For the past several years there have not been many changes to report in the Pennsylvania trout forecast. Great fishing, yes, but different, no. This year big changes are taking place in one specific part of the state: at Lake Erie, where a new brown trout program holds exciting potential. Statewide, stocking numbers will be unchanged.

“We’re expecting very similar (stocking rates) to last year, about 3.2-million, and our fish should average around 11 inches in length. They’ve been that way for the past few years,” said Tom Greene, Coldwater Unit Leader for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Last year the Fish and Boat Commission stocked approximately 3,222,700 adult trout. Another 737,000 adult trout were stocked y cooperative nurseries for a total of 3,959,700 adult trout.

As has been the case for the past few years, some lakes that are normally stocked with trout will not be stocked because the lakes are drained. This was brought about after an inspection of dams around the state revealed that many are in poor condition. Several of these lakes are either state park lakes or lakes which are under the control of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Budget limitations have made repairs of these dams a slow process. This year the Southwest Region will be hit hardest.

“Supposedly the Hereford Manor Lakes, unless something unforseen happens, probably won’t be stocked for 2011 because they’re in the process of being drawn down,” Greene said.

“North Park’s still down, that’s going to be down for this year. They’re still working on Brady’s Run Lake. It probably won’t have an opening day program there, but we’re hoping that sometime during the spring that we’ll get trout in there, at least salvage part of the spring season.”

Trout anglers in that part of the state, the Southwest Region, will get some relief through the stocking of other water which has not been part of the adult trout stocking program.

“It’s not as big as Hereford Manor or Brady’s Run Lake, but we have a small lake in Brush Creek State Park, a small pond, that we’re going to put on in that vicinity. Hopefully that’ll help in that area. But that’s not going to be as large as those other waters. And then we’re hoping that Brady’s Run will be back on line in 2011. We’re hoping that North Park will be back in 2012,” Greene said.

Each year the adult trout stocking program gets a little boost by stocking some of the hatchery brood stock. As with the stocking of other adult trout, the number of brood stock that will be put into the streams and lakes will be like recent years. This is based on a formula that makes it very likely that they will be caught.

“We try to put those out based on levels of angler use and per categories of water,” Greene said. “Certain waters are allocated certain numbers, (a pre-determined) number per mile typically, based on the higher use areas get slightly more per mile than the lower use areas, favored toward public ground versus private ownership, things along those lines. So typically what we try to do is match up with our angling harvest information. In the more popular areas, we go a little heavier than we do in some of the others.”

Fingerling stocking is another important component of trout stocking. It has created some of the finest trout fisheries in Pennsylvania.

Asked if there would be any significant changes to fingerling trout stocking Greene said, “No major ones. We’re holding steady right around 1.1-million a year. We’re looking at the same group of waters, and we’ve experimented with some other waters. But typically the same places such as the Allegheny tailwaters, the Clarion River, the Yough tailwaters, those types of areas.”

The Little Juniata River has been one of the brightest spots in the story of improving water quality in Pennsylvania. After several year of being negatively affected by several point and non-point sources of pollution, this stream began making a comeback in the 1970s. Fingerling brown trout stocking has contributed to it becoming one of the most highly regarded trout fisheries in the state.

A survey last August showed, however, that natural spawning has produced most of the resident brown trout. Streams and lakes are continually surveyed to provide data to support continued stocking, or to determine whether stocking should be discontinued.

Other noteworthy trout waters that are supported by fingerling stocking include the Schuylkill River, the Lehigh River, Jordan Creek and Monocacy Creek. The latter three have produced some of the largest rainbow trout reported in Pennsylvania over the past few years. The state record rainbow trout, 15 pounds 6.25 ounces, was caught from Jordan Creek.