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First Posted: 10/3/2014 The beginning of October signals the start of archery season soon to be followed by opening days for squirrel, grouse, rabbit and pheasant.
Despite all of the hunting opportunities on the horizon, it doesn&#8217;t mean the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is closing up shop for the for the year.
They&#8217;ve been as busy as ever.
Last week the agency began its fall stockings, releasing 83,300 trout mainly into lakes throughout the state.
Luzerne County received its fair share, as Harveys Lake, Lake Irena, Lake Took-a-While, Lily Lake, Moon Lake, Sylvan Lake and Harveys Creek were all stocked with trout last week. Most of the fish were brook trout and some rainbows. Waterways Conservation Officer Aaron Lupacchini, who covers part of Luzerne County, said brook trout are stocked the most because they are aggressive and will bite easily.
&#8220;From what I saw the fish looked really healthy,&#8221; Lupacchini said after he finished stocking Lake Irene on Friday. &#8220;Many were bigger because they&#8217;ve been held over in the hatchery a bit longer.&#8221;
Joann Smithonic of Exeter Township agreed with Lupacchini&#8217;s assessment as fished Lily Lake after it was stocked on Thursday. Smithonic stood at the edge of the boat ramp and patiently waited for the hundreds of trout swimming in front of her to bite.
&#8220;They put quite a few fish in here and it&#8217;s a great opportunity,&#8221; Smithonic said. &#8220;They look pretty good, but they&#8217;d look better if I caught a few.&#8221;
Nearby, Helen Coles of Clarks Summit watched the trout hit the surface as she waited to catch her first one. Like Smithonic, Coles appreciated the opportunity that&#8217;s afforded by the fall stockings.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a good time of year to come out and fish,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve fished here a couple of years and haven&#8217;t caught one yet, so I&#8217;m hoping to get my first today.&#8221;
Lupacchini said the trout tend to congregate for a longer period of time after they are stocked in the fall because they&#8217;ve grown accustomed to the close confines of a hatchery raceway.
That&#8217;s not necessarily a bad thing, Lupacchini said, since the trout are easy for anglers to locate until they disperse after a few days.
&#8220;Once they figure out they can move, the trout will offer another opportunity later in the year for ice anglers,&#8221; he said.
While the turnout for the fall stockings isn&#8217;t as high as in the spring, Lupacchini said good crowds were present at every stop in the county. Cars followed the stocking truck along Harveys Creek, he said, and a few dozen anglers came out to Lily Lake and Lake Irena later in the week.
&#8220;Even though the fall stockings are during the week we still had a good turnout,&#8221; Lupacchini said. &#8220;It&#8217;s an easier time of year to stock because in the spring we&#8217;re battling the winter weather still, and you have challenges with traffic and access along streams and crowds.
&#8220;Since most of the fall stockings are lakes, we can simply pump the trout in from the truck and it goes much quicker.&#8221;
Just like the fall offers a multitude of hunting opportunities, the fishing isn&#8217;t limited to just trout. Lupacchini said fall is a great time to target bass and walleye. The cooler temperatures mean bass and walleye aren&#8217;t as deep and they are feeding more aggressively to fatten up for winter.
&#8220;A lot of anglers feel fall is the best time to fish,&#8221; Lupacchini said. &#8220;The opportunities are definitely there in the fall, and that includes several species in addition to trout.&#8221;

Fishing in the fall