Log in Subscribe

Trout fishing now legal year-round

Jack Danchak - Columnist
Posted 4/8/21

The New York DEC has imposed a fishing regulation making it legal to fish for trout 365 consecutive days in a year. The previous fish regulation protected trout from being caught, disturbed and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Trout fishing now legal year-round

Posted

The New York DEC has imposed a fishing regulation making it legal to fish for trout 365 consecutive days in a year. The previous fish regulation protected trout from being caught, disturbed and interfered with during their spawning ritual period. The trout fishing season will have the same traditional fishing dates - April 1 to October 15 to legally fish and take trout according to the NYS fishing rules and regulations.

After October 15 you will be able to fish for trout to March 31, but must release the trout you catch immediately. DEC calls this fishing period “Catch & Release” and the use of artificial lures only.

Unfortunately during this “Catch & Release” period trout will be spawning and protecting their nest of eggs or fry from intruders. They are very easy to catch because they are on the defense. When hooked, like any other fish, a trout will fight desperately to get free and will exert valuable energy.

Even though the angler releases the trout immediately, the fish are exhausted and in no shape to defend its eggs or fry. The result could be the loss of its entire spawn.

Fish biologists have stated that trout are very delicate compared to other fish and their survival rate on “Catch & Release” is much lower.

Another concern is, all fish have a protective slime coating that nature provides to protect them from getting a disease and to prevent infection. To release a hooked fish the angler has to touch and handle the fish to unhook it, resulting in the loss of some of the slime coating and that could be detrimental to the fish.

A few years back the DEC did the same thing to bass fishing (largemouth & smallmouth), making it legal to fish for them year-round and letting anglers fish for bass during their critical spawning ritual period. Many of us bass anglers who are conservative and care about the future of the sport we love, are still fuming about this bass fishing regulation.

We now have bass and trout fishing year-round. DEC has stated that these changes were made to give anglers more fishing opportunities. We all know the state has a serious financial budget crisis; could fishing license revenue be the reason for the changes?

26-Year Old Bald Eagle!

A man from upstate New York noticed three bald eagles feeding on a deer carcass. He photographed them and sent the photo to the NYS DEC. DEC wildlife biologists noticed one eagle was banded and contacted the federal bird banding laboratory to learn more about it.

From the color of the band, it turned out that this eagle was banded in June 1995, 26 years ago. It is a male New York eagle that was banded when it was a young nestling. DEC said eagles can live up to 40 years, which is remarkable given the challenges they face in the wild.

Jack Danchak is a longtime sportsmen and spent 30 years as the President of the Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here