The coronavirus pandemic will take a second swing at trout fishing in Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 3, the first day of the trout season.
While nothing as drastic as last year’s surprise early opener to the season is expected this year, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has again dropped to just one opening day statewide.
For several years prior to last year, the commission had run with 2 opening days: an earlier opener in the southeastern corner of the state and a later opener closer to what had been the traditional mid-April statewide opener prior to the move to dual opening days.
Then, in response to the pandemic last year, the commission first collapsed the season to a Mentored Youth Trout Day on April 11, 2020, and an overall statewide opening day on April 18, 2020, but on April 7, 2020, suddenly and unexpectedly announced that all trout fishing seasons were open immediately.
“The concern all along has not been with fishing. It was the number of folks that we would expect to see on opening day and our youth trout day, which is inherently a group activity,” Tim Schaeffer, executive director of the commission, explained at the time.
“We considered the range of options available to us and what everyone coalesced around was what we did this morning.”
That range of options included everything from continuing with the planned schedule to delaying the opening until next month.
“This is a way to have a trout season, a way to do this safely,” he added, noting that other states, including Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island made similar moves in response to the pandemic.
The 2021 season will open at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Millions of trout have been stocked into streams, rivers and lakes across Pennsylvania in advance of the opener.
Stocking will continue for several weeks and then pick up again in fall and winter. By the end of 2021, 703 streams and rivers and 128 lakes will have been stocked with 2,214,700 rainbow trout, 686,080 brown trout and 293,420 brook trout. About 13,100 trophy-sized golden rainbow trout averaging 1.5 pounds and 14 inches will be stocked.
In addition, cooperative nurseries – mostly run by sportsmen’s clubs – are expected to release more than a million trout statewide this year.
As of Saturday, anglers may keep 5 trout, each at least 7 inches, per day through Labor Day. The extended trout season begins the day after Labor Day with a daily limit of 3 trout.
In addition to a fishing license, each trout angler 16 and older must possess a trout permit, or a combination trout/Lake Erie permit, to fish for trout. A resident fishing license costs $22.97; a trout permit, $9.97.
Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
The Link LonkMarch 29, 2021 at 04:03PM
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Pandemic-altered trout fishing season opens Saturday - pennlive.com
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