Trout Season Opened TODAY!!!!!

[salmonoid]

afishinado wrote:

wgmiller wrote:
I also heard on the noon news that future stocking locations/dates wouldn't be announced.

http://fbweb.pa.gov/stocking/TroutStockingDetails_GIS.aspx

I believe the intent of the FBC was to all stocking for the entire season and release all the trout preseason, so there really be no future stocking of trout this year.

"PFBC staff will continue to stock trout throughout the spring, but not all waters have been stocked at this time. To further discourage group gatherings, a stocking schedule and list of waters that have been stocked will not be provided to the public this season. Anglers should also be aware that public access to some waters may be restricted by the landowner or local municipal government."

 

[tomgamber]

...with the surprise opening of PA trout season, Earl finds the Powerbait aisle at the local Walmart a lonely place...

 

[tstooge26]

Me personally I could care less about the opening day but I am pretty disappointed that the juniors won’t have their day...I was looking forward to taking my oldest out for the mentor day...I know there will still be fish but they will have pressure now...he’s only 3 I know he won’t last long but I think it it unfair for the kids

 

[Bruno]

tstooge26 wrote:
Me personally I could care less about the opening day but I am pretty disappointed that the juniors won’t have their day...I was looking forward to taking my oldest out for the mentor day...I know there will still be fish but they will have pressure now...he’s only 3 I know he won’t last long but I think it it unfair for the kids

Check out the kids streams: https://pfbc.pa.gov/fishpub/summaryad/children.html

I taught both my kids to fly fish on Ross Run.

 

[flyflicker]

Great decision! I was getting ready to gear up and call the boss to take the afternoon off. Super-stoked and adrenalined up. Then I thought about it some more. I am damn lucky to have a telework compatible job and a healthy family. I reluctantly put my waders back in the closet. I will let someone who is laid off take my place on the Breeches and keep the crowding down. Maybe it will free up some water for a laid off dad with all kinds of troubles on his mind. Cheers and good luck to you mystery fellow.

I will get my chance in a couple weeks.

 

[tstooge26]

Those are great places but the closest to me is over an hour n a half...I’m still going to take him out I just think if the fish commission was going to do something like this the should have done it next week after the mentor day

 

[CRB]

flyflicker wrote:
Great decision! I was getting ready to gear up and call the boss to take the afternoon off. Super-stoked and adrenalined up. Then I thought about it some more. I am damn lucky to have a telework compatible job and a healthy family. I reluctantly put my waders back in the closet. I will let someone who is laid off take my place on the Breeches and keep the crowding down. Maybe it will free up some water for a laid off dad with all kinds of troubles on his mind. Cheers and good luck to you mystery fellow.

I will get my chance in a couple weeks.

I am working too. I heard the news at first brake and thought the same I'll get out later this week.
I do enjoy the hatches better than the hordes and crowds.

 

[poopdeck]

Well I ran out to my local stocked WW creek as soon as I heard the news. Personally, stocked trout and all other trout Share the same rung on my hierarchy ladder. I really don't understand trout snobbery. The reason I can't wait for the trout season to open is because they shut my local creek down for a month for stocking. Now I can finally get back to SMB and sunnies, both of which I prefer to any kind of trout.

Kudos to the PFBC for coming back to their senses. I hope everybody gets out there and enjoys what ever kind of fishing they like. Sling your worms, powerbaits, flies or whatever you like, just get out and enjoy fishing.

I managed two before the crowds swelled quickly to normal opening day madness and I left.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

And now....of course the reports and pictures are coming in of people lined up shoulder to shoulder on the stocked streams.

PFBC-you sincerely tried! And I think the effort was fantastic, but pretty clear-the general public just can't help themselves!

 

[GeneBeam]

Made a run by Snitz Creek, at location close to the house, just to see who was out fishing. On Rt 241 there were 5 people fishing 2 west of the bridge\box culvert about 15’ apart and 3 right on the top of the wing wall east of the bridge\box culvert about 2 foot apart, I don’t know how they were doing it that close. On Rockerty Rd just saw one car and I didn’t see where they were fishing. On N Cornwall Rd at the bend north of N Zinns Mill Rd and saw 2 people fishing and they were about 12 foot apart, but I only saw one car. On Creekside Dr I only saw 1-person fishing. So, it wasn’t a mad house that I have seen in some years in the past.

 

[Bamboozle]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
And now....of course the reports and pictures are coming in of people lined up shoulder to shoulder on the stocked streams.

PFBC-you sincerely tried! And I think the effort was fantastic, but pretty clear-the general public just can't help themselves!

People are F'n A-holes and there really is nothing more than you can say about it.

I honestly blame the PFBC for any spike 14 days from now due the arsehole factor and the fact the the PFBC are morons. They should have bagged the whole thing because people are too stupid, selfish and ignorant to do what is right.

But the PFBC is just as stupid...

And this just in, Governor Murphy closes all NJ parks because A-holes abound there too!!

https://www.wfmz.com/health/coronavirus/new-jersey-closes-state-county-parks-because-of-covid-19/article_86ba6820-78fe-11ea-8f2a-df00cd238342.html

And:

https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-allentown-tapes-off-park-pavilions-coronavirus-20200407-5v3toi3psvfbvcvn4ivlhfs5pi-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~mc-home-top-chain~mc-home-atown~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage

While another 78 people died...

 

[The_Sasquatch]

GeneBeam wrote:
Made a run by Snitz Creek, at location close to the house, just to see who was out fishing. On Rt 241 there were 5 people fishing 2 west of the bridge\box culvert about 15’ apart and 3 right on the top of the wing wall east of the bridge\box culvert about 2 foot apart, I don’t know how they were doing it that close. On Rockerty Rd just saw one car and I didn’t see where they were fishing. On N Cornwall Rd at the bend north of N Zinns Mill Rd and saw 2 people fishing and they were about 12 foot apart, but I only saw one car. On Creekside Dr I only saw 1-person fishing. So, it wasn’t a mad house that I have seen in some years in the past.

That's great! Seriously, glad to read this. I've seen a few pics from other holes which were quite the opposite.

 

[buckspa]

Not a good year for type A traditionalists.

 

[Dave_W]

Did a drive-by along Breeches and a couple other ATWs in my neck of the woods today to just to check things out:

There were anglers everywhere I looked but it was not anywhere near as crowded as a traditional OD. Although few folks were wearing masks (did see some) I was pleased to see folks were well spread out everywhere on Breeches. Nobody was closer than 6' except one group of four on a different stream and they had small kids and were probably a family unit.

To be sure, it's just a snapshot but I was pleased with what I saw today and hope folks keep it up.

 

[Biggie]

I saw a few pics from Boiling Springs at the lake and no social distancing there for sure.

 

[wbranch]

Poopdeck wrote,

I really don't understand trout snobbery.

I don't consider myself, or any of my friends, to be snobs because we prefer not to fish for stocked trout. Wild fish are inherently prettier, and fish of equal size fight better, are often more difficult to catch, and from the few I have eaten taste much better than pellet fed trout.

 

[GeneBeam]

Bamboozle wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
And now....of course the reports and pictures are coming in of people lined up shoulder to shoulder on the stocked streams.

PFBC-you sincerely tried! And I think the effort was fantastic, but pretty clear-the general public just can't help themselves!

People are F'n A-holes and there really is nothing more than you can say about it.

I honestly blame the PFBC for any spike 14 days from now due the arsehole factor and the fact the the PFBC are morons. They should have bagged the whole thing because people are too stupid, selfish and ignorant to do what is right.

But the PFBC is just as stupid...

And this just in, Governor Murphy closes all NJ parks because A-holes abound there too!!

https://www.wfmz.com/health/coronavirus/new-jersey-closes-state-county-parks-because-of-covid-19/article_86ba6820-78fe-11ea-8f2a-df00cd238342.html

And:

https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-allentown-tapes-off-park-pavilions-coronavirus-20200407-5v3toi3psvfbvcvn4ivlhfs5pi-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~mc-home-top-chain~mc-home-atown~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage

While another 78 people died...

Whether PFBC are stupid is an opinion held by some and maybe more then some on this forum, but I will not comment on that. As for fishing now, that is up to each individual, they will need to look at they options and their current status as to work & family and make their own choice of whether to go fishing or not. That is their individual choice, it is not for me to judge anyone on what choice they make. But I will comment of what they are doing in NJ, I would hope that Pennsylvania would never want to emulate NJ or NY.

 

[Mike]

I fished the Jordan Ck in the afternoon. In a city park on the Allentown side of the stream I saw one traditional hole that is fished from a wall and is always very heavily stocked. This year it received even more due to tube stocking. As usual, it was lined with individuals who apparently like to hang out together. It’s like a meeting place during trout season. Downstream, the three large holes that I fished had no anglers and two of the three had plenty of stocked trout that had moved downstream up to 600 yds distance based on my spinner survey. I intentionally fished spinners to see how far downstream from this year’s unusually concentrated stockings the fish had moved. Had the anglers upstream wanted to social distance it would have been easy.

I then moved upstream 2 miles to a more suburban stretch, again in a park. I had no trouble finding unoccupied holes and runs with plenty of fish for a third of a mile downstream from the one tank stocking point. I initially ran into only two related anglers, possibly father and son, fishing each selected spot together. As I walked back up the stream three teens had showed up and of course they were fishing close together. Later they joined another group of teens upstream at the actual stocking hole, again with all fishing close together. I then fished 50 yds upstream from that hole and kept moving upstream for a tenth of a mile. About every other large hole was occupied by three or four related anglers....parents with kids. I did not get the impression that many fish had moved downstream into this stretch from the stocking point about 300 yds farther upstream, which is located in a very long, deep hole that can easily be fished by a number of groups that are well-separated. The atmosphere was pleasant and everyone seemed to be avoiding fishing the same long holes if they were already being fished by someone else.

As for fish movement away from the concentrated stocking points, the evidence was strong that large numbers had moved well downstream from two of three concentrated stocking points. I was quite impressed by the nice distribution of fish, suggesting that in certain habitats multiple stocking points early enough in the season would not need to be stocked in order to ultimately get the same result.

 

[salmonoid]

Bamboozle wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
And now....of course the reports and pictures are coming in of people lined up shoulder to shoulder on the stocked streams.

PFBC-you sincerely tried! And I think the effort was fantastic, but pretty clear-the general public just can't help themselves!

People are F'n A-holes and there really is nothing more than you can say about it.

I honestly blame the PFBC for any spike 14 days from now due the arsehole factor and the fact the the PFBC are morons. They should have bagged the whole thing because people are too stupid, selfish and ignorant to do what is right.

But the PFBC is just as stupid...

And this just in, Governor Murphy closes all NJ parks because A-holes abound there too!!

https://www.wfmz.com/health/coronavirus/new-jersey-closes-state-county-parks-because-of-covid-19/article_86ba6820-78fe-11ea-8f2a-df00cd238342.html

And:

https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-allentown-tapes-off-park-pavilions-coronavirus-20200407-5v3toi3psvfbvcvn4ivlhfs5pi-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~mc-home-top-chain~mc-home-atown~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage

While another 78 people died...

Some people have chosen to ignore all guidelines that any agency or government has set out. Why are you surprised that they continue to do so now that fishing for trout in STW is legal? Our local conservancy reports an uptick in out of state plates sighted in their preserve parking lots

I'll likely be heading out tomorrow morning but will fish the bottom section of a STW that usually isn't stocked and definitely wouldn't be stocked given this spring's stocking protocol, but it holds wild fish. And then I'll hit a former STW to see how it's doing this year. I can almost see where I'm going from my house; the mouth of the stream is just a little bit downstream, around the bend of the river. I think it is a low risk outing; otherwise I'd be staying home.

An interesting aside to all of this is to see if there would be any way to quantify or qualify how this year's stocking protocol helped or hurt wild trout.

 

[troutbert]

salmonoid wrote:

An interesting aside to all of this is to see if there would be any way to quantify or qualify how this year's stocking protocol helped or hurt wild trout.

I doubt that slight shifts in when the trout were stocked will make any difference to wild trout populations.

Do you have a hypothesis of how it would make a difference?