The day after Christmas started the new year off with the primitive flintlock deer season opening day.

All those hunters who possess a muzzleloader stamp and an unused deer tag have another round of deer hunting eligibility until Jan. 9 statewide in Pennsylvania.

Two friends of mine have already reported success with both a muzzleloader rifle and a crossbow in harvesting late season deer. The tactics are a bit different but the deer have settled back into some pre-hunting season routines.

The chance of bagging a legal buck is not out of the question as some of the wall hangers are coming out of the thick cover and swampy areas to feed and check out any does they might have missed meeting in the fall rut.

Rabbit, squirrel and pheasant hunters have nearly two months of hunting season left through February, 2016.

I was invited to do some rabbit hunting with some beagle enthusiasts in Butler and Mercer counties. Apparently, they know better small game cover than I do because I can only vouch for squirrels for the areas that I have hunted this year.

I will admit that each area provides a different type of habitat for certain game animals to be found in greater numbers. The nose of a dog working brush and golden rod fields has to be an advantage as well.

The rainy and warm weather has been a boon to steelhead fishing in the tributaries of Lake Erie. The fishing reports on the tributaries was decent with some fresh steelhead heading up into the holes and deeper runs. The recent rains are always welcome news to anglers and both trout and perch appear to be willing to cooperate. The trout are being caught on single salmon eggs, egg sacs and come silver spoons. The spoons work better in the mouths of the streams as they empty in the lake, while the fresh skein and egg presentations work better up stream.

Some nice perch are being taken off the walls around the bay and marinas with minnows. One thing about Lake Erie is that you never know what is going to show up on the end of your line.

A true story of such an adventure came at the expense of my old fishing buddy, Jimmy. We had headed up to Lake Erie to fish off the shore line at Trout Run. The fishing was fairly hot but had quieted down for a half hour or so.

I reminded Jimmy that he wasn’t at the trout pond back home and that he should take extra care to secure his rod if he needed to put it down even for a moment.

He scoffed at my suggestion and went even further to make this quote: “There’s no fish that’s going to be quicker than James,” but before he could finish his statement, a fish shot his rod and reel into the lake and was last seen heading for Canada!

His next statement was, “That was my favorite outfit!” The only thing anyone around us said was what did you have on as bait.

The fishing went on for a while before a guy near us declared that he was into something good. As he fought the fish. he slowly was gaining ground when he too found that some mighty strong fish call Lake Erie their home.

The fish made another run tail walking across the open water throwing the hook. The fellow started to retrieve his line when he reported snagging on to something.

He kept reeling and we could see he was hooked onto another line. Jimmy gave him a hand and started to hand wind the loose line. As it got closer he felt more resistance and then he saw why … it was his lost fishing pole.

The angler was kind enough to return it to its owner, my friend Jimmy. We were back in business and ended the day on a happy note with all of our equipment. Jimmy told me that next time he goes to Erie, he was going to tie a rope to his pole and then on himself!

Remember to schedule your vacation days off for 2016. The state wide opening day for trout will be April 16. The opening day for Spring Gobbler will be April 30. The opening day for walleye statewide is May 7 and bass is back on June 18.

I must admit that I did not know that muskellunge, northern pike and pickerel were open all year round in the inland waters. That is why you really need to read your summary books for the current information and changes, additions or revisions each year.

Until we meet again hang on to your rod and have a Happy New Year!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoor columnist for the Butler Eagle