The spring ritual of trout fishing is fast approaching and the PA Fish and Boat Commission is calling for all Anglers as they promote the outdoor sport of fishing.

The PFBC has its fleet of fish tankers on a roll as local trout streams and lakes are being stocked for the local April 18th Trout Opener.

The first Saturday has been a long standing tradition with sportsmen trying to shake off the winter blues and get back into the outside activities.

The PFBC is going all out to encourage anglers to participate in fishing. They have reduced license fees, are selling multi-year fishing licenses, have provided online purchasing and gift vouchers, and have brought back by popular demand the alternate display license button. This years’ button is pink and for $5 is available to current, adult and youth PA fishing license customers. They can be worn as an alternative to the folded and cased fishing license which still must be carried on your person but not displayed. The button will carry each sportsman’s CID number across its face; this number is unique to each sportsman and does not change year to year. Another program expanded for 2015 is the Mentored Youth Trout Days. This program is in response to anglers asking for more fishing opportunities with kids in mind.

The Mentored Youth Trout Day will be held on Saturday April 11th before the regional opening day of trout on April 18th. There are some rules to follow to participate in the Mentored Youth Trout Day. Mentors are required to be 16 years of age or older and possess a valid 2015 PA fishing license and trout stamp and be accompanied by a junior angler under the age of 16 who has a free Mentored Youth Permit or a Voluntary Youth License that cost $2.70.

The significance of the Voluntary Youth License is that for every license sold PA gets back $5 in federal reimbursement for outreach and youth education programs.

Sportsmen and organizations can give out the youth voluntary licenses as gifts and parlay the $2.70 fee into $5.00 for the sport of fishing in Pennsylvania. This would be a great idea for scouts, outdoor clubs and Big Brother/Big Sister programs.

The other part of this program that is a first is the fact that the Mentored Youth Trout Days program in 2015 is to include all trout waters stocked by the PFBC and managed under Commonwealth inland regulations. Mentors and children can each keep two trout, which must be at least seven inches. The local streams and lakes will be well stocked and the mentored youth will not be crowded out at the best places. Check your PFBC site for local stocking locations and dates to help stock trout and scout likely areas to fish. John Arway the PFBC Executive Director states it best, “Our goal is to get more kids involved in fishing and to keep them engaged, and one of the best ways to do that is to make the experience as easy as possible for parents and mentors. By expanding the program to include all Commission stocked trout waters, we are substantially increasing the number of waters open to the program and are bringing fishing as close as we can to anglers.”

Don’t think for one moment that kids aren’t interested in going fishing or out into the water resource areas for a walk or picnic even. My friend Beaver boy and I were at a church service and we gathered for some fellowship afterwards. While sipping on a hot coffee a youngster approached us as we talked about some outdoor activities which included fishing. Young Mathew came and sat down near us and said, “How about you guys taking me fishing the next time you go out to the lake, it sounds like fun and I like fishing too!” I admit we were pleasantly surprised and whole heartedly agreed to be his fishing buddies as soon as the weather permitted us to get the Fish Hawk out on the water for a spring crappie-thon! I guess that Mathew will be my first recipient of a brand new PA Voluntary Youth License!

Good bets for the early youth trout fishing will be Harbor Acres on Game lands 95 near West Sunbury off Route 138, Buffalo Creek near Summit Township and Fenelton, and Thorn Creek down Route 8 south in Penn Township. Take a Kid Fishing.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.