Trout season opens early, precautions recommended
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced Tuesday that it was opening trout season that day, 11 days early.
Officials from the agency still urge people to maintain distancing of at least six feet – roughly the length of an arm with a fishing rod outstretched – from other anglers and to take other precautions, like avoiding crowded areas and picking spots close to home.
Fishing and other outdoor activities are excluded from a stay-home order intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“The concern all along was never with fishing,” said commission executive director Tim Schaeffer. “In fact, fishing is an acceptable form of outdoor recreation and is encouraged by the Department of Health.”
Instead, he told reporters during a teleconference on Thursday that the concern was the potential for large crowds on opening day, and stocked bodies of water in advance to give the fish time to spread out.
Officials also canceled the youth mentoring day typically held for trout season. Licenses purchased for this year’s event will be honored in 2021.
“We wanted to minimize those pinchpoints, and – with a phrase that we’re all familiar with by now – wanted to flatten out that opening-day curve,” he added. “We’ve seen that working since we announced it on Tuesday. We stock hundreds, nearly thousands, of waters across Pennsylvania, and heard only of some crowding in literally less than five places.”
Schaeffer said people should not go on fishing outings with people who aren’t members of their households and not to share fishing gear with others. The commission does not plan to suspend sales of out-of-state licenses, despite the admonitions against travel.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is urging Pennsylvanians not to travel more than 15 minutes for outdoor activities. Bathrooms and other buildings in state forests are closed, said DCNR secretary Cindy Adams Dunn.
“Think about the backyard, think about the neighborhood, think about the local trails, think about the closest state park or forest area, and how to recreate there,” Dunn said.