I had the opportunity to talk over pending changes in the Pennsylvania outdoors with WCO Jonathan Kay of the PA Fish and Boat Commission recently. The reason for the meeting was to help arrange a Boating Safety Class which would lead to a boating safety certification card. The card is required for anyone that wants to operate watercraft over 25 horse power or any of the personal water craft that you see on the rivers, some lakes designated for that use and on the seashore areas. During the dialogue, we found that some of our local fishing waters would also have some changes starting this year.

According to WCO Kay the Glade Run Lake will be opening for trout season on April 15th. The lake will have plenty of restrictions to start out their new beginning. If you have followed the saga of the lake you will find that its future was pretty dismal several years ago, and now it is reborn after Herculean efforts by both dedicated Pennsylvanians in the form of private individuals, formed groups, local public officials and the state government. There will be limitations to the fishing that primarily will make it a trout only lake until the lake and its fish population matures. The PFBC will reintroduce pan fish, bass and some other species as a restocking project and as they become self-sustaining. Thus, until that happens it will be a no harvest waters for all species but stocked trout!

Another local change will be at Harbor Acres Lake on Game Lands 95 near West Sunbury. According to WCO Kay it will be shut down to all fishing from March 1st until the opening day of trout on April 15th, 2017. The lake had been part of an earlier fishing experiment but the PFBC scrapped the programs due to angler complaints about fish mortality and poaching activities. It appears that humans do need to be monitored lest they abuse a good thing and once a resource is gone it is gone! Which brings up Pymatuning Lake in Jamestown, PA. They have set limits on the crappie fishing at this once widely known hot spot for pan fish and walleye. The anglers that fish the lake on a regular basis have noted that the size and numbers of fish have been dropping. The primary cause is once again angler pressure and over harvest. The limits used to be 50 crappies and any size but it has been reduced to 20 crappies (combined black and white) with a limit of 9 inches in length. I have witnessed fishermen set up what appeared to be a commercial like effort to fill 5 gallon buckets of fish for every one fishing. Really … now that really brought a new meaning to the phrase over kill.

I happened to see the results of a highway wildlife road kill incident. Many times, the unfortunate collision of a deer or some other critter results in the animal’s untimely death as they try to cross our busy highways. The carcass of these animals often is not removed and the end results are that they attract other species of wildlife that are coming over to the roadways for a free meal. This of course places them in danger of collision with cars and trucks as well. The result of this chain reaction was never more evident than when a deer met her demise nearby in Butler County. I frequently pass the area and watched as the deer was not removed and a series of scavengers feasted on the deer. A few raccoons and an opossum met their demise and then a fisher.

Fishers have been reintroduced into our area from northern tier areas by the PGC. Until you have seen a fisher in person you cannot appreciate just what the animal is all about. The one that I saw was a large male and about three feet long and looked very much like a badger or wolverine in form with a primarily black color. Powerful forearms, teeth and claws made this guy someone that I didn’t want to mess with. However, he was no match for a two-ton pickup truck. He certainly could take care of a porcupine that is one of his food sources, in fact I believe that the fisher can and will eat any critter that has the misfortune to be in his path.

The newest updates on the semiauto rifle planning will take place at the March meetings of the Board of Commissioners of the PA Game Commission. The state legislature has passed the law for use of semi-autos and it is now up to the PGC to find a way to implement them into the hunting arena. Until we meet again keep your eyes open on the changes that we all must keep up on in our great outdoors.