Pittsburgh area anglers gear up for a soggy opening day of trout season
The first Saturday of April is the best day of the year for local trout fishermen.
Streams and lakes are stocked, and anglers are getting their fishing gear ready. People can cast a line starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, but the soggy weather could put a damper on the start of the season.
Grab your rod, waders, vest, and net for Pennsylvania's opening day of trout season.
"It becomes a special yearly thing you look forward to, not just the fishing but the laughs and the stories and the food that we usually have," said Lucas Godinez, an avid trout fisherman.
"I've been fishing this for a long time, over a dozen years at least for me, but longer for other guys," he added.
Godinez was scouting out Deer Creek in Harmar Township the night before opening day.
"Surveying the water, looking at what we've got as far as flow and what happened from the rains we had yesterday," Godinez said.
More rain could hinder how many trout anglers land if the water's too high and muddy.
But Godinez is hoping for the best.
"Just a decent enough weather pattern that we can get in the water and catch some fish and they won't be blown out by too much rain, water and runoff that the fish will be pretty much not wanting to come up," he said.
People are streaming into Allegheny Angler in Tarentum to buy last-minute fishing tackle.
"We got lots of customers in here, thankfully, finally got some business back, everything's warming up. Selling lots of bait, lots of wax worms, lots of minnows, a lot of licenses sold, everybody who comes in gets that trout stamp. Heck yeah!" said Isaac Versaw, who works at Allegheny Angler.
Versaw said business will keep flowing throughout the season.
"This is probably about 70 percent of the business we do for the year....A couple of weeks here we'll probably get 300-500 customers a day," he said.
Throughout the 2025 season, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will stock 3.2 million adult trout in 691 streams and 130 lakes.
"We got our brown trout, our rainbow, and some places you'll get brookies. In this area, too, we also stocked palominos," Godinez said.
"I think it's a really fun opportunity to see some of those big golden trout in there, you can actually see the fish you're casting to," Versaw said.
For most anglers, trout season is about more than what you reel in.
"Ever since growing up being a little kid, the first day always meant here comes the trout season, we're able to go and fish after this. But as you get a little older, it's the guys that you fish with and the friends that you make and just the good spirits that are going on," said Godinez.
Wet weather doesn't dampen spirits on opening day of trout season
People did come out Saturday to try and reel in that big catch, but weather conditions stood in the way for some.
"My dad takes me every year, so it's been fun," said 11-year-old Dominic Miller. "Whenever I was 5, I caught my first fish, and it was nice."
However, the fast, light chocolate-colored waters weren't the best for trout fishing.
"I've had some baits, but they haven't been coming in."
That didn't stop people like David Craig from trying. He's really prepared. Fishing means a lot to him.
"Being outdoors, there's something about it. It recharges my batteries," Craig said.
He also knows how much of a damper the rush of these charged creeks can be.
"When the waters rise like that, the velocity of the water goes screaming down through the streams."
Some stopped by Allegheny Bait and Tackle for some last-minute items, but its owner hoped that this big day would bring bigger crowds.
"[It] ight be the worst day ever," said owner Ed DeMichele. "Weather might be scaring everybody away."
Regardless, those who came out say it's not always about reeling in the big one. It's a tradition that rain and rushing water can't stop.
The season runs from now until midnight on Labor Day.