Wild Trout Nuts: What have you observed since the opening?

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Post up what you see on your favorite streams since the opener.

Ill admit my trips have been limited for regular wild trout fishing. I have chased migrating browns a few times and smallmouth mostly but im talking about on your regular run of the mill wild trout streams

So in two trips to two differnt class a brook trout streams in SEPA i have seen:
4 fly guys (including myself)
5 bait fisherman
1 guy throwing spinners
10,000 hikers
15 discarded masks
9 pair of rubber gloves
3 worm containers
Numerous beer cans and fire rings

Ouch! Im not even joking. I have pics of the crap.
With everyone quarantined, nice days are leading to heavy usage.
Dont think trout season has an adverse effect on our brook trout populations?
Think again.

 

[laszlo]

The wild brown stream near me normally has 1 or 2 cars along the 1.5 miles stretch. Yesterday there were 12 cars.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Worm containers, snelled hook packages, discarded McDonald's bags and soft drink cups, Jack Link's wrappers, PBR and Busch light cans, Mtn Dew bottles and Monster energy drink cans, bait guys, lots of hikers, a couple of meth heads, trespassers, and destruction of private property. Also saw a couple getting busy in a truck alongside Big Poe Cr. In every case, there were far more fishermen on those places than I have seen in any other year. I get it. If you're not working, you have all of the time in the world to practice social distancing and you are probably headed to streams that are normally under the radar. No pics, but I always carry a plastic bag or two in with me when I go out and clean up what I can. You have to give the impression that at least one person gives a **** and hope that it rubs off on the people ruining it for everyone else, or someone sees your good deed and decides to lend a helping hand. I've gained a lot of access to private property through the years simply by cleaning up after someone else. Then you come to find out that the landowner is just like you and me, and they are absolutely fed up with pigs who trash their property and show no respect or appreciation for the privilege of fishing there. It's a shame that things have gotten to this point, but it's where we are. Streams I have encountered all of this were in Clinton, Centre/Union, Clearfield and Elk County. It's not a regional problem either- I understand from friends that it's everywhere.

 

[wgmiller]

I never knew Seglock Road saw so much traffic...until yesterday. I drove past Hammer/Pumping Station on my way to another stream and the parking was overflowing onto the road. Further up, cars were parked all over. I've never seen natural areas so busy before. It's more of a curse than a blessing due to littering and overuse. People need to remember this and how critical natural areas are to our well-being...

 

[salmonoid]

I've fished two STW that hold wild brown populations. As I had hoped, there were minimal stocked trout in the sections where I hoped there would be few and the wild browns had good 1 and 2 year-old classes present. I've seen way more hikers than anglers, although yesterday, I must have fished behind at least 10 different people. Six I saw heading downstream while I was heading up and I never passed them again, and four were in a more accessible region, which showed a lot of signs of being pounded (boot prints all over slightly muddy shores).

Some humans are slobs; I've never understood the mindset of a person who litters. When you're done with something, you just toss the leftover packaging of whatever you just used wherever you are at? You carried a full beer into a campsite, but you couldn't crush the can and carry the empty out? You ate the food inside the wrapper but can't crumple that up and put it in a backpack or vest or pocket? I clean up what I can; one thing I seem to find a lot of are Mylar balloons.

 

[troutbert]

Over many years of fishing unstocked brookie and mixed brookie/brown streams, I've noticed that they get fished the most by the catch-and-keep fishermen very early in the season.

That's every year, not just this year.

 

[Dave_W]

Dang!
I suppose I'm not surprised to hear about this in SEPA - everyone has cabin fever. I wonder what central and NCPA are looking like?

In my limited experience over the last couple weeks on my local waters in SCPA, I have not seen such results.

Generally speaking I've seen normal levels or fewer fishermen on STWs but significantly more hikers, dog walkers, family outings etc. The brief time I've spent on wild trout streams I have not seen other anglers.

Parking lots are packed if there's access to public lands or trails.

 

[Swattie87]

I fished a Class A trib to a mid-size, popular freestone STW (that also has wild Trout) this weekend. I parked at the first bridge crossing up from the mouth of the trib, maybe half a mile up from its confluence with the STW. The trib is pretty small, drains a few square miles and is maybe 8-10ft across on average. It’s the type of stream on a normal day, I’d never expect to see anyone on…I’m sure it gets fished, but at such a low rate that the odds would be against another angler being there most days.

Parked at the bridge, and fished up maybe a mile and a half. Landed about 10 Brookies, and spooked out a couple 12” range Browns, which were nice to see. Had a bit of a day of the misses…Had way more hits, with an unusually low hookup percentage, even for me. It actually fished quite well. Brookies were in the frog water still, Browns were in the faster runs and riffs, FWIW. Hit a split on the stream, where it broke about it half, and each remaining side was too small to warrant much further interest from me. Walked out to the road (dirt SF road) and walked back to my vehicle at about 1:00. Turned the corner where the bridge would come back into sight, and saw two other vehicles! Got down to the bridge and saw a guy fishing maybe 50 yards above the bridge (where I had already fished), and another guy gearing up. The second guy asked how far up I fished – I told him, and pointed to the guy about 50 yards up fishing that stretch for the second time that day. He said he’d walk the road down to the mouth and fish back up to his car, which I agreed was a good idea.

I couldn’t understand the traffic on a stream like that…If I came across a vehicle parked where mine was at a bridge on a small stream like that, I’d assume that was an angler that beat me there, and given that small wild Trout streams tend to not fish well after they’ve been fished once already that day, I’d punt and go elsewhere…Figured it out when I got back down to the main STW stream though…A dozen vehicles parked in less than a ¼ mile…

Covid, or no Covid, I suspect things will still slow down drastically by mid/late May or so in terms of traffic on the streams, outside of the usual really popular spots. Still, I’ll be looking for wayyyy off the radar streams until then.

 

[troutbert]

Dave_W wrote:
Dang!
I suppose I'm not surprised to hear about this in SEPA - everyone has cabin fever. I wonder what central and NCPA are looking like?

In my limited experience over the last couple weeks on my local waters in SCPA, I have not seen such results.

Generally speaking I've seen normal levels or fewer fishermen on STWs but significantly more hikers, dog walkers, family outings etc. The brief time I've spent on wild trout streams I have not seen other anglers.

Parking lots are packed if there's access to public lands or trails.

I have seen the same thing here in Centre County. The number of people out for walks on public lands is considerably higher than usual.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Dwight,
Chicken dinner.
You have this thread most years but i stole it this year.
Just to add to the insanity.

Geo,
I saw the same thing at hammer last weekend. I laughed as i drove past.
It always gets "hammered" but it is way worse this year.
Everyone is out on nice days.

Even still i can catch huge trout with no one around :lol:

You been fishing?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

So im not insane, it is terrible this year.

But yes, early season brook trout get killed by guys who target them in the spring.

 

[tjsingle]

You are not crazy at all, its real.

More fisherman out on a usually quiet stretch (Spin and fly), trash in the parking lot (masks included), and those dumb rock stacks.

With stocked streams opening up, it helped though.

Surprisingly had some really good 20+ fish days despite all this!

 

[Bamboozle]

I pick up what I throw away which is nothing 'cause I carry it all out...

I'm not picking up someone else trash and if that means at some point there is no place left to fish, so be it!!

I get the folks that want to be nice and pick up after the low life, garbage scum pigs that litter but the low life, garbage scum pigs that litter, litter because they're low life, garbage scum pigs and foolish people clean up after them.

And are you really picking up used masks & gloves...? That's frikkin' hazardous waste!!

If it was up to me, the low life, garbage scum pigs would lose their fishing & hunting license and ATV ('cause you know they have ATV's) for 5 years and a few fingers from each hand...

 

[DaveS]

I agree with this ^

That being said, I do pick up trash when I go out. I don’t vacuum the parking spot, but I pick up obvious trash. Not because I want to clean up after low life, garbage scum pigs, but because I believe in, among other things, karma.

 

[rrt]

Bam,
I pick up litter alongside and in a stream. I do not pick it up along roads near where I'm fishing just because of what you noted: Twice in my life after picking up roadside litter without gloves, I got infections a couple of days later. But, if I find old beer/pop cans, esp old ones, I put them in my net and tote them out. Most places I fish do not have much litter after all the years I've picked it up, and I do think guys around here are not as slovenly as they once were.

Now, along the roads, garbage scum pigs still rule, I guess.

 

[larkmark]

Spot burning has a way of coming back to get you.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Wrong.
Context.

We are not derailing this into a spotburning thread. Different subject and you are still wrong.
Normal circumstances dont include a pandemic or quarantined people.

Besides i caught a 25+inch wild brown today. All alone.

Next.

 

[Acristickid]

I pickup trash because I was young and dumb myself- I’ll spare the details. Now my turn pick up. Most people are good but I still don’t like most of em. Just be an example.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Now on subject.
Took note when i was out tonight getting kids ice cream a guy was fishing a posted stretch of water with another guy.:roll:

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Im telling you.
Until trout season is changed, our brook trout will continue to get plundered into obscurity.