when you can keep fish and lower the size to 7" and allow youth to fish bait, these guys will do anything to sell just one more license. With the decrease in anglers due in part to our younger people more interested in electronics than fishing our Fish Comm. needs to take a hard look at the facts, maybe it's time for them to shrink their size and maybe play up the wonderful trout fishing we still have in some of the Special Reg. waters to get more out of state anglers to come and support our business but no they will cuddle up to the neck snappers and change to reg's to make them a bit happier for the time being but our Fish Comm. has no balls to really make good choices for the resource it is all about money and their jobs!

Saw them

Finally saw a few little black stoneflies! I think we might have seen them a bit earlier but due to the ice cover on some of our better stonefly streams they have been absent. If there is or was some open water on White Deer or Big Fishing Creek you might have seem them sooner but the strong ice cover and the very low temps has the hatch off a bit. I am not sure what shape Penn  is in as far a ice covering but the stone flies there have never been a good dry fly occurrence but a small black nymph can do the trick. Any way the Spring melt is going well, not torrents of water just a nice melt and freeze at night slow but sure. Be careful if the stream your going to have a load of very cold water it can put the trout off for a few days due to the influx of very cold water. Let's see what Saturday holds with the rain event.
  Mystery solved! A long time ago I remember an event that happened at the "Hepner Hole" the next hole below Station 22 on Penns, Warrant Wolfe caught a very large pickerel while fishing a streamer, he thought it was a giant trout but it turned out not to be a trout but a member of the pike family, I just do not remember what we did with it, just to many years ago. Well for the last 10 years when I have taken my dogs for walks we have found fish and a lot of them in the small run off braid between the Hepner Hole and the Station 22 road, my Trico would just get in there and chase them but we could never really understand what they were, I have talked to several other guys and they all had the same story. This winter hat a Spring Creek Chapter of TU meeting I was talking to a PA Fish Comm. biologist about the health of Penns and told him about the trapped fish turn out they are juvenile pickerel and that they need to be given flying lessons, mystery solved. If you get a hell of a strike and think you have a monster maybe you just hooked another pickerel!

Just too dam cold to fish

These past few weeks have given most people a good dose of cabin fever and with good reason, most of the streams are ice bound. I know that some sections of Spring Creek are open but it is dam hard to get to the stream without breaking your neck. We get snow then it melts then it freezes sold at night then we get more of the crap, walking to the stream or getting out over an ice shelf is not a easy task.
This next week we are to see some day time temps in the 40's, just be careful because when it starts to melt that influx of cold water puts the fish off for a few days till they get used to the lower water temps, fish the slow "really slow" stuff and when they do take you might not every see or feel it- strike at everything. Be careful as it warms up on Spring Creek because March brings out the spin chuckers in big numbers, heck I even see minnow guys throwing 3" live minnows, have no idea what the hell they are doing but they can be a pain in the ass, no manners! Also remember that after a certain date any stocked section or an entire stream is off limits till the first day of trout, because I'm an old fart I never get a new book of reg's every years, my licence is one and done!
Enjoy- the Fly vs Jerk TV program is on and we are just now getting session 4 and the camera work is wonderful, watch it.