Early trout season opens March 1

Webcast on trout fishing tips, fishing forecasts found on new web page

MADISON - Fish biologists report strong trout populations statewide for the March 1 opening day of the early trout season.

Their forecasts for the early season can be found on the early trout fishing page of the DNR Web site, along with a short webcast featuring Mike Miller, a Department of Natural Resources stream ecologist and avid fly fisherman, offering tips on the best flies and techniques to use in this early season.

The season opens at 5 a.m. and runs through April 27, 2008, and is catch-and-release with only artificial lures with barbless hooks allowed. All trout streams are open in 46 counties, and at least one stream is open in 18 additional counties. Check the Trout Fishing Regulations and Guide for specific waters.

Weather, as always, will play a big role in determining angler success this early season, says Larry Claggett, Department of Natural Resources coldwater specialist. The snow covering much of the state may make it more difficult for anglers to get to trout streams but will help replenish the groundwater the streams depend on.

The heavy snow cover also means anglers will need to pay close attention to how runoff from melting snow is affecting the stream they want to fish.

“If a stream starts to cloud up a little bit, it could be beneficial,” Claggett says. “Debris will start dropping in the water and the fish will be feeding. But if it gets too cloudy, too high, that could shut things down.”

An estimated 165,000 anglers fish for trout, based on license sales, with a smaller proportion fishing the early season, Claggett says. Across both the early season and the regular inland season, trout anglers caught an estimated 1.6 million trout in 2006-07, according to results from a mail survey of anglers during that license year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Claggett 608-267—9658