The most popular fishing day of the year happens April 4 which is opening day of trout season for all anglers statewide. If the weather cooperates and waters are in decent shape for fishing, Saturday will be a good day to catch some of the 3.2 million trout being stocked this year.

Your job is deciding where to fish. You could return to your favorite place or try a new one. Some anglers end up traveling from one creek to another and also stopping at a lake. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s trout stocking schedule is available on the agency’s website (fishandboat.com). Creeks and lakes being stocked are listed. Choose the one that you want to fish at 8 a.m. when the season begins.

To get you in the mood to fish for trout, the commission conducted the first trout stocking of the year on Feb. 17 at Opossum Lake. They used a chain saw to cut a hole in the ice. Anglers who attended the ceremony probably fell asleep that night counting trout instead of sheep. They and you finally will be able to catch those trout this Saturday.

The most common species being stocked is the rainbow trout. Brook trout and brown trout also are stocked as is a hybrid trout called the golden rainbow. The latter fish is considered by anglers to be especially rewarding to catch. Most angers, however, are pleased to catch whichever species is available. Most waters receive more than one species.

As in the past, a trout must be seven or more inches long to be harvested for food. Most trout stocked are about 11 inches. If you fish a mountain creek or a spring-fed creek and catch a trout under seven inches long, it probably is a wild, or native, trout that was born there. This trout will be especially beautiful and must be released due to its length.

Not all native trout are less than seven inches in length. If you catch a trout longer than seven inches that appears to be a native fish, it will reproduce more wild trout if you release it unharmed. I would release it, and instead catch a stocked trout or two for the table.

The daily creel limit on trout continues to be five during the season that continues through Sept. 7. On Mentored Youth Trout Day held March 27, the creel limit that one day was two trout for youths age 15 and under.

Fishing for trout is a sport. It is outdoor recreation. For some anglers, it is almost a way of life. With a general fishing license and a trout permit, they can fish every day for the rest of 2026. In reality, most anglers switch to fishing for other kinds of fish by the time in-season trout stocking ends in late spring.

An adult angler age 16 or more pays $27.97 for a license and $14.97 for a trout permit. Without a trout permit, it is illegal for you to fish for trout. You may fish for other species of fish, but not trout. If you do not have a permit and catch a trout inadvertently, it must be released immediately.

Some anglers who fish for trout as often as possible in the spring keep just a few for the table and release the others unharmed. Most trout caught on artificial lures and flies are hooked at the front of the mouth in tough tissue. When released, these trout are likely swim away and survive. Trout that bite on bait and are hooked farther back in the mouth are more apt to be injured.

Before fishing, you need to decide what your goal is. Are you fishing for food or are you fishing to catch and release trout? It does not take long until only a small number of stocked trout remain in the many small waterways that are fished frequently.

In April and May, creeks that are stocked usually have enough water for there to be channels and scattered holes that hold trout. By summer these channels and holes have less water and the long stretches of water between them are only ripples hardly deep enough for minnows. Uncaught trout that somehow survive do so in the few pockets of water that remain. Larger streams provide somewhat deeper water during summer. By then the anglers who continue to fish for trout are those who specialize in trout as opposed to bass, catfish or panfish.

What interests me is that anglers use different methods to fish for trout and are successful. Those methods include using artificial lures, baits, or artificial flies. These three categories can be divided into different subcategories in which anglers further specialize.

The person who uses lures often fishes for trout with a spinner having a blade that revolves that is either gold or silver. Some spinners have a piece of squirrel tail tied above the treble hook. A spinner is effective only if its blade revolves, or spins, constantly when the spinner is reeled in. Numerous trout are caught on spinners every spring.

Good live baits for catching trout continue to be worms and night crawlers. Blackhead worms, if you can find them, are excellent. Fish also bite on red worms sold at bait shops. Half of a night crawler is big enough to catch the average-size stocked trout. These baits usually are fished with a small split-shot sinker attached to the line about eight inches above the hook. A trout will grab a bait as it sinks while floating downstream with the current or when the bait is on the bottom of the creek.

Some anglers specialize in using two- to three-inch minnows as bait that they have caught or bought. The minnow is attached to a double hook using a needle. This rig is sold in a small package with instructions. Once rigged, the minnow is cast downstream and slowly reeled in near the bottom of the creek. A split-shot weight on line may be needed.

One year at a lake I walked past an angler on the first day of trout season whose big tackle box contained about 12 jars of different colors of doughy bait. By forming the bait into small balls and fishing them on a treble hook, he had caught almost the daily limit of trout.

An angler who fishes with artificial flies in early spring will use streamers, nymphs, or wet flies. They all sink and do not float. Once cast, a streamer, nymph or wet fly can be slowly fished over the bottom of the creek on a tight line so that a trout’s strike can be detected. A minority of anglers fish with flies. Trout they catch are usually hooked in the lip so can be released and will survive.

Regardless of which bait, lure, or fly is used to fish for trout in the spring, most fish will be caught close to the bottom of the waterway. It is best to fish the water slowly and thoroughly. If you fish while wading or wade just to cross a creek to the other side, be careful not to slip on rocks and fall against one of them and hit your head or break a bone. Fishing injuries are uncommon, but it pays to pay attention at rocky creeks, lakes and rivers.