HARRISBURG, Pa. (WJAC) — Pennsylvania has a new statewide Opening Day of Trout Season, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced this week.
Starting in 2022, the statewide trout season will open annually on the first Saturday in April.
The PFBC made the decision during their quarterly business meeting Monday in Harrisburg.
The change will offer a longer season to most anglers, said officials, while effectively eliminating the separate regional opening days for Pennsylvania’s 18 southeastern counties.
A Statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day will now occur one week before the regular statewide opening day, officials said.
"Thank you to the anglers of Pennsylvania for making their voices heard about trout season and being a partner in this decision," said Richard Kauffman, PFBC Board President. "While necessary changes to the last two seasons because of the pandemic were inconvenient for many people, we used the unprecedented opportunity to ask a lot of questions about how we've been doing things for the last fifteen years. Through a wealth of public input, including angler surveys presenting opening day options, it became clear that our agency and most Pennsylvania anglers value and prefer a single opening day of trout season moving forward."
The 2022 Statewide Opening Day of Trout season will begin Saturday, April 2.
The 2022 Statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day will begin a week prior on Saturday, Marc 26.
“In selecting the first Saturday in April as the proposed permanent date for the statewide opening of trout season, the PFBC considered several factors such as weather, water temperature, stocking and enforcement logistics, and social impacts,” officials said.
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