Christmas Eve for NY Trout Fishermen!!

“Twas the night before trout season and all through the state, the children were nervous and not a night walker safe”. I used to look forward to this day like a kid at Christmas, now my 13 year old son is picking up the torch. Streams across the state are at perfect heights and it appears that the weather will be pretty good. I would avoid the feeders off the Finger Lakes such as the Mecca, Catherines Creek, due to the early spring. I have a feeling that these trout have already spawned for the most part but I have no concrete reports to back this up. I think this is going to be a great year for trout fishing because of last years high waters and late spring. This meant late stockings and great summer conditions allowing for many fish to holdover. Add in the fact that many early season warriors give up once turkey season starts or the wardens yelling about the yard projects being neglected becomes to much for them and thus you have many happy trout making it through the season. I also love the new reduced bag limits that the state has imposed on most streams. Attitudes are changing for the good on keeping fish and with the brilliant leaps in photography and video technology we now film and release instead of gut, freeze and forget. This picture shows a great 17 inch brook trout that my deceased friend Jim caught in a feeder off of the upper west branch of the Delaware River years ago. He may have moved on but his memory lives on in all the pics and videos I shot all those years ago. Good luck all!!!!