Split Opener - Impression?

[Fishidiot]

Just wondering what your impression was if you fished the early opener, esp if you were in a "border" county. Did it seem more crowded than usual? I fished several waters here in Adams and Franklin Counties. I did not see more fishermen than usual. In fact, like last year, it seemd there were not as many as back in the 80s and 90s. The last four years I have started the opener on a popular state park that is heavily stocked with fish for put and take and each year there seems to be fewer fishermen. I was pleased however to see a lot of kids fishing. What was your impression?

 

[AdamM]

Its a start to a good idea. I think eventualy they will realize they should just keep trout season in all year. Or atleast just close it for the month of march and open it everywhere early. I wish i could have gotton out. I will get out up for the second opeaner. I fished a private bass pond and caught 3. Ill definitly get out for the 2nd opeaner.

 

[villeman]

Did some spin fishing on a local stream. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. The fish weren't hitting like they usually do on the opener. We did catch some fish but not like the usual opener. I only kept 1, probably only caught 3-4. Was nice to see a kid catch a trout of a life time, 25" 7lbs. Absolutely the biggest trout I've ever seen. Seemed like everyone was having a tough time catching their limit.

 

[Chaz]

What PFBC will say is that it was a huge success, I howver think it was a huge waste of time for me to go out fishing on Saturday even though I finally did wet a line and catch a few wild browns in the WB Perky. My point is that I used to be able to fish just about anywhere I want'ed in March and not see another angler, that is the experience I want when I go fishing. I want to fish with the other guy I've gone out with and not have to hunt for half a day just to find a place where there isn't other anglers. To me opening day sucked.
I didn't say this before I suggested to PFBC when they proposed this that all wild trout streams be kept C & R during the early season and open on the traditional opening day. And no it wouldn't be an enforcement nightmare, the WCO's just have to do their job and check for harvest on wild trout streams.

 

[Squaretail]

Clarks was awful. It never leaves me with a good feeling on 1st day but there were SOOO many people. There were campers set up at the shared ride parking lot along 322 in Dauphin. The water (not the people) almost looked like a ghost town by the time I showed at 12:30. Saw 3 of the few trout left caught in about 3 hours. Seems to me the Commission decreased the put and increased the take, but its easy to bash on them. The truth will rear its head in about 2 mos as to whats left. Next question is the next opener.
Should change the name from "First day" to "Wahoo day".

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Squaretail,

What kind of shape was Clarks in on Saturday? I looked at it on Thursday afternoon and it looked positively God-awful, bank full and the color of coffee with 3 creams in it.

If it was still stained on Saturday I imagine the bait fishermen absolutely cleaned up which isn't really a good thing, especially if they were fishing heavily above the fly stretch.

I drove by an unstocked stream that has a fair population of wild trout on Saturday and saw several people sitting on spackle buckets drowning worms. I know they weren't fishing for suckers and that sort of bothers me.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[JackM]

It seems such a shame that anyone should have a good time on a trout stream other than us C & R fly anglers... come on, lighten up folks. This has been the tradition for two lifetimes or more. The streams will survive and by May 1 they will be all ours practically.

 

[Crotalus]

My son and i fished in Perry County and stopped at the kids section of Clarks. Man was that place crowded. He seemed kinda disappointed when I told him we couldnt fish the spot he wanted because there were people there already and he wouldnt be able to cast a fly rod around other folks. He is 9 this year and wanted to fly fish on the first day with his new rod and own flies.

We found an open spot and he was able to actually cast to a few risers. He got one hit but didnt land any.

I reminded him that most of these people only fish once a year and that when we come back later this week the place would be pretty empty.

I got a chuckle out of all the people in the fly fishing only area considering that a week ago there was hardly anyone there, oh well i am not gonna complain if people only fish once a year then do something else.

Where we went in Perry County there was probably 3x as many cars a usual, i think that was probably due to the "border" county effect. I had never been to Clarks on the first day so i can't make any judgement on the crowds there.

 

[Maurice]

JackM wrote:
It seems such a shame that anyone should have a good time on a trout stream other than us C & R fly anglers... come on, lighten up folks. This has been the tradition for two lifetimes or more. The streams will survive and by May 1 they will be all ours practically.

Where I live it will be April 18th. when nobody comes around anymore ....Just a few days after the typical opening day. Thats the last time the great white fleet stops by. It used to stock the last time on May 12th. This was a second stocking. It went from extending the season by 2 weeks to shortening it by 5 weeks.

They moved the opening day up two weeks to take advantage of the milder weather, Gave us bigger trout and took away the second inseason stocking. The result is a "trout season" that lasts from two to four weeks. Depending on the creek. By May, the though of comming to our streams will be remote for those who follow the stocking trucks or stocking schedules.

Yep, we're sittin in Hog Heaven.

 

[Troy]

I think it is stupid changing the opening of trout season in SE Pa. Like Maurice said, it is shortening our trout season. I try to fish mainly for wild fish, but I do go after stockies too. We now get our last stocking in mid April. We used to get our last stocking the first week of May. This was just in time for many major hatches. By the time these hatches start now, most of these fish will be taken home for supper. The weather is also a lot nicer in mid April than late March. This doesn't bother me, but it probably bothers people taking their children fishing. I would like to hear one good reason as to why they did this.

Troy

 

[Bamboozle]

I took my nephew out to a major put & take stream in Delaware County; Darby Creek. I don't THINK it was as crowded as I remember it being the last time I took him about 4 or 5 years ago. He was fly fishing for the first time, (skunked), and was the ONLY fly fisherman I saw on the creek.

I didn't see that many fish landed nor did I see many fish on the stringers BUT I did talk to few kids in the 16 year old age bracket and they caught AND released their trout which made me feel good since I was still keeping my catch at that age.

I also spoke to a few adult anglers who also reported releasing their catch so either they're all liars, (as are we) or NOT every spin fisherman keeps all they catch on Opening Day.

Despite all of the opinions on C & R, Opening Day, and stockers; when I see kids and adults standing over a bridge on Opening Day Eve; looking with excitement at the fish they hope to catch on the following morning; I can't help but remember how I felt about it way back when. But despite my wild trout/C & R preference; I wouldn't ever want to see those folks be denied the pleasure or excitement Opening Day brings them; and brought me before I changed my ways.

I'll have most of the water to myself soon enough; I don't mind sharing now.

 

[Wulff-Man]

Well said, Bamboozle.

I stayed away from the streams this weekend, but there was an article in the Sunday Inquirer that basically said there was not a very big turnout and there were not many fish caught, but I think this was just at the lake/streams that the reporters visited.

 

[tomgamber]

Troy wrote:
I would like to hear one good reason as to why they did this.

Troy

Because someone else complained louder than you did.... :-D

 

[Maurice]

tomgamber wrote:

Troy wrote:
I would like to hear one good reason as to why they did this.

Troy

Because someone else complained louder than you did.... :-D

Actually this was one change that had little to do with the squeaky wheel. The change occurred for two reasons; 1. because the climate in the affected area (SE PA) is very different than the rest of the state. Its weather patterns are more coastally driven and therefore warming occurs earlier, allowing for an earlier opening day. And 2. there would be very little impact on the logistics of the stokcing effort because the counties previously had very little stocking occur in April anyway. So in essence, there was no reason not to do it. It was a no brainer.

Other than the potential for border county law enforcement issues and the potential in those counties for increased corwds, there really isn't a bad side.

I think the more dissappointing measure that occurred from a stocked trout enthusiast is the removal of the second inseason stockings from the rural areas. However, from a wild trout standpoint..this is a plus.

Maurice

 

[JackM]

I have to think that with stocking ceasing earlier, the issue with the PFBC was that by mid-May, most of the stocked waters were warming to the point that trout survival was limited. More than opening early, it was to "close" the season early.

 

[Allmyne]

I drove up from SNJ to watch the action of elbow to elbow fishing on the penney, saw alot of C&R going on. Was mostly happy to see alot of families fishing and spending time together. They never catch all the trout as this morning me and my daughter 7 yrs old both had many fish in an hour. We always keep one for her to take home. Kids don't see the crowds as we do, just rememeber spending time fishing with Dad. After next weekend most forget about the trout in those streams and the streams are open to all the serious fishing folk.

 

[DJB66]

For me it was a great day,didn't catch much,spent most of the time keeping the coffe going and watching my 14 y/o son have a blast.He caught 5 and I caught 3 and all went back.At least we got to spend our time out with a few friends even earlier than normal.And to me that is what it is all about.As for the size of the fish,didn't seema any bigger than last year.

 

[MattBoyer]

I finally got to go out to a stocked stream yesterday, and was ready for the cleaned out holes and no fish. This is a stream that I fish all summer and usually up to the last day of extended season. It gets a ton of pressure to the point where elbow room is not a figurative phrase. Turns out that my fear of being in a border county was unfounded. I was somewhere in between 10 and 15 chubby stocked brookies when one of my high school buddys came walking out of the woods with a bucket. Talk about timing. I had no idea the truck was coming, and apparently, very few other people did either. It was sweet. Tons of fish, and 2 or 3 blue hairs in sight, sitting on buckets dunking worms. I had the dang place to myself. Missed one fresh off the truck at about 24". Most of the stocked fish were around 11 or 12, with a few in the 14-15 range. All in all a nice day to be out. If anybody wants to duck the first day crowds next year, PM me. There are plenty of places to find solitude and fish.

Boyer

 

[Chaz]

The inquirer don't know squat!

 

[Mike]

Troy,

I think you'll find the reasons for the regional opening days on the PFBC web page. A quick list that is probably not all inclusive would be as follows: warm water and low flows on a number of SE streams in early May resulting in lost fishing opportunities and reduced stocking, less time from stocking to opening day = less losses to natural mortality, increasing conflicts with other family activities in mid-April.
Mike