New regs on the Susquehanna

[bumpnbtm]

I am supprised that no one has mentioned the new regulations that have stopped weigh in tournaments from the fiber dam south. I have move away from the area recently but it would have put a major cramp in my tournament fishing. You guys need to get involved because if the left wing stream jocks can get tournament fishing stopped on the susquehanna without any real scientific data to support them they will have set a president to shut all tournament fishing down in PA.

[Pokie Pa]

Where is the the fiber dam?? I fish north of Harrisburg... WAY NORTH.
I have not heard anything of this...But then I don't fish TX on the Susky
(YET)..... Rob runs the TX on the Susky and He has not posted anything about any new regs....????
I am sure it will be looked into throughly.
Thanks for the heads up....

[JoePA]

Well I'm in favor of the no kill law that is in effect. The amout of fish that died in the river is mind blowing. What's killing the bass...not sure but I don't think that we need to add to the numbers anymore for now. You can still go fish for fun and enjoy your time on the water, isn't that why we fish???????!!!!!!!!!!

[bumpnbtm]

The fiber dam is at the base of the Sunbury pool where the two branchs come together. Most of the effected section is limited to jet boat or wade fishing because of the depth of the water minus long level, city island, & goldsboro pools. I do fish for fun but I also enjoy tournament fishing. The new regs are a reaction to presure from a group of anglers that have concluded that water quality is the root cause of what is wrong with the fishery, but yet they have singled out catch weigh & release tournaments as bad for the fishery. Perhaps the susqy bass master president could explain better why the fish commision is not addressing the source of the water pollution instead of shuting down tournaments on this stretch of the river.

[JoePA]

Ther eis somethign that is in the water that is killing and killed thousands of fish. Right now there are male fish that are producing eggs and from what I read it's a majority of the fish they shock are like this. The walleye are doing well but the smallies are F-ed up!! I heard the Giesinger hospital is pumping some bad shit into the river and that could be the cause of what is up...just what i heard.

[Pokie Pa]

Here is the new Reg..... That is what most of us do anyhow. They are saying it has to be a "PAPER" tournament...not stop touraments...... AND that is ONLY in the area noted.
COUNTIES: Susquehanna River (98.0 miles) from the inflatable dam near Sunbury downstream to Holtwood Dam

Fish: Bass (smallmouth and largemouth) – No harvest year-round – catch and immediate release only; From 12:01 a.m. the first Saturday after April 11 to 12:01 a.m. the first Saturday after June 11 – No tournaments; Remainder of the year – Catch-measure-immediate release tournaments only

[robertrosen]

Ok, here is the story. I have been working very closely with the Pa fish commision on this situation. The water quality below Sunbury is not as good as up north because of run off. It builds as it gets farther south. The problem is the past few years "young of the year" smallies have been dismall at best below Sunbury. Easy way to put it, you can get some very large smallies from Sunbury south, but you will lucky to catch anything small. There is becoming a shortage of small bass ending the reproductive cycle. The new regs were reccomened by a team of biologists that were hired by the fish commision to invetigate the problem. After testing water quality and electro fishing they found very low numbers of bass below Sunbury compared to up north. This is a temporary regulation put in place to help in reproduction. Of course we all know this is no the answer. But it will help somewhat. The investgation is ongoing and they are willing to do whatever they can to fix it, however they are limited to what they can do. DEP and EPA have to correct the pollution and water quality, the fish commision can only recomend they do something. It's all politics. I have been to many meetings about this and even had a few breakfast meetings with the commisioners and biologists. They are as concerned as us but their hands are tied. Bottom line is banning tournys south of sunbury is the only thing they can do to try and not stress the over stressed fish now. It was never said that it was the tourny guys fault. Our group is acting as the eyes and ears for our stretch of the river, making sure proper authorities are notified when something is not right. So far we are making progress and things are improving. If anyone would like to discuss this in more detail you can call me 570-899-5763. We also have monthly meetings in Kingston at we cover alot of this stuff, we are not just a tourny club. I hope this clears up a litte for everyone.

Rob

[Pokie Pa]

Thanks Rob..... I knew you had the right scoop on the new Regs.

[robertrosen]

Not a problem, There is alot more to it but thats pretty close to the short version. I have a like a 40 page report from the PA F&b comm that was issued this summer after many local meetings with all types of anglers. It was to gather "our" info from the time we spend on the water. Between what the anglers had to say and the bioligists found this was the best course af action for right now. If anyone wants to read it I will scan it in and email it to you.