Annual kids’ fishing event honors Jim Tobal
Friends of Jim Tobal, in cooperation with South Union Township, will again offer a youth fishing experience this spring at the township’s Community Park, Hutchinson Recreation Area. The event honors Jim Tobal venerated local educator, outdoorsman, and conservationist.
Youths aged 16 and under are invited to fish for trout in Hutchinson Run, the stream that flows along the park’s walking trail, on a catch & release basis from March 28 through April 3. Young anglers are asked to use artificial lures or flies during this period. Fishing with live or processed baits is discouraged to ensure survival of released trout. The stream is intended for kids’ fishing only.
The statewide trout season opens on April 4. From and including that date, kids fishing the park’s stream may use any tackle. The statewide creel limit on trout during the open season is five fish. Organizers have asked that all trout caught with bait be kept.
“We wanted to extend the time when kids could fish in this ideal setting,” said Gary Brain, a Friends of Jim Tobal youth fishing program organizer. “So, we contacted the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to be sure we were complying with trout regulations. They heard our proposal and told us because Hutchinson Run is not a state approved and stocked stream, we can stock trout and encourage kids to fish there outside the trout season, but fishing must be catch & release only during the March 28 to April 3 period when the statewide season is closed.”
Brain said Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited, of which Jim Tobal was a long-time member, will stock the stream sometime before March 28 with trout from its nursery pens in the Yough Dam tailrace. Friends of Jim Tobal will buy rainbow and golden trout from a commercial hatchery and stock the stream for kids again during the week of April 5.
There is no cost for kids to fish at the park. Organizers point out that the township park is a different facility than nearby Hutchinson Sportsmen’s Club, and the Jim Tobal memorial youth event does not extend upstream to club property.
Jim Tobal taught American History in the Laurel Highlands District for many years, then served on the Laurel Highlands School Board. He also worked tirelessly with South Union Township to improve the park and stream as a kids’ fishing area.