Starting Nov. 1, paddlers and small boat owners and passengers on all Pennsylvania waters will be required to wear a life jacket while under way or at anchor.

Boats less than 16 feet in length or any canoe or kayak are subject to the state regulation passed in September by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The regulation will be in effect through April 30.

“Life jackets are the most important piece of safety equipment on a boat,” Laurel Anders, director of the PFBC Bureau of Boating and Outreach, said in a news release. “According to Pennsylvania’s boating accident reports, almost 80 percent of all boating fatalities happen to boaters not wearing a life jacket. A disproportionate number of the fatalities occur during the months of November through April. During these cold weather months, boaters are especially at risk due to the water temperature and the risk of sudden cold water immersion.”

Read up on boating safety.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officially opened the fish ladder and fishway on Four Mile Creek Monday. Check out a photo gallery and video:

Here’s the Fish and Boat Commission news release on the opening:

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has officially opened the Four Mile Creek Fish Ladder and fishway at the Lawrence Park Golf Club, located at 3700 East Lake Road, Erie, PA 16511.

Phase 1 of the project, the Alaskan Steep-Pass Fishway (fish ladder), was completed in July 2010 on private property owned by the Lawrence Park Golf Club. It provides fish passage at the Lawrence Park Golf Club dam, the first upstream barrier to steelhead migrating up Four Mile Creek. Constructed 850 feet upstream of the mouth of Four Mile Creek on Lake Erie, the ladder opened an additional 600 feet of stream to migrating steelhead. It will be operated seasonally to allow winter upstream movements of steelhead while blocking summer upstream movements of sea lamprey, an unwanted invasive fish.

Phase 2 was the construction of the fish by-pass channel thanks to an agreement made with the Lawrence Park Golf Club. Completed in December 2011, this fishway provides passage around a waterfall approximately 600 feet upstream of the fish ladder. Steelhead can now migrate another four miles upstream into some areas open to public fishing. To help ensure the success of steelhead migration, and also to prevent interference with golfers, the areas from 100 feet above the bypass to 100 feet below the fish ladder are off limits to fishing or public fish observing.

The total cost of this project was $393,000. $144,000 of the total was Lake Erie Stamp Money which included $41,000 used for an easement to provide additional approved fishing areas north of Route 5 to 100 feet above the fishway. $120,000 of the total came from combined grant monies from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection—Coastal Zone Management through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources through Conservation Partnership Program; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Grants were shared between Lawrence Park Township, and the Fish and Boat Commission.

Bob Hetz of Fairview was awarded the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Ralph W. Abele Conservation Heritage Award.

Bob Hetz, third from left, was presented with the Ralph W. Abele Conservation Heritage Award Thursday near the mouth of Trout Run. Present for the presentation were, from left, S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie President Jerry Skrypzak; Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission District 1 Commissioner Ed Mascharka; Hetz; Erie County Executive Barry Grossman; Patricia Norcott Miller (on behalf of state Sen. Jane Earll, R-49th Dist.); and Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director John Arway. Contributed photo

It is the commission’s highest recognition for individuals “who have distinguished themselves in the cause of conservation,” commission Executive Director John Arway said.

Arway and Ed Mascharka, the District 1 commissioner, presented the award Thursday at the commission’s public access area at Trout Run, Fairview Township.

Hetz is a charter member of the 3-C-U Trout Association, which cooperates with the commission on raising and releasing fish. “He is the individual who provides the leadership and effort to maintain the raceways, feed the fish, and stock them, Arway said. “The success of Pennsylvania’s steelhead program is largely due to the effort of the 3-CU Trout Club and Bob.”

Hetz was nominated by Jerry Skrypzak, president of S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie.

Also participating in the ceremony were Erie County Executive Barry Grossman; Fairview Township Supervisor Pete Kraus; S.O.N.S. President Jerry Skrypzak; and Patricia Norcott Miller on behalf of state Sen. Jane Earll, R-49th Dist.

The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association will have its membership meeting Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at American Legion Post 773, 4109 W 12th St.

Bob Hetz, nursery manager and treasurer for 3CU, will give an update on steelhead stocking and raceway cleanup. Waterways conservation officers from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will give stream updates.

Members and the public are invited to attend.

Brook Tolbert, a waterways conservation officer in the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Northwest Region, was presented an Outstanding Service Award Tuesday for his investigation into an illegal commercial fishing operation on Lake Erie in May 2011.

Contributed photo/Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

The commission said search warrants led to the discovery of illegal gill net usage, unlicensed trap nets, improperly marked nets and the illegal catch of protected species. One illegal gill net stretched more than 3,000 feet.

The defendants were found guilty after a two-day trial.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission voted to eliminate the Early Season Trout Stocked Waters Program that included four waters in Erie County and others in Mercer, Venango and Warren counties.

At their quarterly meeting today in Pittsburgh, commissioners approved a notice of proposed rule-making to eliminate the 45-waterway program that offered trout fishing in March. Those waters now will be designated as Approved Trout Waters Open to Year-Round Fishing.

Affected waters include the East and West basin ponds at Presque Isle State Park, Lake Pleasant and Upper Gravel Pit, as well as the Shenango River tailwaters, Two Mile Run Reservoir and Chapman Dam Reservoir.

The commission said the change means it will stock trout more efficiently and closer to opening day on streams that have been found to have trout residency problems, and simplify trout regulations by eliminating a special-regulation program.

The commission also announced it will launch a mentored youth pilot program in 2013. Anglers under 16 will register for the program and join a licensed mentor to fish select stocked waters the Saturday before the 18-county Southeast Region opener March 30. Each person will be allowed to keep a combined species total of two fish.

The list of waters and information including how to register are expected to be finalized by early January.

The commission said the program will generate excitement with children and their parents, ultimately drawing more participants to the sport and increasing license sales.

Four approved trout waters in Erie County and three others in the region could lose early-season fishing status if regulation changes are approved at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s quarterly meeting Oct. 1-2.

The East Basin and West Basin ponds at Presque Isle State Park, Upper Gravel Pit in Fairview and Lake Pleasant, as well as Two Mile run Reservoir in Venango County, Chapman Dam Reservoir in Warren County and Shenango Reservoir in Mercer County, are part of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Early Season Trout Stocked Waters Program.

Program waters are open to fishing in March, when most trout-stocked streams in Pennsylvania are closed to fishing. Waterways in the programs are stocked early with trout from the spring allotment.

According to the Pennsylvania Bulletin, commissioners will consider removing the seven Northwest Region waters. Two Mile Run Reservoir would be considered for addition to the list of Approved Trout Waters Open to Year-Round Fishing.Tionesta Creek in Forest County, from Tionesta Dam outflow downstream, is the only such water in the region right now.

The commission is soliciting public input about the proposed changes. Submit comments at www.fishandboat.com/regcomments, or by mail to Executive Director, Fish and Boat Commission, P. O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000, within 30 days after publication of this notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

The second and final Fish-for-Free Day in Pennsylvania is scheduled for Sept. 3.

What does “free” mean? Simply, you don’t need a license to fish that day if you’re on a Pennsylvania waterway. All other Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission rules and regulations apply, so check them out first.

Highlights from some of the Labor Day 2011 Fish-for-Free events are available here.

Tamarack Lake in Crawford County has been closed to all public use and is being drawn down by an additional 5 feet as a safety precaution.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission lowered the lake level by 4 feet in November because of seepage concerns in Dam A, nearest Meadville. New concerns unearthed July 31 have caused the latest drawdown.

“Failure of the dam is not imminent, but worsening conditions could change rapidly, particularly during a high pool elevation from a large storm event,” said Jack Rokavec, the commission’s chief of engineering. “In an effort to prevent the dam’s failure and protect life and property, we will lower the lake by an additional 5 feet, bringing it down to a total of 10 feet.”

The commission said its engineers started lowering the water level in the 556-acre reservoir Tuesday night. The lake will be lowered by approximately 6 inches to 12 inches per day. The additional drawdown could take a few weeks to accomplish.

Fishing, boating and walking on the lake beds is now prohibited. The commission said signs will be posted at the property and security fencing will be placed around the flood-control dams at each end of the reservoir.

Commission personnel are attempting to salvage fish and relocate them. The commission expects many of the fish in the lake to die,  however.

“We will collect as many fish as we can through netting and electrofishing, but it is impossible to capture all of them,” said Dave Miko, chief of the commission’s Division of Fisheries Management. “Fish die during any drawdown and salvage effort because many hide around structures where we simply can’t reach them, and others become buried in the mud when they are slow to exit the lake with the remaining water.

“This salvage effort will be particularly challenging given the timing of the emergency drawdown,” Miko said. “The warm water temperatures will only worsen with the expected weather conditions and the loss of fish is anticipated to be greater than is typical. Anglers and the general public should expect to see this.”

The PFBC hired engineering firm Tetra-Tech in July to perform geotechnical investigations, install monitoring wells, recommend seepage/boil control measures and develop conceptual improvements at  the north and south dams. Their final report is expected to be completed by November.

“Since (November) the seepage has worsened into what are termed boils,” Rokavec said. “In addition, on July 31, while geotechnical engineers were performing borings on the crest of the dam, the drill encountered an approximate 2-foot vertical void within the embankment adjacent to the outlet conduit. These conditions have confirmed previous suspicions that seepage paths and voids have developed along the outlet conduit and are eroding the dam’s embankment and foundation materials, which is a very serious situation.”

Tamarack Lake was drained in 1999 so that safety modifications could be made to the outlet structures on dams at each end of the lake. The modifications were completed in the summer of 1999 and the reservoir was fully refilled by the spring of 2000, then restocked with fish.

Friends of Tamarack Lake is keeping up with the work at the site.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will put on a Family Fishing Program Sept. 1 from 9 a.m. to noon at M. K. Goddard State Park in Mercer County.

Families must preregister in the calendar of events at www.fishandboat.com or by calling (814) 683-5126. Participants should arrive well before the start of the program.

Family Fishing Programs teach participants how to be S.M.A.R.T. anglers; how to rig a fishing rod with bait; knot tying; rules and regulations; casting practice; and hands-on fishing. Participants are not required to have a fishing license to fish during the program. All equipment and handout materials will be supplied. Other recommended items to bring are sunscreen, water, insect repellant, rain gear, snacks and a camera.