Working to improve
Pennsylvania Steelhead fishing for all !

The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association is a nonprofit 501(C)3 organization established to enhance and preserve the Steelhead fishery in Pennsylvania including improving public access for Steelhead fishing, encouraging private landowners to maintain public access for Steelhead fishing, implementing stream enhancement and habitat improvement projects for Steelhead, and assisting nonprofit organizations which operate nurseries for spawning or raising Steelhead, or which acquire land or access easements for Steelhead fishing, or which engage in activities which complement the purposes and activities of the Pennsylvania Steelhead Association.

PO Box 8892 Erie, PA 16505

www.pasteelhead.com

info@pasteelhead.com

Keep your contact information up-to-date! If you need log in directions please click the "contact us" tab on the lower righthand side. We send monthly newsletters as well as volunteer opportunities directly to your email.

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Live webcam at the mouth of Trout Run. It is now operational, click the live link below!

https://www.fishusa.com/avonia-webcam

The Avonia Beach Live Camera Feed is a great way for area anglers to keep tabs on current water and weather conditions at the foot of Avonia Road in Fairview, PA. This live feed is sponsored by the PA Steelhead Association, Fairview Township, the SONS of Lake Erie, and FishUSA.

Above is a screenshot of one of the views you can get by clicking on the

link above from the live web camera at Avonia, Trout Run!

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Attention Members

The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association is regularly meeting once again! Check your email for any last minute meeting announcements. We are back at the American Legion near the airport. Meetings are open to the public! We have guest educational speakers planned for every meeting.

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PSA resumes first meeting at Brugger House

August 11, 2021 presenter Sarah Stahlman, from the Pennsylvania Sea Grant, gave a fabulous presentation on invasive species and climate change and how both contribute to problems in our lake Erie waters. Her knowledge and professionalism was completely evident in the enthralled reaction and enthusiasm of the audience.

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It is Steelhead season! Read local fishing reports from Fish Erie, or local bait shops' Facebook pages. Check out Poor Richards, Elk Creek Sports Store, Tudor Hook n Nook, and East End Angler.

https://www.fisherie.com/Fishing-Reports

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The Fall Run PSA Banquet was on

Sat. October 26th, 2019!

At the Colony Restaurant & Banquet

facility on W. 12th St.!

The 2019 Fall Run Banquet held at Colony Restaurant and Banquet Facilty to honor Ed Mascharka, JT Davis and the PSA's founding fathers was a big success. Attendance was around 80 people who all had a chance at a lot of great Silent Auction Items. Door prizes were also awarded. Ed Mascharka was honored for his efforts during his many years as District One Commissioner. Board Member and Co-Banquet Chairman JT Davis was recognized as Mr. Dependable for all the years of dedication to the PSA.

John Bodner, Joe Egnot and Matt Hrycyk were honored as the founding fathers of the Steelhead Association. They have been credited for saving the Steelhead fishery as we know it today, taking action when land postings threatened access to the fish! A text of the discussion of their foresight from the banquet program is printed in the November TightLines newsletter!

Many thanks to those who helped pull off the banquet, especially organizers Frank Scicchitano and JT Davis. Also providing help setting up, at the door and handling money and merchandise were Chris Fatica, Ron Miller, as well as emcee & President Marty Grzasko, Al Warner and presenter Skip Simmons. Behind the scenes work was done by Karl Weixlmann and Sam Zacour as well as many others.

We also would like to show our appreciation for our Ace Fly Tying demonstrators John Baker, and Charlie Brown, and to Mark Signorino for supplying and setting up the sound system.

Also many thanks to our many sponsors and donors especially FishUSA, Field & Stream and Erie Beer!

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Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup

Last years Annual Pennsylvania ICC was held on Saturday September 21, 2019.

Once again the PSA was the site manager for the Walnut Creek Access and Marina during the ICC for at least the 6^th year in a row. 19 People volunteered to pickup and clean up trash in and around the Marina area! We filled 9 bags of garbage with over 78 lbs of trash, including a bicycle. Thanks to all who came out to help.

2019 International Cleanup at Walnut Creek Access

So thankful for the 19 volunteers that showed up Saturday September 21st to help with International Coastal Cleanup effort at Walnut Creek Marina today. The group pictured here includes the first 17 of the 19 people to show up. Many of these guys have been regulars for years!

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3-CU Rozee Nursery Cleanup Project

On September 21st, immediately after the ICC Cleanup at the Walnut Creek Marina, a dozen members of the PSA went right back to work to help Bob Hetz and Mike Felege in a huge cleanup project of the 3-CU Rozee raceway. We were able to get a 20 foot, 2 ton dumpster donated to clean up the non-recyclable steel and plastic garbage separated from the thousands of aluminum cans Bob uses to fund the feed purchases for the trout and steelhead he raises. After some dirty work separated the items and throwing the trash in the dumpster we were able to make some great headway in cleaning up the area around the raceway. As you can see in the picture below, we nearly filled the dumpster and also tried to organize the materials to be taken to the recycling centers. It was a long day, but filled with a great sense of accomplishment when we all went out for a late lunch together! Thanks to all the dedicated volunteers that gave 4 hours of their time to do a lot of manual labor!

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At the March 13th, 2019 General Membership meeting the Election of officers resulted in the following:

Office Name

President Marty Grzasko

Vice President Karl Weixlmann

Treasurer Chris Fatica

Secretary Ryan Novatnack

Board Members

Dan Beck Ariadne Capotis

John Halll Chris Larson

Roger Latimer Ron Miller

Marie Scalera Frank Sicicchitano

Harold (Skip) Simmons Sam Zacour

The pages in the Members-only section of the Website are viewable ONLY by PSA Members.

In this Members-only Section you can:

See Past editions of TIGHT LINES (the PSA Newsletter)
Look up contact information for fellow PSA Members
See Member Fishing Reports

You must first log in to access these pages! (See How to Log In in column on left). **************************************************************************

* Check out the photo gallery link in the left column for some nice member fish pics!

Our TightLines newsletters are now sent out in digital form with an email blast. You may print all or part of any newsletter if you prefer to read a hard copy. All recent TightLines are available to read in digital format in the Members Only Content area of the web site. Some examples of our newsletter are listed below. Click on the link of the TightLines newsletter issue below to read the digital version:

December 2020 TightLines Newsletter Publication.pdf

The newest TightLines Digital newsletter, the September 2021 issue is now available in the Member-Only Content area along with 71 other older newsletters! Sign in with your email address and Password to access them.

January 8th Presenter

PA Steelhead Association officer Ryan Novatnack presented on the PSA involvement with the Women’s Intro to Steelhead Program.

On November 2nd and 3rd the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at entrance to Presque Isle Bay held host to PFBC’s 2^nd annual “Women’s Intro to Steelhead” Program. The PA Steelhead Association, along with Pennswood’s West Trout Unlimited and the Fly Fishers International (FFI), helped to make this event another great success. The program saw 31 participants from across the state gather in Erie, PA over the weekend.

Ryan did his presentation on the basics of introductory Steelhead fishing.

November 13th speaker was PFBC Biologist Tim Wilson!

Tim is stationed in Linesville and our Lake Erie Tribs fall under his watch.

He laid out the plans to rectify the challenges they have with the 4 Mile project.

Very importantly, he presented the priority list of what creeks they will work on. He believes that new fixes will be learned as they go from creek to creek. A lot of discussion was held on the priority of the Walnut Creek Project...The waterfall. It is the last to be done. Why?? They hope to learn from the other projects and incorporate any new ideas that come up. As he said.. It is the biggest project and it will be expensive so we want to get it right to the best of our ability and experience, even though it will be a few years off. He makes a lot of sense and I support him on the plan.”

Report by Frank Scicchitano

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April 10th Presenter:

Senator Dan Laughlin -

Senate Game & Fisheries committee chair.

Senator Dan Laughlin was our guest speaker at the April monthly membership meeting. The Senator is Chair of the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee. He discussed the legislative process, the roles of committees and led a discussion of bills before the House Game & Fisheries Committee. He concluded by graciously answering members questions on some of the bills and issues facing outdoorsman.

First off Senator Laughlin revealed he is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. He explained how he gave up opportunities to be on more powerful committees because he is committed to outdoor recreation and activities. There are a number of bills in committee concerning fishing and hunting. The Senator explained how it takes a long time to get bills passed and that there is a lot of back and forth in the process.

Some of the bills he discussed were:

House Bill 584 which includes a waiver on fishing licenses for therapeutic activities.

House Bill 617 which would discount licenses for those that teach hunter safety courses.

House Bill 752 that would remove the current $400.00 cap per acre for buying land that restricts the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

House Bill 514 that would merge the Fish and Boat Commission with the Hunting Commission

House Bill 929 that would increase resident fishing licenses incrementally over 3 years from $21 to $30, as well as raising the Trout & Salmon permits and non-resident licenses.

Senate Bill 315 which would honor veterans and active military with discounted licenses.

Senate Bill 377 which would increase Penalty for Killing Bald or Golden Eagles.

Senate Bill 147 which would make Sunday hunting legal.

Senate Bill 485 authorizing the Sale of Anterless Deer Licenses through the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System.

Senator Laughlin gave his views on many of these bills and asked the membership for input on some of those that would impact fishermen. He also discussed the concerns the legislature has about the number of licenses sold dropping and how a price increase could further impact the totals.

The PSA Board of Directors thanks Senator Laughlin for taking the time to attend our meeting and inform us of ongoing issues and how they are being addressed.

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The PA Steelhead Association usually holds meetings each month except May, June, and July usually at 7:30 pm on the second Wednesday of the month . Meetings are held at the American Legion Post 773. The Legion is located at 4109 West 12th Street (State Route 5), just east of the Erie Airport.

We meet in the banquet room to the left when you walk in.

PA Steelhead Association Facebook page link below:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pa-Steelhead-Association/136804763021961