PA volunteers stock 100,000 steelhead fish, survey more than 400 anglers near Erie
Volunteers have raised and stocked about 100,000 young steelhead this spring, and a survey has revealed about 67% of anglers caught fish this past season.
Ari Capotis, Pennsylvania Steelhead Association chairwoman of the survey committee and board member, has helped to stock steelhead smolts in Lake Erie tributaries and organized an online survey of anglers' habits and success.
The PSA provides volunteer labor to help the 3C.U. cooperative nursery that actually raises the fish. It’s a partnership with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The 3C.U. released close to 100,000 small steelhead trout this spring from their raceways. Overall, the state releases about 1 million steelhead in the Lake Erie tributaries each year.
“It’s very fun to partake in that because you get to learn a little more about the the lifecycle of the steelhead,” the veteran angler said.
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She said some of the fish that were placed are about 14 inches long, which should help them avoid larger predator fish when they swim out into Lake Erie.
“I like volunteering my time with fishing in general," she said. "It’s something that makes me happy, and if I can help other people get the same joy from fishing by helping to stock fish, I’m going to do that.”
“The 3C.U. guys have been incredible to work with,” she said about them being kind to other volunteers about explaining the process. The nursery volunteers work in all types of weather to raise and feed the fish each day.
Angler survey
The PSA is trying to better understand the habits of anglers through a “boots on the ground” survey.
Last year, the group created a Google form survey for steelhead and brown trout on the association’s Facebook page, and it was promoted with pamphlets at Erie-area sports shops.
In the final days before the May 1 deadline, 403 people filled out the survey and 271 of them reported catching steelhead. The participants netted 1,221 steelhead and 65 brown trout.
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The anglers fished 1,581 hours and averaged a steelhead every 45 minutes. They stayed on the water an average of 3.9 hours on each trip.
“Ideally what we would like is that you will fill them out after each trip,” Capotis said about getting data from different waterways.
Another takeaway from the research involves the larger brood brown trout. “People are catching more brown trout than they’ve caught in years past. The state of Pennsylvania has been beefing up the brown trout stocking program the last few years, and I think we’re starting to see the results,” she said about talking to anglers and seeing photos being shared of people with large brown trout.
“Some days guys were catching more than one brown trout," she said, "and it used to be just an anomaly if you even caught one.”
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The survey is also gauging fish “hook-ups” as many times a fish gets hooked but breaks free before it’s actually landed on the stream embankment. “It’s hard to land a 27-inch rainbow in our little creeks," Capotis said. "They can take off on you quicker than you can get your feet moving."
“I want to enjoy being outside and want to know if there are fish out there,” she said about surveying the fun factor to the sport.
A second survey is expected to begin in September, and the goal is to have 2,000 forms completed. Signs are expected to be placed in popular fishing destinations with a QR code direct link for people to scan with their smartphone. “We’re hoping when we install those over the summer, it’s going to greatly increase our angler feedback starting in the fall.”
The goal of gathering the information is to see what improvements can be made or discover potential problem areas.
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“We could make the fishing even better than it already is,” she said about collecting and tracking trends.
The data will be shared with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Lake Erie Research Unit.
“I really love fishing,” Capotis said about volunteering to improve the fishery. ”I enjoy it.”
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PSA stocks smolts, surveys Erie-area anglers with PA volunteers
