Skip to content
Best fishing times / Pennsylvania

Best Fishing Times in Pennsylvania This Week

Near Erie, State College and Hawley: today on a 24 hour timeline and the next seven days rated Fair to Best.

Working out the moon and the sun for Erie, PA, and reading the forecast.

Fishing somewhere else? Enter any ZIP for your own spot

Photo: “Fall fishing on the Madison River at sunrise”, Jacob W. Frank, Yellowstone National Park (NPS), Public domain

Pennsylvania at a glance

Solunar windows plus the agency calendar
3
Towns rated this week
Erie, State College and Hawley
4
Solunar windows a day
two majors, two minors, set against sunrise and sunset
4
Dated entries from the agency
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
4
Fish the calendar names
trout, walleye and steelhead
The fishing year

When fish bite in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's fishing year runs from the trout opener on the first Saturday in April and walleye from the first Saturday in May to Lake Erie steelhead from October through April and winter ice fishing.

Each entry below is from Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission or its published guides, quoted word for word and linked. Line the season up with the week above: a run in its prime and a Great day with a window at first light is the morning to take off.

  1. First Saturday in April to Labor Day

    Trout

    The regular trout season runs from 8 a.m. on the first Saturday in April to midnight on Labor Day.

    “From 8 a.m. on the first Saturday in April, to midnight, Labor Day.”

    Fishing Regulations | Fish and Boat Commission | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, read October 9, 2026
  2. January 1 to March 14, and first Saturday in May to December 31

    Walleye

    Walleye season is open January 1 to March 14, then again from the first Saturday in May through December 31.

    “From January 1 to March 14; and from 12:01 a.m. of the first Saturday in May to December 31.”

    Fishing Regulations | Fish and Boat Commission | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, read October 9, 2026
  3. October through April

    Steelhead

    From October through April, steelhead move from Lake Erie into nearby tributary streams to spawn.

    “During October through April, steelhead travel from the depths of Lake Erie to spawn in nearby tributary streams.”

    Fall is Time to Target Steelhead | Fish and Boat Commission | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, read October 9, 2026
  4. Winter

    Bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, walleye, northern pike

    Winter ice fishing can turn up bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye and trout.

    “Various species can be reeled in while ice fishing in the winter: Bluegill, Crappie, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, Trout and more.”

    Ice Fishing | Fish and Boat Commission | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, read October 9, 2026
Advertisement
Before you go

License, stocking, ice and tides in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania fishing licenseWhat a license costs and where to buy one.Pennsylvania trout stockingWhere and when the state stocks trout.Pennsylvania ice fishingWhen the lakes freeze and the ice is safe.Pennsylvania tide chartsHigh and low tide for every station.Pennsylvania daylightSunrise, sunset and day length all year.
How the days are rated

Reading the Pennsylvania timeline

Each day has two major solunar periods of about two hours, centered on the moon overhead and underfoot, and two minor periods of about an hour at moonrise and moonset. A window within an hour of sunrise or sunset is marked in gold. The rating adds the moon phase, the gold windows and a capped nudge from the National Weather Service forecast for each town. Every factor and its points.

Dawn and dusk are the reliable part; the moon windows are the old angler’s rule.

An angler in a cap seen from behind, holding a rod over a calm lake at dusk, with a bobber on pink water and a pine shore beyond
Walleye fishing on a northern Wisconsin lake at dusk. The Wisconsin DNR says that in clear waters walleye stay deep in the day and move into the shallows at night, which is why the hour around sunset is shaded on every timeline here. “Fishing in northern Wisconsin for walleye”, Joanna Gilkeson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region, Public domain

Pennsylvania fishing times questions

Advertisement

Best fishing times in other states