Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2014 - 58

CURRENTS
A Luzerne County man won
a state-of-the-art fishing kayak
as part of a contest sponsored
by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat
Commission (PFBC) and
Pocono Raceway.
Nick Bechtel, Conyngham,
Luzerne County, was awarded
the kayak on September 26 at the
raceway in Long Pond, Monroe
County. The contest was held
during the GoBowling.com 400
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race
weekend at Pocono Raceway this
past August.
"We particularly want to thank the sponsors for
donating this equipment," said PFBC Executive Director
John A. Arway.
The kayak, a Ride 115X Advanced Angler, was
donated by Wilderness Systems, and an Odyssey glass
paddle was provided by Adventure Technology. Rigging
items totaling more than $500 in value were donated by
YakAttack. Also, a Bahia Tour life jacket was provided
by Kokatat.
Kayak fishing is one of the fastest growing segments
of fishing as reported by the Recreational Boating and
Fishing Foundation in its 2014 Special Report on Fishing,
with kayak fishing comprising 4.3 percent of all fishing
venues, versus 3.6 percent of fishing venues in 2013, which

photo-Allan Schreffler

Kayak Giveaway

Pictured are (left to right) Tricky, Pocono Raceway; Steve Kralik,
PFBC; Nick Bechtel, Contest Winner; John A. Arway, PFBC
Executive Director; and Ben May, Pocono Raceway.

is a 20 percent jump in one year. Factors contributing to this
growth are the ease of operating, the relatively low initial
investment and small operating and maintenance costs.
"First off, I want to congratulate Nick on winning the
kayak," said Pocono Raceway President/CEO Brandon
Igdalsky. "I am a bit jealous, however, because I really
wanted to win it, too. It was great to work with our new
partners at PFBC this year. Their work and the programs
they promote throughout the Commonwealth are second
to none. We truly appreciate their support, and we look
forward to working with them for years to come."

Fishing License Button Color Chosen for 2015
The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC)
conducted an online ballot, encouraging anglers to vote for
their favorite color for the 2015 fishing license button. The
results have been tallied, and pink has been chosen.
Earlier this year, PFBC re-introduced the availability of
an annual Pennsylvania fishing license button. This custom
button is similar to the vintage buttons offered by PFBC
in the past. Each button measures 1¾ inches with a highquality, pin-back design and features the angler's customer
identification number (CID), the same number displayed
on a paper license. As a result of a recent regulation change,
as long as the angler is carrying a valid paper license, a valid
button is the only display requirement.
The results were from a total of 4,785 cast votes with
pink receiving 1,673 (35%) from the ballot of seven colors.
Runner-up teal garnered 788 votes with the color green
following with 750 votes.
Starting with the availability of the 2015 fishing licenses
on December 1, buttons for 2015 will continue to be $5
each and available for purchase through PFBC's online store

TEAL 16.47%
ORANGE 11.37%

34.96%

PINK
BROWN

7.44%

BURGUNDY

7.65%

GREEN 15.67%
RED

6.44%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

(The Outdoor Shop) and some PFBC locations. New for
2015, the buttons will also be available through the network
of more than 900 license issuing agents. The purchase of
an annual or multi-year Resident, Non-Resident or Senior
Resident fishing license is required in order to purchase a
license button. This also applies to the new Voluntary Youth
Licenses. The purchase of a button is not a requirement in
addition to the purchase of a license.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * November/December 2014

PFBC Facebook: PaFishandBoat

http://www.GoBowling.com

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2014

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