A fellow called me the other day and wanted to know when the opening day of trout season was.

I replied that the opening day across the state was on April 3! He responded to me in a half-believing manner that his fishing booklet reported that for Western PA, that it would be April 17 and not on April 3.

I explained to him that it was changed by the powers to be in Harrisburg and it was moved up two weeks. He was disbelieving and I finally had enough of this discussion and told him: “You go fishing on the 17th and the rest of us anglers will have a two-week head start on you!”

That sunk into his head and he said OK to April 3.

The next question was asking me where he could get bait for trout fishing, a tricky question as trout anglers use many different approaches to catching early season trout. You would need to consider the type of trout you were fishing for; were they Rainbows, Brown Trout, Steelhead, Brook Trout or even Golden Palominos?

Then consider the waters that you fish and what might be the best approach for each setting. Lakes, rivers, and smaller creeks all have different fishing strategies for trout anglers. Early season fishing calls for different strategies than later season.

You need to consider water levels, color variations and even the flow rates. Believe it or not, that is how I would pick my bait offerings, spoons, spinners or flies.

The Ma & Pa bait shops are pretty scarce these days and makes getting bait a project in itself. I would not wait until the evening of Trout Season to look for my supplies. I have found a few places in my travels and I make sure that I give them a visit earlier in the week.

In fact, I have ordered some meal worms and wax worms through the internet from GRUBCO, a wholesale bait location in Ohio. That in itself is a mission that takes some strategy to keep your bait alive and healthy until the fish are ready.

My father-in-law used to be big in raising meal worms for blue bird feeding in his yard. He would raise 1,000 worms every year and supplement the parenting birds as they fed their youngsters. I just took over his basic supplies and added my own meal worms for fishing!

Add some oats or corn meal and some apple slices and you’ve got a worm farm in operation!

I previously used Emerald Shiners as my go-to bait for trout, but the Lake Erie source closed down due to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) — susceptible fish out of the Lake Erie Watershed. The PFBC is serious about containing the spread of this infectious disease in other PA Waterways from the use of live bait fish.

We still can use fathead minnows that come from other approved sources, but they don’t have the same appeal as the shiners. Believe it or not, size does matter in fishing with minnows, they can be too big, too small or just right! Getting a dozen or two in different sizes is a wise move until you figure out what they want.

Some anglers go with the artificial baits like the dough baits or salmon eggs for trout. Every color, flavor and style are available.

I was once fishing Pithole Creek in Venango County and I could not buy a bite from these trout I located. An old-timer was fishing near me and he was landing one trout after another. Finally, I recognized him to be an angler that I knew from my area back in Butler County.

It was Crusher Colosimo, who worked with the PFBC on all kinds of PR projects all over the Northwest Region. He looked over at me and said, “I’m about done here, do you want to try my secret bait?”

Without hesitation, I told him heck ya! I am not too proud to learn something from an experienced angler. Mr. Colosimo tossed over a small jar of salmon eggs that were colored fluorescent green which I never saw or used before.

I switched to a #10 egg hook and added a tiny split shot about a foot up my line. I cast my offering to the head of the pool and let the water tumble my egg into the trout. It took about 10 seconds before I had a jolt of a Brook trout on my line and soon in my creel.

If I was stocking up for trout season, I would use size 8 or 10 bait hooks, 10 or 12 egg hooks and small split shot. My line weight would be 4-, 6-, or 8-pound test at the most with a medium light rod. The best baits would be meal worms, wax worms, red worms, maggots, power bait type items and minnows.

Remember to match the stream that you are fishing … if worms are working, use worms and if minnows are best, use them! Good luck and get out in the fresh air and enjoy the Spring!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle