Young girl talks about first ever trout, experts explain which baits to catch more fish
As trout season gets underway across Pennsylvania, anglers are looking forward to the excitement of catching a fish and experts are providing advice on what baits and lures are working the best.
Avery Keith, 6, of Somerset, caught her first ever trout during the Mentored Youth Trout Day on March 30 and is looking forward to fishing over the opening day weekend.
“It was exciting,” she said about watching the rainbow trout grab her bait and start pulling on the line.
She was fishing with her family in Fairhope, Somerset County. They didn’t get a chance to measure the fish as they quickly returned it to the water for someone to catch another day.
“It flopped off and we picked him up and got a picture quick and got him back into the water,” her mother Meagan said.
She was using butterworms for bait and her cousins caught fish on them, too. Avery was also fishing with her dad, Justin, and brother Camden, 9.
“We had a lot of fun, we try to do it every year with the kids,” her mother said. The family goes out Friday for fishing camp in a cabin and then goes fishing in the morning.
She said live bait like fishworms, meals and butterworms work well for kids who are learning to fish. “The butterworms seemed to work the best that day,” she said. They also used spinners and pink colored PowerBait.
Avery said she enjoys fishing and spending time with all the family members.
“I’m looking forward to having fun and catching fish,” she said about going again.
The statewide trout season runs April 6-Sept. 2, with anglers being able to keep five trout a day that are at least seven inches long.
There are plenty of options for those who want to fish with a spinning rod or fly rod.
Advice for your tackle box
In northwestern Pennsylvania, Dominic Ferrante, a salesman at Poor Richard’s Bait and Tackle, Fairview in Erie County, has a variety of bait options that work well for stocked trout.
For those using bait, he suggests minnows.
“Emerald shiners are the best. We have different kinds but Emerald shiners work very well,” he said.
Other baits that have proven themselves include waxworms and mealworms.
“Live bait is the most thing we sell for the first day of trout,” he said. “Live bait is the way to go.”
Are you ready?: A look at what you need to know to fish for trout this spring across Pennsylvania
In eastern Pennsylvania, Mike Schwartz, firearms and assistant fishing manager of Dunkelberger’s Sports Outfitter, also said live bait is a good choice.
“The popular baits are still mealworms, red worms, night crawlers, fatheads (minnows) are also very popular. PowerBait is one of the biggest sellers we have here and salmon eggs.”
Regarding PowerBait and eggs, Schwartz said yellow and orange have been popular choices for those targeted stocked trout. “For some reason garlic scent seems to work well, too, “ he said.
The company has locations in Stroudsburg and Brodheadsville in Monroe County. He said the smaller spinners are popular, too.
Ferrante also recommends small spinners like Rooster Tails or spoons like Kastmaster or Little Cleo that imitate minnows.
“For stocked trout I would go smaller,” he said about choosing lure size for fish that average 10 to 11 inches long. “I wouldn’t go too big. They might shy away or get spooked.”
For those using a fly rod, Ferrante said to use designs that mimic a minnow or fish eggs.
“The stone fly I believe just hatched. Stone flies would be a good go to right now,” he said.
Schwartz also likes to catch trout with a fly rod.
“Nymphs, streamers, woolly buggers are all good for early season fly fishing,” he said. “If there’s no hatches on the water, go to a woolly bugger or a streamer. A streamer is a fly fisherman’s spinner,” he said because it imitates a minnow. “Blacknosed Dace, Micky finns, they are all really great streamers for this part of the country.”
Something relatively new that’s been catching on with anglers is a product call Trout Magnet.
“That’s real hot. It’s a real tiny 1/32 ounce jig with a little rubber grub on the back. It’s not really that new but people don’t know about it and it’s something to try,” Schwartz said.
You can use the rubber split tails that come with the kit, but some anglers put live bait like wax worms on the hooks, too.
Color choices based on water clarity
Changing water levels are common with April rain showers and anglers need to be able to adjust to different conditions.
“If the creeks are high, ponds would be the best bet until it calms down,” Ferrante said.
If you decide to fish a stream when the water is cloudy or high, he said the deeper holds attract and hold fish.
“In the rapids, your bait will just fly by the fish,” he said about avoiding faster water.
“Clear water I do more flashy like silvers and golds, something that will shine off the light. When it’s darker, I would do chartreuses or pinks, anything brighter, UV, glow in the dark,” he said. “Trout and steelhead have pretty good eye vision, so they can find them pretty good.”
Darker lures, like blacks and browns, work in a variety of conditions.
“Black jigs are always a go to. I would say that anytime, sunny or cloudy,” Ferrante said.
Schwartz said anglers should change their lure colors based on the clarity of the water.
“If the water is dark, fish dark. If the water is light, fish light. It goes against what you think," Schwartz said. "A shiny lure in the dirty water would be more attractive, but it’s not real. If you fish a brass colored spinner blade in dark water, you’re going to do better. Silver for clear, dark for dirty is a simple thing to remember.”
The key is being willing to change colors and lures if the fish aren’t biting on what you have out there.
“Try a little bit of everything. When something works, stick with it,” Schwartz said.
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New fishing line
There are many types of fishing line available for spinning rods, including monofilament and fluorocarbon
Ferrante said for stocked trout monofilament line ranging from four- to eight-pound test is a good choice.
“They are small fish. I wouldn’t go larger than eight pounds,” he said.
Fluorocarbon lines are clear in water but are more expensive than monofilament and they can tangle easier. To give anglers the best of both worlds, he recommends filling your spool with monofilament and then using a several foot long leader of fluorocarbon on the end of the line to connect your lure or bait.
“It’s a preference thing,” he said about the variety of choices that are available.
How many trout are in Pennsylvania?
About 4 million trout are being placed in waterways across the state this spring by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and sportsmen groups who operate cooperative nurseries.
The PFBC plans to release 2.4 million rainbow trout; 702,000 brown trout, 132,000 brook trout and 14,000 golden rainbow trout. As with past practice, the average size of the trout produced for stocking is 11 inches in length with an average weight of .58 pounds.
In addition to trout raised at state fish hatcheries, PFBC cooperative nurseries operated by sportsmen’s clubs and other groups across the state will add another one million trout to waters open to public angling throughout the year.
The PFBC places trout in 697 streams and 129 lakes across the state for anglers to enjoy.
Who needs a license to fish in Pennsylvania?
Anglers 16 years of age or older must possess a valid Pennsylvania fishing license. The cost for a resident fishing license is $27.97 and the trout permit is $14.97.
Fishing licenses and permits can be purchased through the HuntFishPA online portal on the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) website (Fishandboat.com), on your smartphone using the FishBoatPA mobile app, or by visiting one of nearly 700 retail license issuing agents like sports shops and county treasurer offices.
Dates to remember
There are several important dates for trout anglers this year:
April 6 — Statewide Opening Day of Trout Season at 8 a.m., creel limit of five trout that are at least seven inches long.
May 26 and July 4 are two Fish for Free Days when no license is required to fish on public waterways.
Sept. 3 — Extended trout season begins with a creel limit of three.
Nov. 1 through April 30 — Mandatory Life Jacket Requirement in effect for boats under 16 feet long, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards.
Catch and release
If you don’t want to keep your fish, the commission offers the following advice to give your catch the best chance for survival:
Use barbless hooks.
Play fish quickly.
Try to land your fish as quickly as possible, don’t play the fish to exhaustion, and use a landing net.
Keep the fish in the water. The chance of a fish being injured increases the longer it is held out of water.
Wet your hands, net and other materials that may come in contact with the fish.
Hold the fish upside down while removing the hook. This can often pacify the fish and reduce handling time.
Remove hooks quickly. Hemostats or long-nose pliers are essential tools for quickly removing hooks.
Cut the line. When it is not possible to remove the hook without harming the fish, cut the line.
Don’t touch the gills. Do not handle fish by placing your fingers in the gill slits.
Hold the fish upright underwater after hook removal and allow it to swim away under its own power. If necessary, hold the fish out of the current until it revives.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: What baits work best for trout in Pennsylvania
