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Outdoors

2025 trout season opens next Saturday

The statewide trout season opens next Saturday at 8 a.m. This annual rite of spring is something a great many anglers eagerly look forward to, and this year maybe a bit more than usual. Last year, the first few weeks of trout season were nearly a total bust because of the water conditions. Heavy rains had pushed most streams throughout the region to flood stage, making fishing next to impossible or even downright dangerous on some of the larger waterways. I’m sure no one wants a repeat of last year’s flooding to wipe out the traditional beginning of trout season. Although I rarely ...

Spring cleaning to be held April 12

The Little Juniata River Association, a 700-plus member non-profit organization, announced that it will hold its 20th annual Riverbank Clean-up on Saturday, April 12. The LJRA has removed tons of trash, tires and assorted other items from more than 20 miles of riverbank and roadsides. Each year since 2005, some 200 volunteers have turned out for the annual event. Individuals and groups are invited to help. Volunteers can show up at 9 a.m. at either the Spruce Creek United Methodist Church in Spruce Creek or the New Pig Parking lot near Delgrosso’s Park. LJRA and area businesses ...

Again, Sunday hunting legislation introduced

Last year, legislation to repeal Pennsylvania’s longtime ban on general Sunday hunting passed the state Senate. This was Senate Bill 67, which had also gained preliminary approval in the House of Representatives before the legislative session expired and with it another opportunity for Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. Earlier this month, Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, reintroduced Senate Bill 67. If that legislation manages to pass both chambers of the General Assembly this time around and is then signed into law by the governor, general Sunday hunting could finally become a reality for ...

Competitive fishing changes the sport

Fishing tournaments are a popular activity for some anglers, while others loathe such endeavors as a corruption of a sport they enjoy. To each his own, I suppose, but organized fishing tournaments at so many levels are now in place, that competition fishing is not going away and continues to grow. And is there anything inherently wrong with a fishing competition? That is and will have to remain entirely a personal judgement. Unlike most competitive ventures folks engage in, however, money is not the great motivator that draws most anglers to enter most fishing tournaments. With the ...

Crow among wild game dinner items

PINE GROVE — The buffet line inside the fire hall in rural Pennsylvania was a familiar sight last weekend as a crowd of about 150 people heaped dinner onto their plates before sitting down to eat, hear a little live music and wait for the raffle. Aside from a couple of vegetable dishes that were largely ignored, the food being served at the Taste of the Wild Outdoors dinner inside the Pine Grove Hose, Hook and Ladder Fire Company was anything but standard fare. The menu of 14 species that included stingray casserole, bear stew, raccoon andouille and rabbit kielbasa was the ...

Trout stocking starts next week

With all the snow, ice and frigid weather lately, it seems a little out of place to be announcing the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is set to begin its annual trout-stocking efforts next week, but that is indeed the situation. The statewide trout season for 2025 will begin on Saturday, April 5 with the Mentored Youth Trout Day on Saturday, March 29. All designated stocked trout waters will be closed to all fishing from midnight on Monday, Feb. 17 until 8 a.m. on the opening of trout season. During 2025, the PFBC will release about 3.2 million adult trout into 691 streams and ...