Apr. 17—DALLAS — "River Boots — A Fish Warden's Tales of Pennsylvania Fish and Game Law Enforcement — written by Robert Lynn "Bob" Steiner, was recently published on Amazon.com.
The author describes it as "a career synopsis, a training manual, a history book and one conservation officer's slightly twisted view of a quarter century in the business."
Steiner said, "It is a sometimes belly-laughing look at a profession that can turn deadly serious in a second and can leave tears running down your face from laughter a few minutes later."
Steiner was the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officer in Southern Luzerne and Venango counties, in the northeast and northwest parts of the state. He completed his 27-year career as assistant regional law enforcement supervisor for the PFBC's Northwest Division. Bob was Officer of the Year in 1993 and has worked and traveled throughout the state.
While in Luzerne County, during the 1970s and early 1980s, Steiner worked with sportsmen and sportswomen, with neighboring PFBC and Game Commission officers and their deputies, and with local conservation groups on fish stocking and stream projects. Locations in his book will resonate with readers, including the Lehigh River, Nescopeck Creek, Lily Lake, Wapwallopen Creek, the Susquehanna River and others.
The more than 250 stories in River Boots were written for fishermen, hunters, boaters, conservation officers and their deputies, all law enforcement officers and anyone who has an interest in the outdoors. For conservation officers it is a textbook, with the how-tos and the how-not-tos, the whys and the why-nots. For conservation agency folks, it is a bit of nostalgia with a smirk.
Other law enforcement officers will see some intense, perhaps lifesaving thinking, coupled with a "Barney Miller" attitude. Folks considering a job in the agencies will get an on-the-spot look at what they are asking for and will come away eagerly awaiting their turn to join in. The license-buying hunter, fishermen or boater will get a firsthand look at how their license fees are spent for the good of the sport, the environment and the fish and game resources.
In River Boots, you will laugh at the scofflaws and you will laugh at the conservation officers. You will chuckle and you will ponder. The book's 24 chapters include, "Thrills on Wheels," "Trouting Culprits," "Warmwater Culprits," "Things That Go Bump in the Night," "Snakes and Turtles and Frogs, Ah-ha," and "Game Calls."
To answer the question, Steiner said the original River Boots were green, 10-inch leather boots the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission issued with those snazzy green-and-brown uniforms we wore. They leaked.
Robert Lynn "Bob" Steiner has been a published author and photographer for 50 years, winning awards on a state and national level. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association.
He and his wife, Linda, who was one of the first female conservation officer deputies in Pennsylvania, live in a log home on 30 wooded acres.
During his 10 years in Luzerne County, the couple resided in Sugarloaf, north of Hazleton. Retired since 1999, Bob writes, plays guitar, hikes, bikes, hunts, fishes, canoes and is still having fun.
Trout season in full swing
in-season stocking continues
With the spring season in full swing and a holiday weekend ahead for many people, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) reminds anglers that in-season trout stockings continue, providing immediate fishing opportunities in lakes and streams across the Commonwealth.
"Trout fishing conditions are about as good as they get right now, and it will continue to be prime time for anglers over the next several weeks," said Tim Schaeffer, PFBC Executive Director. "Spring showers have kept the waters cool and swift. If you haven't been able to fish yet or haven't been back out since opening day, now is the time to revisit the trout stocking schedule, head back out to your favorite local spot, or explore somewhere new while visiting family or friends this weekend."
Throughout the 2022 season, the PFBC will stock approximately 3.2 million adult trout in 696 streams and 128 lakes open to public angling. Approximately 30% of trout stockings occur while the season is underway, providing sustained trout fishing opportunities on hundreds of waters throughout April, May, and beyond.
Anglers are also encouraged to explore thousands of miles of wild trout streams, which contain naturally occurring populations of trout.
"Wild trout can offer a different challenge than stocked trout, and many of our wild trout streams are scenic and off the beaten path," added Schaeffer. "With warmer temperatures arriving and more insect activity, wild trout are itching to bite. Fishing in these streams can be a great adventure without the crowds you might find at the most popular stocked trout waters."
During the regular trout season (Opening Day through Labor Day), anglers may keep up to five trout (combined species) per day measuring at least seven inches long. During an extended season from September 6, 2022, through February 20, 2023, the daily limit is three trout. Other trout fishing regulations, which may limit or prohibit harvest or tackle on certain waters, can be found on the PFBC website.
To purchase a fishing license and trout permit, review trout stocking schedules, and find trout fishing tips, visit www.fishandboat.com, or use the FishBoatPA mobile app. Anglers are no longer required to display a printed copy of their fishing license on the outside of their clothing and may simply store their license digitally on their phones.
Anglers of all ages who fish from a boat during trout season this spring are reminded that anyone aboard a boat less than 16 feet in length, including all canoes and kayaks, is required to wear a U.S Coast Guard approved life jacket from November 1 through April 30.
Get ready for gobblers
Timing alone would make it special. Pennsylvania's upcoming spring gobbler season — the state's only big-game hunt outside of fall and winter — takes place when the world seems new, freshly green and alive.
This year's season begins on Saturday, April 23, with a one-day hunt for junior and youth mentored hunters, then runs from Saturday, April 30 to Tuesday, May 31 for everyone else.
But it has a lot more going for it than just that.
Gobbler hunting is huge on excitement, too. There are few things as thrilling as calling in a wary turkey. No wonder more than 150,000 hunters take to forests and fields each spring to chase these birds.
Plenty of opportunity awaits them, as usual. In fact, Game Commission turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena said the statewide flock — always among the largest anywhere in the East — is likely bigger right now than at any time in the last few years.
She credited that increase to a number of factors.
First, 2021's recruitment — or influx of new turkeys into the population — was very good, courtesy of warm, dry weather last spring and, in places, lots of cicadas to eat. Survey work revealed 3.1 poults per hen, on average, statewide.
"That was our highest ratio since we began monitoring recruitment," Casalena said.
A smaller-than-usual spring 2021 harvest and shorter fall turkey seasons in some Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), coupled with a statewide elimination of rifles for fall turkey hunting, also surely boosted flocks.
"That should all translate into a lot of high-spirited jakes on the landscape," Casalena said. "Hunters should find a larger-than-normal percentage of older, 3-year-old turkeys out there, too. So there's certainly reason for optimism again this year."
Those birds won't necessarily be easy to harvest; neither jakes nor older birds typically are as vocal as 2-year-olds, she added. But hunters can up their odds of tangling with a tom turkey by preparing before opening day.
Casalena recommends scouting, looking either for actual birds, turkey sign such as droppings, feathers, scratchings and tracks, or at least places where turkeys might be, like openings close to and easily accessible from roosting areas where gobblers prefer to strut.
Hours, licensing and regulations
All participants in the youth hunt must be accompanied by adults as required by law. A complete list of regulations applying to mentored youth and junior hunters can be found in the 2020-21 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest, which provided with a hunting license and is available online at www.pgc.pa.gov.
Hunting hours during the youth hunt end at noon. Junior hunters and mentored youth also may participate in the statewide spring gobbler season.
Hunting hours begin one-half hour before sunrise and end at noon for the first two weeks of the statewide season (April 30 through May 14). Hunters are asked to be out of the woods by 1 p.m. when hunting hours end at noon. This is to minimize disturbance of nesting hens.
From May 16 through May 31, hunting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset. The all-day season allows more opportunity at the point in the season when hunting pressure is lower and nesting hens are less likely to abandon nests.
Reporting harvests
Successful turkey hunters must immediately tag their bird before moving it from the harvest site and are required by law to report the harvest to the Game Commission.
Hunters, by law, must report harvests within 10 days.
Reporting harvests is key to turkey management, as it allows the Game Commission to more accurately estimate harvest and population totals.
Hunters can report turkeys in any of three ways: by visiting www.pgc.pa.gov and clicking the blue "Report a Harvest" button near the top of the home page; by calling 1-800-838-4431; or by filling out and mailing the harvest report card in the digest hunters get when they buy a license.
