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With the official first day of spring now less than a week and a half away, it's probably safe to say that this winter was generally a mild one.
Only a few times did our area experience days with more than a couple of inches of snow. That situation suits me just fine, especially since there wasn't any worthwhile snow during deer season, the only time I am even remotely tolerant of the white stuff.
Having lived here in central Pennsylvania all my life, I'm well aware we could get several inches of snow between now and the first week or two of April, but thankfully, it will be all but gone within a day or two now as the days continue to get longer and warmer.
Also similar to last winter, we enjoyed some unseasonably warm days during February as temperatures climbed to nearly 60 degrees a couple of times. And also similar to last year, my brother and I took advantage of those marvelous days to do a little late-winter fishing.
My younger sibling recently retired and has embraced a concept that I have embraced most of my adult life: any day of the week is a good day to go fishing -- not just weekends.
So in mid-February when he sent me a text message in the middle of the week saying, "The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow. We should go fishing somewhere," that sounded like a fine idea to me, and the following afternoon I landed my first trout since last fall.
About two weeks later with another gorgeous day in the weather forecast, he sent me another text message proposing a fishing trip. This time our target was smallmouth bass on the Juniata River.
Most years, I will begin my pursuit of river smallmouths in early to mid-March, weather and water conditions permitting, so the prospect of catching some smallmouths in February was a welcome objective. Although the day turned out not to be as warm as predicted, I managed to land nine smallmouths and my brother caught eight bass before a persistent drizzle chased us from the river.
The water temperature that day was only 43 degrees. All of the bass we caught were on soft-plastic tube jigs, which have long proven to be the most consistent and effective lure for river bass early in the season.
As the water temperatures creep toward the 50-degree mark and the smallmouths enter their pre-spawn feeding spree, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits will also account for their share of bass.
Many anglers will undoubtedly be looking forward to getting on the water in the coming weeks, and there are plenty of worthwhile opportunities throughout our region. Bass are currently in season until April 12.
Stocked trout waters throughout the state, however, are currently closed to all fishing until the opening day of trout season on April 6. Anglers desiring a little preseason trout fishing until then can do so on variety of special regulation waters regardless of whether they fish with flies, lures or bait. Fishing in these designated areas is limited to catch and release, however, so those seeking a few fish to take home will have to wait until the first day of trout season.
A complete statewide listing of all special regulation areas with the boundaries and the specific rules for each one can be found in the "2024 Pennsylvania Fishing Summary" that comes with the purchase of your fishing license. This information can also be viewed online at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission website, fishandboat.com. We are fortunate to have a diverse group of special-regulation areas here in our region.
The Little Juniata River in Blair and Huntingdon counties and Spring Creek in Centre County are managed under "Catch and Release All Tackle" regulations. Fishing is permitted year-round with any type of tackle using artificial flies and lures and live bait.
Canoe Creek Lake in Blair County, Lake Perez in Huntingdon County and Koon Lake in Bedford County are designated as "Stocked Trout Waters Open to Year-Round Fishing." There are no special tackle restrictions on these waters, but no trout may be kept or killed until the opening day of trout season.
A couple of stream sections in our area are managed under "Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only" (DHALO) regulations. They are located on Black Moshannon Creek in Centre County and Chest Creek near Patton in Cambria County.
Fly anglers will also want to consider the famous Fisherman's Paradise section of Spring Creek in Centre County or about a mile of Yellow Creek in Bedford County downstream of the village of Loysburg. These popular stream sections are currently managed as "Catch and Release Fly-fishing Only" with fishing restricted to fly tackle and artificial flies only.