The cabin fever that's plagued home-bound fishermen since the fall has ended. On this year's opening weekend of trout season, anglers are fanning out across the state in search of tight lines and all the practical advice they can get. Here are few tips from the Post-Gazette's outdoors writers.

Statewide

The recent cold snap is likely to bother anglers more than stream-dwelling fish. But if yesterday and today are wet, as predicted, it might help to understand the change in conditions from the fish's point of view.

	Related coverage In the April 12 podcast John Hayes talks about how to catch'em.

Rain on the water brings a fresh jolt of oxygen, and raindrops on the surface break up the field of view through the plane. The inability to see movement above the water has a calming effect on fish.

Rain on the ground makes mud, and lots of rain makes lots of mud that ends up in the water, negating all of the above advantages. Trying to suck oxygen out of cloudy water must be like trying to catch a breath behind a bus. In swollen water conditions, trout are likely to lie on the bottom gasping for oxygen and conserving energy. The last thing they're actively looking for is a meal, but, if they can see it, they're opportunistic enough to take a bite under all but the worst conditions.

Flooding mud washes terrestrials into the water. About the only times trout see earthworms are when the rain washes them out of an embankment or an angler hooks one up and tosses it in.

If your favorite waters are high and muddy, don't fight nature. Strategically retreat to a short tributary that drains faster than the slow-moving larger waters. If you can't relocate, find the biggest, deepest pool around, stash your bobber and fish low and slow.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocked 4 million trout weighing a total of 1.9 million pounds last year. This year's goal is to stock the same poundage, but with fewer, bigger trout.

"We're looking at 3.4 million trout to be stocked in Pennsylvania waters in 2007," Fish Commission spokesman Dan Tredinnick said. "The target size is 9 to 11 inches. That's about 30 percent [bigger] than last year's [individual] fish."

The stocking trucks have been rolling since March and stockings will continue into October. Some of the stocked fish already have been caught in 18 counties in southeast Pennsylvania, where the first Regional Trout Opening Day occurred March 31.

-- John Hayes

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Southwest

Given recent rainfall and unseasonable weather, the mountain streams of Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties might be running high, fast and cold.

Loyalhanna, Laurel Hill and Indian creeks, and Meadow Run typically draw early-season crowds because they are accessible, well stocked and have special regulations sections for nonbait enthusiasts. The larger streams, which include Wills, Four Mile and Jacobs creeks, take longer to come down after storms. Headwater sections and smaller streams such as Mill Creek, Linn Run and Brush Creek tend to run off more quickly. Midsize White's Creek, which wends through a forested valley south of High Point Lake, is another early-season draw, as is Big Sandy Creek, which is a favorite with bait anglers.

Folks wanting the challenge of really big water will find elbow room on the Youghiogheny River from Confluence to Ohiopyle. Although it isn't stocked with adult fish, this stretch yields the prospect of catching a naturalized rainbow or brown. If high, fast conditions prevail, the Yough tailrace from the breast of the dam to the Casselman River might be the best bet, but expect crowds because it is heavily stocked.

Stick with nymphs and streamers such as Woolly Buggers, large and weighted to get down to where the fish are. When it comes to hardware, small spoons and spinners such as Rooster Tails and Joe's Flies are hard to beat.

Lakes such as Donegal, Laurel Hill and Virgin Run Dam are usually a smart choice when streams are iffy. Anglers with small children also might find it easier to fish a lake, where paste baits are the ticket to rainbow trout and salmon eggs, maggots and wax worms also work.

-- Deborah Weisberg

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Northwest

With the Erie steelhead and Neshannock fly hatches getting all the attention, the waters south of Erie and north of Grove City avoid the high angling pressures that plague many creeks.

West of the mountains, it's rolling countryside, patchy woods, farm country and an easy commute off Interstate 79. Anglers know about the bass, walleye and members of the pike family thriving in the Allegheny River and Pymatuning, Conneaut, Shenango, Wilhelm, Tamarack, Justus and smaller lakes. But the stocking trucks roll throughout the northwest corner of the state, special-regulation areas set waters aside for the fly and spin-casting crowd and those willing to work for them can find wild brook trout plying select waters in Erie, Warren, Forest and Venango counties.

At a three-way watershed split near Stoneboro, the creeks begin flowing south and southwest to the Ohio River and east to the Allegheny River. All directions offer good fishing and, in many places, relatively low angling pressure.

Bait anglers should try to think like a fish and move like a stocking volunteer. In high, cloudy water, leave the bobbers in the tackle box, and keep red worms, wax worms and paste baits near the bottom. Skip the harder-to-see small shiners -- rig 1¹/₂-inch live minnows weighted to hang 6 inches off the bottom. In recently stocked water, stick to the big, deep pools under bridges and near parking lots and pull-overs, where stocking personnel carrying those heavy buckets had easy access to the water.

Special regulations areas always have trout because there's little or no kill by the rod-wielding alpha predator. The northwest corridor has Catch and Release and Catch and Release Fly-Fishing Only projects at Slippery Rock, Little Sandy and Caldwell creeks and Caldwell's West Branch. Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only areas are open to fishing year round on Piney, East Hickory, Neshannock, Cool Spring and Oil creeks.

-- John Hayes

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Northcentral

The "Pennsylvania Wilds," as the northcentral region is known, is the birthplace of rivers. Various streams born here, high on the Allegheny Plateau, flow south to the Susquehanna, west to the Allegheny drainage and north to the Genesee, St. Lawrence and beyond.

There are so many trout streams in the Pennsylvania Wilds that it is more useful to think about drainages than individual waters. Moving eastward across Cameron, Clinton, Potter, Tioga and Lycoming counties, principal drainages include the First Fork of Sinnemahoning Creek, Kettle Creek and Pine Creek.

The First Fork of Sinnemahoning heads above Costello in Potter County and flows south to the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Route 872 parallels most of its flow. This stream and its tributaries provide good early-season fishing, but the waters can warm early in summer. Early fly fishers match hatches with Blue Quill, Quill Gordon and Hendrickson patterns. Size 14 or 16 are about right. Before hatches come off in early afternoon, Hare's ear and muskrat nymphs, fished deep, are a better choice. A Delayed Harvest stretch below Berge Run offers more solitude in the early season.

Kettle Creek springs up in wild country in southeastern Potter County, flowing south to the Susquehanna in Clinton County. Unfortunately, it suffers from acidic mine drainage throughout much of its length. Best fishing is above Alvin Bush Dam in Kettle Creek State Park. Anglers encounter Caddis, Blue Quill and Stonefly hatches early in the season.

The Picket Pin wet fly is a local legend along Kettle Creek. Most fly shops in the region carry this pattern. Cross Fork is a wild tributary worth exploring. It enters Kettle Creek at the Potter-Clinton border.

Eastward in Tioga and Lycoming counties is the Pine Creek drainage, famous for the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon between Ansonia and Blackwell. Pine Creek is a big stream that can be reached by a bicycle trail along its length. Its Slate Run and Cedar Run tributaries offer some of the best wild trout fishing in the state, making Pine Creek a great destination to sample diverse kinds of fishing. Hendrickson, Blue Quill and Quill Gordon patterns match early hatches.

Bait fishing has a storied tradition in northcentral waters. Local anglers perfected fishing minnows on a fly rod, still deadly outside special regulation waters that prohibit live bait.

This is the state's best destination for outdoor adventure, with more than enough fishing for a weeklong stay, and camping at Kettle Creek, Sinnemahoning and Little Pine state parks.

A unique feature is the presence of wild brook trout in nearly any small tributary. The adventurous angler can hike up most any brook to escape crowds, drift a nymph or redworm and catch native brook trout, Pennsylvania's official state fish.

-- Ben Moyer

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Southcentral

Some of the best books ever written about trout fishing were penned on Central Pennsylvania streams. The second best way to learn to fish this region is to buy one of them. The best is to head east on Route 22, find some water and dig in.

Despite several high-profile private properties, publicly accessible water is abundant, and famous stretches of Bald Eagle, Penns, Yellow Breeches and Spring Creek are destination locations. The season started March 31 on Approved Trout Waters in Adams, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lebanon, Perry, York and parts of Mifflin counties. The regular season opened yesterday in Bedford, Blair, Fulton, Huntingdon and the rest of Mifflin.

The state stocks dozens of southcentral creeks, rivers and lakes, but if you're in high country, sample the rare delicacy of wild brook trout and free-range browns and rainbows whose ancestors were introduced to Central Pennsylvania waters 100 years ago. There's no "opening day," no closed season, and no limit to the fun you can have on many miles of water regulated as Catch and Release, Catch and Release All Tackle, Catch and Release Fly Fishing Only, Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only, Trophy Trout Projects and Wild Brook Trout Enhancement Program.

To the consternation of some, the "no wading" provision has been removed from the upper end of the storied Fisherman's Paradise project on Spring Creek. It remains barbless hooks-only, however, and the wading restriction still applies from the parking area downstream to below the hatchery pool. Wednesday at Paradise, the water was 46 degrees, still a little cool for optimal angling, but browns were rising to a sporadic hatch and going low for size 18 beaded Copper Johns. Brown trout were active in the larger tributaries surrounding State College, but the water was still a bit frosty for high-mountain brookies.

-- John Hayes

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Alternative angling

The most practical fishing tip ever might be as simple as this: Learn to find fish where the anglers aren't. On the busy opening weekend, that means fishing for something other than trout.

When the weather's right and lake water begins to warm in the shallows, crappie fans can fill buckets with the prolific panfish. The fish get cranky, however, when the water warms and then cools down again, as it has in recent weeks.

Before the spawn, crappies hang over humps and ridges and at the edge of brush and timber. When the water reaches about 60 degrees, the big males move to the shallows to make beds for the females, which begin to spawn at about 64 degrees.

This time of year, look for large numbers of crappies moving together toward shallow water. Pinch the heads off 1- and 2-inch Mister Twister tails and slide them onto jig hooks. Use the lightest jig weight that will travel to the bottom with a flutter effect, and match the color to conditions. Or try live minnows on a weighted line suspended under a bobber. Adjust the depth to locate the fish and bring a big bucket.

The new year-round Northern pike season opens a new springtime angling alternative. In lakes and rivers, pike spawn at ice-out and moderate temperatures trigger activity, but with the weather lately, who knows what they're up to?

Pike are voracious predators that strike hard and fight savagely even when they're far below the 24-inch minimum size for inland waters. Troll or toss the ever-reliable DareDevil or Mepps in large sizes. Dangle a 6-inch live chub under a bobber. Or, with the heaviest fly rod you've got and 100 yards of line tipped with 20-pound wire leader, cast a 6-inch Pike Bunny, Mickey Finn, Whistler or softshell crayfish pattern and hold on tight.

-- John Hayes