The Great Outdoors: Time to Get Ready for Some Spring Fishing

| March 22, 2017

fishingThe recent weather we’ve experienced doesn’t necessarily inspire thoughts of fishing; however, now is the time to get ready for the adventures you and your kids or younger siblings will be soon having.

Teaching a young person to fish is a wonderful gift and something they can enjoy for a lifetime.

My brother and I were tagging along with dad and the grandfathers before we even started school. We didn’t always fish, sometimes we just played or explored, but anytime a fish was on the line, we were handed the rod so we could reel it in. It sure was exciting, feeling a fish tugging on the other end of the line. It’s still a feeling I relish to this day, whether it’s a half-pound brook trout or a 3-pound smallmouth.

Those memories endure to this day and always will.

The Pa. Fish & Boat Commission has a Mentored Youth Trout Day coming up, Saturday, April 8, from 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Kids under 16 can join a mentor (adult) angler who has a current fishing license and trout permit to fish stocked trout waters. Kids under 16 must have a Mentored Youth Fishing Permit or Voluntary Youth Fishing License from the Commission. While mentors will be permitted to fish for trout, they are not permitted to harvest trout and must release them unharmed. Youth anglers may harvest up to two trout (combined species) with a minimum size of 7 inches. All other Commonwealth Inland Water regulations apply.

Getting ready for the big day does take time, and being well prepared, particularly for the weather, will help to ensure a quality outing.

Andrew Shields, the Deputy Director for the Fish and Boat Commission’s Field Operations offered the following valuable tips in an article in the March/April 2014 issue of the Pa. Angler & Boater magazine:

• Prepare for the weather.
• Bring extra clothes including a windbreaker or rain jacket (even if it is not raining), warm footwear and winter boots for the kids.
• Wear warm hats, gloves, and include disposable hand warmers in each pocket.
• Carry an extra pair of shoes and dry socks in case a little-one steps into the water by accident.
• Bring snacks.
• Take a warm beverage like hot chocolate to stay warm and bottled water to stay hydrated.
• Remember something to sit on such as a bucket, folding chair, hot seat, or cushion.
• Bring along simple rod holders (forked sticks from downed wood, not live trees).
• Get baits such as paste baits, wax worms, meal worms and salmon eggs.
• Include lures, such as small spoons and spinners. These can work well in certain lakes if water temperatures are warm enough, greater than 50-degrees F. Otherwise, stick with paste baits.
• Use a spinning or bait cast rod that is 6 to 7 feet long, paired with a reel with 4- to 10-pound-test line.
• Use size 8 or 10 baitholder hooks and split-shot in sizes BB and B.
• Take along small, round floats (1 inch or less in diameter) or weighted, elongated floats (11⁄2 to 21⁄2 inches long).
• Don’t forget old hand towels to dry hands after handling fish. If you plan to release the fish, don’t grab it with a towel. This removes the necessary mucus coating from the fish’s skin.
• Be patient.
• Remember a camera or camera phone. Photos of the day and the day’s catch will help young anglers tell their fishing tales to family and friends and can be a treasured keepsake.
• Observe where and how fish are being caught, and attempt to duplicate that approach. Match the bait, color, depth, distance from shore, and other factors of those catching fish. Don’t be afraid to ask others what they are catching fish on.
• Move around and look for pockets of biting fish.

After reviewing the list, I don’t have any arguments, but I would make patience the first priority.

Remember, if you are taking a young person fishing for the first time, they are still learning the sport and there is a great deal to know.

Also, if you are taking a very young kid fishing, a shorter rod, even 5 feet or less, is a better bet.

My dad and I still use such fishing rods when we are on small streams that don’t need larger equipment to properly fish them.

In terms of reels, many anglers use open-faced spinning reels, but again with younger and newer anglers, I still believe going with a simpler, closed-face reel is preferable.

Another thing worth doing is getting your fishing vest or tackle box out and checking to see if you need to re-stock it with more hooks and sinkers and similar gear. And – definitely, put new line on the reels. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but having new, unkinked line on the reel makes everything easier.

Most importantly, get out there!

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“The Great Outdoors,” sponsored by the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors, is a weekly blog by exploreClarion.com’s Scott Shindledecker. Plan your next outdoor adventure at VisitPAGO.com or call (814) 849-5197 for more information.


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