Grab your fishing rod and stock the tackle box – trout season starts Saturday!
Those planning to hit the water were busy with preparations Friday.
“There's been a big rush,” said Thomas Grabowski, owner of Tag’s Tackle Box in Plainville.
The last month has been a countdown to fishing season at the store. From rods to reels, baits to lures, anglers of all ages have been getting ready.
“The stuff is hard to keep on the walls. Everybody is excited they just want to go out. They're buying a lot of lures, a lot of bait,” Grabowski said.
The state’s fishing hatcheries have been preparing since February.
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“Right now it's with the opening of trout. The state puts in the fish for all the fishermen and that's what everyone is staying focused on the trout,” Grabowski said.
More than 130 rivers and streams across the state are stocked with 318 catchable trout, a number sure to lure people to the water.
If you plan to fish tomorrow, you'll need a trout stamp. It’s an additional $5 on top of the standard fishing license fee, and is required to keep any trout from a state-stocked waterway.
Dan Spisak said he plans to go fishing all Saturday and Sunday.
“I just go home, drop the kids off, go back out. Come back home, get the kids, go back out. Come home, eat dinner with my wife, go back out,” he said.
Trout season will officially kick off Saturday at 6 a.m. For more details, visit the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s website.
Correction: This story incorrectly reported information about the trout stamp. This is the second year for the trout stamps. The program rolled out last year and approximately 78,000 were sold resulting in over $350,000 in revenue to support fisheries for 2018.
