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State shifts to one trout opener, earlier date
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The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission voted to do away with two separate trout season openers in the state.
Starting this year, trout season will open statewide on April 2.
Because the Mentored Youth Trout Day is always a week before the statewide opener, that day will be March 26.
“Thank you to the anglers of Pennsylvania for making their voices heard about trout season and being a partner in this decision,” said Richard Kauffman, president of the Fish and Boat Commission’s board.
“While necessary changes to the last two seasons because of the pandemic were inconvenient for many people, we used the unprecedented opportunity to ask a lot of questions about how we’ve been doing things for the last fifteen years.
“Through a wealth of public input, including angler surveys presenting opening day options, it became clear that our agency and most Pennsylvania anglers value and prefer a single opening day of trout season moving forward.”
In selecting the first Saturday in April as the date for the statewide opening of trout season, the agency considered several factors such as weather, water temperature, stocking and social impacts.
For years, Pennsylvania opened trout season on the same day – the first Saturday after April 11.
In 2007, the Fish and Boat Commission split the state to account for warmer water temperatures in some parts of the state.
In 13 of the last 15 years, Pennsylvania anglers could take advantage of two opening days.
The last two years were exceptions.
In 2021, the Fish and Boat Commission opened trout season on April 3 because of concerns about overcrowding during the pandemic.
The previous year, trout anglers woke up Tuesday, April 7, and discovered the Fish and Boat Commission declared, without any prior warning, that trout season was open immediately.