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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
After accepting comprehensive input from the state's trout anglers, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has decided to institute one opening day for the 2022 trout season and beyond statewide.
Prior to 2007, trout season all across Pennsylvania started on the Saturday following the 11th day of the month of April.
From 2007 to 2019, trout season began two weeks earlier in 18 southcentral and southeastern counties than it opened in the rest of the state, including Blair and surrounding counties.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed things in 2020, when the PFBC pulled off a surprise, unannounced opener on Tuesday, April 7, with the intention of cutting down on large gatherings of anglers in one place.
Last year, the trout season opener for the entire state was held on the first Saturday of April, and it was received so well by anglers that the same-day opener for all of the Commonwealth will be continued for now and the forseeable future.
The 2022 trout season begins for all of Pennsylvania this Saturday at 8 a.m.
It's a bonus for Pennsylvania's trout fishermen to get an extra week to two weeks to pursue their passion. At the same time, the weather in early April can be problematic.
"There's no doubt that it's better for the people who are fishing,'' Creg Strock, proprietor of the Aquatic Imitations shop that markets bait, tackle and flies and is located two miles east of Hollidaysburg, said of the unified opening day. "The only downfall would be whether the weather is a little colder or more inhospitable.''
The weather in this area in the month of March has been very mercurial, with temperatures reaching the 70s a few weeks back, but the beginning of this past week bringing snow squalls, frigid temperatures, and frosty wind chill numbers.
The same thing can happen here in April, which often has no rhyme or reason to its weather.
"I'm not in favor of (the early start) at all,'' said Don Orgis, 77, of Revloc, who was shopping for fishing supplies in the sporting goods department at Unkel Joe's Woodshed in the Pleasant Valley Shopping Center earlier this week. "You really can't go fishing in this type of weather. Even if it's 48 degrees out, the water is going to be cold.
"I never go out on the first day,'' Orgis added. "I'll probably go out sometime after the first weekend. I think that after Easter is the best time to start the season.''
Jack Kushner, 65, of Mineral Point, who was also at Unkel Joe's this week, said that he has gone out fishing on the first day of trout season since the age of 12.
Kushner and his grown son, Cody, will spend Saturday's opener fishing at Chest Creek near Patton.
"You get the extra time out on the stream, and since I'm retired, I take advantage of that,'' Kushner said about starting the trout season on the first Saturday of April. "The weather is the only problem.
"Down East, they were starting the season earlier, and everybody here in western Pennsylvania couldn't do that,'' Kushner added. "But I still think that they should start the season in the middle of the month because of the weather.''
Carrie Young of Puzzletown, who has been fishing for trout for many years, also agreed that the unpredictability of the weather here in early April can be a problem, although the forecast for Saturday's opener is for highs in the mid-50s with little chance of precipitation.
"It's really tricky,'' Young said of the weather. "We went out last year on opening day and it was freezing. We were wiping ice off our fishing lines and the eyelets of our rods because it was just that cold.
"Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it,'' Young said. "I'm anxious to see how the weather will be on Saturday.''
2022 trout season facts
When: The regular trout season opens for the entire state of Pennsylvania this Saturday at 8 a.m.
Creel limits: Anglers can keep five trout seven inches or longer during the regular season, which begins Saturday and lasts until Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6. During the extended season, from Tuesday, Sept. 7 through Dec. 31, only three trout seven inches or longer can be kept.
License fees: Anglers ages 16 to 64 must purchase a trout license at a cost of $22.97 plus a trout stamp permit at a cost of $9.97. Anglers ages 65 and older can purchase an annual license at a cost of $11.97 or a lifetime license at a cost of $51.97. Licenses can be purchased online at www.fishandboat.com on the FishBoatPa website, or in person at 700 retail license issuing agents and county treasurers.