2011 Delaware Fishing Guide now being distributed to fishing license dealers statewide

DOVER (March 29, 2011) – The new 2011 Delaware Fishing Guide has arrived and is in the process of being delivered to fishing license dealers throughout the state, including many hardware, sporting goods and bait and tackle shops. Anglers also can pick up a guide along with their fishing license and trout stamp, at the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife’s main office in the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

This year’s special edition guide features photos and historical information celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, which formally began in 1911. That year, the Governor appointed the state’s first Board of Game and Fish Commissioners and the first game warden was hired. Among the highlights that followed: the first marine patrol boat purchased in 1923, the Shell Fisheries Commission created in 1943, and the first Delaware Trout Stamp introduced in 1955. Wildlife artist and fisheries biologist Duane Raver, whose fish illustrations appear in the guide, won the first Delaware Trout Stamp contest in 1977.

The tackle box-sized guide includes information on Delaware’s fishing license requirements and the F.I.N. number program, as well as sections on tidal sport fishing, freshwater fishing, newly enacted fishing regulations, and general angling information. Other topics include trout stocking, fish consumption advisories, invasive species and Delaware’s artificial reef program.

For more information on the 2011 Delaware Fishing Guide or on fishing in the First State, please call the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914. For freshwater information, anglers also may call the section’s Smyrna field office at 302-735-8650, or for saltwater information, the Little Creek field office at 302-735-2960.

The guide is also available online at www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/.

Vol. 41, No. 122