For all you waterfowl hunters, the Pennsylvania Game Commission in conjunction with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have set Pennsylvania’s 2024-25 migratory game bird hunting seasons with one change that will affect local hunters. 

Amanda Hoyt, Pennsylvania Game Commissions Waterfowl Biologist, said the most significant change for the upcoming season is that the regular season length for Canada geese in the Atlantic Population has been decreased from 45 to 30 days, but the daily bag limit remains at three. 

The reason for this said Hoyt, “Is that the population fell below the threshold for a liberal season, hence the harvest strategy mandates a shorter hunting season for this population.”

For several years we’d see loads of Canada geese on Trexler Park, Dorney Park and Cedar Creek ponds plus Leaser and Minsi lakes. But recently the numbers there seem to be surprisingly low. So Hoyt’s call seems to be appropriate. 

During the upcoming seasons, if hunters bag banded birds be it ducks, geese, doves and woodcock, sportsmen are encouraged to report their banded harvest online at www.reportband.gov. On it you’ll be asked information on where, when and what species of migratory banded birds were taken as well as the band number. Your information helps the Fish and Wildlife Service to learn migratory bird movements, survival and harvest rates which are critical to population management and setting of hunting regulations. 

The new seasons are as follows: 

*North Zone: Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers, Oct. 12-26 and Nov. 19-Jan. 11. 
*South Zone: Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers, Oct. 12-19, and Nov. 19-Jan. 18. 
Total Duck Bag Limits. 6 daily, 18 in possession of any species except for the following restrictions: daily limit may not include more than 4 mallards including no more than 2 hen mallards, 2 black ducks, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasbacks, 1 pintail, 4 sea ducks; including no more than 3 eiders and no more than 1 female eider, 3 long-tailed ducks, and 3 scoters. 

*Resident Population Goose Zone:

This includes all of Pennsylvania except for the Atlantic Population zone; Sept. 2-25 (8 goose daily bag limit); and Oct. 26-Nov. 29, Dec. 16-Jan. 18 and Jan. 31-Feb. 22 (5 goose limit in latter 3 segments).

*Atlantic Population Zone: 

This area is from east of SR 97 from Maryland State Line to the intersection of SR 194, east of SR 194 to the intersection of US Route 30, south of US Route 30 to SR 441, east of SR 441 to SR 743, east of SR 743 to intersection of I-81, east of I-81 to intersection of I-80, and south of I-80 to NJ state line: Sept, 2-25 (8-goose daily bag limit); and Nov. 23-29 and Dec. 23-Jan. 18 (3 goose limit in latter two segments. 
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*Light Geese (Snow Geese and Ross’ Geese) Atlantic Population Zone: Regular season; Oct. 22-Feb. 22; 25 daily, no possession limit. Conservation Order: Feb. 24-April 25; 25 daily, no possession limit. This is the longest season and highest possession limit of any waterfowl species mainly because there are too many snow geese and they are literally eating their breeding grounds out of house-and-home as the old saying goes. That, and when they do arrive here in the Lehigh/Northampton counties, they can devour an entire winter wheat crop field in short order. 



 

Despite the rainy weather we’ve been having, avid anglers are braving the wetness an continue to catch trout in local streams. On 4-29, the Little Lehigh and Swabia creeks were stocked and on 5-6, Coplay and Trout creeks were freshly stocked with trout. A friend fished Coplay Creek before the rains came and managed to catch and release three nice trout and one smaller one that he had to keep because it swallowed the hook. 

And while trout action continues, shad are still coming up the Delaware River. On Thursday, May 10, Steve Meserve of the Lewis Fishery, a commercial shad operation in the lower Delaware, put out 200 yards of netting and the result, he admitted, was a slow night as they only netted 7 buck and 5 roe shad. They also returned 11 shad, one smallmouth bass, one sucker, four gizzard shad, a carp and two quillbacks. 

But down at the New Jersey shore, jumbo stripers and black drum are hitting. On the Water Magazine reports large 40-inch bass are taking clams in the surf, while black drum up to 60 pounds are also hitting clams. Bluefish too are there and hitting minnow plugs in the surf and local rivers. Backwater fluke action remains steady after the season opener. 

Phil Sciortino from the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported big bass showed up on the ocean front and guys are crushing them by trolling eels with planer boards. One customer had 22 fish from 35-48 pounds from newly arriving stripers that are coming from either the Chesapeake or Delaware. He added that fluking started out good off Sandy Hook with fish up to 25 inches that are being taken on spearing, killies and bucktails tipped with Gulp bait. There is also a fair amount of bluefish around and being caught on almost anything be it chunks, metals, poppers and minnow plugs. 

Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands, said the keeper fluke bite has been good around Bug Light on squid, spearing and live killies. Julian said there are some big stripers around so look to bays for keeper size fish. Blues are in the Manasquan Inlet and are falling for metals and topwaters. He expects more blues to come. 

Mike Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright, reported the plug bite for bass is good. There are more keeper size fish in the mix than in weeks past. The plug bite he reports seems to be more productive in the surf at night and over-slot fish are being caught on swimming plugs after dark. There are also a healthy mix of gator blues in the surf and rivers and they’re hitting mostly minnow plugs like SP Minnows and Mag Darters, so he recommends boosting your leader strength to avoid losing lures to the yellow-eyed demons. 
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If going to the shore, they recommend seeking out some sandy structure or keep an eye out for tailing bluefish, then start throwing pencils and minnow plugs.