Mar 26, 2016 5 min read

At this time of year, it’s hard to think of anything but fishing. The crappie are hitting sporadically and an occasional bluegill will be landed.

Trout season will be with us in just a bit more than two weeks and to many anglers that day represents the start of the fishing season. I have often felt that the two big openers in Pennsylvania are the first day of deer season and the opening day of trout fishing.

Years ago, we gathered along the bank of some stream and waited for that hour when trout became legal. That first cast right 12 was something special.

Many openers found the Blocks along the banks of a special spot in Brush Creek, a feeder stream of Wills Creek in Somerset County.

Every time I hear someone complaining about the weather saying it’s unusually cold for the time of the year, I remind myself of an opening day of trout season that was very cold. I don’t remember the year but the kids were teenagers at most, and we were on our way to demonstrate to the others on the creek how to catch trout.

As we approached Mt. Pleasant it started to snow. It snowed and snowed some more. Eventually, we were forced to turn around and go home. It’s not always warm in the middle of April.

I have never felt that fishing was a social event and enjoy solitude when trout fishing. Therefore, I find the opening day can be annoying.

With that in mind, I came up with a brilliant idea. I wouldn’t go trout fishing. Now that sounds simple, and I imagine there are other serious anglers who refuse to fight the crowd of opening day, but I had a twist to staying off the trout streams.

I wouldn’t stay home but instead drove up to Pymatuming and fished for walleye. Opening day found me fishing but not trout fishing.

One thing is almost guaranteed – there will be mud. Almost equally guaranteed is someone will step right in front of you.

This act shows nothing but poor morals and a wise person will understand and feel sorry for them rather than suffer creek rage. Never confuse ignorance with malice.

If ever courtesy was needed it is on that big day in April. If someone was there first let him fish and go around him.

I remember a friend who owned property along a local stocked creek telling me he allowed hunting but not fishing. That seemed strange to me for the reverse is much more common. So I asked him why, and he said fishermen are slobs and litter his property with bait cans, spinner cards and other garbage. He has a point. Don’t litter. It is a common cause of posted property.

A minor problem I often face when fishing for spring panfish is in the choice of terminal tackle I intend to use. In many instances both crappie and bluegill will hit around the same time and in the same locations.

Bluegill have very small mouths, while the crappie’s mouth is large. On top of this the crappie have delicate mouths. That’s why in some parts of the country they are called paper mouths.

The problem is what size hook to use for them? I like to use a larger hook for crappie because they hold better, but if the bluegill are hitting you will miss many strikes. The bait is too large for their mouths.

You can compromise with a No. 8 hook, which is a borderline size for both but works most of the time.

Also, crappie are minnow feeders while bluegill are suckers for small worms, maggots or wax worms.

I guess what I am saying is change tackle according to what is hitting or according to what you prefer to catch. After all, they are both good eating, with bluegill tops in this angler’s opinion.

• There was a meeting of the House Game and Fisheries Committee in Harrisburg Tuesday.

One of the subjects to be looked at and discussed was House Bill 1148.

Sportspersons should support this bill, which would give more freedom from politics to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, but giving it the right to set its own license fees.

Remember, the original idea was to keep the commission free from politics to serve the wildlife and hunters of the state without intervention.

House Bill 1148 would eliminate some of the strings still tying the Game Commission to the political spectrum.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is funded by hunters and accepts no money from the state’s general fund.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is supposed to be an independent agency, let’s keep it that way.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.