By July, relatively few Keystone State anglers are thinking about trout. That's a pity, because some of the best trout fishing takes place during midsummer in our lakes and ponds.

Trout anglers need only adjust their fishing tactics at most lakes during midsummer. Trout must go relatively deep to remain in sufficiently cool water. This is the biggest challenge when fishing for trout in lakes.

Luckily, stratification makes it relatively easy to find trout at this time of year. Stratification is a phenomenon that is brought about by the warming of the water and the densities associated with water temperature. Most anglers are more familiar with the term thermocline, the particular stratum where the water temperature change is greatest. That's also the depth where trout tend to congregate, either just above, in or somewhere below, depending on the species of trout and the location of their prey.

Find the thermocline in any of our better trout lakes and, with the proper fishing tactics, you should enjoy some fine trout fishing this month.

Here is a look at some of Pennsylvania's better trout lakes, plus some tips to help you enjoy this summer's best trout fishing.

HARVEYS LAKE
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has a plan for increasing the number of larger trout at Harveys Lake. Since 1989, special regulations have been in effect from 8 a.m. on the opening day of trout season through March 31, reducing the daily limit to three trout. And only one of the three may exceed 18 inches in length. The lake is then closed to fishing from April 1 until 8 a.m. on the next opening day. This is designed to increase the number of trout longer than 18 inches.

"It's going well. There are a lot of trout out there for anglers to catch," said Rob Wnuk, a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission fisheries technician.

The project has produced excellent results. A survey in November 2005 showed that since 1998, the number of trout longer than 18 inches has doubled. Since 1992, it has more than quadrupled.

Harveys Lake is primarily a brown trout lake. The main forage species is alewives, a key forage species for promoting good trout growth. These baitfish are actually too large for rainbow trout.

"We stock rainbows, but they don't do very well," Wnuk said.

Brown trout need high-protein forage such as alewives, rainbow smelts or shad to achieve optimum growth. The top end for Harveys Lake brown trout is about 12 pounds, but the lake has the potential to produce even larger fish if they can elude anglers.

Brown trout are stocked here as adults. A fingerling-stocking program was tried during the mid-90s, Wnuk noted, but it was unsuccessful due to heavy predation by walleyes.

For Pennsylvania lakes to hold trout year 'round, they must be quite deep and maintain sufficiently cool water at those depths. Harveys Lake has a maximum depth of about 100 feet. During summer, a thermocline sets up at between 18 and 30 feet, according to Wnuk. The favorite summertime fishing method, he said, is downrigging early in the morning.