i am annoyed with pa's current trout regs.why does the commission stock trout spec. for. a trout season that is short lived in half of april may and half of june.in wva their season is year round.we have stocked waters i think should be stocked from september to april.if they would change to this format it would allow relaxed fishing pressure,uncrowd stream banks and take pressure off of the pabc.just a thought

ORIGINAL: yokelfish

..... a trout season that is short lived ....uncrowd stream banks ....

$$$

if the fish commission stocked more adult trout in winter months the many,many spring only trout fishermen would see/catch even Less fish and the license sales would go down some more.

I think the way to look at the fish commission stocking program is that it is a 100+ year program of getting as much license sales as they can given the constraints of hatchery capacity, available waterways, and angler expectations.

BTW, the fish commission Does stock some places throughout the winter. particularly small stocked trout lakes. You might want to check these out for the very reasons you listed. There's a whole list of them open through all of march.

Money...but let's face it....how long are the banks really crowded for? A majority of people you see on those banks you won't see until the following year on opening day. At least that's the case where I do a lot of my trout fishing.

Go the second day. The banks are usually clear then!

HA!

no, not quite that quick. but then how many ppl get 5 or fewer fishing days?? Alot I'm sure.
Thats a heck of a lot of Money for 5 days.

another similar idea that would again do all this is to completely abolish the opening day. Let the weather and the fish be big clue that stockie trout need harvesting. (kind of like it is for steelhead)..

but again. opening day is a huge moneymaker for the commission.

----
anyway confused about the annoyed part. again the commission does stock trout in the winter (some places) and there's all kinds of fish in many streams, lakes and rivers through the winter-- so... fish the winter/early spring.

there's not that many people that do.

a trout season that is short lived in half of april may and half of june.in wva their season is year round

Why do you stop fishing in June? Just because you choose not to participate doesn't mean the season is closed. The only thing that annoys me is that many good waterways are closed in prime-time for other species. Make it C&R for trout in the ATWs from 3/1 to the opening day of trout, and I wouldn't have much of an issue with the situation as-is.

...of course this whole discussion is ignoring the obvious crime of stocking non-native species over naturally present, self-sustaining populations of fish, and stocking waters incapable of supporting trout long-term.

ORIGINAL: Cold

 The only thing that annoys me is that many good waterways are closed in prime-time for other species. Make it C&R for trout in the ATWs from 3/1 to the opening day of trout, and I wouldn't have much of an issue with the situation as-is.

 
++1 

yea, im with Cold on this one....pretty much nailed it.

ORIGINAL: Cold

Just because you choose not to participate doesn't mean the season is closed.

Amen.

Our former tackle shop stocked trout and we sure weren't doing it in the spring as our local water does not keep trout past july often. To get more "bang for our buck" we would stock the fish in October so we could fish for them for a longer time.
The PFBC does do fall and winter stocking and recently has entertained the idea of stocking only in the spring to get "more bang for their buck" which in my opinion is a mistake as 6 months of local trout fishing would be lost to local tackle shops (Allegheny county) who do their best to be there for anglers year round.