NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT

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NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: November 8, 2017 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service Denny

(Beggs photo) The Landing Net by Darl Black This issue of the NW PA Fishing Report is the smallest of the entire year.

Since the October 25 Fishing Report, it appears only Shenango Lake continues to shine.

1 NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: November 8, 2017 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service Denny Beggs of Franklin enjoys Erie steelhead fishing success at the mouth of Trout Run. (Beggs photo) The Landing Net by Darl Black This issue of the NW PA Fishing Report is the smallest of the entire year. While anglers are enjoying a fantastic steelhead season on the Erie tributaries, anglers on inland waters have been struggling the last two weeks. Since the October 25 Fishing Report, it appears only Shenango Lake continues to shine. The Allegheny had been high due to Kinzua discharge and now is completely blown out resulting from the storm of November 5 th perhaps for another week or longer. Pymatuning crappie and walleye bite is only so-so. No reports from other lakes. At this writing the Erie tributaries are completely blown out, but Erie tackle shops expect the streams to be fishable by Wednesday, November 8 th and they also believe there will be even more steelhead packed into the streams by weekend after the high water. Right the now the word is Go North to the Tribs!

The NW PA Fishing Report provides timely angling information for Crawford, Erie, Mercer, and Venango counties. Fishing comments and photos are offered by regional tackle shops and area anglers.

In providing information or pictures, you are agreeing to your comments being edited for clarity and brevity, and posted to websites and distributed electronically.

2 The NW PA Fishing Report provides timely angling information for Crawford, Erie, Mercer, and Venango counties. Fishing comments and photos are offered by regional tackle shops and area anglers. The NW PA Fishing Report is based on experiences, observations and opinions of individual contributors; information sources are considered reliable but comments are not independently verified. In providing information or pictures, you are agreeing to your comments being edited for clarity and brevity, and posted to websites and distributed electronically. NW PA FISHING REPORT for Brought to you by PA Great Lakes Region tourism Published by Blackwolfe Communications L.L.C. County by County Reports FRENCH CREEK flowing through all four counties Editor s Note: French Creek is currently blown out as result of the November 5 storm. After the surge of flood water works through the system and water color improves some, French Creek should be prime for excellent late fall walleye and musky fishing perhaps by this coming weekend. CRAWFORD COUNTY Pymatuning Lake Richter s Bait & Tackle; filed 11-6: Prior to Sunday s storm, anglers had been catching some nice crappies along with perch and bluegills off the docks at Jamestown Marina. A few guys have been jigging blades from boats on South End with some success on walleyes. Blade bite hopefully improves as water cools. Over the weekend, walleyes and a musky were reported in the river below the dam. The Outflow area has continued to produce fish all season likely due to increased flow after Gatehouse repair. Marilyn Black Duck-N-Drake; filed 11-6: We will be closing the store for the winter this coming weekend Saturday will be our last day. Only fishing report I ve had is from guys stopping by to buy blades catching walleye in South End of lake. Gateway Bait & Tackle; filed 11-6: It s been slow; only a few anglers are out on lake. Causeway fishermen are picking up a few walleye especially those jigging blades on the PA bridge. Vibe-B and Heddon Sonar are the baits to use, and we have them in stock. I picked up a

couple walleyes the other day; they had a lot of fat layers when I cleaned them, indicating they have been well fed.

I had to take a conference call on my cell phone right at lunch time so Darl moved the boat to a different spot out of the wind. That s when the crappies decided to bite.

With phone in one hand and net in the other, I m landing the bigger ones. When the business call was done, so was the crappie bite!

Drop shotting Bobby Garland Baby Shads in 17 to 22 feet of water took all the crappies as well as the walleye.

3 couple walleyes the other day; they had a lot of fat layers when I cleaned them, indicating they have been well fed. Marilyn Black Marilyn Black (Cochranton); filed 10-27: Darl and I headed over for crappie fishing. It started out slow, picking up one crappie here and there along creek edge stumps. I had to take a conference call on my cell phone right at lunch time so Darl moved the boat to a different spot out of the wind. That s when the crappies decided to bite. I m talking on the phone with representatives from a dozen different Heritage Parks watching Darl setting the hook on crappie after crappie. With phone in one hand and net in the other, I m landing the bigger ones. When the business call was done, so was the crappie bite! I did manage to pick up a couple crappies and my first legal Pymatuning walleye of the year. Drop shotting Bobby Garland Baby Shads in 17 to 22 feet of water took all the crappies as well as the walleye. (See photos) Jim McClave (Andover); filed 10-26: We had a good day at the South End of Pymatuning Lake. We caught a few nice-size crappies and some decent perch. We got them in about 20 feet of water over structure by jigging live minnows. With leaves changing color, it was a beautiful day on the water. (See photo) Jim McClave photo Conneaut Lake Darl Black (Cochranton); filed 11-4: Longtime fishing buddy Dave Lehman had been catching some nice largemouth bass in past couple weeks at Conneaut. The first week of November has usually been a good time for me to tag a couple BIG Conneaut Lake smallmouths. So we got together for a day of trophy hunting. However, apparently the trophy fish didn t get the that we would be on the lake. Fished deep and shallow on some of our most productive banks without hooking a serious fish. I did manage to 9-inch Smallmouth land two smallmouths from a school I observed on my Garmin GSPMAP unit on a break in 17 to 22 feet. I caught them on old Silver Lucky blade bait. Problem was both fish were only 8 to 9 inches. After two small smallies, we left the school alone. Most exciting thing I can show you is what a school of 9 inch smallmouth look like sitting on a break below a school of baitfish! (See photos) What a school of 9-inch smallies look like

ERIE COUNTY Presque Isle Bay Dominic @ Lake Erie Bait & Tackle; filed 11-6: Fishing was okay before the big storm. But I am uncertain how it will be the rest of week.

Presque Isle Angler; filed 11-6: Prior to the storm, anglers had been catching perch and steelhead from city-side docks and E/W Pier and N/S Pier, moving from one dock to another to find active fish.

4 ERIE COUNTY Presque Isle Bay Lake Erie Bait & Tackle; filed 11-6: Fishing was okay before the big storm. But I am uncertain how it will be the rest of week. Our customers had been catching decent size crappies and small perch from Marina Lake and the dock at Waterworks. No report from any action in Misery Bay. Lots of steelhead in the Bay. Presque Isle Angler; filed 11-6: Prior to the storm, anglers had been catching perch and steelhead from city-side docks and E/W Pier and N/S Pier, moving from one dock to another to find active fish. They were also getting steelhead from shore at East Ave Launch. East End Angler; filed 11-6: Well, before we got 3.5 inches of rain on Sunday evening, anglers were enjoying one of the best steelhead seasons in many years. The numbers of steelhead in the streams has been incredible. They were catching fish in every stream. Now it s going to be a day or two before anglers can get back on the streams. In the Bay, reports were good for panfish and steelhead. South pier was producing some nice perch. The baits for steelhead have been nightcrawlers, egg sacks and single eggs. Our lake minnows have some small gizzard shad mixed in with them, and anglers have reported those steelheads are hitting the gizzards shad as soon as they hit the water. (See photo) East End Angler photo Poor Richards; filed 11-6: We had a great Saturday of steelhead fishing. Lots of fish have been caught all fall. Then the storms arrived Sunday evening. Everything is blown out. Some may be fishable by Tuesday, others by Wednesday. All the high water should have brought in fresh fish and moved more fish upstream. The boat basin at Walnut Creek is now open, which is a good option when the lake shore is too rough to fish. (See photo) Poor Richard photo Elk Creek Sports; filed 11-6: Steelhead fishing has been phenomenal this season. Fish are in all streams and the weekend storm with all the high water will being more steelhead into the streams and move them upstream. We needed big waves and wind to change the access at the mouth of Elk. The prevailing wind for a period of time had changed the flow and made it

too shallow for fish to get in. We haven t checked yet today, but we expect this high water will have cut a new access route for steelhead to move into Elk.

We can only hope it continues. We ve seen a couple browns caught but steelhead numbers are out of sight.

We have been fishing the lakeshore at the mouth of Trout Run using power bait to catch our fish. Fly anglers are using sucker spawn patterns.

5 too shallow for fish to get in. We haven t checked yet today, but we expect this high water will have cut a new access route for steelhead to move into Elk. (See photo) Uncle John s Campground; filed 11-6: Angler success this fall has been wild! We haven t seen this many steelhead in a long time. It has been exciting for all our guests. We can only hope it continues. We ve seen a couple browns caught but steelhead numbers are out of sight. (See photo and more in Livewell) Denny Beggs (Franklin); filed 11-6: This has been a wonderful steelhead season. Friends Kim Slye, Kory Slye and I have enjoyed great trips. We have been fishing the lakeshore at the mouth of Trout Run using power bait to catch our fish. Fly anglers are using sucker spawn patterns. (See cover shot and more photos in Livewell) Uncle John s photo Thomas Watral (Erie); filed 10-28: Steelheads are everywhere. Baitfish are loaded in the shop yard, and large perch are hitting at Dobbin s Landing; many limits taken. Heard from one guy he had fish four days in a row and had 43 pounds of perch; catching them on minnows. MERCER COUNTY Shenango Lake Ken Smith (Sharon) Brother Rick in the boat with me today. Crappies were real shallow. Got these casting a 1/16 ounce jig with a Bobby Garland Shooter plastic body around brush in 6 feet of water. Also got some keepers from brush in 15 feet water hang gliding Jenko Baits from Russ Bailey : Didn t get a picture on the water, but I got some real nice crappies from 11 to 15.5 inches today. Only fished three hours. Got them on Bobby Garland Baby Shads and Berkley Crappie Nibbles from shallow and deep brush. Caught at least 30 but only kept nine of the bigger ones : The crappie bite is in full swing on Shenango Lake right now. The biggest crappies of the season are being caught. Crappies are in shoreline blow-downs and sunken brush in both shallow and deep water. Being caught with both live bait and jigs. I m using Bobby Garland plastic to put fish in the boat. My buddies, the Savage brothers are 15-inch Shenango Crappie using minnows. Leo Savage caught a 15 inch white crappie on Saturday. See photos of big crappie and some I boated same day.

Randy @ Fish West PA; filed 11-3: The bass fishing has been really hot on Shenango Lake during recent nicer days, although a big cold front is coming.

(See photo) Randy with Smallmouth VENANGO COUNTY Allegheny River Steve Udick (Franklin); filed 11-6: with the small creeks running high on the 5 th, I got my minnows in the morning from backwater

(See photo) Although the river was high, the color was nice for roaming walleye. The other day when on the river, I observed a bass jump and thrash around for 10 minutes.

I ve never seen anything like that in my days of fishing. Steve Udick photo Jeff Knapp @ Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 11-3: We ve done several river trips over past two weeks.

6 Fish West PA; filed 11-3: The bass fishing has been really hot on Shenango Lake during recent nicer days, although a big cold front is coming. Larger bass particularly smallmouth - have turned on recently. Hybrids are hitting, too. Bass on blade baits and hybrids on soft plastic worked very SLOWLY. (See photo) Randy with Smallmouth VENANGO COUNTY Allegheny River Steve Udick (Franklin); filed 11-6: with the small creeks running high on the 5 th, I got my minnows in the morning from backwater areas on the creeks. Then I headed to the river in the afternoon before the storm rolled in. I was able to land three walleyes and lost one in the grass edge. (See photo) Although the river was high, the color was nice for roaming walleye. The other day when on the river, I observed a bass jump and thrash around for 10 minutes. It had a big lamprey hanging on it. That jumping smallmouth made me wonder whether the lamprey had recently attached itself to the bass. Whatever the reason, the bass didn t like it. I ve never seen anything like that in my days of fishing. Steve Udick photo Jeff Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 11-3: We ve done several river trips over past two weeks. During that time the water temperature has dropped from nearly 60 degrees to below 50 degrees. Rain late last week coupled with the drawdown from Kinzua has raised the level in excess of what I ll fish. Up until then we were catching plenty of smallies, with a pronounced shift in bass location to classic late-fall sports. Getting them on Z-Man Hula StickZ, skirted jigs tipped with craw trailers, tubes, Yum Speed Craws and hair jigs. Once the river drops, conditions should be primed for big late season smallies and walleyes. With the river too high, I returned to Keystone Power Dam and had a good scouting trip landing several nice largemouths. (See photos) Jeff Knapp photo Bill Logan (Enterprise); filed 10-27: On Oct 26, I had a slow start on the river, but did manage 8 bass on tubes and Galida s Grubz. Today, it started well with 5 bass landed before the wind came up and hampered presentation. Still I managed to pick up five more even in white caps. Bill Logan photo

FISHING WITH DARL BLACK GUIDE SERVICE for 2018 As my Crappie guide trips wind down this week, I am already looking ahead to the spring of 2018.

Then from mid-july to mid-september, I will focus on bluegill/ pumpkinseed/crappie trips at Conneaut Lake. Sometime in late September, I will return to Pymie for fall crappies.

7 FISHING WITH DARL BLACK GUIDE SERVICE for 2018 As my Crappie guide trips wind down this week, I am already looking ahead to the spring of Next season I do not plan to start guiding for Crappies at Pymatuning until May 1 st and will continue to offer trips to Pymie until mid- July. Then from mid-july to mid-september, I will focus on bluegill/ pumpkinseed/crappie trips at Conneaut Lake. Sometime in late September, I will return to Pymie for fall crappies. I will not be offering Walleye trips in Fellow Gamma Guide Jeff Knapp at Keystone Connection may be offering early spring Walleye trips to Pymie; check with him. Instead, during April I will be focusing on C&R Smallmouth Bass at Pymie and Conneaut Lake. Pymie Fall Crappies 2017 When considering a possible guide trip in 2018, please be aware that I am already receiving bookings so if you have a particular date in mind best to contact me ASAP. Furthermore, I will not be able to take reservations the week of May that is PA Crappie Camp Media Event at Pymatuning Lake and Shenango Lake. There will be a free public seminar during that week put on by the crappie pros attending the event; while no cost to attend, seating is limited and you must have an advanced ticket. More details in the spring. Many people want to Crappie fish in May this can be a very good shallow water spawn bite when conditions are right. But we enjoy a more consistent bite after the spawn from June through early July on Pymatuning. Weather fronts during month of May can play havoc day to day on prespawn/spawn crappies. Conneaut Lake Bluegill If interested in Bluegills, I strongly recommend you book a summer trip with me to Conneaut Lake. The average size of summer bluegill at Conneaut is better than Pymie, and you have a chance for some big Crappies or a near-record size Pumpkinseed. Next week I will draw a name for the Crappie Fishing Package being awarded to one of my guests this past season. I will announce the winner on Facebook and in the November 22 NW PA Fishing Report. darlblack@windstream.net Cell

8 Wiegel Brothers Marine Presents Erie Steelhead Season Photos from Denny Beggs: Denny Beggs Kory Slye Kory Slye Kim Slye Photos From Uncle John s Elk Creek Campground: Uncle John photo Uncle John photo Bill Boden photo on Elk Creek Photos from Dale Clemmer: Uncle John photo of Elk Creek in color

9 The Livewell Brought to you by: Wiegel Brothers Marine 704 ½ Elk Street Franklin, PA Phone Fall crappie bite full swing on Shenango Ken Smith on Shenango Lake Pymie crappies from deep cover/db Chuck Papinchack /SMB Chuck with Conneaut Pike Crappies on deep cover/db

Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA 16301 www.gammafishing.com www.froghairfishing.

Robinson s Bait & Tackle Linesville, PA Winners of the Tackle Prize for this issue of the Fishing Report: Jim McClave Packet of Galida s Grubz Denny Beggs Pack of Yum Soft Plastic bass baits Steve

10 Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA You can find GAMMA LINE locally at the following tackle shops: Consumer Direct Sports (CDS) Grove City Outlet Mall, PA Griffins Bait & Tackle Cooperstown, PA Maurer s Trading Post Franklin, PA Robinson s Bait & Tackle Linesville, PA Winners of the Tackle Prize for this issue of the Fishing Report: Jim McClave Packet of Galida s Grubz Denny Beggs Pack of Yum Soft Plastic bass baits Steve Udick Pair of polarized safety glasses from American First Aid & lure packet Please your shipping address to Darl Black to claim your prize. Gamma Guide Pete Cartwright s Hair Jig Tips for Winter Fishing Hair jigs are an important part of winter fishing and are very versatile whether you fish in reservoirs or rivers. You can fish them on 6-pound gamma edge line using the float and fly technique. However, the way I like to use it is by just letting it sit on the bottom and giving it small, subtle movements. With this technique you can usually get sluggish fish to eat the jig. I use this technique in slack water on rivers, and deep drop-offs in reservoirs. I use a VMC hair jigs in marabou with 1/16 and 1/8 oz. jig heads. I like dark colors mostly, but white can produce fish for me as well. My tackle is as follows: 7 1 Gloomis E6X rod with a Shimano Stradic CI reel spooled with 6lb Gamma Edge.

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: December 17, 2018 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service Jeff Knapp