The 2006 trout season is a scant six weeks away, and now is the time to begin planning for opening day, April 15.
Certainly, one vital consideration is what flies, lures or baits work best for early -season trout.
While there are a great variety of opinions on what constitutes effective "trout getters," there are some basic flies, lures and baits that are proven by the test of time.
The good news is you don't have to arrive at your favorite stream on opening day equipped with a half-dozen boxes of flies, or two tackle boxes full of lures. The rule here is to keep it simple.
Local fishing expert Mark Transue, owner of Transue's Bait and Tackle, 321 Butler Road, West Kittanning, offers the following suggestions for fly fishermen.
"Nymphs, streamers and egg patterns are almost always effective," Transue said. "Spring waters are generally cold, so you have to fish slow and deep. Patterns such as the black stone fly or gold ribbed hare's ear are good. When it comes to streamers, it's hard to beat the old reliable wooly bugger. If you're fishing wooly buggers, you should have three colors, white, black and olive. Fish white if the water is clear and fish black or olive in murkier waters."
When it comes to egg patterns, sucker spawn or glow bug patterns, Transue recommends cream or orange colors. These are particularly effective for rainbow trout he said.
Transue said spin fishermen will also want to fish deep and slow in the cold waters of early spring. In-line spinners are a good bet.
"Rooster tails are an all-time favorite," he said, "and again, use lighter colors for clear water and darker colors in murky water. My personal favorite spinner is the C.P. Sling. It comes with two basic blade colors, brass or silver."
Live-bait fishermen seem to favor minnows. Transue said minnows can be a very effective bait but may be more effective when water temperatures are warmer.
"Grubs are as good as you can get," he said, "be they maggots, mealworms or wax worms. Waxworms are especially effective and my favorite. Then, there's always the old reliable worms. Sometimes, worms will work when nothing else will. I recommend using red worms in normal water conditions and night crawlers in murky, high water."
Trout stocking begins this month, and one of the earliest is planned for Cowanshannock Creek on March 8. Stockers will meet at noon at Marsha's Place restaurant on Route 28/66, just north of Route 85 and will release brook and brown trout. Another stocking is slated for Buffalo Creek on March 11. Stockers will meet at 12:30 p.m. at the Worthington fire hall parking lot and will stock brown and rainbow trout.
