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It’s tough to argue against any proposal that creates additional opportunities for kids to fish.
Until now.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has worked hard to create more opportunities for kids to catch trout. In 2013 the agency experimented with a Mentored Youth Trout Fishing Day held the week before the regional opening day in the southeastern part of the state. The program gave kids under the age 16 the first crack at stocked trout on selected waters, and essentially gave them their own opening day.
It was a great idea and the PFBC stuck with it in 2014, expanding the program statewide on certain waters.
This year the agency is taking the program even further by allowing kids, along with an adult mentor, to fish on any lake or stream that is stocked with trout a week before the opening day. Kids and their mentor can each keep two trout, and I think the program is going to be quite a hit when the statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day rolls around on April 11.
But when it comes to creating opportunities for kids, the PFBC didn’t stop with its mentored youth program.
And I wonder if they’ve gone a bit too far.
This year, according to an agency proposal, kids would be allowed to use bait year round on the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only areas.
I am all in favor of giving kids their own opening day for trout, but is it really necessary to let them use worms and minnows on those sections of streams where everyone else is restricted to spinners and flies?
I appreciate that the PFBC is eager to get kids interested in fishing, but is the agency being too ambitious by allowing them to use bait on the DHALO areas all year long?
The delayed harvest areas are pretty special places. While the stocked waters that are open during the statewide trout season generally see a ton of pressure early on, the delayed harvest areas provide a respite from the crowds and over-fished streams.
If you haven’t fished a delayed harvest section, I highly recommend it. They’re unique in that they are places where an angler can fish any time of the year and, because of a limited harvest window, usually find trout throughout the stretch.
For fly fisherman, the delayed harvest areas offer a place with plenty of room to cast with ample opportunity to hook a trout or two. It’s a great place to hone one’s fly fishing skills while practicing catch-and-release.
For those who prefer spinners, the delayed harvest areas can serve as a place to cast for trout after a long winter and work off the rust before the season opener. For me, the 2.4 mile delayed harvest stretch on Nescopeck Creek is the perfect warm-up to the start of trout season. The stretch meanders through a pristine setting in Nescopeck State Park and there are always trout willing to hit a spinner or snatch a fly.
Without the use of bait, delayed harvest areas are also a fun challenge. Sure, the trout are there but if you want to catch them you have to match the hatch or choose the right spinner to entice a hit.
Would allowing kids to use bait on the delayed harvest areas compromise everything that makes them special?
And is there really that much more opportunity to gain?
In Luzerne County there are only two delayed harvest areas – 2.4 miles on Nescopeck Creek and 1.5 miles on Harveys Creek. In the entire Northeast Region there are only 10 DHALO sections, while there are 153 lakes and streams that are approved trout waters.
Sure, it might be too difficult for younger children to cast a fly or a spinner in a delayed harvest stretch, but there are plenty of other opportunities for kids who find it easier to fish with bait.
I applaud the PFBC for giving kids their own opening day for trout. We should give them all the opportunities we can on the approved trout waters.
But when it comes to the handful of DHALO areas, let’s keep it to fly lines and spinners.