OUTDOORS: ON THE RISE FISHING IN UPPER YOUGHIOGHENY RIVER IS STEADILY IMPROVING AND NEW REGULATIONS SHOULD FURTHER THE RIVER'S PRODUCTION

MIKE SAJNA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com

08/02/98
(Copyright 1998)

Fishing in the upper Youghiogheny River from Confluence, Somerset County, downstream to the South Connellsville Dam, Fayette County, appears to be improving. At least that's the way it looks according to the just released results of the Fish and Boat Commission's 1997 Youghiogheny River Volunteer Angler Log Book Survey.

Anglers taking part in the survey caught approximately one fish for every 45 minutes of fishing in the upper Yough last year, compared to one fish for every one hour of fishing in the same stretch of water during the first angler log book survey in 1994.

Fish and Boat Commission biologists launched the log book survey in 1994 to gather data to help them better manage the river. The survey is designed to determine peak times and locations for angling activity; the types and numbers of fish being caught and kept; the effect on the fishery of acid mine drainage that leaked out of the Shaw Mine near Meyersdale, Somerset County, and into the Casselman River, then the Yough in 1993-1994; and to determine if changes in trout regulations are needed for the Yough from the Casselman downstream to Ohiopyle Falls.

The final goal already has been realized. At its July meeting, the Fish and Boat Commission voted to change the regulations on the nine miles of the Youghiogheny lying between the Casselman and Route 381 Bridge just above Ohiopyle Falls from no closed season on trout to All Tackle Trophy Trout. The new regulations will go into effect on Jan. 1.

Under All Tackle Trophy Trout regulations, anglers still will be permitted to fish for trout year-round in the special regulation area with any type of tackle. However, the minimum size limit will be 14 inches and the daily creel limit two trout from the opening day of the regular trout season to midnight Labor Day. No trout may be harvested at any other time of the year.

During the first survey in 1994, commission biologists distributed 150 log books and had 49 returned by anglers. Last year, 248 books were sent out and 69 returned. Participants reported an average of 10.6 fishing trips to the upper Yough last year, exactly one more trip than the 9.6 reported in 1994. The average length of each trip was 3.7 hours, roughly the same as in 1994. Altogether, the 69 volunteers who returned their books reported 742 fishing trips involving almost 2,728 hours. The 49 volunteers who returned their books in 1994 reported 470 trips involving about 1,699 hours.

Of the 742 trips reported in 1997, 32 percent were made to the one-mile stretch of river from the Youghiogheny Dam in Confluence downstream to the Casselman River. That the water directly below the dam would receive such pressure is understandable because it is easily accessible along its entire length and stocked with adult trout. The Fish and Boat Commission stocks the remainder of the upper Youghiogheny with fingerling trout.

Limited access resulted in only 17 percent of the trips being taken to the Yough between the Casselman River and Ohiopyle Falls and 18 percent to the stretch between Ohiopyle Falls and Indian Creek. Improved access pushed the total back up to 33 percent for the Yough from Indian Creek to the South Connellsville Dam.

Trout are the dominant species in the upper river and overall the trout catch rate increased from one trout for every 1 1/4 hours of fishing in 1994 to one trout for every one hour of fishing last year. Trout comprised 83 percent of the total catch in the upper Yough in 1997. The total was very similar to the 82 percent recorded in 1994.

When broken down into management sections, trout made up 94 percent of the catch from the Youghiogheny Dam downstream to the mouth of the Casselman River; 83 percent from the Casselman to Ohiopyle Falls; 73 percent from Ohiopyle Falls to the mouth of Indian Creek; and 81 percent from Indian Creek downstream to the South Connellsville Dam.

Rainbows dominated the catch throughout the upper Yough. That was probably because they are generally less wily than browns and the commission stocks over twice as many adult rainbows than brown trout in the heavily fished stretch of river below the Youghiogheny Dam. According to the survey, the commission annually stocks 8,230 rainbows and 3,520 browns in the Youghiogheny Dam to Casselman stretch of river.

Equal numbers of rainbow trout and brown trout fingerlings are annually stocked in the remainder of the upper Yough. The Casselman to Ohiopyle Falls stretch receives 37,500 of each species, the Ohiopyle Falls to Indian Creek stretch 37,500 of both and the Indian Creek to South Connellsville Dam section, 12,500 of each species.

Overall, 68 percent of the trout caught in the upper Yough last year were rainbows, compared to 30 percent browns and two percent brook trout. In 1994, the total was 64 percent rainbows, 26 percent browns and one percent brook trout. It took survey anglers 1.4 hours of fishing to catch a rainbow and 2.6 hours to catch a brown trout. In another indication of the better fishing available today than four years ago, it took log book anglers two hours to catch a rainbow in 1994 and 4.8 hours to catch a brown trout.

Several signs that catch-and-release fishing is becoming more popular appears in the survey. For instance, the all fish species harvest rate, number of fish caught and kept per hour, was one fish every 4 3/4 hours in 1997, compared to one fish every 3 3/4 hours in 1994. The trout harvest rate was one fish every five hours in 1997 and one fish every four hours in 1994. The Youghiogheny Dam to Casselman River stretch of the Yough had the highest harvest rate in 1997, one trout every 3 1/2 hours.

A total of 33 percent of the trout caught in that Youghiogheny Dam section were harvested, compared to 12 percent in the Casselman to Ohiopyle Falls section; 19 percent in the Ohiopyle Falls to Indian Creek stretch and 11 percent in the Indian Creek to South Connellsville Dam section. Only 18 percent of the trout caught in the upper Yough were harvested in 1997, compared to 30 percent in 1994.

Not surprisingly, since it is the farthest away from the cold water releases of the Youghiogheny Dam, the Indian Creek to South Connellsville section of the Yough generated the highest catch rate of warmwater/coolwater species such as smallmouth bass, walleyes and rock bass. Approximately one of those species was caught for every three hours of fishing in that section of river. Smallmouth bass comprised 17 percent of the total fish caught in that section in 1997. Walleye and rock bass were caught in insignificant numbers.

According to the survey, improvements in water quality from the Casselman River seems to have benefited aquatic life and so fishing in the Yough from the Casselman downstream to Ohiopyle Falls between 1994 and last year.

"We are unsure why the catch rates went up considerably in Section 4 (Indian Creek to South Connellsville Dam) in 1997," noted Fisheries Technician Gary Smith. "Fingerling stocking rates remained constant, but it is possible that cooperative nursery and/or private stocking in Section 4 could have changed between 1994 and 1997. Improved fishing in Section 4 may have been another potential factor.