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Great information and to think it can only get better, Nice job on your monthly reports: PFBC WCO REPORT... Wco John W. Bowser / Western Erie County : The following report summary was provided by Chuck Murray of the Lake Erie
: Research Unit: : Preliminary results have been compiled from the annual PFBC Lake Erie
: Research Unit open lake boat angler survey. The results are collected from
: anglers launching and landing at Walnut Creek, Lampe Marina, East Ave. Boat
: Launch and North East Access Area between May 1, 1999 through October 31,
: 1999. All results are expanded to represent all angling activity in open
: lake waters of Pennsylvania on Lake Erie. This survey has been in place
: since 1996. : Anglers spent over 396,500 hours fishing for walleye in 1999 and caught over
: 92,400 walleye and harvested over 89,000 walleye. Because the relatively
: strong 1996 year class was fully recruited into the 15" minimum size limit
: (MSL), anglers harvested 96% of the walleye they caught. We expect good
: walleye fishing in 2000. : Smallmouth bass anglers expended nearly 122,000 hours fishing for bass, and
: caught over 94,300 smallmouth and harvested over 15,200 bass. Although
: smallmouth bass continued to provide excellent fishing, sharp declines in the
: catch and harvest of bass have been seen over the last two years. Poor bass
: recruitment in the early 1990's are probably to blame, but a very strong 1999
: year class should once again boost the catch and harvest of this trophy
: fishery in 2000 and beyond. : Angler fishing for yellow perch spent over 42,000 hours fishing for perch.
: In 1999 anglers caught over 62,300 perch and harvested 41,100 perch. Catch
: rates have continued to improve since 1996. Because the strong 1996 year
: class had not fully recruited into the 8" MSL, anglers harvested only 66% of
: the perch that they caught in 1999, down from a 4 year high of 87% in 1998.
: Because the 1996 year class will be fully recruited into the 8" MSL in 2000,
: we expect to see very good perch fishing next year. : Steelhead trout was the surprise fishery in 1999. Anglers spent almost
: 67,000 hours fishing for steelhead in 1999 and caught a steelhead on 40% of
: their trips. The real surprise was the incidental catch of steelhead by
: walleye anglers. Steelhead catch and harvest peaked in July, when anglers
: caught over 5,000 steelhead and harvested nearly 3,000 steelhead. A total
: steelhead catch of over 9,900 and harvest of 7,400 was estimated by boat
: anglers during the summer of 1999. Record numbers (over 1.5 million) of
: steelhead were stocked in the spring of 1998, resulting in the highest
: recorded catch and harvest of steelhead since the survey was initiated in
: 1996. The high steelhead catch rates have carried over to the tributaries
: during the fall of 1999. We will probably see a decline in the steelhead
: catches in 2000, because of a decrease in the 1999 stocking rate (~850,000
: steelhead).
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: ................................................................... : Steelhead... seem to be in all of the tribs in great numbers. Olive
: Wooly-buggers have been working as well as sucker spawn, chartreuse power
: bait, & single eggs. As waters clear, the size of line & hooks should be
: smaller to make them less visible to the fish. Look for hot action on days
: when the waters warm. Now is just a matter of picking days when the tribs
: are free of ice & slush. Black Mini-foo jigs with maggots have always worked
: good through the ice at the Walnut Creek Boat Basin. Water depth there is
: approximately 3' so fish accordingly.
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: Ice Dunes along the lakeshore represent a real danger to anyone crawling on
: them. Holes will reach depths of up to 15' deep and a person could be
: trapped in the icy waters at the bottom with no one around to hear cries for
: help. Stay off of them & caution children not to play near them. Lake ice
: is not safe. Life jackets (PFD's) should always be worn when a person goes
: out onto any ice.
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: .................................................................... : Boat Launch Totals for 1999... The Lake Erie Research Unit survey also
: provided the following information on the # of boat launches at the following
: access areas May through October ‘99: : Walnut Creek Access ...... 15,526 boats launched
: Lampe Marina.................. 13,185 " "
: East Avenue .................... 6,025 " "
: North East Access .......... 11,065 " "
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: NEW FOR THE YEAR 2000!!
: No more Field Acknowledgements ... all violations are now done on
: citations through the District Courts
: Inland Trout Limits in the regular season go from 8 trout to 5 ... Erie
: Tribs not effected.
: All persons are required to have completed an approved safe boating
: course & have their certificate on them to operate a Personal Watercraft on
: Commonwealth waters as of Jan. 1, 2000
: Fine structure has increased for certain violations of the Fish & Boat
: Code (litter, over the limit, boating under the influence, etc...)
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: Picking up a piece of litter every on fishing trip makes for a great New
: Year's resolution!!
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