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The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has acknowledged the waters it stocks with trout are basically a “put-and-take” fishery.
That’s not a bad thing.
Hatchery trout are raised and released to create opportunities for anglers. The best way to keep anglers coming back for more is if they catch fish.
Judging by the crowds that congregate on streams and lakes for opening day, the formula works.
To a degree.
As I reviewed the 2011 stocking schedule for several Northeastern Pennsylvania counties, it seems that “put-and-take” has been replaced with a “put-and-find” approach when it comes to several popular streams.
Why?
Simple. In some cases trout are stocked too early in the year – as early as March 1. Considering trout season doesn’t begin until April 16, there is little chance those stocked trout will be anywhere near the places they were stocked when opening day rolls around.
A trout movement study conducted by the PFBC – beginning in 2005 – proved that stocked trout do move away from the areas where they were released. Some less than a mile, others more than 10 miles and, in the case of one rainbow trout stocked in Wysox Creek, Bradford County, more than 123 miles.
Depending on the species, drastic movements occurred within days of being stocked. Some, such as brook trout, remained in the area for approximately 10 days before wandering.
It all makes me wonder just what, if anything, anglers will find on several area streams that are scheduled to be stocked weeks before opening day — . streams such as Roaring Creek in Columbia County, which was stocked March 1; and Big Wapwallopen Creek, which was stocked on March 2.
That’s a month-and-a-half before opening day.
A lot can happen in that time, in addition to the tendency for trout to move. High waters resulting from melting snow and heavy spring rains can force the trout downstream. Predation and poaching from anglers too impatient to wait for April 16 can dwindle numbers even more.
An easy solution is for the agency to switch the early stocking dates on streams with the later dates scheduled for lakes where trout movement isn’t a factor.
In the PFBC’s defense, stocking trout is expensive and it can be a logistical nightmare. Cost and distance traveled surely have to figure into the equation when it comes to setting the preseason trout stocking schedule.
But perhaps a few tweaks could be made so more fish could be found on opening day.
For an angler who looks forward to the first day of trout season, imagine the disappointment they must feel to show up at their favorite stocked stream, wait until the 8 a.m. start and then discover there are no fish.
With license sales declining, stocking trout knowing that it’s likely they won’t stick around long enough for opening day isn’t the way to reverse that trend.
In 2006 the trout movement study found that rainbows were the first species to leave the areas where they were stocked.
It took about three days.
Guess what was stocked in Roaring Creek (March 1) and Big Wapwallopen Creek (March 2) about 45 days before the season opener?
Rainbows.
Good luck.