More than 3M trout to be stocked for state anglers
Streams in northern Butler County are a little muddy, but well-stocked with trout.
O’Donnell’s Sports Supply in Portersville has been busy supplying anglers with fishing licenses, bait and tackle.
With sun and temperatures in the low 50s, all signs are pointing to a booming opening day of trout season Saturday.
“I sold a lot of licenses. I’m busier than (heck),” said Jerry O'Donnell, co-owner of O’Donnell’s Sports Supply. “The creeks are looking pretty good. They’re stocked good. Not real muddy. It should be good opening day.”
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocks about 2.2 million trout in streams and lakes across the state before the season opener. That figure represents 70% of the 3.2 million trout stocked in the state. The remaining 30%, or 960,000, is stocked during the season.
A mentored youth trout fishing day was held March 26, but the statewide opening day Saturday is expected to lure schools of anglers to their favorite stocked waters.
O’Donnell said the shop has plenty of live bait, including most variety of worms and minnows. Butter worms are the exception. O’Donnell said he has not been able to buy butter worms, but they were never as popular with anglers as the other types.
He said a winter storm last weekend kept most people away from fishing waters for the mentored youth trout fishing day.
“The wind was blowing sideways, snowing,” O’Donnell said.
The commission stocks trout in 696 streams and 128 lakes open to public angling. The stocking includes about 2.2 million rainbow trout, 686,000 brown trout and 293,000 brook trout. The average size of the trout is 11 inches in length and weighs 0.58 pound.
About 70% of trophy-sized brood trout measuring 14 to 20 inches were stocked before opening day, and the rest will be stocked during the season. A total of 70,000 brood fish that are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years old will be stocked.
Most of the 13,000 highly prized golden rainbow trout with an average weight of 1 1/2 pounds also have already been stocked. Golden rainbows feature vibrant golden-orange pigmentation. Approximately 80% have been stocked, and 20% will be stocked in-season.
In addition to trout raised at state fish hatcheries, cooperative nurseries operated by sportsmen's clubs and other groups across the state will add another million trout to waters open to public angling throughout the year.
Included on the stocking lists are the Keystone Select Stocked Trout Waters, a program where sections of 24 streams across the state are stocked with 14- to 20-inch trout and managed under delayed harvest artificial lures only or miscellaneous special regulations. Under the program, approximately 10,000 large trout will be distributed among the streams. The trout will be stocked at a rate of 175 to 225 per mile of stream, which is comparable to the numbers of similarly sized fish in Pennsylvania's best wild trout waters.
To participate in trout fishing and keep trout, anglers ages 16 and older are required to have a fishing license and a trout permit. All anglers fishing Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay and their tributaries, including waters that flow into those tributaries, are required to possess a valid Lake Erie Permit or Combination Trout/Lake Erie Permit. Anglers fishing from boats should have current launch permits boat registrations.
