It’s trout month in Ohio; here’s how to catch them

For those of us who love to fish, March in Ohio means trout.

This is a put and take program. The idea is to catch these fish quickly and take them home to enjoy.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will release 84,000 trout beginning Thursday in public lakes and ponds across the state. The bag limit is five. The fish are raised at state hatcheries and measure 10-13 inches before ODNR releases them.

There are a few different ways to enjoy catching these fish. The Berkley Power Baits for trout and salmon work well. Fish this bait on a light spinning outfit with two- to four-pound test line and small snelled hook under a floater. Adjust the depth with your floater until you locate fish.

Trout tend to stay schooled up for a while after they are released. They start to disperse about three to five days after they are released.

For a complete list of locations of trout releases, visit ohiodnr.gov

This time of year we always like to catch up with Bryan Dorsey, the manager for Rush Run Wildlife Area and some other public hunting areas in Southwest Ohio, to see how our season went.

Here’s a wrap-up by species from Dorsey:

Dove

The season was very successful throughout District 5 with all the major areas having excellent controlled hunts, even with the extremely wet planting season. Some of the areas like Darke, Pater and further east were less successful, mainly due to late or multiple plantings. All areas have winter wheat established, so the warmer weather this early should help establish a strong crop for early drawing power for doves.

Squirrel

Interest seems to be growing in squirrel hunting over the past few seasons. Dorsey said there are a plenty of bushy tails on our public hunting areas with lots of mast-producing trees.

Deer

It was a strange year on some public hunting areas. Dorsey said the rut was earlier and less intense than he could remember. He seems to think we are experiencing much more prolonged rut the last few years that ran from mid-october to late January. Fawns with spots have been noticed well into late summer the past couple of years.

Pheasants

The season was a quick success. The birds were excellent flyers and good size. A couple of the release dates were wet, but hunters seemed to get birds quickly. Dorsey felt there were more hunters out this year than the past couple of years.

Rabbits

Tough winter hunting conditions this season with warmer weather and little snow so there was not a lot of activity overall.

Woodcock

There was not much interest from hunters, but maybe there should be. They hold really well to the point of a bird dog and are good on the dinner table.

Until next time, enjoy the outdoors.