Afield: Early trout fishing opener changes season dynamics, but was right thing to do

I never thought that I would see a disease affecting the opening day of trout season, but now we have it.

As all trout anglers should know by now, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, in an unprecedented move,

surprised everyone by opening all stocked trout streams to fishing at 8 a.m. Tuesday — 11 days early. The commission’s move caused a wave of negative complaints on social media.

The opening day has been a social event for many people for as long as I can remember. Complainers rightfully noted that it ruined their plans with friend and family members for April 18. There were also complaints about the surprise opening giving an advantage to people who are not working right now. I could go on and on, but honestly, I got tired reading all of the whining and rubbish.

Here is my take on the situation. I could not fish on Tuesday, so the surprise opening day ruined my plans, too. Am I complaining? No. If one steps back, and I did, almost all of the complaints and moaning can be summed up in one word — selfishness. As another indicator of greed, the PFBC listed one of the reasons for the surprise opener as the opportunity “to reduce the threat of illegal poaching.” The complainers and the poachers were mainly thinking of one thing — themselves — rather than the bigger picture.

The bigger picture is that, as of this writing, the positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania have been jumping up at a rate of about 1,500 to 2,000 a day, according to the state Department of Health, with deaths rising, too. Pennsylvania is doing a good job with the closings, travel controls and recommendations. Without those, cases could easily be mushrooming at a much higher rate. Considering this, would it make sense to bring people from all over the state together to fish on April 18 for their traditional social gatherings? Of course not.

I was appalled to read comments putting down people who are out of work. So many people are out of work through no fault of their own because of the coronavirus. Trust me, most would rather be working instead of fishing.

The Fish and Boat Commission made the right call by opening the season early. In addition, I know that they have been doing an excellent job under trying situations to get all of the streams stocked, with employees working weekends and some laid-off employees volunteering just to help get the job done. They could have quickly dumped all of the trout off at the nearest bridge and say, “we stocked it.” However, based on firsthand reports, they have been doing a commendable job of spreading out the trout here in Centre County and elsewhere.

Here is a positive Facebook post from Tim Sandstrom: “This is my shoutout to the Fish and Boat Commission workers stocking trout. I was fishing a stream in Fayette County this morning (Thursday). They showed up in a tanker and pickup truck. I watched three guys working in rain and sleet. They put some in from the road, but I watched two guys carry at least 10 buckets up and down the stream to disperse them. One guy even fell in and carried at least two buckets afterward.”

How did I react to the “surprise?” I will admit that it bothered me a little, even though I know that the agency made the right call. I fished a little bit on Wednesday and Thursday — and I did quite well. I fished parts of three local streams, catching and releasing several limits of stocked and wild trout.

My biggest trout was an 18-inch stocked rainbow and my largest wild trout was a brown measuring 14 inches. I fished by myself on Wednesday and with my son-in-law, John, on Thursday. I only saw other anglers at a distance and very few of them. You could be catching some trout, too. Here are six bits of fishing advice for navigating these uncharted coronavirus waters.

Trout fishing advice

1. Get out there. You can’t catch any trout sitting at home complaining. Get some exercise and breathe fresh air.
2. Be safe. Enjoy the time you spend astream, but follow the governor’s guidelines and use common sense. Limit travel distance. Do not stop for food or drink — bring yours from home. There are dozens of great streams — big, small and in between — right here in Centre County. Stay away from other anglers. All of the trout are not at one spot and anglers should not be crowded at one spot, either.
3. Use the interactive trout map on the PFBC’s website (www.fishandboat.com) to locate new streams that have been stocked or hold wild trout. Smaller streams are less likely to be crowded with people. If you see more than one vehicle parked near the stream, consider looking for another spot.
4. The trout are not all in the deep pools. Many of the trout that I caught last week were taken from riffles and pocket water. A few of the trout that I caught were in water less than a foot deep. Fish the stream, not one pool.
5. Have faith in whatever “go-to” bait, fly or lure with which you have found success in the past. However, do not be afraid to experiment with something new. Trout will hit something new if they have seen too many mealworms.
6. With the in-season stockings combined with preseason stockings, there are actually more trout available in many streams now than ever before. Remember that if you go through a period with little fishing action. All that you need to do is find the trout and then present them with an enticing bait or artificial.

This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 9:58 AM.