Apr 20, 2003 4 min read

With the 2003 trout season successfully under way, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is looking ahead to possible changes to trout fishing regulations for future years. The potential for a regionally-staggered start for opening the trout season and concepts for new special regulations for some wild brook trout streams are among the ideas the Commission will discuss at its spring quarterly meeting April 27-28.

The meeting will be held at the PFBC’s Harrisburg headquarters, 1601 Elmerton Avenue in Harrisburg. Committees will meet on Sunday, April 27, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and Monday, April 28, beginning at 8 a.m. The formal agenda session will begin at or about 1:15 p.m., on the 28th. It is possible that Commission action on some agenda items may be undertaken during other portions of the advertised public meeting. All Committee meetings and the review of the agenda are open to the public and attendance is encouraged.

Discussions on the possible changes to the trout season opener will center on the potential to increase trout fishing opportunities in response to variations in Pennsylvania’s topography and climate. The Commission is contemplating seeking public comment on creating a regulation that would begin the trout season for parts of southeastern Pennsylvania the first Saturday in April while holding the opening day for the rest of the state until the third Saturday in April. Currently, the opening day is the first Saturday after April 11 for the vast majority of trout waters managed under conventional regulations statewide.

“Typically, while many trout stocked waters in northern and central counties are barely recovered from winter’s icy grip, those in southern areas are ideal for recreational trout angling. Warming spring temperatures create optimum stocked trout fishing opportunities earlier in southeastern Pennsylvania, but similarly these warming conditions can limit stocked trout fishing opportunities later in the season,” said Dick Snyder, Manager of the Division of Fisheries for the PFBC.

“A regional opening day approach could align stocked trout management more closely with optimum climate and environmental conditions, providing additional opportunity for recreation by managing waters closer to their potential,” Snyder said.

As currently envisioned, the trout season for the designated early start areas would end at midnight February 14. The remainder of the state would continue to observe a March 1 closure.

The Commission will also contemplate options for special regulations aimed at enhancing wild brook trout populations. One possible technique could be to regulate select waters and their tributaries for catch and release fishing only for all wild brook trout. Such an approach would allow for year-round brook trout fishing with no special tackle restrictions, providing protection for wild brook trout while appealing to a broad range of anglers.

A second approach could be to establish a seven-inch maximum size limit on wild brookies. Fishing would be permitted year-round, with no special tackle restrictions. Perhaps as many as five wild brook trout could be creeled per day from opening day through Labor Day, with no harvest allowed the remainder of the year if this option were pursued. Such regulations would allow anglers the opportunity to harvest some wild brook trout while protecting larger, older brook trout.

The potential changes to trout fishing regulations are being raised in response to angler input gathered at the special Trout Summit the Commission held last September.

Also included among the agenda items for the meeting is proposed rulemaking that, if finally adopted at a later time, would raise the minimum size limit on walleye in Lake Erie to 20 inches. The proposal is being advanced in anticipation of a reduction in the total allowable catch limits lake-wide by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Erie Committee, of which the PFBC is a member.