Archive for category Fishing Reports

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 9-5-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on September 6, 2011

News

Cool News – It’s been a long hot, dry summer. But cooler temps are now in the forecast; with water temps on the way down various fish species are responding positively. If you’ve been on hiatus from fishing all summer due to hot weather, it’s the time to get back onto the water. The best fishing since spring on inland lakes and rivers can be enjoyed in Northwest Pennsylvania from now until ice-up in December.

Hot News – Several tackle manufacturers have offered to supply lure samples to the angler whose name is drawn from among weekly Fishing Report contributors. For September, the Rapala Group is sending new Terminator Spinnerbaits, Trigger Soft Plastic and the new Ultralight Rapala Minnow that Mike Horrobin was talking about in his report last week. For October, Blakemore will be sending special Road Runner kits designed for fish species in our region; Blakemore kits will be sent direct from the factory. And for November, the folks at PRADCO hope to have their new F2 scent 2-inch Yum Fat Tube available to hand out to Fishing Report winners. Weekly winners will be receiving samples of the newest 2012 lures before they are available to the general public. Please test them out as soon as you have an opportunity and let the Fishing Report know how they work for you.

Big News – A Fast-Sinking Sebile Magic Swimmer 228 (9”, 5 oz musky-size) will be awarded to the Fishing Report contributor who provides the biggest musky photo between September 1, 2011 and December 1, 2011. Fish size determined by length, measured to closest inch. Musky must be caught from a waterway inErie, Crawford, Mercer or Venango County. This awesome lure will be presented to the individual who sends in the photo. So if your buddy catches a trophy musky, you snap a picture, email it to darlblack@windstream.net and you might win this musky-catching bait. In order to facilitate live release, musky will be judged by length to the nearest whole inch – measure and release! If there are ties in the length, one name will be drawn as winner. (Photos must be of entire fish – hand-held, in cradle net, or on flat surface.)

Off-the-Press News – If you are evaluating options in the purchase of a fishing craft for flowing water smallmouth, be sure to get a copy of the Sept/Oct BASSMASTER magazine to read my article on “World of River Watercraft.” Also, check out my article in the Sept/Oct PA ANGLER & BOATER on frog lure fishing into the early fall – still prime pad time. In addition, to see the secret baits of musky hunters, check out Marilyn’s article about Fishing Report contributor Bill Logan also in the current ANGLER.

Gamma News – Through fall of 2011, Black Knight Industries will continue awarding a spool of Gamma PolyFlex Line to a weekly winner drawn from among contributors sending in photos.

French Creek (Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties)

Dustin Shay (Meadville): It was a summer long quest, but Dustin Shay finally landed a flathead catfish from French Creek. At 27-inches, it wasn’t a giant but it was a nice flathead; the fish took a rock bass being used as bait. No picture available due to night conditions and only a cell phone camera. He also missed powerful runs on a 9-inch crappie and 10-inch suckers. I’m sure Dustin will continue his quest for the 20-pound-plus monster flathead that got away last week.

Russell Chaney (Meadville): While fishing the Creek over the holiday weekend, Russ reports that both smallmouth bass and walleye have started hitting minnow-type baits – including jerkbaits and crankbaits. He says those fish which he observed all summer in the clear-water holes but would not bite, are finally chasing minnows due to that little drop in water temperature.

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “The walleye bite picked up some this holiday weekend. A number of customers stopped back with some nice fish – no limits, but everyone had three or four walleye from 15 inches to mid 20 inches. The biggest fish was a 26-inch ‘eye taken by a 9 year old – his first walleye ever. Unfortunately I did not get his name. Worm harnesses continued to be the ticket for walleye. There were lots of nice crappies taken over the weekend, too. And a surprising number of fishermen seem to be fishing for bass at Pymatuning – somewhat odd for this time of year.”

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “The crappie activity is still great around the causeway. White jigheads with white curly tails tipped with a minnow are the catching a lot of crappies. Other baits are working too, but the aforementioned combo seems to be most productive.

“A few walleye have been reported, but no consistent pattern,” continues Hall. “Keepers have been reported around the weedbeds; other fishermen report walleye caught deep along the channel. Green-bladed worm harnesses and American Freshwater Fisherman Walleye Wizard are getting the nod. Bass activity has been decent, with some anglers scoring by throwing small shad colored crankbaits around the lily pads.”

Eric Heil of Franklin with Pymatuning largemouth and smallmouth bass (Heil photo)

Eric Heil (Franklin): “Not a bad day at Pymatuning for bass on Saturday, despite the hot and humid conditions. Largemouth and smallmouth bit early, although they were tentative. I caught about 15 total bass, mostly on a Booyah Spinnerbait and Yum Wooly Bug around weeds and wood.”

Tim Odem of Farrell with Pymatuning crappie (Ken Smith photo)

Ken Smith (Sharon): “I fished Pymatuning on Friday with Tim Odem of Farrell. The bite was great for crappies, perch and bluegills. We caught over 60 combined between the two of us. We kept 25 crappies over 11 inches for Tim’s Annual Labor Day Fish Fry. Some panfish were caught hang-gliding Southern Pro Jigs, but the majority were taken by casting MicroSpoon’s new soft plastic that goes on sale this month. Go to www.microspoons.com to see them.”

Rob Genter (Tidioute): “The Bassmasters of Crawford County had their end-of-year championship on Pymatuning this past weekend. Darren Potts won the two-day event with 29 pounds. Lunker on Saturday was 4.24 pounds and lunker on Sunday was 4.28 pounds. Everyone caught fish, with 25 limits in two day. Competitors caught fish in a variety of lure presentations, including skipping tubes to cover, flipping jigs, crankbaits, and even spinnerbaits in the weeds.”

Conneaut Lake

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton): “Robbie Wasser and I fished ConneautLakeon Friday. We caught a number of bass and several northern pike. Robbie caught over a dozen largemouth by drop-shotting a four inch Yum Dinger. I caught the biggest pike – a 26-incher. Our other big fish included a 17-inch smallmouth bass and 4-pound largemouth, plus a huge bowfin on a Rebel Pop R.”

Erie County Waters

Presque Isle Bay

Al Napcopoulos (B.A.C. Bait): “With Fish-For-Free Day on the holiday, I was extremely busy. People who had never fished, or not fished in sometime, were in the store to get bait. Anglers are still catching crappie off the North Pier along with a few perch. Crappies are starting to show up inMarinaBay, too. I had reports of largemouth in the 4 to 5-pound range coming from weed edges in the Bay.”

Presque Isle bowfin (Jon Parker photo)

Jon Parker (Pittsburgh): “I fished Presque Isle on Saturday with a buddy of mine. We went with the intent of catching bass, but the bite wasn’t very good. We tried everything we could think of, from dirt shallow to fishing the channel – and never figured out the fish. We did however catch a nice 28” bowfin while fishing around a ball of bait off a weed edge. We observed the baitfish getting blown up, so I rigged a weightless Fluke and tossed it into the area. To my surprise, I caught a bowfin – first one I’ve ever caught in PIB even though I’ve fished here for years. When I first saw it, I thought it was a small pike. Sorry about the picture in the net, but that fish was too difficult to hold!”

Lake Erie

Bob Demerling of Meadville with Erie perch (Dan Shay photo)

Jeff Stabb (Poor Richards): “Perch fishing remains strong – when the weather allows the boats to get out. They were catching them good north ofWalnut Creekin 50 to 54 feet of water. Walleye fishing slowed down last week; the few ‘eye reports I had were of fish being taken in 65 to 70 feet of water along the Ohio line and in 80 to 90 feet northeast of the Peninsula.”

Danny Shay (Meadville): On Saturday, a text message from Danny Shay to Dustin and relayed to me read “38 feet of water, not a boat in sight, 3 limits of big perch in 90 minutes, photo attached.”

Lake Erie tributaries

Jeff Stabb (Poor Richards): “Don’t get excited yet, but there are a few steelhead showing up at the mouths of the tributaries – not enough to warrant a trip from downstate – but steelhead are on the move!”

Mercer County Waters

Lake Wilhelm

Bob Mohra (Fergies Bait): “It’s been somewhat slow down here for bass and walleye, but they are catching crappies in two to five feet of water – a surprise for this time of year. Bass anglers stopped by to say the best lure going right now is a football head tipped with a shortened soft plastic crawdad, dragged on deep structure. The Terminator Football Head has been getting a lot of play.”

Ken Anderson (Tionesta): “I fished Wilhelm on Wednesday from 8 AMto lunchtime. I got four largemouth bass – three of which were quality fish. All fish were caught on a 3/8-ounce white Booyah Tandem Spinnerbait.”

Mike Kopelic with Wilhelm largemouth bass, including a 5-pounder (Jon Parker photo)

Jon Parker (Pittsburgh): “Our club fished a tournament on Wilhelm the last weekend in August. It was a tough bite all day with most guys bringing in only a few small keepers. The guys who did well got their fish on soft plastics. Hand-poured Sweet Beavers, NetBait Paca Craws and ribbon worms seemed to work best. Working the laydowns on the lower end of the lake produced limits for some, while others worked offshore ledges. I was one of the offshore guys and only managed five bass all day. However, one of mine was over four pounds. I had to fish very slowly to get bites. I was unable to catch them on crankbaits like I normally do. The winner, Mike Kopelic ofPittsburgh, had a 3-fish tournament limit of 10 pounds with a 5.09 pound lunker.”

White bass catch from Shenango Lake (Chad Templin photo)

A white bass double on Shenango Lake (Chad Templin photo)

Shenango Lake and River

Chad Templin (Meadville): “Upon returning from our summer hiatus, my fishing buddy and I took heed of your advice and tried a different spot, to wit: ShenangoRiverLakein MercerCounty. We blundered upon a wolf pack of white bass and managed to tear up a couple dozen in a little over 2 hours. Several fish were in the 3 pound range. Attached are pics of our efforts. All fish were caught on BS Spoons and BS Blades. Surface water temps were in the mid 70s. Kudos to DB for steering us in the right direction!”

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Fly Shop) recommends trout fishermen wait until the mid-October stocking of the special regulation area before returning to fish on Neshannock. “In the meantime, stop down at the shop for all your steelhead needs!”

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Jeff Knapp (Keystone Connection Guide Service): “It’s been a weird summer on the river for me. Typically I find a bunch of bass in and around the fast water. It has always been an area I could count on, no matter how low or how clear the water. This year it’s been a couple fish here and couple there. Some fish in moving water, but a lot in the moderate runs and quite a few out in deep holes. Some days close to the banks, other times mid river. It’s different every day. Ready for summer to end, and I’m really looking forward to fall fishing in the river.”

Chris Wolfgong (OilCity): “Along with my dad Larry and Dale Black, I fished the river around Oil City on Wednesday evening this past week. Dad caught a couple fish on a Dinger. Dale landed a dozen smallmouths on Green Pumpkin Dingers and a white Houdini Shad – all his fish were over 14 inches with one going 17.5 inches. I got three in the 16 to 17 inch range on Houdini Shads, and lost two toothy critters that exploded violently on the soft jerkbaits before breaking my line.” (See Photo #8)

The Sari family (Chuck, Kevin and Reece) enjoy a morning of catching smallmouth on the Allegheny River (© Darl Black)

Chuck Sari (Franklin), his son Kevin and Kevin’s son Reece fished the Allegheny on Saturday, September 3 and again on Monday morning with live minnows (chubs, riffle runners and sand pike all caught in French Creek). “Reece is 4-1/2 years gold and is our official netter,” says Chuck. “On Saturday we caught 10 bass and a small walleye. As soon as the sun hit the water, the bite slowed. On Monday, the fishing was better; we caught 15 bass and a walleye. The bass were larger with the biggest fish going 17 inches. We’ve been out most weekends in August but had nothing to report. As the water is cooling the fish are getting more active. Hopefully the larger walleye will start hitting soon. The river is still very low and clear, but weeds aren’t bad yet.” (See Photo #9)

Ken Anderson (Tidioute): I fished the Allegheny on Saturday morning with my brother. We caught seven bass, but only three were over 12 inches. The fish were taken on a Rapala Skitter Prop, Rapala J-11 Minnow, Joes Fly-Spinner and Mister Twister Jig. The action was slow but I did see fish-chasing bait prior to the fog lifting. With the down turn in temperature, the action should improve shortly.”

Chris Wolfgong with Allegheny River smallmouth taken on soft jerkbait (© Darl Black)

Darl Black (Cochranton): “How far up on a shallow gravel bar can 40 HP jet push a river boat before you can shut down the engine? Answer: Almost 50 feet! Coming around a bend, a flotilla of holiday frolickers in canoes forced me to go wide and I missed a crucial line on a narrow mid-river chute through a riffle. Fortunately, Dale Black and Chris Wolfgong were just down river a little ways, and they assisted me in getting my boat floating again – otherwise I would have been waiting on high tide! Fishing wise, there was a soft jerkbait bite happening in the AM; between our two boats, we caught several smallmouth and a couple small walleye. We each had a quality fish in the 17 to 18 inch range. The river was extremely busy with canoes, kayaks and goose hunters.” (See Photo #10)

Justus Lake

Bill Logan (Pleasantville): “I fished JustusLakeon Friday, catching nine largemouth bass on tubes and Zipper Worms; lost four other fish.”

Oil Creek

Mike Laskowski (Oil Creek Outfitters): “Please stop in the shop for your fall fly fishing supplies and material, but I would not recommend fishing Oil Creek for trout until mid-October after the stocking. The water was so low and so warm this summer, I don’t think many trout survived.”

Gamma Salutes

A spool of Gamma PloyFlex Line goes out to Chad Templin for his white bass photos fromShenangoLake. Locally, Gamma Line is available at Poor Richards Bait & Tackle (Fairview); John’s Bait (Meadville); Espyville Outdoors (Espyville); and CDS (Grove City).

September Rapala Awards

The winner of the September 5th drawing for Rapala Lure pack is Jon Parker of Pittsburgh. See the full line of Rapala/Storm/Terminator/Trigger X and VMC tackle at www.Rapala.com.

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 1 River Watcher Float on Shenango; Pymi Outflow toGreenville

Info: Hugh Clark greengrass@windstream.net

Oct 1&2 Antlers and Anglers Showcase, CrawfordCountyFairgrounds

For information, contact Joan Kocan at jkocan@agoc.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo atRainbowGardens,Erie,PA

1 PM to 9 PM; contact steve@steelheadexpo.com for info

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

Note: The information in the NW PA Weekly Fishing Report is based on the observations and opinions of individuals at the reporting tackle shops and expert area anglers. Although the information is reliable, it is not independently verified.

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-29-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on August 30, 2011

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle.com and Jigger Wholesale): “Overall this week’s fishing was a little better than it has been, but still difficult. As the weather cools, it will get better and better. Many anglers were fishing live bait for bass in the Allegheny this week, but no feedback.”

Bob Vogan (Franklin): “Ryan Williams and I were fishing the Allegheny on Monday and Tuesday last week. Between the two of us, we caught three walleyes using Booyah Spinnerbaits with gold blades. Sorry, no pictures…but they tasted real good!”

Chris Wolfgong (OilCity) fished the Allegheny one day this past week with Dale Black. Chris says the way things started out it looked like there was going to be a Bubblegum Fluke bite going on. But after missing several bass on pink, the fish turned off to the soft jerkbait. Chris went on to miss several additional bass on a Yum tube while landing only one. Dale caught six smallmouths on a 4” Yum Dinger.

Eric Heil’s 5 yr old daughter with Allegheny smallmouth (Heil photo)

Eric Heil (Franklin): “On Saturday, August 27, I took my daughter out on the Allegheny. We were trying out the Aqua Vu underwater camera I acquired. But once my daughter saw the bass and walleyes on the monitor, we had to fish for them. For a 5 year old she is getting pretty good at casting her 4’6” rod. I rigged it with a Zoom Speed Craw on a shakey head. She whipped it out there on her own. She still does the typical 5 year old thing – cast it out and do nothing. But in a river current that’s not a bad thing. I looked back to see her line getting tight and swimming upstream. I told her she had a fish on, and the fun began. After a few jumps, she was able to reel it in on her own. I reached down and lipped it. This was the very first smallmouth she totally caught on her own. I managed to make a few casts myself using a tube. I caught 3 smallmouths, with one pushing three pounds. After that we went back to looking on the camera.”

Ed Lawrence with Allegheny pike (Lawrence photo)

Ed Lawrence (Union City): “This week I caught a 31-1/4” northern pike at the mouth of a tributary to theAllegheny River. The fish was taken on a stick bait.”

Justus Lake

Last week Bill Logan mentioned observing someone running around on a gas outboard on electric-motor-onlyJustusLake. An email from another reader of the Fishing Report sheds light on the situation. Seems the individual in the small power boat had permission from Two Mile Run park officials to serve as a safety boat for a group of swimmers involved in a charity event on the lake. Mystery solved.

French Creek (Erie, Crawford andVenangoCounties)

John Ensworth (John’s Bait) reports most of the anglers stopping by for bait at his shop were headed to French Creek for the weekend. However, no one stopped back with follow-up report. John is still waiting on promised pictures of a large flathead catfish taken the previous week.

French Creek flathead catfish (Shay photo)

Dustin Shay (Meadville): “Our flathead quest goes on. We made some progress as my buddy Russ Chaney caught two small flatheads early in the week – our first actual flatheads from French Creek.

“I spent time scouting French Creek for walleye during this low, clear water situation,” continues Dustin. “I found some real nice ‘eye in a couple holes, but the fish are not aggressive. We tried a variety of artificial lures in addition to live bait. If you held the lure in the current near the fish and then moved it suddenly, only then did the walleye react to it. A fish would charge the lure but not eat it. Same thing with live chubs – follows but would not commit. We only caught a couple small ‘eye.

“On Sunday morning at one spot a huge catfish came out of thick cover to chase one of our chubs as the bait was being reeled in. It was close to 40 inches, but in the shadows we could not tell if it was a channel or flathead. We went back Sunday night with bigger live bait to fish for it. However, all we caught was one 26” channel cat.”

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “With the water temperature falling, the Pymatuning bite should be picking up shortly. I was out Thursday and took a surface temp of 74 degrees. The crappies are still biting at the causeway. Anything white seems to be catching fish. A few lucky anglers have caught some walleye off the causeway, too. I had a customer bring in a cell phone picture a 29”, 8-pound walleye caught off Snodgrass on a floating worm harness. I also heard of two muskies being caught last week by musky hunters trolling Grandma Lures; no sizes provided.”

Pymatuning crappie (© Darl Black)

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “I had one customer report catching a mess of big black crappie in the 12- to 13-inch range on the deep edge of a weebed. A few fishermen reported some 15- to 17-inch walleye, plus smaller fish. Catfish continue to overwhelm anyone fishing live bait. Gail Preston ofGreenvillereported catching and releasing a 43-inch musky.”

Pymatuning smallmouth (Scott Kinard photo)

Scott Kinard (Butler): “Smallmouths at Pymatuning are rockin’! I was out with Ernie Pate last week and caught them. This week I fished a different area of the lake by myself. I boated 35 smallmouth in three hours…the two biggest were around 19 inches. Wolf packs of smallies are chasing balls of y-o-y shad…possibly due to the cooler nights. Focus on wind blown areas where you see baitfish on the sonar.”

Al Moore (Cochranton): “I fished a club tournament at Pymatuning on August 28. The lake was windy and white capping. The bass bite was on nonetheless. I won the event with 4 largemouths going 12 lbs 4 oz. I caught 30 bass during the tournament – every one on an XFactor Muskrat Flipping Lure in Bama Bug Color. Every club member had a limit and a 4 lb 2 oz largemouth took lunker. It was another great day on Pymatuning!”

Conneaut Lake

3rd place finishers at Conneaut tournament - Rizzo and Hughes (Walt’s photo)

Hirosky, winner of Walt’s Tavern Tournament (Walt’s photo)

The winner of Walt’s Tavern Buddy Tournament on Sunday, August 28 was Bob Hirosky with five bass for 20.55 pounds. Bob was a last minute entry on the morning of the tournament, arriving to fun fish and was talked into the tournament by other contestants; he fished by himself. Bob also had lunker with a 5.61 pound largemouth. Second place went to Dan & John Mincin with 13.36 pounds; third to Steve Hughes and Tom Risso with 12.32 pounds and fourth to Scott & Justin Welker with 12.27 pounds.

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton): “I fished Conneaut Lake over the weekend, landing five northern pike on a chartreuse/white Strike King Spinnerbait and missing three other pike. I caught one nice 3.5 pound largemouth on the spinnerbait, too. I did not see any signs of smallmouth chasing baitfish.”

Sugar Lake

Ken Anderson (Tionesta): “I braved the wind today, August 28, to fish SugarLakefrom 8 AMto 11 AM. I got five quality largemouth bass. Four came on a Strike King Spinnerbait with tandem blades and one on a Swimmin’ Senko. Oh yes, I caught a chain pickerel.”

Canadohta Lake

Canadohta musky (Bill Logan photo)

Bill Logan (Pleasantville) sent a picture he snapped of a Canadohta musky ate his Lindy Musky Spinnerbait.

Erie County Waters

Presque Isle Bay

Al Nacopoulos (B.A.C. Bait): “A couple customers reported catching rock bass off the North Pier – that’s unusual for this time of year. They were also getting some crappies off the pier. Bluegills are biting inMiseryBayand perch are being taken off the city side of the Bay. The emerald shiners have not returned to the shoreline of the main lake yet, so we do not have emeralds for sale – hopefully later this week. With steelhead season almost upon us, we will be opening up our Trout Run store this week; hours will be6 AMto PM, 7 days a week.”

Erie walleye from the OH/PA line (Ken Smith photo)

Lake Erie

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards): “Reports are still good for perch in 50 feet of water straight north ofWalnut Creek. The best walleye fishing remains out deep over 70 to 80 feet with walleye holding near the bottom; a few steelhead are showing up in the same depths. The hot area for walleye is right on the PA/OH line. Worm harnesses are outfishing plugs; watermelon or black/purple appears to be the most productive harness color combos.” (See Photo #9)

LeBoeuf bowfin (© Darl Black)

Lake LeBoeuf

Dave Lefebre (Union City) says September is a great month on Lake LeBoeuf. Throw hollow body frog lures in the pads and matted milfoil beds for largemouth, and you will also catch pike and bowfin. Black crappies are in the deeper weed edge where the sparse strands of milfoil are barely visible. (See Photo #10)

Mercer County Waters

Lake Wilhelm

Mike Horrobin (Jigger Wholesale): “Largemouth bass on Wilhelm are providing some action, but walleyes are really hard to come by. Panfish are still cooperating, with most fishermen having success with small curly tail jigs or Mike’s Ants. Ants in black/red tipped with a maggot are producing particularly well. The few walleyes showing up are reportedly taken on Hot-N-Tots.”

Shenango Lake

Laurie Frantz (R&L Bait): “Stripers are hitting at Shenango. Anglers are getting them in the 29 to 32 inch range. Most fish are being taken on live shiners, as well as a few on shiner-like lures. Mornings and evenings are the best times. There are some walleye being taken on live shiners as well.”

Stoneboro Lake

Darl Black (Cochranton): “I had not fished Stoneboro Lake in 15 years mainly because I never figured out how to catch quality size bass down there. But this past weekend I could not resist trying the thick pad edges of the lake with frog lures after some bassin’ buddies told me about all the big bass they catch there in the spring. Stoneboro also has the distinction of producing a natural-occurring 8-pound-plus largemouth/smallmouth hybrid (go Google it for details). With all the talk about big bass, I convinced Chris Wolfgong into going down. A blow-up on a River2Sea Frog in the pads right beside the ramp seemed like it might set the stage for a great day. But the pad pattern fizzled quickly. We switched to drop-shotting small worms along the deep weed edge after talking with several other anglers on the lake who had managed a couple bass and pike in the 10 to 14 feet of water. We missed several fish – which were likely bluegill. No topwater action in this crystal clear water, either. Chris and I tied for the morning on legal size bass: 0 to 0.”

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Fly Shop): “Trout wise, there hasn’t been much going on since spring due to the low, warm water. Starting in September, we have new fall and winter hours: we will be closed every Sunday until March 4, 2012. We are optimistic that this fall will bring better fishing conditions. There will be a stocking on Tuesday, October 4^th in the Special Regulation Area of Neshannock Creek. And of course steelhead season is here, so stop by for all your steelhead needs.”

Fishing Tip of the Week

If you want to catch French Creek or Allegheny Riversmallmouth in the next couple weeks, go catch some riffle runner baitfish. For black crappies in the weed fringe, swim a Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider very slowly. Think topwater and crankbaits for lake and reservoir smallmouth bass.

Dock Talk

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle.com): “On the fly-tying front, I talked with the folks at Whiting farms regarding flying tying hackles. The news is not good. Girls are still wearing them in their hair and supplies are exhausted. The new crop seems to be pretty well sold out before they are even raised. We may have better luck with necks and short saddles for tying purposes.”

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

Sept 3 Family Fishing Festival, 9 to 1,PymatuningState Park

Mandatory registration at www.fishandboat.com/fishforfree.htm

Sept 4 Oil Creek Fly Fishing Presentation by Mike Laskowski

Petroleum Centre next to State Park office;4:30 PM to 6 PM

Sept 5 PF&BC Fish For Free Day; more info kedwards@state.pa.us

Fishing license not required but all fishing regs in effect

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 1 River Watcher Float on Shenango; Pymi Outflow toGreenville

Info: Hugh Clark greengrass@windstream.net

Oct 1&2 Antlers and Anglers Showcase, CrawfordCountyFairgrounds

For information, contact Joan Kocan at jkocan@agoc.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo at Rainbow Gardens, Erie,PA

1 PM to 9 PM; contact steve@steelheadexpo.com for info

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Canadohta Lake, Conneaut Lake, French Creek, Justus Lake, Lake Erie, lake LeBoeuf, lake wilhelm, Neshannock Creek, Presque Isle Bay, Pymatuning Lake, Shenango lake, Stoneboro Lake, Sugar Lake

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-22-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on August 24, 2011

News

- Not news to the anglers who have been out, but we are in the late summer slump. However, there is a noticeable drop in water temperatures by several degrees this past week. As temperatures slide downward, fishing success for many species will climb over the next couple months.

- For something a little different this coming weekend, stop by Franklin’s River Front Park between 11 AM and 4 PM for the Rock-N-River Festival – youth activities, live music, barbeque, and of course the PA Stone-skipping Championship. This is the site where the Word Record Stone Skip was accomplished by Russ Byers ofFranklin; Russ will be there competing.

Mercer County Waters

Lake Wilhelm

Fergies Bait Shop report is the same as the past several weeks – anglers catching mostly small panfish. Ernie Pate (Butler) called in to report low-catch rate of bass this summer on Wilhelm – a lake so popular with the bass-fishing crowd in previous years; he asks what the problem might be with the largemouth at Wilhelm.

Black with Shenango black crappie (© Darl Black)

Shenango Lake

Darl Black (Cochranton): “Marilyn and I headed to Shenango on Saturday afternoon to fish for crappies. Over the years I’ve had decent success in the late summer on this reservoir. But this time my usual spots didn’t pay off. We fished several hours without a bite, before finally catching a few black crappies on stumps in 8 to 10 feet of water near the old river channel. We also stumbled into a couple chunky smallmouth bass that were interested in our 1/16-ounce crappie jigs. Lots of pleasure boat traffic, but few fishermen. Better fishing will be coming this fall.”

Shenango River

In case you have not heard, the Shenango River Watchers are currently funding an effort to remove the many downed trees blocking the Shenango between Jamestown and Greenville. When the work is completed, it will be possible to canoe or kayak this section of the river. Fishermen with paddle craft should look forward to being able to float this section next spring. There are some hotspot holes on this section for crappie and walleye in the late spring, but you have not been able to get a canoe or kayak down this part of the river for years.

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle.com and Jigger Wholesale): “This was a goofy week of thunderstorms and heat with some decent in-between moments. Catfish are still being caught in the River. Smallmouth are hitting in both the River and French Creek. Most of the decent fishing seems to be in the morning and evening with topwater baits.”

Sand pike baitfish used for river smallmouth and walleye (Dustin Shay photo)

When the bass bite gets this tough on the River, Rob Genter and Darren Potts say it’s time to collect live bait. Riffle runners and sand pike are the minnows to have for bass and walleye right now. Both species are caught from riffles with a #14 hook and maggot as bait.

Justus Lake

Bill Logan (Pleasantville): “On Monday I caught four smallmouth on tubes in the Allegheny and on Tuesday I had four bass hooked onJustusLakebut landed only one. There were two idiots running around on a gas-powered outboard on this electric-motor-only lake.”

Casual anglers taking it easy on the banks of French Creek (© Darl Black)

French Creek (Erie, Crawford andVenangoCounties)

John Ensworth (John’s Bait): “Most of the fishing action seemed centered on French Creek this past week. One of my customers caught a 23” flathead catfish from the Creek. He said his fist fit entirely in the mouth of the fish.”

Dustin Shay with French Creek smallmouth that almost pulled his rod form his hands (Dustin Shay photo)

Dustin Shay (Meadville): “Fishing was difficult for me this week due to both hands being injured last Monday. I tried to fish mid-week and the first smallmouth that hit almost ripped my new Fenwick Rod from my sore hands. The swelling is down and dexterity is improving but still painful. Hope to be back at it next week. My buddy Russ Chancey ofMeadville caught a nice channel cat from French Creek but we are still looking for our first flathead.”

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “Crappies are still biting around the causeway, with anglers catching decent numbers of 9” to 12” fish. White curly tails on jigheads and Leland’s Crappie Magnets are the hot items for crappie. We sold out of Crappie Magnets over the weekend, but will have more before this next weekend. Two anglers stopped in Sunday afternoon to report catching 7 keeper walleye off Snodgrass on Saturday night. They were using nickel and green colored worm harnesses. The largest ‘eye was 21 inches.”

Al Moore (Cochranton): “I fished Pymatuning yesterday, Saturday the 20^th. The flippin’ bite is still strong. I had 4 bass for 12 pounds in just an evening of fishing. Fish came on a black & blue Jigger Craw.”

Ernie Pate with Pymatuning smallmouth bass (Pate photo)

Ernie Pate (Butler) reports the bass fishing on Pymatuning has been excellent this summer. One day last week, he caught 23 bass of which 17 were smallmouth. Several of the bass were over three pounds. No word on how he caught them.

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “The crappie bite is still fairly good for the few anglers still pursuing them. Lots of catfish being reported, with most taken while anglers are trolling worm harnesses for walleye. I fished one evening this past week, catching four legal walleye in two hours. Jim Bresman of Greenville caught a 48.5 inch musky this past week.”

Conneaut Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “The northern pike have been really active onConneautLake. No reports on sizes; most fish are reportedly caught on golden shiners along the weed edges. Bluegills are being taken from 20 to 25 feet of water on the bottom; redworms or piece of nightcrawler works best.”

Marilyn Black with Conneaut Lake pike (© Darl Black)

Marilyn Black (Cochranton): “Darl and I fished Conneaut on Friday afternoon, August 19, attempting to catch some decent largemouth bass for photos on Lunker City’s Ribster Drop-Shot Worm. Best he could do was 8 or 9 under 12 inches. On the other hand, while fishing for big bluegills using leeches, I caught two northern pike – one at 22 inches and one at 30 inches – plus jumbo ‘gills. Bryan Stuyvesant came out to the lake about5 PM. He caught a number of smallish largemouth on a jig, and then nailed a 4-pound smallmouth on a shaky worm from the very rock pile that Darl and I fished about an hour before.”

William Logsdon (Pittsburgh) fished Conneaut on Saturday the 20^th. “The bite was slow. We caught one nice pike and some small largemouth bass.”

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton): “My buddy Robbie and I went to Conneaut on Saturday morning about5:30 AM. We caught 5 bass on surface poppers before the fog cleared. When the fog lifted, Robbie got a 3.5 pound largemouth on a drop-shot worm, and I got a 30 inch pike on a drop-shop.”

Canadohta Lake

Jerry VanTassel (Timberland Bait): “We had our annual kids Fishing Day this past week; 45 kids caught 158 fish in 3 hours from our bait shop lake. A big snapping turtle caused the most excitement. Sort of a late summer slump on Canadohta – seem to only be catching a few panfish. This coming week of Crawford County Fair means few anglers on the water. Fall musky bite should pick up in October.” Bill Logan caught a 34-inch musky on a Lindy Musky Spinnerbait on Wednesday.

Conneaut Marsh

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle.com): “Several customers ventured into the Conneaut Marsh aroundGenevato fish for bowfin. Live shiners are the best bait, although several anglers were using minnow-type lures. Although not a glamour fish, bowfins put up a good fight and are a lot of fun to catch.

Erie County Waters

Presque Isle Bay

Al Nacopoulos (B.A.C. Bait) says fishing over the weekend was extremely slow due to the unsettled weather and high winds. “During the week, anglers were catching a perch and a few crappies from the North Pier. On the East Pier they have been getting bluegills and crappies. Also a bass caught here and there but not much more to report recently. Water temperatures are beginning to drop, so fishing success should turn around in the near future.”

Lake Erie

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards): “Anglers are still hauling in the perch in good numbers and respectable size; try north of Walnut Creekin 52 to 58 feet of water. The walleye are out deeper. Over by the Ohioline, ‘eyes are in 72 to 80 feet, and off the Point on the East Sidethe fish are in 80 to 100 feet. Most anglers are fishing worm harnesses with watermelon or purple blades to catch their fish. But a few fishermen are still scoring with Renosky or Reef Runner stickbaits.

“Fishermen are getting a few steelhead out with the deep walleye; the trout should be heading in sometime in September. This past spring we saw more jacks than usual, so we are hoping for a strong fall run.”

Smith and angling buddy with Lake Eire walleye (Smith photo)

Ken Smith (Sharon): “I went up to the Big Water with my friends Adam and Quentin. We caught our three man limit of walleyes using Dreamweaver’s Spoon-Harness combos. Adam had the biggest ‘eye – a 31” 10.7 pound hog.” (See photo #7)

Steve Hughes (Clarion): “Gus Glasco and I fished Erieon Sunday, August 20. We launched out of Lampe. There were lots of fish from 24 feet clear out to 45 feet. But the best depth seemed to be the humps in 26 feet that rose up to 20 or 18 feet. We caught over 40 nice smallmouths on tubes and drop-shotting 3” Yum Wooly Bugs. Most of the bass were in the 3 pound range. But we did get several in the 4 to 5 pound range, and one over 6 pounds.”

Gamma Salutes

Gamma salutes Ken Smith for sending photos of his Lake Erie walleye trip this past week. A spool of Gamma line will be mailed to Ken. Locally, Gamma is available at CDS inGrove City, Espyville Outdoors in Espyville, John’s Bait inMeadville and Poor Richards inErie.

Booyah Winner

Ernie Pate’s name was drawn as the winner for the Booyah/Yum bait combo. Good luck Ernie!

Dock Talk

Mike Horrobin (Jigger Tackle): “We received information on a new Rapala Minnow that is an ultra-light configuration, but made heavier to cast better. That is why I favored the AC Shiner minnow lure – heavier and easier to cast. I’m anxious to test this new Rapala Minnow. Watch for it in our store.”

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

Aug 26 Rock-N-River Festival from 11 AM to4 PM

FranklinRiverfrontPark

Aug 27 Walt’s Tavern Bass Benefit Tournament; $100.00/team

Information contact: Dan Mincin at 724-986-6557

Sept 3 Family Fishing Festival, 9 to 1,PymatuningState Park

Mandatory registration at www.fishandboat.com/fishforfree.htm

Sept 4 Oil Creek Fly Fishing Presentation by Mike Laskowski

Petroleum Centre next to State Park office;4:30 PM to 6 PM

Sept 5 PF&BC Fish For Free Day; more info kedwards@state.pa.us

Fishing license not required but all fishing regs in effect

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 1&2 Antlers and Anglers Showcase, CrawfordCountyFairgrounds

For information, contact Joan Kocan at jkocan@agoc.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo atRainbowGardens,Erie,PA

1 PM to 9 PM; contact steve@steelheadexpo.com for info

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Canadohta Lake, Conneaut Lake, conneaut Marsh, Justus Lake, lake eire, lake wilhelm, Presque Isle Bay, Pymatuning Lake, Shenango lake, shenango river

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-15-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on August 16, 2011

Erie County Waters

Lake Erie

Mike Tome (B.A.C. Bait) says the weather has been pretty rough on the lake late last week, with winds on Thursday through Saturday, and heavy rain storms on Sunday as well as expected for Monday.

“Head boats for perch have had to cancel again today, Monday, which results in some upset fishermen. But head boats can’t risk going out in questionable weather. But when they do get out, they have been having great success. Perch fishing has simply been EXCELLENT this summer. Personally, I’ll run out from Elk Creek to 52 feet of water, zoom in the sonar and the bottom will be black with perch. But right now, we can’t get emerald shiners – no one can. So we are selling only small golden shiners – but don’t worry, the perch are eating them just as quickly as emeralds.

“The reports of walleye catches are scattered. Doesn’t seem anyone is getting great numbers of fish. Some reports from the Second Trench and the Canadian Border on the West Side and out near the Mountain on theEast Side. Not hearing about anything in close.”

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards Bait): “Rough out there this morning with4 to 5footers; not a lot of anglers have been out recently. On theWest Side, guys are catching walleye in 75 to 80 feet, and perch in 52 to 57 feet. There are a few steelheads showing up in the catches of anglers running out deep for walleye. Emerald shiners have disappeared but should show up near shore by end of August.”

Lake Edinboro

Destin DeMarion with Edinboro Largemouth (DeMarion photo)

Destin DeMarion with winning bass at Edinboro tournament (DeMarion photo)

Destin DeMarion (Grove City): “I fished the Presque Isle Bassmasters club tournament at EdinboroLakeover the weekend. I had only fished the lake once before, but managed to figure them out in one day of practice. See the picture of big Edinboro largemouth I caught pre-fishing on Saturday. Sunday morning of the tournament, we were met with thunderstorms and rain most of the day along with dropping temperatures. The conditions were tough but I managed to win with 11.6 pounds of bass including the tournament lunker – a 4.4 pound largemouth – plus a big 3.8 pound smallmouth. See the second photo. Dropshotting a TriggerX Spadetail accounted for all my fish except the lunker largemouth, which I caught flipping a Yum Wooly Bug.”

Lake LeBoeuf

Bill Logan (Pleasantville) went musky fishing toLakeLeBoeufthis past week, but had to settle for a single largemouth bass that hit one of his jigs. Bill did talk to anglers in other boats who were trolling small twister-tail jigs for crappie, and catching fish. He says the crappies for “good size” fish.

Mercer County Waters

Destin DeMarion with 6-pound Wilhelm largemouth (DeMarion photos)

Lake Wilhelm

Destin DeMarion (Grove City): “My buddy Alex, the new president of the Gannon University Bassmasters, and I went to Wilhelm on Tuesday. We were greeted with a torrential downpour for most of the day, but we still managed to catch six bass. Most of the fish came on a Reaction Innovation Sweet Beaver, but the bigger bass came on a Strike King crankbait. I’ve attached a picture of the biggest one – around 6-pounds; my best largemouth this year.”

Shenango Lake

Ken Smith (Sharon): “I fished Shenango and found the crappies in the deepest part of downed trees. Not many crappies over ten inches, but the nine-inch blacks are very fat and perfect eating size. A 1/16-oz jighead and most any color twister worked for me. The train trestle pillars also produce good catches on those really hot days. You will not hurt the crappie population on this lake by keeping your limit of the smaller size fish because Shenango is loaded with them. The smaller ones need to be thinned out so others will grow larger. Also, stripers are busting all over the lake; I caught some using a spinnerbait down by the dam on Friday. Cast into the school and hold on!”

Stoneboro Lake

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton): “One of my buddies and I made it back down to StoneboroLakethis week twice – once for bass and once for musky. It’s becoming one of my favorite fishing holes. On the first day, we caught 15 largemouth and one big crappie on jigs and drop-shot rigs. But my biggest largemouth – a 5.5 pound beauty – came on a Carolinarig with a Blackberry Brush Hog. Robby and I went down on Saturday to cast for musky. After 4-1/2 hours of throwing big plugs without seeing a fish, we went bass fishing. We managed 6 or 7 bass on drop-shot and 1 pike on a spinnerbait.”

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Fly Shop) says not to expect any trout from Neshannock Creek until cooler water temperatures and greater water flow return to the stream in the fall. Neshannock Creek special regulation area will be stocked in October.

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle and Jigger Tackle): “There have a been a number of reports through the shop of smallmouth being taken with live bait on French Creek and theAllegheny River. The River is also producing catfish at night.”

Dustin Shay with Allegheny River walleye taken on Bubblegum Slug-Go (© Darl Black photo)

Hellgrammites are great live bait for river smallmouth (© Darl Black photo)

Dustin Shay with 9-pound drum taken on hellgrammite (© Darl Black photo)

Darl Black (Cochranton): “On Friday, August 12, live bait expert Dustin Shay and I make a trip to the Allegheny River. I needed some shots of catching bass on hellgrammites, and Dustin had gathered several dozen from French Creek earlier in the week. The river was very low and exceptionally clear. Before settling into the photo shoot, we made a couple drifts throwing artificial baits. In the fast current stretches, I had smallmouth of varying size chase my Bubblegum Slug-Go Jron almost every cast. I hooked and landed several smallies in the 10 to 14 inch range. I also had a big fish explode out of the water on the Slug-Go at the head of a riffle in only about 18 inches of water; I hooked it and landed a 22-inch walleye! We each had a musky follow – mine on the Bubble Gum Slug-Go and Dustin’s on one of his big musky lures; both fish veered off upon seeing the boat and didn’t hang around for a figure eight. When we went to fishing smallmouth with hellgrammites, Dustin landed the biggest fish of the day – every bit of nine pounds…unfortunately not a bass, but a hard fighting drum.”

Ken Anderson (Tionesta): “I fished the Allegheny Riverwith my Dad for three hours on Saturday. We used only artificial lures, and managed one quality smallmouth on a buzzbait. Other local anglers where catching large smallmouth on bait – minnows called sand pike (i.e. log perch). I also talked to a gentleman who netted a 28.5 inch walleye for a young lad in a kayak; the walleye hit a Rapala.”

Oil Creek

Mike Laskowski (Oil Creek Outfitters): “No trout fishing in Oil Creek until fall. The water is too low and too warm even for smallmouth fishing. I suggest going to the Allegheny to fly fish for smallies.”

Venango Trout Streams

Mike Horrobin: “As we get more rain and water temperatures fall going into the fall, we may see some pick up in trout fishing. Most of the fall stockings are scheduled for the first week in October in our area.”

French Creek (Erie, Crawford andVenangoCounties)

Dustin Shay with large French Creek crappie (Shay photo)

Dustin Shay (Meadville) made several fishing trips to French Creek and Cussewago Creek this week, but he said success was not as good as the previous week. He could not even get a bite from smallmouth with live hellgrammites. Early in the week Dustin did catch a monster crappie from French Creek; the 17-inch crappie was taken on a Crappie Pro Jighead and White/Pink Yum Beavertail. Later in the week he took some big suckers to Cussewago Creek to fish under a balloon bobber for a big musky spotted there. A big ‘lunge hit a sucker and killed it but did not hold onto it. Following Sunday’s rain, Dustin was back on French Creek, catching a few sub-legal ones as the creek level began to climb. “I expect bigger walleye to bite as the creek rises this week,” says Shay. (See Photo #7)

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “The crappie bite has been hot the past week! Early mornings and evenings have been the most productive around the causeway. White jighead and white curly tails have produced 100 crappies on Friday evening under the bridge. Numerous other reports all point to success around the causeway, too.

“A couple muskies were ‘caught’ by an angler trolling around BeerCanIsland. No sizes on the fish were available because faulty leaders prevented the fish from being boated. Both muskies hit shad-colored plugs. A few walleyes were reported in the Snodgrass area by trolling Storm Hot-n-Tots (Silver/Black Back) or Bomber Model A (Foxy Shad). No reports on perch or catfish this week.”

Ed Lawrence (Corry): “My son, his friend and I tried for catfish at Pymatuning Causeway on evening this week. We caught a few bullheads and a good run from a big fish using shrimp, but lost the fish. Shortly after dusk a pontoon boat pulled within casting distance from us and proceeded to get their anchor stuck. They struggled with for about 20 minutes, at which point we decided all fish in the vicinity had been spooked. We left as they were using their motor trying to pull free.”

Al Moore (Cochranton): “Things were good at Pymatuning on August 14. I took 2^nd place in our club tourney. Flippin’ bite was on for me today. I didn’t need anything but the Berkley Chigger Craw in black and blue. I caught 27 small bass in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I caught fish over 3 pounds. My total 4-fish limit weighed 9 pounds 14 ounces, and lost the winning big fish at the boat because I forgot my net.”

Conneaut Lake

No one is providing reports forConneautLakeas bass anglers prepare for Walt’s Tavern Buddy Tournament on August 27.

Fishing Tip of the Week

Dustin Shay says the downpours of the last couple days (Sunday and Monday) have brought lots of chubs and shiners out of French Creek into tiny tributaries and drainage culvert streams to apparently spawn because he says they are filled with eggs. “They are in such small trickles, seining them is easy,” notes Shay. “Now is the time to get bait for French Creek bass, walleye and pike fishing.”

Shop Talk

Laurie Frantz (R&L Bait): “I’m really excited about some new musky-size bucktails we just got in from Musky Specialties out ofOhio. They are quality bucktails in sharp color patterns. I can’t wait to hear about our customers catching pike and musky with them.”

Mike Horrobin (Jigger Tackle): “It’s hard to believe that summer in on its way out. Here at Jigger we are already starting to order supplies for winter tackle building season. One thing I’ve noticed is more modest actions in fishing rod blanks – not so stiff. Some manufacturers are re-visiting fiberglass – but at higher cost than older fiberglass rods. You have a hard time casting any rod that doesn’t load on the back stroke – whether fly rod, spin or casting. Fiberglass in a blank offers that loading capability

“Also, for rod building, I found a neat plastic bottle alcohol torch by National Keystone Products that serves the function of an alcohol lamp and also has a tube to blow the flame sideways. This allows you to warm and smooth bubbles in epoxy finishes on rods for a bubble-free finish on guide coatings.”

Gamma Salutes

For submitting a photo, the name drawn as winner this week of a spool of Gamma line is Destin DeMarion ofGrove City. Gamma Line is available at CDS, Espyville Outdoors, John’s Bait and Poor Richards.

Booyah/Yum Salutes

For submitting a fishing report, the name drawn as winner this week of Booyah and Yum lure packet is Chuck Papinchak of Cochranton.

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

Aug 27 Walt’s Tavern Bass Benefit Tournament; $100.00/team

Information contact: Dan Mincin at 724-986-6557

Sept 4 Oil Creek Fly Fishing Presentation by Mike Laskowski

Petroleum Centre next to State Park office;4:30 PM to 6 PM

Sept 5 PF&BC Fish For Free Day; more info kedwards@state.pa.us

Fishing license not required but all fishing regs in effect

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 1&2 Antlers and Anglers Showcase, CrawfordCountyFairgrounds

For information, contact Joan Kocan at jkocan@agoc.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo atRainbowGardens,Erie,PA

Details to come

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Conneaut Lake, French Creek, lake edinboro, Lake Erie, lake LeBoeuf, lake wilhelm, Neshannock Creek, Oil Creek, Pymatuning Lake, Shenango lake, Stoneboro Lake

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-8-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on August 9, 2011

News

August Dog Days? The so-called Dog Days of Summer can actually be rewarding from a fishing perspective if you choose your species and waterways carefully. Check out this week’s Report to see what is being caught and where. Don’t whine. Go Fish!

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “Fishing along the Espyville causeway has been hot. Crappie and walleye are being caught underneath the PA bridge in the mornings and evenings with regularity. Most have been taken on jigheads with a white curly tail or split-tail grub; some success has been reported with minnows. Bluegills are being caught in select bays; taken on red worms or pieces of nightcrawlers.

“I had two gentlemen at the shop on Friday who said they caught over 300 carp at the Linesville Spillway…no pictures, but they were back to buy more Magic Bait and Van-Do Strawberry and Anise dough bait. Catfish are still being caught in decent numbers just about anywhere on the lake. Magic Bait Shrimp and Chicken Blood have been hot for channel cats. Actually Shrimp flavor is outselling all other flavors by a wide margin.”

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “Walleye catches have been spotty – it’s August after all, a tough month in this shallow lake for walleye. Crappies are still biting in deep water in the southern portion of the lake closer to the dam. And I’ve had several customers tell me the largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing is darn good, too. One regular customer caught several smallmouths up to 3.5 pounds on crankbaits this week.”

Conneaut Lake

Steve Hughes (Clarion): “I fished the Conneaut Lake PA Bass Federation Tournament at on Sunday. Mark Hughes won it with 19.30 pounds of smallmouth off the humps, using tubes and drop-shot. I took 2^nd with 17.94 pounds of largemouth by cranking a Bomber Fat Free Shad in Citrus Shad and flipping a Yum Wooly Bug in deep weeds.”

Conneaut Lake bluegill success (© Darl Black photo)

Darl Black (Cochranton): “The crappie fishing seems to have slowed somewhat at Conneaut, but the bluegill bite is very good – if you get out early. Marilyn and I found schools of decent size ‘gills around 14 to 17 feet off the weed flats and weed-capped humps where gravel or rock rubble bumped the deep weed line. I caught my ‘gills with a 1.5-inch Yum Wooly Beavertail on a 1/8-ounce Kalin Panfish Head. Marilyn caught twice as many on a generic split-tail grub tipped with a one-inch Berkley Gulp Alive! Leech fished on super fine 3-pound Power Pro Microline. Conneaut is somewhat off-color, so brighter, bolder colors seemed to work best for bluegills. In addition to the most ‘gills, Marilyn also wants it known that she caught the largest bluegill, the most crappies and the biggest smallmouth bass. She hooked the sole incidental 3-pound smallmouth on a 1/16-ounce Northland Bug-A-Boo Jig (marabou) on her first drop of the day to a sonar-found school of ‘gills on Granny Bar.”

Destin DeMarion (Grove City): “I have been fishing ConneautLakequite a bit and I must say I really like it. There are definitely some nice smallmouth and largemouth bass in the lake. On my most recent trip there on August 2^nd, I caught three smallies in the 2.5 to 3.5 pound range plus eight largemouth bass in the 1.5 to 2.5 pound range. Most fish came by drop-shotting the deep weed edge with a TriggerX Spadetail or Jackall Crosstail Shad. I also caught a couple bass on a Strike King 5XD in Sexy Shad.”

Tamarack Lake

Ken Anderson (Tionesta): “I fishedTamarackLakethis past week. I landed two largemouth bass on rubber worms from shoreline wood, but had seven other bass come unbuttoned at the boat. The bite was good – but I must need new hooks! My daughter Breanna caught perch, crappie, sunfish and bass on Joe’s Fly Spinner.”

Night fishing success at Woodcock – pictured with smallmouth are Dale Black, Chris Wolfgong and Marilyn Black (© Darl Black photo)

Woodcock Lake

Darl Black (Cochranton): “After our brief visit to Woodcock during the last week of July, Dale Black and I had decided to try night fishing the lake this week. Four of us in two boats (Dale and Chris Wolfgong, Marilyn and me) fished from about 7 PMto 11 PMon Friday, August 5. Each of use scored a respectable smallmouth with topwater lures, plus some smaller bass on topwater and jigs. The hot topwater baits were the Arbogast Jitterbug and the Heddon Crazy Shad. There were two boats launching at the same time going for walleye; one angler said they had caught walleye at night a week ago, but we didn’t see them later and thus don’t know how they made out on Friday night.”

Canadohta Lake

Larry Phillips (Spartanburg) reports having a very good summer on walleye at Canadohta. “This has been my best year ever, taking more legal walleye than any past year. My best single day this summer was three legal walleye – a 25”, 20” and 17” fish. All my walleyes have been taken by slow trolling a crawler harness in 10 to 13-feet of water. The hottest harness has been a Walleye Delight brand with glow-in-the-dark blades and red beads. Of course, having fat, healthy nightcrawlers to put on the worm harness is critical, too. I get my bait at Timberland Bait and Tackle.”

Erie County Waters

Presque Isle Bay

Danny Jones (North East): “On Thursday, August 4^th, I caught 57 largemouth bass during an evening tournament. My best four fish weighed 10.3 pounds. I caught them all cranking deep!”

Lake Erie

Mike Tome (B.A.C. Bait): “Walleye success has slowed; more hit and miss now. Fish have moved deeper, out to the north side of the First Trench, into the Second Trench and out at the Mountain. Some of the best walleye fishermen have switched over to perch. Perch catches remain strong – phenomenal may be a better word.”

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards): “Walleyes are out in 70 to 80 feet of water on the West side; crawler harnesses are out producing plugs. A few steelheads are showing up, too, in walleye catches. Perch are biting in 52 to 57 feet of water this past week; emerald shiners and small golden shiners are all that’s needed to limit out in short time.”

Mercer County Waters

Charles Kinney with 13 lb. tiger musky (Laurie Frant

Charles Kinney with 38 lb. musky (Laurie Frantz photo)

Shenango Lake & Shenango River

Laurie Frantz (R&L Bait): “I’ve got some exciting fishing news. Charles Kinney of Clarks Mills had a banner day on theShenangoRiverthis week. Fishing somewhere above theShenangoLakewaters in the river proper, he caught a 48-inch, 38 lb 10 oz musky plus a 41-3/4 inch, 13 lb 6 oz tiger musky.”

R&L Bait announces new hours –6 AM to 6 PM, six days a week; closed on Mondays.

Stoneboro Lake (i.e. Sandy Lake)

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton): “I was back atStoneboroLakethis past week, and again caught several 1-1/2 pound largemouth bass on drop-shot worms, plus a couple on spinnerbaits. The water in the lake is very clear. I hope to try there for musky later in the week.”

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Fly Shop) reports the creek is too warm and too low, and trout are severely stressed. “We need rain and cooler temps.”

Venango County Waters

Dale Black with river smallmouth (© Darl Black photo)

Allegheny River

Dale Black (OilCity) says smallmouth fishing in the river is slow, but if you downsize to a 3” Yum Dinger and drift it with the current, you can catch a few bass. (See Photo #5)

French Creek (Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties)

John Ensworth (John’s Bait) reports selling shiners and nightcrawlers like crazy this past weekend, with most of the bait headed to French Creek. One customer reported catching both northern pike and smallmouth on shiners.

Christi Zaboroski with French Creek smallmouth (Lou Letterle photo)

Lou Letterle (Franklin): “I managed to fish a couple times this past week on both French Creek and the Allegheny River. The most productive trip was on lower French Creek near Franklinwhen I took my kids and two of their friends wade-fishing. To keep things simple (and reduce snags), I rigged each rod with either a Yum Dinger or a Fluke – both baits rigged un-weighted on a circle hook. All four kids (Brandi & Corey Letterle and Christi & Carly Zaboroski) caught smallmouth and had a great time.”

Russ Chancey with 4 lb. French Creek largemouth (Dustin Shay photo)

Russ Chancey with 30 inch French Creek walleye (Dustin Shay photo)

Dustin Shay (Meadville) and friends have been on French Creek several days this week. “Russ Chancey caught a 30” walleye on a riffle runner minnow. We also caught some nice smallmouth on riffle runners as well. On another day, Russ caught a 4 pound largemouth from French Creek on a Big Bite Cane Stick which I won in a Fishing Report drawing earlier this year .”

Gamma Salutes

The winner of Gamma Line this week is Lou Letterle for the photos submitted of his son and daughter, and their friends, fishing French Creek for smallmouth bass.

Carly Zaboroski with French Creek smallmouth

Brandi Letterle with French Creek smallmouth

Corey Letterle with French Creek smallmouth

Gamma Line is available locally at CDS (Grove City), Espyville Outdoors (Espyville), Poor Richards (Erie), and John’s Bait (Meadville).

Lure Pack Winner

Winner this week of a Booyah/Yum lure packet is Ken Anderson.

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

Aug 27 Walt’s Tavern Bass Benefit Tournament; $100.00/team

Information contact: Dan Mincin at 724-986-6557

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo atRainbowGardens,Erie,PA

Details to come

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Canadohta Lake, Conneaut Lake, fishing report, French Creek, Lake Erie, pa fishing report, Presque Isle Bay, pym, Shenago Lake, Stoneboro Lake, Tamarack Lake, western pa fishing report, Woodcock Lake

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-1-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on August 1, 2011

News

- Weather & Water: Although the temps have dipped slightly and there were a few more thundershowers recently, it wasn’t enough rain to help surface water conditions. Water levels are critically low and too warm – from the smallest streams to the Allegheny. Lakes are near record high water temps. The best bets for fishing may be smaller lakes that are fed by springs or canopy-covered tributaries so their water temps are a few degrees cooler.

- My fishing forecast for coming week: (1) I plan to fish frog lures on LakeLeBoeufand Edinboro, especially to test out the new River2Sea Diver Frog and Tuscaroran Rude Frog. (2) I plan a night fishing trip for smallmouth later this week. (3) I still hope to get to Pymatuning or Shenango for crappie trolling with some new crappie baits. (4) And I want to gather hellgrammites to fish for smallmouth in French Creek and Allegheny River.

- Prize Patrol: For August, the weekly giveaway lure packet will be a Booyah Jig and bag of Craw Papi trailers. And Gamma will also award a spool of line drawn from among the photos sent in and used in the Report. Lure packet winner this week for Report contribution is Edward Lawrence of Corry. Gamma Line winner this week for Photo contribution is Hunter Cascio of Greenville.

French Creek (Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties)

Dustin Shay with French Creek bluegill (Shay photo)

Dustin Shay (Meadville): Dustin and his fishing buddies have been on both French Creek and Cussewago this past week. “Both waterways are unbelievably low and warm; fishing success has been mixed. We caught a number of northern pike between 25 and 35 inches on Yum Money Minnow and jointed Sebile Swimmer. The crayfish are pretty much done molting, so smallmouth are hitting topwater and live creek minnows again. We got into big bluegills on French Creek – caught some on a small Rapala Husky Jerk. We’ve struck out on walleye. But had several muskies explode on a Top Raider musky plug on Cussewago. We watched one big musky chase down and swallow a 20-inch plus sucker.”

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “A limit of walleye was reported by an angler trolling around Harris and Clark Islands in 4 feet of water using Hot-N-Tots and worm harnesses. The crappie bite has been good underneath the PA bridge on the Andover causeway; crappies running 12” to 14”, plus smaller ones. Catfish activity has been good all over the lake; Magic Bait Dough and Van-Do Strawberry have been hot sales leaders at the shop.”

Ken Smith’s catch of Pymatuning crappie (Smith photo)

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “All fishing action except catfish has slowed with the summer heat. However, even with the slow down, the walleye and crappie fishing is better than it has been in recent summers. A few dedicated anglers are getting 16 to 17-inch walleye. Anglers are still hauling in nice crappies on deepwater brush and stumps in 12 to 18 feet of water. Bass anglers are catching largemouth on buzzbaits in the evening around weedbeds. Several C&R musky in the 30 to 40-inch range reported.”

Ken Smith (Sharon): “I fished Pymatuning on Friday, finding a school of crappies in 13 feet or water; they were big crappies, going 12 inches and longer. I fished a slip bobber with a new lure I have been field-testing: Joe’s Jigs’ Shark; it is available online at Crappie.com.

Conneaut Lake

Steve Hughes (Clarion) and partner Lon Wilson (Meadville) won the United Way Charity Tournament on Conneaut Lake on July 29 with a limit of 8 bass going 21.43 pounds – three pounds ahead of the second place team. Their catch included two smallmouth over 4 pounds. They caught fish on a variety of lures, but most bass came on drop-shotting the outside weedline with Yum Houdini Worms.

Derek Severns (Pittsburgh) reports Mingo Creek Anglers had a tournament at Conneaut over the weekend. Dan Mincin won with 5 bass going 8.8 pounds. Mike Jones had lunker with a 2.68 pound largemouth.

Bryan Stuyvesant (Meadville) has been catching 2 to 3 pound largemouth and smallmouth bass by jerking Yum Houdini Shads and by drop-shotting Yum Houdini Worms.

Chub Hornstein (Meadville) has fished ConneautLakeseveral times in the last couple weeks. He enjoys battling 20 to 35 largemouths mostly in the 1- to 2-pounds range on each trip. “I like to fish for numbers and let the big fish come when they do. My secret is a Zoom French Fry on a Brewer Slider Head fished on the weedline.”

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton) phoned in a report from Conneaut this morning. “I’ve caught five largemouth, including one 3.5 pounds – all taken on a Rebel Pop R.”

Tamarack Lake

John Ensworth (John’s Bait) reports that over a dozen of his customers this past weekend were buying minnows to fish crappies at Tamarack; they say the bite is still good.

Ken Anderson (Tionesta): “I fished for bass at Tamarack from 7 AMto noonone day last week. Slight breeze and overcast skies early, then glass surface and sun from mid morning. I caught 6 largemouth bass. I got two fish on a Jewel Eakins Jig with Powerbait Chigger Craw trailer on deep wood. The other 4 fish – including a 16.5-incher – came on a Z-Man Chatter Bait. The big fish was in the pads, but all other on shoreline wood. Only one other boat on the lake.”

Woodcock Lake

Darl Black (Cochranton): “The recent issue of the PA Angler carried my article about my long history of fishing Woodcock Lake, noting I had not fished the lake in several years. Dale Black and I decided to try it on Saturday because the Allegheny Riverwas so low and smallmouth running oh so small. Dale had never been on the lake. Both of us were pleasantly surprised to catch smallmouth at every spot that I directed us to – including one over 4 pounds. Our bass came on Get Bit Tubes and Yum Dingers. I broke off one fish that was likely a musky. Lots of musky fishermen trolling, but didn’t talk to anyone who caught a fish.”

Ed Lawrence with Woodcock walleye (Lawrence photo)

Edward Lawrence (Corry) reports catching several small walleye at the Woodcock Spillway this past Wednesday.

Erie County Waters

Lake Erie

Mike Tome (B.A.C. Bait): “I’m still finding bigger perch in shallower water than out deep. I’m fishing 39-40 feet for the last couple weeks. Most boats are out in 50-60 feet – probably because there are more fish and can quickly limit out; but bigger perch are inside that range. Walleye fishing off the Condos on the west side of thePeninsularemains strong.”

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards): “Perch are in 55’ north out of Walnut. Walleye are in 65’ to 68’ both east and west of Walnut. Crawler harnesses with purple, copper or watermelon blades are taking most walleye.”

Fuhrmann with Erie walleye (Fuhrmann photo)

John Fuhrmann (Visiting from Arizona): “Erie Dearie success continues to provide fun. A black Dearie with stinger hook and four-inch crawler was the ticket. My buddy and I fished Wednesday from9 AM to4 PM in 20’ to 25’ depth, drifting with the NW 10 knot winds and sunny sky. The first cast brought a walleye. My partner and I kept six ‘eye from 3 to 5 pounds. We returned more than thirty walleye in the 13 to 16 inch range. Those young fish left no doubt the next couple year’s walleye fishing will be excellent. We also boated largemouth, smallmouth, bluegill, rock bass, drum and a 3 lb. golden sucker – a first for me. All onErie Dearies.

Mercer County Waters

Lake Wilhelm

Vicki (Fergies Bait) reports not many anglers fishing; she had one good report of several nice walleye in 12’ to 14’ of water on worm harnesses.

Hunter Cascio with Wilhelm walleye (Frantz photo)

Laurie Frantz (R&L Bait): “Three generations of Cascios from Greenville went fishing at Wilhelm for walleye this week and had great luck drifting worm rigs. Gary, Chris and Hunter all caught some fish. But Hunter caught the largest. It was 28 inches long and weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces. This was the first time they had all gone fishing together. Hunter, the youngest, usually outfishes everyone, and he did it again this week. It warms my heat to see a grandfather, father and son all enjoying themselves so much. These are memories Hunter will carry the rest of his life!”

Shenango Lake & River

Laurie Frantz (R&L Bait): “Several customers are fishing for catfish at the Shenango Reservoir and ShenangoRiver. The hotter the weather, the better cats seem to bite. At customer request, I special ordered catfish bait called Wicked Sticky, which I am told is the cat’s meow. Catch & release musky fishermen are having some luck at both Shenango and Pymatuning, but nothing of trophy size. Grandma Lures is again manufacturing a jointed 7” lures, which I will carry in the shop.

Stoneboro Lake (i.e. Sandy Lake)

Chuck Papinchak (Cochranton) fished Stoneboro this past week, catching a 30” pike on a blue back Bomber crankbait and 7 largemouths by drop-shotting a Yum Dinger.

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Outfitters) says it is way too hot for remaining trout in freestone streams. Some smallmouths are being taken early and late in the day.

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Allegheny flathead (Lawrence photo)

Eric Heil (Franklin): “A co-worker and I fished the Allegheny on Friday evening for three hours after work. We focused on areas south of Franklin. We fished primarily soft jerkbaits including the Zoom Super Fluke. Action was spotty but we managed to land about 10 smallmouths and saw several chasers. The up river wind made casting difficult. Water temp remains in the 80s and the water is very clear. The more active smallmouths were in moving water, and color of our baits didn’t seem to matter. I was using a 7’ MH action Kistler Helium spinning rod with 8 pound braided line with a 10-pound Gamma Edge leader.”

Edward Lawrence (Corry): “We caught a small flathead at Kennerdell bridge on Saturday night using a sunfish as bait. We had lots of snags and lost lots of jigs.”

Fishing Tip of the Week

Mike Horrobin, CLTackle: “Late summer is a great time to take kids out for bluegills, panfish or catfish. Kids don’t seem to mind the summer heat as much as us older folks – as long as there is a fish or two to pull on the line. However, don’t forget the bug dope as youngsters’ skin seems to attract mosquitoes like candy.

“It may not be the best time for big fish, but if you start the kids off with a live worm, or a basic artificial like Mike’s Ants, Black Gnat Fly or small curly tail jig – each sweetened with maggots – kids will catch something. Don’t start the little ones out with spinning gear because their fingers are not long enough to control the line. Instead, go with a push-button reel, but not the cheap ‘toy’ category outfit; get a decent rod & reel combo. Expect tangles, know how to take the cone off the reel and bring some extra line to spool on if necessary.

“Remember the objective is for the kids to have a good time and learn something about the outdoors. If they get bored and want to skip stones or chase frogs – let them, it’s only natural. The most important thing to accomplish is to instill in them a love for and respect of the outdoor life.”

Shop Talk

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors): “Archery season is approaching. Espyville Outdoors is able to “special order” items such as complete bows or crossbows, arrows, broadheads, tree stands, etc. Anyone mentioning this Fishing Report will save 10% off their entire archery order!”

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

Aug 27 Walt’s Tavern Bass Benefit Tournament; $100.00/team

Information contact: Dan Mincin at 724-986-6557

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Nov 5 PA Steelhead Expo atRainbowGardens,Erie,PA

Details to come

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Conneaut Lake, fishing report, French Creek, Lake Erie, lake wilhelm, Neshannock Creek, pa fishing report, Pymatuning Lake, Shenango lake, Stoneboro Lake, Tamarack Lake, western pa fishing report, Woodcock Lake

No Comments

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 7-25-11

Posted by Staff in Fishing Reports on July 25, 2011

News

Hopefully the high temperatures and humidity are about to take a slight downturn. The weather of the past two weeks has not been good for fishermen or fish in smaller waters. Our trout fishing contributors have repeatedly warned anglers that trout in our smaller streams are stressed and recommend fishermen target other species. The water is so low and so warm that even smallmouth are under stress in streams the size of Oil Creek, Neshannock and Sugar Creek. Not only do we need cooler air temperatures, but we are in desperate need of good soaking rain to refresh streams, rivers and lakes. The good news, however, isLake Erieperch are on fire.

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River

Chris Wolfgong (OilCity): “Dale Black and I made it out on the river for about two hours on Thursday evening. The water is very low and very warm. There was a bit of a topwater bite. Dale had three bass on top, including a 16.5” one on a Jitterbug. I managed to catch one smallmouth bass on a tube, one on a wake bait (both around 15 inches) plus four rock bass on the wake bait – including one that was only two inches long!”

Justus Lake

Darl Black (Cochranton): “I took my visiting father-in-law toJustusLakefor bluegills on Monday, July 25. Fishing the north end of the lake, our net catch was not impressive. However, at the ramp I chatted with two anglers from Seneca. They had been fishing in 40-some feet of water down near the dam. They had caught 7 rainbow trout (up to 17 inches) and a mess of big bluegills on small white twisters tipped with a wax worm.”

Dustin Shay with French Creek white perch (Shay photo)

French Creek (Erie, Crawford andVenangoCounties)

Dustin Shay (Meadville) has been trying to figure out the walleye bite this summer on the creek. “We’ve been seeing walleye follow our baits out of deepwater holes, but we can’t get them to hit. We have only caught a few small ‘eye. The water is so low, so clear and so warm that we are struggling. However, we have been catching lots of panfish on a jig-n-nightcrawler, including white perch and big bluegills. We have been gathering hellgrammites and soft shells, too, and enjoying success on smallmouth bass.”

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake

Dave Richter (Richter’s General Store): “The walleye bite has slowed down, due in part at least to fewer anglers fishing in the heat. However, one customer brought in 3 big walleyes which he picked up drifting a nightcrawler on a jig. A handful of anglers still targeting crappies are enjoying success on the southern end of the lake; best success is early and late in the day in 15’ to 21’ on stumps or brush. The musky guys are seeing a little more action with fish striking big plugs in the prop wash of outboards – but no landing of big fish reported to me.”

Chris Hall (Espyville Outdoors) says there wasn’t much to report this week with the number of anglers on the lake way down. Catfish seemed to be the primary fish being caught. “The Big Kids/Little Kids tournament at Erie this past weekend – sponsored in part by Espyville Outdoors – was won by Steve Hughes and Dakota with 14.24 pounds of bass,” adds Chris.

Conneaut Lake

Bryan Stuyvesant (Meadville) reports the largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing at Conneaut is fairly good for this time of year. “The weedbeds are growing back following weed control measures earlier in the season, and largemouths like the green cover. Texas-rigged worm are producing largemouth on the weed edge. Even spinnerbaits are working some days. I’m catching smallmouth on drop-shot rigs on rocky outcroppings. Seems to be more juvenile bass than usual, but I’m also catching some decent ones, too. My largest this week was 3.5 pounds.”

Erie County Waters

Lake Erie

Mike Tome (B.A.C. Bait): “The big news this past week surrounds perch moving into shallower water. Anglers out ofErieare catching them in 39 feet. The perch schools have moved in closer instead of going deeper in the heat – likely following baitfish. I was out this week and had some perch in the 13” to 14” range – nice fish.

“Walleye bite seems better to the East side of Erie, particularly out by the Mountain. The depth for the schools will vary day to day based on bait movement, but generally the fish are 45 to 50 feet over 75’ bottom. The long minnow plugs are catching fish, plus willow-leaf worm harnesses. We have the hottest colors here at B.A.C. Bait,” concludes Mike.

Ken Smith with Erie walleye (Smith photo)

Jeff Staaf (Poor Richards): “Perch are in 44 to 47 feet of water straight out ofWalnut Creek. Walleye are in 65 to 75 feet on the West side, with some smaller eye – up to 17 inches – being taken in 30’ to 35’. Reports are leaning towards worm harnesses over plugs. Here at Poor Richards, we have the most popular blade colors in worm harnesses.”

Ken Smith (Sharon): On Wednesday, July 20, I fished Lake Eriewest ofErie. Walleye fishing was tough but three of us managed to put six ‘eye in the box before the heat and lack of breeze drove us from the water. We caught them in 72 feet, using Dipsy Divers with worm harnesses.”

Dean Waldbaum with Erie steelhead (Waldbaum photo)

Dean Waldbaum (Pittsburgh): Last week we fished out of Northeast around the “Mountain.” We landed about 15 walleye up to 9 pounds on worm harnesses and a couple steelheads on spoons. My largest steelhead was 31” at 14.5 pounds.”

John Fuhrmann’s Erie catch with Erie Dearie (Fuhrmann photo)

John Fuhrmann (Phoenix,AZ): “As a former Erie resident, I return toLake Erie each year for a summer of walleye fishing. But we don’t head out to the deep water. Instead we fish the 20 to 25-foot depths just a short ride from the launch. And rather than trolling, we apply the old Western Basin technique of a controlled drift with Erie Dearie countdown bait tipped with a nightcrawler. In the last ten years, this technique has not failed us.

“We tie a two-foot fluorocarbon leader to 8-pound Fireline,” continues Fuhrmann. “Our rods are 8-1/2 foot Fenwick spinning rods. We make long casts opposite (into the wind) our drift direction or quartering casts to the drift direction. Count the rig down 15 to 20 seconds to the bottom, engage the reel and begin line recovery. Slowly sweep and retrieve the lure with six to eight foot sweeps, maintaining light line tension as you pick up line from the sweep. The key is to keep the Erie Dearie within a foot or two of the bottom. Walleye hammer it, along with perch, big bluegills, smallmouth, largemouth, white bass, catfish and drum. This is a far more enjoyable active presentation than slowly trolling.”

Lake Edinboro and Lake LeBoeuf

Dave Lefebre (Waterford) reminds bass anglers that now is the best ‘frog lure’ bite in the pads and thick floating mats of Edinboro and Lake LeBoeuf. Several companies make a hollow-belly frog lure designed to fish heavy surface weeds by skimming over the top. The key to success is to use 50-pound braid on a 7’ heavy action rod. Tie the frog direct to the braid. Experiment with retrieves from steady swimming to pull-pause. Don’t set the hook at the first explosion of weeds and water – wait until the line goes tight.

Mercer County Waters

Lake Wilhelm

Bob Mohra (Fergies Bait) says the number of anglers on Wilhelm has been marginal during the past heat wave. However, one of his customers reported catching 35 crappies in deep water off brushpiles; the bait was live minnows.

Eric Heil (Franklin): “My fishing partner and I went bass fishing to Wilhelm on July 24. Fishing was slow, really slow. Between the two of use, we caught 8 fish all day. We caught our bass on small crankbaits, football jigs and 10-inch Berkley Power Worms. The baits had to be worked very slowly on the bottom. The surface temperature was 85 degrees and there was no breeze. Bass fishing on Wilhelm is as slow as I’ve ever seen it.”

Shenango Lake

Ken Smith (Sharon): “I fished Shenango from shore on Tuesday around the Mahaney area for about three hours. I caught 15 fat black crappies from 8 to 11 inches plus a couple bluegills. I fished a jig and bobber around the new trees they put in this past spring – you can see them sticking above the water. Bobber set at 5 feet was most effective depth.”

Neshannock Creek

Bob Shuey (Neshannock Creek Fly Shop): “Low water and very hot water in our freestone streams. Many trout have already died and remaining ones are stressed. Leave them alone. Even trout in tailwaters and spring creeks are likely feeling the effects of this drought and hot temperatures.”

Gamma Salutes

This week Gamma salutes Ken Smith for his submitted photo of anEriewalleye. A spool of Gamma Ploy Flex Line is on its way.

Dustin Shay, a previous winner of Gamma Line, had this to say: “In French Creek, I fish a lot of flowing water with rocks. That is tough on a line. I tried some Gamma earlier this season – what a line! I like thin diameter lines in 6 and 8-pound test. With Gamma I was able to drift baits through rocky sections without breaking off every time I got hung up – most of the time I simply pulled loose. Gamma seems to stretch less than regular monofilament, and is far better abrasion resistant than any other line of the same diameter that I have used.”

Jewel/Gene Larew Lure Packet

The name drawn for the Jewel/Larew lure packet this week is Eric Heil.

Shop Talk

Mike Horrobin (CLTackle.com): “When I am fishing just for casual fun, I like both topwater fishing with a fly rod as well as old-time plugging for bass. It reminds me of the fun I had when we made much of our tackle at home.

“There was a popper built by Gill Gallasch of Richmond and popularized by famed author Joe Brooks, called the Gerbubble Bug. Gallasch also made a skipping bug that was a great saltwater popper and worked well on bass. Another great one is the deer hair bass bug; Paul Young made a number of them. Larry Dahlberg’s Diver is yet another great fish-catching pattern. Any of these topwater bugs can be tied at home.

“If not into fly fishing, break out an old casting outfit such as a Pflueger, Shakespeare, Langley, Coxe or Meek plus and a 5/8-ounce wood plug like a Bass Oreno, Pal-O-Mine or Jitterbug. If you had forgotten how it was back in 1953, the occasional backlash will remind you.”

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Monthly Fly-Tying Class – Free, Walk In 814-590-1366

Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch (At the Bank Mall),Meadville

2^nd Tuesday of each month;6 PM to 7:30 PM

July 29 United Way Bass Classic atConneautLake

Information contact: Eric Marsh at 814-382-0686

July 30 PF&BC Fishing Skills Instructor workshop at Woodcock

Contact Chad Foster at 814-683-5126 for information

Aug 27 Walt’s Tavern Bass Benefit Tournament; $100.00/team

Information contact: Dan Mincin at 724-986-6557

Sept 18 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #1

$100 per team; for info contact Eric Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Oct 16 Allegheny RiverBass Team Tournament #2

$100 per team; for info contact Erie Heil lt.heil@yahoo.com

Information contributed by:

- Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA

- Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA

- Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA

- John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA

- Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA

- Fergie’s Bait & Tackle, Sandy Lake, PA

- R & L Bait & Tackle, Greenville, PA

- B.A.C. Bait & Tackle, Erie, PA

- Poor Richards Bait & Tackle, Fairview, PA

- Presque Isle Angler, Erie, PA

- Neshannock Creek Fly Shop, Volant, PA

- Erie Sports Store, Erie, PA

- CLTackle.com

- Espyville Outdoors, Espyville, PA

- Farrell’s Hook, Line & Stitch, Meadville, PA

- Consumer Direct Sports, Grove City, PA

- Jigger Wholesale Tackle, Franklin, PA

- Area anglers

Sponsored by: PA Great Lakes Region

& GAMMA Fishing Line (now owned by Black Knight Industries of Oil City)

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

- Crawford County Convention &Visitors Bureau at www.visitcrawford.org

- VisitErie at www.visiterie.com

- VisitMercerCountyPA at www.visitmercercountypa.com

- Oil Region Alliance at www.oilregion.org

If you have fishing information or a picture of your catch from one of the waters in the following counties, please contact Darl Black at darlblack@windstream.net

In providing a picture, you are agreeing to it being posted on the Fishing Report.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com

Allegheny River, Conneaut Lake, fishing report, French Creek, Justus Lake, lake eninboro, Lake Erie, lake wilhelm, Neshannock Creek, pa fishing report, Pymatuning Lake, Shenango lake, western pa fishing report

No Comments

Archive for category Fishing Reports

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 9-5-11

News

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Mercer County Waters

Venango County Waters

Gamma Salutes

September Rapala Awards

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-29-11

Venango County Waters

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Mercer County Waters

Fishing Tip of the Week

Dock Talk

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-22-11

News

Mercer County Waters

Venango County Waters

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Gamma Salutes

Booyah Winner

Dock Talk

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-15-11

Erie County Waters

Mercer County Waters

Venango County Waters

Crawford County Waters

Fishing Tip of the Week

Shop Talk

Gamma Salutes

Booyah/Yum Salutes

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-8-11

News

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Mercer County Waters

Venango County Waters

Gamma Salutes

Lure Pack Winner

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Information contributed by:

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 8-1-11

News

French Creek (Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties)

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Mercer County Waters

Venango County Waters

Fishing Tip of the Week

Shop Talk

Outdoor Calendar of Events

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Northwest Pennsylvania Fishing Report 7-25-11

News

Venango County Waters

Crawford County Waters

Erie County Waters

Gamma Salutes

Shop Talk

Connect to all counties at www.PaGreatLakes.com

Gallery

Affiliates

Also find us on…