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The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission voted last week to keep in place, for at least one more year, a closed season on bass fishing in the middle and lower Susquehanna and lower Juniata rivers during the traditional spawning period from May 1 through mid-June.
A closed season for smallmouth and largemouth bass from May 1 through June 16 has been in place since 2012 on approximately 98 miles of the Susquehanna River from Sunbury downstream to the Holtwood Dam and on 31.7 miles of the Juniata River from Port Royal downstream to the mouth. Anglers can target bass during the remainder of the year, but only on a catch-and-immediate-release basis.
The PFBC proposed removing the spring closed season at its January meeting after fish surveys conducted from 2013-2016 revealed increasing numbers of adult smallmouth bass compared to severely reduced numbers collected from 2005-2012. The proposal called for lifting the ban for the 2018 season and adopting an adaptive management approach to set regulations moving forward.
However, the Board of Commissioners voted to keep the regulations in place for 12 more months, giving them time to review data from 2017 adult bass surveys, which are scheduled to begin in September. The board will then revisit the proposal at its July 2018 quarterly business meeting and decide if the closed season on these sections of the rivers should be removed beginning in 2019.
“The board’s action today provides time for our biologists to collect and evaluate another year of data, which hopefully will reinforce the encouraging trends we’ve seen the last few years in the smallmouth bass population,” PFBC Executive Director John Arway said.
The PFBC accepted public comments during a 60-day period and held public meetings in Harrisburg, Lancaster and Selinsgrove to discuss the proposal with anglers. Approximately half of the 179 comments received opposed any change to the current regulations. About 37 percent supported the proposal.
License display may change
The board adopted a proposed rulemaking order which would eliminate the requirement that anglers display their fishing license on a hat, vest or other article of clothing when fishing.
The proposal would instead require anglers to have their fishing license in their possession when fishing and show it to a waterways conservation officer (WCO) when asked. The proposal also specifically allows anglers to keep a copy of their fishing license on a mobile device, which could then be shown to a WCO. If approved as a final rulemaking, the change would go into effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Trout water disgnations
The board added 99 waters to the list of wild trout streams and adjusted the section limits of seven waters. Also, 29 stream sections were added to the list of Class A wild trout streams.
Fly fishing change
The board proposed eliminating the leader length requirement in catch-and-release fly-fishing only areas. Currently, anglers fishing in these areas cannot use a leader that exceeds 18 feet in length. The amendment proposed would allow anglers to use leaders of any length. If adopted on a final rulemaking, the amendment would go into effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
