Pennsylvania’s limit for Lake Erie yellow perch will remain at 30 per day and the creel limit for walleye will still be six per day, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said today.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission recently announced changes to its adult trout stocking programs for 2013, including three in northwestern Pennsylvania waters:

1. Buhl Lake, in Mercer County, near Sharon, has been added to the stocking list. The 7-acre lake will be stocked with rainbow trout during the preseason and inseason periods.

2. A section of Caldwell Creek, in Warren County, will no longer receive adult trout. Finglering trout will be stocked during the fall from 2012 to 2014 in the Catch and Release Fly-Fishing Only section that runs 1.4 miles from Selkirk Bridge downstream to Stony Hollow Run, half a mile upstream of Dotyville Bridge.

3. Little Sandy Creek, in Venango County, also will see only finglering stocked in a Catch and Release Fly Fishing Only section of stream. The stretch is 1.3 miles, from the old bridge at Polk Center Pump House downstream to the Route 3024 bridge on Savannah Road.

Adult trout stockings in Erie County will start in earnest March 28 on French Creek.

The majority of stockings will take place in the days before April 13, the statewide opening day. East Basin and West Basin ponds at Presque Isle State Park and Upper Gravel Pit in Fairview were stocked in early February and will be stocked again in the preseason and after the opener.

Crawford County stockings started this past week in Little Sugar and continue this week in North Deer Creek and East Oil Creek.

To check stocking dates and times for all northwestern Pennsylvania counties and streams, visit the Pennsyvania Fish and Boat Commission’s adult trout stockings page. Select a county, then select start and end dates and press “Go.”

Try your hand at ice fishing at Presque Isle State Park Feb. 16.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will provide the equipment and expertise during the family-themed event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Waterworks Pond, near the Rotary Pavilion.

There’s no cost to participate, and no fishing license is required.

The event will be held whether there’s ice or not. No registration is necessary.

Erie County figures prominently into the fish that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission says were the largest reported caught in Pennsylvania in 2012.

Anglers from Erie County and other northwestern Pennsylvania counties caught the first-, second- or third-largest fish in 11 different species categories last year. Lake Erie figured into more trophy catches than any other water, but Kinzua Dam, Justus Lake, Blue Jay Creek and Conewango Creek also made the list.

Erie’s Robert Einodshofer doubled up; he caught the state’s biggest known rock bass and the No. 3 northern pike, both out of Lake Erie.

Listed are only the leading catches by Erie-area anglers, or by anglers from out of the area who fished in northwestern Pennsylvania waters; the full list is here. The Fish and Boat Commission issues the list each year based on entries to its Angler Award program.

One oddity: The state-record lake trout that Todd Young, of Nazareth, caught on Lake Erie in May 2012 is not included on the list of the year’s biggest lake trout.

Jack McGill tries his luck on the ice near Fry’s Landing on Misery Bay at Presque Isle State Park in Erie on Feb. 5. McGill, 60, of Fairview Township, caught the largest white perch in Pennsylvania in 2012. CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Rock bass: No. 1 Robert Einodshofer, Erie, 1 pound 4 ounces, Lake Erie

Smallmouth bass: No. 2 Andrew Schell, Halifax, 7 pounds 9 ounces, Lake Erie

White bass: No. 1, Kathy Sisk, Warren, 2 pounds 9 ounces, Lake Erie

Bullhead catfish: No. 2, Ryan J. Norr, Guys Mills, 2 pounds 2 ounces, Justus Lake

Channel catfish: No. 2, David T. Bishoff, Erie, 17 pounds 7.5 ounces, Lake Erie

Freshwater drum: No. 1, Edward F. Sieminski, Youngsville, 14 pounds 2 ounces, Kinzua Dam tailwaters

Muskie: No. 1, Robert M. Sprankle, Mentcle, 44 pounds 4 ounces, Kinzua Dam

White perch: No. 1, Jack McGill, Fairview, 1 pound 11.5 ounces, Lake Erie

Yellow perch: No. 1, John B. Alexander, Erie, 2 pounds 8 ounces, Lake Erie

Northern pike: No. 3, Robert L. Einodshofer, Erie, 15 pounds, Lake Erie

Chinook salmon: No. 1, Gary Rohal, Verona, 14 pounds, Lake Erie

Coho salmon: No. 1, Mark D. Johnson, Hawk Run, 11 pounds, Lake Erie

Pink salmon: No. 1, Robert Schoeller, Erie, 4 pounds 8 ounces, Lake Erie

Steelhead: No. 1, Allan M. Povanda, Greensburg, 15 pounds 9 ounces, Lake Erie

Brook trout: No. 2, Scott Baldi, Erie, 4 pounds 2 ounces, Blue Jay Creek

Brown trout: No. 2, Melissa Rogowski, Erie, 14 pounds 5 ounces, Lake Erie

Golden palomino trout: No. 2, Cody Lyons, Bainbridge, 8 pounds 4 ounces, Conewango Creek

Lake trout: No. 1, Emma Pritchard, Rimersburg, 16 pounds 14 ounces, Lake Erie

Walleye: No. 3, Dennis M. Weaver, Nicktown, 11 pounds 12 ounces, Lake Erie

A few sites in Erie County will be stocked with trout today by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and volunteers.

East Basin Pond and West Basin Pond at Presque Isle State Park and Upper Gravel Pit in Fairview each will be stocked with brown trout at 1 p.m. The trout are being supplied by the Benner Spring hatchery.

No other stockings are scheduled in Erie County until late March. A number of sites in Crawford County are scheduled to be stocked throughout March.

The statewide opening day is April 13.

A video from photojournalist Jack Hanrahan to whet your appetite for steelhead fishing:

An improvement project for at Raccoon Creek Park broke ground today at the 195-acre site in Springfield Township.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said it has invested $152,000 through its Community Conservation Partnerships Program, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Coastal Zone Management Program is providing $136,000.

A new pavilion and restrooms will be constructed, along with a food preparation area, utility room, picnic shelter and landscaping.

The project will feature energy-efficient lighting, low-flow plumbing fixtures, a tankless hot water heater and native plantings.

“The health and vitality of our communities is reflected in the quality of their parks and trails, access to waterways, open spaces, and opportunities to be active outdoors,” DCNR Secretary Richard Allan said in a news release. “This project is sure to increase visitors who are looking for great fishing opportunities, access to Lake Erie or a great place for their children to play.”

Sen. Jane Earll also took part in the groundbreaking.

The DCNR grant money was provided through the Keystone Fund generated from a portion of the real estate transfer tax.

The DCNR said the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which stocks Raccoon Creek with steelhead, has indicated an interest in making stream improvements once the park rehabilitation is complete. State Game Lands 314 also borders the park. The DCNR said the township intends to partner with the Pennsylvania Game Commission on trail improvements, security and limited archery hunting.

Pennsylvania’s anti-fish poaching laws got tougher today.

Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday night signed House Bill 2293 into law. It will increase the maximum fine for illegally harvesting fish to $5,000 from $200 and gives the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission authority to revoke fishing and boating privileges for as long as five years.

“This new law will have an immediate impact on our ability to deter large-scale poachers from illegally taking fish,” said John Arway, Fish and Boat Commission executive director. “These are the individuals who deliberately come in after dark and take large amounts of game fish, often by using illegal methods such as netting or spearing in the streams. In the past, poaching was subject to a $200 maximum fine. Now we can hit violators with up to $5,000 in fines, as well as the cost of replacing the fish they illegally harvest.”

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Michael Peifer, R-Greentown.

From the news release: “The law creates a new section in the Fish and Boat code for “serious unlawful take,” which increases the penalty for harvesting more than the legal daily limit of fish from a summary offense of the first degree to a misdemeanor of the second degree. It also allows the PFBC to collect from violators the costs to replace the poached fish, and it increases the amount of time a violator can be sentenced to prison from a maximum of 90 days to two years.”

The commission said the Erie watershed will benefit in particular, since steelhead season sees major rules violations.

Corbett also signed House Bill 1417, adding waterways conservation officers and deputy waterways conservation officers to those who are protected under the aggravated assault provisions of the Pennsylvania Crimes and Offenses code. The law will take effect in 60 days.

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.