Mar 9, 2012 By Ben Moyer, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read

The mild weather spawned the urge to fish, and I got out one blustery day in late February when the extended trout season was still open. Assuming there would be no ice at Laurel Hill Lake at Laurel Hill State Park near Rockwood, I hauled my kayak up there only to find the main lake covered with a slushy slurry. This “snow-cone” ice was a real angler’s obstacle. It was too weak for an ice-fisherman to stand but too widespread to allow fishing with conventional tackle, and I wasn’t about to launch a kayak amid the narrow open channels that zig-zagged across the surface. Due to the conditions, there wasn’t another angler to be seen.

But at the far upper end of the lake, where Laurel Hill Creek enters, there was open water. A few floes of slush floated around the backwaters, but there was enough open surface to launch and paddle. There, one group of three or four fishermen had cast out baits under bobbers, without success they told me.

While I prepared my gear for the first fishing of 2012, the wind began gusting down off Laurel Ridge. It whipped up small rollers that blew the remaining slush out of the backwaters and piled it up on the open lake.

It also blew the other anglers off the water. I looked up from tying a knot and they were gone.

I launched at the upper ramp and let the wind blow me down the channel between Laurel Ridge and the long island that flanks the state park road. Dipping the paddle on either the left side or right allowed me to keep a straight line while I cast and retrieved a black Rooster Tail spinner.

It’s not too often that your selected lure, bait and pattern of fishing correspond exactly to what the trout “want” on any particular day.

But, evidently, I got lucky. I caught trout repeatedly until I drifted beyond the island and toward the open lake.

I wanted no parts of the big lake or the floes of slush, so I paddled back upstream in the protected lee of the island, out of the wind, and repeated the process several times, catching more trout on each wind-powered run down the channel.

Eventually I put three nice rainbow trout on a stringer and headed for shore. There was still nobody else fishing.

Even though the extended trout season closed at the end of February, there are still trout opportunities to enjoy in this mild end of winter. The traditional trout season opens April 14 but other programs offered by the Fish and Boat Commission allow us to get on the water and fish right now.

Our area holds several lakes, plus a river section, that are part of the Fish and Boat Commission’s Early-Season Trout-Stocked Waters program.

While most trout waters are closed, you can fish for trout until March 31 at Dunlap Lake and Virgin Run Lake in Fayette County; Laurel Hill Lake in Somerset County; Donegal, Keystone, Mammoth, Northmoreland and Twin Lakes in Westmoreland County, plus the Youghiogheny River tailrace at Confluence.

Anglers should note the reduced creel limit during the early season.

Only three trout may be creeled per day, and the minimum size is seven inches.

The mild weather should also tempt fishermen onto our region’s fine trout waters that never close. You can fish for trout year-round on the Youghiogheny from the mouth of Ramcat Run downriver to Ohiopyle under the All-Tackle Trophy Trout program. A portion of Meadow Run, from Dinner Bell Road to Rte. 381 is also always open, managed as a Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only project.

And Dunbar Creek’s Fly Fishing Only segment is always open to fishing. Anglers should check their 2012 Summary of Fishing Regulations for details on tackle restrictions and seasonal creel limits on these various streams.

At this time of year, there’s yet another way to get excited about trout fishing and to help promote better fishing at the same time.

The Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold its 18th annual fund-raising banquet March 24 at the Holiday Inn, Uniontown.

Chestnut Ridge TU is one of the most active and respected conservation organizations in the state. Its members have invested countless hours in stream restoration work around southwestern Pennsylvania, and have operated the cage-culture trout nursery at the Yough tailrace that has supported public fishing, particularly for kids and youth, across the region. As always, CRTU’s banquet will feature a great meal, high quality fishing-related prizes, and the chance to talk fishing as the season draws near.

For information on the banquet and to reserve tickets call CRTU banquet chairman, contact Eugene Gordon at 724-277-8688.