Jul 21, 2002 By Rod Schoener 5 min read

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission had a change of heart and is now stocking walleye fingerlings in the in the Youghiogheny Reservoir and in the river below the dam. For years, and with no avail, members of the Yough Walleye Association pleaded with the PFBC to stock walleye fingerlings in the lake to augment the walleye population.

Many year classes of walleye were not good or were missing altogether due to extreme rainy conditions when the eggs became covered with silt and did not hatch, or because of drought conditions in other years when the lake was lowered to provide needed water downstream, leaving fertilized eggs high and dry on the shore.

Well, the Commission did come through, stocking 3,000 1-2-inch fingerlings on June 25 and another 5,000 on July 10.

An additional 10,752 were stocked in the Youghiogheny River below the dam during the second stocking.

For those who missed the earlier walleye stocking notices in the outdoor calendar, Green Lick Lake also received 2,000 of the fingerlings, and the Fayette/Greene County stretch of the Monongahela River received 1,750.

Quemahoning Reservoir (9,000), Highpoint Lake (6,750) and Lake Somerset (5,050) in Somerset County also received walleye fingerlings in June.

Lets hope they keep the walleye coming. Fishermen at the Yough Dam have been waiting for this shot in the arm for a long time.

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In one of the recent field notes I received from the Game Commission’s Southwest Region office, Fayette County WCO Steve Leiendecker, of Fairchance, describes an encounter he and deputy WCO Larry Fullem had while patrolling State Game Lands No. 51 for illegal ATV use one Sunday afternoon when they came upon two large black snakes stretched across the trail in front of their vehicle.

Leiendecker’s account of the incident follows:

“Recognizing the important role these reptiles play in the forest ecosystem and not wanting to see them killed unnecessarily, Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer Fullem jumped out to ‘shoo’ them off the trail. One of the snakes became highly agitated with Deputy Fullem’s vain attempts to frighten it out from in front of the vehicle.

“After several meaningful strikes at his boots, the snake decided to seek refuge under the nearest cover, which happened to be the undercarriage of my state patrol vehicle. Attempts to remove the angry reptile from the axle only drove it into the engine compartment.

“With us armpit deep into the engine compartment frantically trying to free the snake, several illegal ATV’s came down the trail towards us. We decided to slam the hood and hope for the best for the snake and go after the ATV’s, which were by now a long way off.

“As far as I know, the snake was safely relocated to wherever it decided to slither out, unless, of course, it has made its way into the cab of my truck, where it undoubtedly will make its presence known at the most inopportune time.”

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Even though the Pennsylvania Game Commission hasn’t made up its mind on whether or not it will allow the use of in-line rifles during the early muzzleloading season, there is still a deadline in effect that requires hunters to purchase their muzzleloader license before Aug. 31.

The late (Dec. 26-Jan. 11) muzzleloader season, which has been around for years will remain unchanged, but the early season (Oct. 19-26) will be open to all muzzleloader hunters, including those with cap-lock and, tentatively, in-line rifles.

The fate of the in-line rifle is to be decided at a special meeting July 28, and with the push under way to harvest as many antlerless deer as possible before they are bred, it will probably pass.

Whether in-line approval comes or not, hunters must note that they are still required to have a muzzleloader license to hunt during the early season. Many thought that it was only needed when hunting in the late season, but the license is required any time you carry a muzzleloading rifle to hunt deer, except in the regular deer season (Dec. 2-14).

In other words, you must have a regular hunting license, a muzzleloader license and a valid antlerless deer license for the county in which you are hunting for the early and late muzzleloader hunts.

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To set the record straight, when the new deer hunting regulations were being drawn up, I was told by a Game Commission spokesman that senior hunters would not have to adhere to the new antler restrictions of three points on one side and said so in a column.

Unfortunately, that was in error. It was corrected in a future story, but some readers didn’t see it, and just recently I was asked what the ruling is. Although I wish seniors were included, the only hunters exempt from the regulation are junior hunters, disabled vehicle permit holders and active military service members.

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When I spoke with Dr. Gary Alt last fall, he told me that hunters would be permitted to keep “mistake” kills, which did not meet the antler restriction once they paid a $25 fee for replacement and the antlers and head were removed.

That, also, did not come to fruition. If you shoot an undersized buck, you will still pay the $25 fee, but the Game Commission will keep the deer.

I figured there would be many “mistakes” turned into cheap venison for a $25 fee.

I guess the Game Commission did, too, causing it to pull away from the proposal. Most hunters who do make an honest mistake will turn the deer in an pay the penalty, but, unfortunately, from what I hear, many deer will probably be left in the woods to rot.

Hopefully, true sportsmen will do the right thing.

Rod Schoener is the Herald-Standard outdoors editor.