Posts Tagged Shenago Lake
Fun Weekend of Fishing
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on June 16, 2010
This past weekend I got to enjoy some bass fishing on 2 completely different bodies of water. Saturday I spent the day fishing Shenago Lake, and Sunday I fished a club tournament at Woodcock Lake with the West Penn Bass Hunters.
Saturday I spent the day fishing with my sister, Nicole, who hadn’t been fishing in a couple of years. We started fishing around 7:30 in the morning and took a ride to one of my favorite roadbeds figuring that the bass had started to move into the deeper summer pattern. What we had discovered was the spot was covered with small stripers. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the morning. It really got Nicole into it, as she was having a ball with the 14-16″ stripers. For me it was awesome watching her enjoy the same sport my dad and I love so much. Also, for the first time I had success catching fish on a jigging spoon. They weren’t my target species, but it will give me some confidence to try it more in the future.
The rest of the day we spend time fish laydowns pitching in shallow water, throwing crankbaits on ledges, working roadbeds, and fishing brush piles. We caught bass in just about every location that we stopped at, but we only managed to catch 1 keeper. If I were heading back up I am not sure where in the water column that I would be fishing. The fish came from 6″ of water to 15 feet of water. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions. Nicole had so much fun that she asked to head back out again this week.
Sunday was tournament day on a body of water I have only ever fished 1 time and didn’t practice for this year. Woodcock Lake is a small lake that is located about 5 miles north of Meadville. Watch the blog for a featured fishing about this lake. This lake is very clear, has some grassy weeds, rock banks, and plenty of laydowns and stumps.
I started the morning by fishing the breast of the dam and continued down the one bank. I covered a wide range of lures and depth in the first 3 1/2 hours and had no bites. I was getting discussed fast. The last time I was at the lake I didn’t manage to catch any keepers and this was shaping up to be the same result. I ran into some of the other guys and I could tell what they were using. Small weightless stick worms. If there is a style that I hate to use it is that style, but when in Rome you have to do as the Romans. Shortly after I started using the rig I caught a dink and then a 2.85lb smallie. That helps me get into using the style. I tried everything to catch more fish, but it would be 1:00pm, over 3 hours, until I would catch my next keepers. The event ended at 2:00 and I knew I needed to get my last keeper to give myself a chance to win. In the last 1/2 hour I caught 2 more keepers.
Throughout the course of the day I managed to get 8 bass 4 keepers and 2 walleye. It wasn’t a great day, but with next to no experience on the lake I was pleased with the results. After weigh-in concluded I was sitting in 3rd place with a 3 fish weight of 5.82lbs. The winner had 9.85lbs and 2nd place had 9.45lbs. Lunker for the event was a nice 4.85lb smallie. I think that if I spent some time up there I would become a big fan of the lake, but until then I am just going to call it an above average fishery.
Stormy Shenago Lake
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on June 8, 2010
Some friends, my dad and I spent the weekend camping and fishing at Shenago Lake. The campground was not crowded at all. Which was due to the forecast of rough weather that was going to hit that area. With the recent rains the water had risen, but not an excessive amount. My estimate was that the water was nearly 1 foot high when we arrived, and rose another foot while we where there. The water clearity varied greatly. On the main lake there was 4 feet of clearity, but in the feeder creeks you were lucky to see 6″ in the muddy water.
Friday evening we started fishing around 8:00 pm and fished until 9:30. We wanted to see if the striper were active, and if we could get a topwater bite. The night was pretty successful with the 3 of us catching over 10 bass. Most of which were on top water. None of the fish were big, but topwater is fun no matter what the size of the fish is. Tony, one of my best friends, even managed to hook up with a nice walleye on a spinnerbait.
Saturday Dad and I headed out on the water and fished from 7-12 in the morning. It was probably the single best morning I have ever had at Shenago. We managed to boat 26 bass and a catfish. We caught fish on buzzbaits, spooks, multiple crankbaits, tubes, beavers, and brush hogs. Colors were wide ranged, but the ones that seemed to work best were transparent/natural colors. The depth of water we caught fish varied greatly. We caught them flipping the shallows, topwater shallow, and deep and shallow cranking. It seemed like the fish were all over the board, but when you found 1 you found multiple fish. We headed in for lunch and ended up sitting out a pretty severe storm until 3. At that point we wanted to get on the water. The three of us started fishing again. I tied a crankbait on and never put it down for the next 2 hours. I caught 2 pike, catfish, multiple bass, and a couple crappie. Then the next severe storm came through so we called it a day.
We woke up Sunday to bad weather and high winds. That being said we thought it best not to head out on the water. For the amount of time we were able to fish we were pretty successful, which makes me anxious to get back out there.
Post Spawn Blues
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on June 16, 2009
To me the toughest time of year to fish is the post spawn. It doesn’t mean that you can’t get fish to eat, but they may be difficult to hook or get hooked up well, land, and find. Sometimes as anglers we are doing nothing wrong and we can’t seem to have any success. This was how my entire weekend went.
I believe that the fish in Western Pennsylvania have moved into the post spawn time of year. That is not to say that you can’t find a few bass still on beds. You can and will still find some bedding bass. However, the majority of the females have left the beds for the males to guard.
Saturday, I headed up to Wilhelm with my dad trying to find some of the true giant largemouth bass that swim those waters. Unfortunately, the fish were in post spawn meaning that they were going to be very inactive. We landed about 8 bass, but nothing was over 3lbs. I was able to hook up with 2 good fish that came off. Both fish ate the jig to the point where they were swimming with it. I nailed them with a good hook set and both fish (one around 4lbs and the other pushing 6lbs) managed to shake the hook on the way in.
Sunday my wife and myself met my parents at Shenago Lake for a picnic and some fishing. The day went very much like Wilhelm the day before. I managed to catch 9 bass, but only one smallmouth would keep and it was the first fish I caught. I hooked up with 9 more bass that came off, and missed about 5 fish to short strikes.
Fishing the post spawn can be very frustrating, but once you get on the fish you can catch alot of them in one area.
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