Deborah Weisberg

Efforts to restore native trout in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands have entered a new phase in a multi-partner initiative launched in 2021.
The project leader, Forbes Trail Trout Unlimited, has received a $25,000 grant to address stream bank erosion, acid rain-related pollution and other issues impacting wild brook trout within the Linn Run watershed in Forbes State Forest in Westmoreland County.

Anglers caught intentionally snagging or foul hooking fish in Pennsylvania will face higher penalties if a newly proposed bill becomes law.
Senate Bill 1213 – introduced by Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, on March 12, with the support of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission – would raise deliberate snagging from a second-degree summary offense to a first-degree summary and increase the base fine from $150 to $250.

Despite an abundance of opportunities to fish year-round, opening day of trout season, founded in 1950, remains a rite of spring for many Pennsylvania anglers.
“It’s a tradition,” said Ron Steffe, 76, who lives in Berks County but has fished the season opener at his Tioga County camp practically every year since he was a teen.