Trout season is on!

Danny Suplita of Fairmont holds up a golden trout he caught a few weeks ago near Elkins. The golden trout measured 24 inches and weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces. The big fish was caught using a trout magnet.

I’ve been watching the weather forecast for weeks, and we just caught a break from winter long enough to get some trout fishing in.

I’ve had some people ask me in person and via email about why the Cranberry, Williams and the Little rivers haven’t been stocked. I called the Division of Natural Resources and asked just that question.

The answer I received was because the severe weather events such as heavy snows and ice storms have made the roads impassable.

I was reassured that as soon as the roads are cleared of all the downed trees from the storms, trout stockings will resume as scheduled.

With Easter weekend here, I plan on getting some trout fishing done. By the looks of the forecast, it’s going to be decent weather for fishing.

I gathered up my G-Loomis trout poles and Shimano reels and gave them a once over. I changed out the old string for new four­pound test Berkley and SOS line.

I have had great luck with both lines so far, so why change? My favorite Shimano reel is the Stradic c14 1000 fml. It’s great loaded with two- and four-pound line. My other Shimano reels con­sist of the Sienna 500 fd and Sedona 2000 used with four­pound line. My favorite poles are split between a G-Loomis, Fenwick and Shimano rod. If I had to pick one it would be the G-Loomis bronzeback 6-3 fast action. Yes, it’s a tad stiff on small trout, but I love how it feels while using it with jigs. You can feel so much more with that rod, and it works great for smallmouth bass as well.

This year, I’m going to dive into the trout magnet float system a little more. I see a few of the more serious trout fishermen using this clear glass float with trout magnets. They say to take the paint off the bottom of the floats and it will increase your bites 37 percent in clear water.

Toward the end of last year’s trout season I did use them and did decent, but I have a long way to go to get used to fishing this way.

I normally fish the smaller streams, but I do love the North Fork, and in my opinion these floats work better on bigger streams.

Most of the fisherman I’ve been around use long rods, like nine- and ten-foot-long rods, with these floats.

It seems the longer rods give you the ability to shake the jig and make it vibrate in the water more, thus getting more bits.

I’ve watched it in action with my own eyes. You can fish right beside these guys, same setup, and they catch fish you don’t. It’s amazing stuff.

I just look at it like this: It’s just another tool to master and enjoy while you fish. Nothing wrong with that, not to me any way.

So get out this weekend and have some fun with the family, be it fishing for just a nice drive.