How to avoid the crowds on trout season opener
The traditional trout opener provides lots of positive aspects. Many great memories have been created along a trout stream while waiting for the 8 a.m. kickoff.
Crowded streams go hand in hand with trout season's first day, which is April 14. If seclusion is an important component in your angling efforts, consider the following alternatives.
Many smaller, shallower lakes harbor good numbers of largemouth bass. Such waters tend to warm up quickly, jump-starting the activity level of the fish they hold.The monster cold front that moved into our area the middle of last week will have water temperatures dropping. But the effect should be short- lived and, hopefully, just a speed bump on the way to warming waters and more consistent fishing.While a variety of tactics can be effective with early spring largemouths, one of the most consistent is a skirted jig dressed with a chunk style trailer. A Booyah jig with a Yum Chunk is a good example.Rig the jig-n-pig combo on a heavy-action casting rod. Work along the shallows, looking for cover that will collect heat and attract baitfish and bass. This includes weeds leftover from last year, rocks and wood structures like brushpiles and beaver huts.During a trip made last Tuesday, Dave Lehman and I took several largemouths up to 3Z\x pounds working jigs around all of these forms of cover.Additional lure options include suspending jerkbaits and stickbaits. Jerkbaits are effective on those spring days when bass are suspending in the water column. A rod rigged with a spinnerbait is another staple for early season bass. Spinnerbaits are great for slowly rolling through cover.Remember that starting April 14 bass can be target only on a catch-and-release basis. The harvest season resumes on June 15.
Many of the larger creeks in Western Pennsylvania harbor good numbers of smallmouth bass. As water quality improves in watersheds with a history of acid mine drainage, the list of potential bronzeback waters increases.Spring is a good time to explore creeks for smallmouth bass. The flows tend to be good. Come summer, these same streams often run low and clear, which means easy-to-spook bass.It doesn't take a lot of tackle to be properly rigged for fishing these waters. It's most likely the bass will be in the slower, deeper holes. In streams of this nature we're talking water five- to six-feet deep, at the most. Short, squat crankbaits are ideal for working such holes.For shallower runs, include a few minnow-shaped baits. Also, carry a few three-inch tube bodies and the insert-style jigheads used to fish them. Eighth-ounce jigs are most appropriate.All of these baits fish well on a seven-foot medium action spinning rod-reel combo spooled with high quality eight-pound test monofilament or copolymer line.Some good places to find smallmouths is in creek sections managed as approved trout water. Even if you are fishing for bass, at this time of year a trout stamp is required to fish such portions of streams.
Crappies can be caught soon after ice-out. More consistent fishing occurs, though, when the water temperature reaches the low to mid-50s. Before the arrival of last week's cold front, most area lakes had surface temperatures in the 50-degree range, at least in the shallower, more protected areas.The association of spring crappies and wood is a well-known one. Early spring crappies are taken from shoreline laydowns and brushpiles in protected bays. As things warm up, the action picks up on main lake wood cover.The action isn't limited to woody areas, though. Newly emerging weeds, or growth leftover from the previous year, will also attract crappies.Light action spinning outfits spooled with six- or eight- pound test are perfect for suspending a small minnow below a pencil-shaped clip-on float. Carry a few extra bobbers because fishing crappies effectively means you'll become snagged.If you run the boat in to retrieve your float, you'll spook the fish. It's best to wait until you are finished fishing a spot.If you'd rather not mess with livebait, crappies often respond well to small tube jigs. You can suspend a jig below a float. Another good tactic is to cast the jig to the cover and slowly swim it back.
If your opening day must include a shot at stocked adult trout, consider hitting the water around lunchtime or early afternoon. By then, many anglers will have left the streams, and early spring trout often bite better later in the day, when the water has had a chance to warm up.
