Pennsylvania's trout season opener gets underway April 6

Saturday’s (Apr. 6) much anticipated statewide trout opener gets underway at 8 a.m. when local streams and lakes will be lined with anglers attempting to latch onto some of the 3.2 million trout the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will have stocked for the season. The PFBC says they will stock approximately 2.4 million Rainbow Trout, 702,000 Brown Trout and 132,000 Brook Trout. And these fish, they say, are 11 inches in length and weigh .58 pounds 

In addition, the PFBC says 70,000 will be brood trout that are 2.5 years old and 3.5-year-old hatchery-raised Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout measuring 14-20 inches. Roughly 70 percent of these lunkers will be stocked prior to opening day of trout season, and 30 percent during in-season stockings. 

As a bonus, approximately 14,000 golden Rainbow Trout will be stocked in 2024. These fish will weigh an average of 1.5 pounds with approximately 75 percent being stocked preseason and 25 percent will be stocked in-season. Added this, PFBC cooperative nurseries like the Lil-Le-Hi trout nursery and sportsman’s clubs, will add another one million trout to waters open to the public during the season.  

Once the opener kicks off, the PFBC will begin their inseason stockings. The following Lehigh and Northampton stocking dates are as follows. Keep in mind not all portions of a listed stream will be stocked at one time on that date. 

For Lehigh County the following will receive fish on listed dates:

4-9: Lehigh Canal; 4-10: Jordan Creek; 4-11: Little Lehigh, Swabia Creek; 4-15: Jordan Creek; 4-16: Coplay Creek, Jordan Creek; 4-18: Jordan Creek; 4-19: Switzer Creek, Jordan Creek; 4-22: Cedar Creek, Little Lehigh; 4-24: Monocacy Creek; 4-25: Ontelaunee Creek; 4-26: Jordan Creek; 4-29: Cedar Creek, Little Lehigh, Swabia Creek; 5-6: Coplay Creek, Trout Creek.

In Northampton County the following will receive stockings:

4-8: Monocacy Creek, Saucon Creek; 4-9: Lehigh Canal; 4-11: Hokendauqua Creek, Indian Creek; 4-15: Lehigh Canal; 4-18: Jacoby Creek, Martins Creek; 4-19: Bushkill Creek, Little Bushkill Creek; 4-23: Hokendauqua Creek; 4-24: Monocacy Creek, Saucon Creek; 4-30: Bushkill Creek, Little Bushkill Creek; 5-2: Minsi Lake; 10-10: Minsi Lake. 

If you’re heading to the upper Jordan Creek or Leaser Lake to fish and are need of bait, Bob’s Wildlife Taxidermy Shop in Orefield on Kernsville Road (610-398-7609) has Rosy Red minnows, medium shiners, fathead minnows, red worms, nightcrawlers, baby nightcrawlers, waxworms and mealworms. He may also be getting butter worms prior to the opener. Bob puts out a friendly reminder that a portion of the Jordan Creek at the Trexler Zoo above the ford that crosses the stream is a “kids fishing only” area where they’re almost guaranteed to catch a trout or two.

If you enjoy catching trout but not keeping them in a catch-and-release practice, the PFBC strongly recommends these release methods:

*Land the fish quickly: Don’t let it fight and jump until it’s exhausted.

*Use a landing net: The best nets have a shallow bag made of fine mesh. If you must handle the fish, wet your hands before touching the fish. 

*Keep the fish in the water as much as possible: If you must handle the fish, keep it in the water as being out of the water is stressful for the fish.
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*Quickly remove the hook: Practice grabbing the hook shank and turning the fish upside down. The fish will usually slide off the hook. Long pliers are helpful when removing the hook. Sometimes fish will get hooked and there’s no way to get the hook out so just snip the line as close as possible to the fish’s mouth, then release it. You may also want to crimp down the hook barb. 



 

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