Area streams getting plenty of trout this fall
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
The month of October in Pennsylvania traditionally brings brilliant fall foliage, brisk but pleasant seasonal temperatures, and a smorgasbord for football fans.
An additional perk for outdoors lovers this month is trout fishing.
Going on now and continuing through the month of December, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is stocking 118 of the state’s lakes and streams with roughly 116,500 hatchery-raised adult, rainbow, brown and brook trout.
Locally, the Greenwood Lake in northern Huntingdon County received a stocking on October 1, the Janesville Dam in Clearfield County was stocked on October 3, Canoe Creek Lake in Blair County will be stocked next Thursday, October 17, and both Lake Rowena and Lake Duman in Cambria County will receive stockings on Tuesday, October 22.
“When anglers of all ages spend time on the water during the fall season, they will be surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery and comfortable temperatures of the year,” Brian Niewinski, Director of the PFBC Bureau of Hatcheries, said in an article that was published on the Altoona WTAJ-TV website.
“The addition of stocked trout complements the many other plentiful fishing opportunities for other species that are active just as the leaves start changing colors,” Niewinski said.
Less fishing pressure on streams and lakes during the fall months adds to the allure for anglers.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said PFBC Communications Director Mike Parker. “People are kind of turning their attention to other things in the fall. Over the course of the year, we’re going to stock 3.2 million trout from the hatcheries throughout the state.
“Most of these stockings are going to be done in the springtime, before and around the opening of trout season,” Parker added. “(The fall stockings) are not on the scale that we do in the spring. With the fall stockings, there are fewer trout, but there are (also) a lot fewer anglers out on the water. The fall stocking is really based on getting fish into the more popular, accessible places, to give people the opportunity to get out there and fish while the fall transition is happening.”
Preseason stocking of trout begins in mid-February leading up to the state’s opening day of trout season, which is now on the first Saturday in April. Crowds on that day at popular fishing spots are often very large and congested, which takes something away from the charm of the pastime.
The same problem doesn’t exist after the fall stockings.
“The fall stocking is not like the spring stockings, where there is the anticipation for the opening day of trout season,” Parker said. “In the spring, people have waited months for the opportunity to get out there and fish, and they start to get the itch and then you have this one big day and maybe a few weeks following that, and it’s all kind of over except for the people who continue to get out there and fish for trout and pick away at them for a couple of months.
“Fall stocking and fishing provides people with an instant opportunity, (because) there won’t be the rush and the competition for fish in the fall that you see on the first day of trout season in the spring,” Parker added. “It’s really important that people look at the stocking schedule (on the PFBC website) so they can see the days that we’re stocking and maybe make plans to get out there soon after that.”
Water temperatures also play a role in optimal conditions for fall trout stocking.
“From a biological standpoint, the reason why we’re stocking in the fall is that the water is cold enough to stock again,” Parker said. “Trout stocking can only occur when the water is cold enough for trout, and the vast majority of the places that we’re stocking trout in the fall are places where there are no wild trout because the water is too warm for them over the summer months.
“So when the water cools down in the fall, we can put some trout in to give people that opportunity to fish for them,” Parker added.
Lakes like Canoe Creek Lake and Lake Rowena provide a wonderful variety of fish to pursue, and places from which to pursue them.
Blair County Waterways Patrolman Brock Benson will be in charge of the stocking of Canoe Creek Lake at 10:30 a.m. next Thursday.
“This is the only place in (Blair) County that is getting stocked this fall, so I think that it should be popular, because some of the older guys who don’t hunt any more still fish,” Benson said. “They have easy access to the lake, and those are the kinds of guys who are going to fish.”
Other area outdoorsmen may spend a day deer hunting with a bow and arrows in the mornings during archery season, and fishing in the afternoons.
“Fall fishing is pretty good, but for some of these individuals who are outdoorsmen, it all depends on how they will choose to spend their time – are they going to go fishing, are they going to go hunting, or are they going to do a little bit of both?” Benson asked rhetorically.
Lakes like Canoe Creek Lake and Lake Rowena provide anglers with easy access to the water, and a wide variety of fish to catch there.
“Lakes are great because of the accessibility on a lake, and because of the opportunity that they afford people to be able to walk around a lake,” Parker said. “People can fish from the banks of a lake, and they can also fish from canoes, kayaks, or jon boats out in the middle of a lake. They have the opportunity to fish in a variety of ways on a lake.
“While fishing in creeks, you might find some creek chubs, a few rock bass, or a few largemouth bass here and there,” Parker said. “But in a lake, the stocked trout tend to complement the wide variety of other fish that are available, like chain pickerel, bass, and certain types of catfish. So if you go out fishing for trout in the lakes, you’re also probably going to pick up something else, too.”
The state’s fall trout stocking program isn’t new, and it is also designed with ice fishermen and the upcoming winter months in mind.
“It’s not a new program – it’s been going on for quite awhile,” Parker said. “Some of the lakes we’re stocking, we’re not getting to until November, so if we’re fortunate enough to get ice when the water there freezes, people will have ice fishing opportunities for those fish too.”