Anglers won’t need to wear their fishing licenses anymore
Plastic license holders with pins will soon be a thing of Pennsylvania’s past.
At last week’s official quarterly meeting of the state Fish and Boat Commission, members cut the line on a long-standing regulation that anglers had to display fishing licenses on an outer garment while fishing.
The change required the repeal of a state law. Under an amendment to Section 63.2 (PA Title 58), anglers no longer have to wear the license but are required to have it while fishing and present it to a Fish and Boat law enforcement officer upon request.
“With this change, we’re making things more convenient for our anglers,” said Tim Schaeffer, Fish and Boat executive director. “By allowing people to simply carry their license in a pocket or in their wallet ... we hope to hear about fewer licenses being lost and the cost associated with replacing them.”
A similar requirement for hunting licenses was removed in 2012.
When an angler purchases a fishing license through The Outdoor Shop (www.pa.wildlifelicense. com) and prints a paper version, an electronic record of the sale is saved. If the paper license is lost, a replacement can be reprinted at no cost.
The regulation change is not immediate. It will take effect on publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which could happen by late February. It will definitely be in effect for the opening day of trout season April 18.
Walleye seasons
Fish and Boat also set walleye season dates to coincide in inland waters and in Lake Erie, its tributaries and Presque Isle Bay. Statewide in 2020, the split walleye season will run Jan. 1 to March 14 and May 2 to Dec. 31. Commissioners also approved a more clearly defined and enforceable change in laws regarding noise emitted by motor boats.
Fishing easements
A new stretch of water will soon be available to Erie
County steelhead anglers. More than a mile of Elk Creek frontage, from I-90 south to the confluence of Little Elk Creek, includes permanent conservation easement protection of 180 acres of forested floodplains, wetlands, farm fields, a 100foot-deep gorge and trail access to the stream.
The acquisition from the
Gilmore Farm in Girard Township was facilitated through Pennsylvania Sea Grant, the Lake Erie Region Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the state Fish and Boat Commission and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which together awarded $900,000 in funding.
“The number one issue I hear from steelhead anglers in the Lake Erie region is limited public access to the resource we’ve worked so hard to build,” said Dan Pastore, Fish and Boat Commissioner representing the Erie area. “This Gilmore Farm acquisition not only opens up a large section of our world -class fishery, but the diverse and scenic setting will add an element of adventure all its own.”
The tract is expected to be transferred to Fish and Boat early this year. The agency plans to improve parking and possibly trail access to the stream from Beckman Road.
In Westmoreland County, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has permanently protected a 22-acre tract in Cook Township including a 1,000-foot stretch of Fourmile Run. Fish and Boat stocks brown trout, rainbows and golden rainbows in the stream from a point near Donegal Lake Road to the confluence with Loyalhanna Creek behind Idlewild and SoakZone off Route 30 west of Ligonier.
More outdoors
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