In Pennsylvania, trout season is upon us, or will be on Saturday the sixteenth. It’s all about tradition here in the Keystone State, I guess. It’s the time of year at which the state of Pennsylvania fires off a sort of starting gun and hordes of men and boys with fishing tackle descend on the shorelines of the most well-stocked waters. Folks can check the state’s website to find exactly where the state will be putting hungry hatchery trout.

Those of you who know me probably realize I tend somewhat toward the libertarian in my thinking and that I just plain like wild things. And there are better things to be had than the mass-produced fish products our state so generously dispenses to us. In fact, the attraction of put-and-take fisheries is completely lost on me. Why would I want to go to where the state has just put fish for me to harvest when I could just as well visit the seafood department at a local grocery store? There are better fish to be had and bigger fish to fry. Leave the stocked fish for the very young and the very old.

Pennsylvania is now rich in wild fish, spawned from the habitat itself and not a hatchery. My home county, Allegheny, is one of Pennsylvania’s most urban counties and it burgeons with fish, mostly populating the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. The habitat has improved dramatically since the early days of the last century, the heyday of industry. The “industry” of today’s Pittsburgh centers around healthcare, technology and education and, as a happy accident, our air and waters are immeasurably more pure than they were a century ago. Ohio river drainage fishes have been the beneficiaries of all of this.

Why not join me this season, wherever you are, in

seeking out the fish overlooked by those pursuing trout products – keep exploring, looking at new water and learning. You’ll be certain to find it a more dynamic and enjoyable way to fish!

Susan has almost completed the compilation of my text, the front and back matter for the book and the cover. We’ll send for the first test copy this week.