Early Trout Fishing

With stocked trout waters having been closed to fishing on Feb. 20 so that they can be planted with a new crop of hatchery-raised fish, trout-fishing fanatics must wait until April 1, 2023, the opening day of the traditional trout season, to fish these streams.

However, for trout-fishing diehards, there are several options out there for getting in some early trout fishing. Specially regulated streams offer trout-fishing opportunities on a no-kill basis in various places statewide. There are several types.

Catch-and-Release Artificial Lures Only (CRALO) stream sections, including some Keystone Select waters, exist in various areas of the state. Trout fishermen must fish with flies or artificial lures in these locations. No live bait is permitted. Spin-fishermen and fly-fishermen can sometimes make good catches of trout when the streams are not too crowded.

Several Catch-and Release Fly-Fishing Only (CRFFO) stream sections are scattered throughout the state. Be aware, however, that these can be heavily fished areas and may be too crowded for enjoyable fishing at times. To find the CRALO or CRFFO streams, look for them in your Fishing Digest or online.

Fly-fishermen who find appropriate places to fish usually fish down deep with nymphs. Lots of nymphs can be effective. I prefer beadhead Hare's Ear Nymphs for most of my early trout-fishing adventures. These easy-to-tie nymphs have produced fine numbers of lovely trout over many years for me. Recently I have been using a nymph of my own design with a gold beadhead, a soft hackle, and peacock ice dubbing for the body and have had some success with it. I call it a Bhspid Nymph, named for its components. It is easily tied and has probably been invented by other fly tiers as well, though I like to think it is my creation.

We fly-fishermen hope to run into hatches of blue-winged olive mayflies on our early outings. Olives can bring trout to the surface to feed, even during cold weather. Sadly, the little olives have vanished on several of my favorite creeks, probably due to an insidious form of water pollution.

A couple nearby trout streams whose entire lengths are open to fishing all year long on a catch-and-release, all tackle (CRAT) basis are Centre County's famous Spring Creek and Blair-Huntingdon counties' Little Juniata River. Spring Creek is fished heavily all season long, and its trout can probably name more flies than I can. The Little Juniata is pounded, too, though not as hard as Spring Creek.

Numerous options exist for trout fishermen who just can't wait until April 1 to fish.