NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT

Transcription

1 NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: September 26, 2018 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service Dave Lefebre says he is already catching big Erie smallmouth on the Steelshad Blade Bait. But a better fall bite is yet to come as water cools. The Landing Net by Darl Black It s the end of September and finally the long summer heat wave has given way to the start of some cool fall-like temperatures. With the start of October only days away, experienced anglers are filled with anticipation the same as if it were the night before Christmas. October and November are two of the best months for fishing in northwest Pennsylvania for a number of species. Steelhead are heading up the Lake Erie tributaries, smallmouth bass on Lake Erie, Pymatuning, Shenango Lake, French Creek and Allegheny River are primed to put on the feedbag. Crappies and white bass will be chowing, along with walleyes. Pike and musky put on a show in the fall. And November is usually the month when I catch my biggest largemouth bass of the year. Now is not the time to hang up the rod. GO FISH!

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. FRENCH CREEK Flowing though all four counties Angler Al (Franklin); filed 9/23: I spent the last moments of the day, right up until the full moon rose, drifting chunky live creek minnows in shallow current areas on French Creek. Although floating dead weed debris created a bit of an issue, I managed to catch several 12 to 15 inch smallmouth bass. (See photo) SmalliesontheYough.com (9/16-9/20) - 9/16: There are not many rivers or streams that are fishable by wading right now. French Creek is one of them, so I fished it. Caught a good number of smallies all on 412ubes from 412 Bait Company. Among the catch was a 12-inch bulky bass. My Gamma Edge 8- pound-test helped me land fish in the rocky bottom of French Creek. - 9/19: I fished from midday till dark. Found smallies feeding in faster water. I used 412ubes and Rapala Floating Minnows to land a few nice sized smallmouths. - 9/20: I took my client to French Creek because the Allegheny had a bunch of floating weeds and it was tough to get a clean presentation on the river. We got into them early and often, catching a bunch of 16 to 18 bass using 412 Cigar Worms and 412ubes. The smallie fishing will only get better the coming weeks. I have dates open for trips. Contact me information at smallmouthfish@yahoo.com. (See photos below)

3 CRAWFORD COUNTY Pymatuning Lake Jamestown Marina; filed 9/24: Things are pretty quiet on the lake. A group of guys are catching a few walleyes with blade baits; also lots of small perch and some catfish. Shad schools are all over the surface. Hoping for quick cool down of water temps to get a better bite going. The Jamestown Marina will be open until the end of October. Richter s Bait & Tackle; filed 9/24: Over the weekend, two customers trolling for walleye caught a big walleye and two decent muskies! Woody Knis was in the other day, too, and said he caught two muskies. Hearing reports of other smaller muskies being taken too. Also have reports of occasional walleye while trolling or drifting. I am hearing of lots of small perch and catfish being caught, too, as well as reports of some anglers doing okay on bass. (See photos) Duck-N-Drake; filed 9/24: Not a lot of fishing activity on the lake. Customers are reporting a few catfish and occasional average-size-musky. A couple fellows did very well on decent size perch in 10 feet of water using both crawlers and minnows. Not hearing anything much about crappies. Don t forget, I m hosting a Walleye Tournament on Oct 6 th. If you don t sign up ahead of time, you can do so the morning of the tournament before 6 a.m. start time. I ll in the shop at 5 a.m. on the 6 th. I will be closing the store for the season the week following the tournament. Poff s Place; filed 9/24: Pretty slow right now. They are catching a crappie or two here and there. No word on walleyes. Occasional a musky in the 40 inch range has been caught; no big ones. Young lad with his first carp. RJ Graham (Tionesta); filed 9/23: Smallmouth bass were hitting when I fished a tournament on Pymie last week. All my keepers were smallies. Ken Smith (Sharon); filed 9/14: I fished Pymatuning Lake on 9/14: Crappies were still holding in the deeper brush at 17 feet. I caught some quality crappies, gills and a few perch on Bobby Garland Itty Bits in Bluegrass color. I threw all the gills back most were seven inches. (See photo)

4 ERIE COUNTY Lake Erie Bait & Tackle; filed 9/24: If we get the rain expected from Monday through Wednesday, it s going to be a Steelhead Weekend in the creeks! Steelheads are staged at the mouth of the creeks with only a few entering the tributaries. But if we get a good amount of cold rain, and the creeks rise then fall on Thursday, the weekend could be a wild one! Walleye bite is still going on out in the lake when the guys can get out lots of windy days lately and can only expect more into October. But walleyes are everywhere one customer caught three eye off the North Pier over the weekend. Another caught a walleye on West Pier in only 5 feet of water. Panfish are slow, but crappies might pick up shortly. Perch are just starting to filter into the Bay according to a couple of my regular customers who are out there every day. Poor Richards; filed 9/24: It s been a slow start to steelhead season. Every morning before the sun rises, 3 or 4 four are caught at the mouth of the Elk, Trout and Walnut but the fish disappear as soon as it is full light. Walleye fishing is still very good with guys getting limits in a short time if you can get out on the lake. Walleyes are in the 68 to 78 foot depths. Worm harnesses and spoon in melon, purple/black, and copper. Perch fishing is very slow. Elk Creek Sports Store; filed 9/24: We ve got fish! Just need water! This is the first week with 5 to 6 people a day saying they ve caught a steelhead in the streams. We had our first 10-pound fish brought in last week as you can tell by the color it had been in the creek awhile (see photo). Then this weekend we got our first 1- pound chrome. With the amount of rain expected early this week, I anticipate the first big run of fish moving into the creeks. If you can get out on the lake, walleyes are biting in 75 to 80 feet of water. Charter boats are saying the big schools out deep have made the turn to the west. No perch to report. Dave Horvath (Edinboro); filed 9/23: Erie West report walleye bite is still strong. Fish are in 70 to 76 feet of water on the OH/PA line. Spoons have worked best for me at 40 feet down. Anything with purple and chartreuse has been hot. We did pick up a couple of steelhead, too. I heard steelheads are being caught at the mouth of Elk Creek. We need more rain and cooler temperature to get them moving. Tight lines, Dave. Danny Jones (Erie); filed 9/20: My advice for fall smallmouth on Lake Erie: Get several Steelshad Blade Baits and jig them along the bottom. The bite has started.

5 Jeramie Joy; filed 9/21: The Lake Erie walleye bite is still hot! I went this past Wednesday and Saturday. We did very well on both days! Saturday we got into fish at 65 to 70 feet of water out of North East running spoons 50 to 60 feet down at 2.2 to 2.5 mph. Wednesday we got fish in 80 to 100 feet of water out of North East but those fish were a little shallower in the column at 40 to 50 feet down. Purple and pink were the hot colors both days. On Saturday we ran out of bait, so I put Bay Rat Long Shallow Divers behind the Dipseys, with a few squirts of live walleye attractant on the hooks, and sped up to 2.8 to 3 mph. We ended up getting five more fish with this setup! As September comes to an end, I m sure the lake will start to get rough. Go get some fish now! (See photos above) MERCER COUNTY Shenango Lake Flathead catfish Largemouth bass Hybrid striper Hybrid striper Bowfin Fish West PA; filed 9/24: Shenango has been hot! The now world famous Shenango hybrids along with bass, walleye, pike and big catfish are feeding well. Crappies are doing well on certain days and should pick up with cooler temps. Tight lines all! (See photos above) Rick Como (Sharpsville); filed 9/23: With lake temperature beginning to cool, fish catches have been heating up at Shenango for hybrid stripers and white bass. Most pleasure boating crowd has left for the season and the lake is a real pleasure to fish again. There are now three separate hatches of gizzard shad in the lake and shad clouds are everywhere. It can make it tough to catch hybrids but if you look for feeding fish and cast to them, you will catch them. Smallmouth bass are hitting right now, and white bass are roaming points and shoreline areas pushing shad against the bank. Casting crankbaits is the ticket. Some white bass are hitting the 17-inch mark. Crappies are hitting but the average size is still 8 to 10 inches. Walleyes seem to have vanished; hopefully they will show up in October when we enter the fall coolwater period. Channel cats can still be caught everywhere. (See photos in Livewell)

6 Ken Smith (Sharon); filed 9-22: I fished Shenango on 9/13 and 9/20; did very well both days. Water temps are still high but the bite was very consistent. Bobby Garland released a new soft plastic bait last fall called the Crappie Shooter and they are deadly on this lake. The bait is made to fish flat so it glides instead of wobble like twister tails. On the two trips, I caught well over a hundred fish. Ordered them from Fish USA; great selection of colors. Pete Smalliesontheyoug.com; filed 9-13: I joined Randy at Fish West PA for some hybrid striper fishing. Randy caught several plus a few largemouths. This was the tail end of the run; I hope to get on them again in the next run. (See photo) VENANGO COUNTY Allegheny River Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 9-22; I resumed guide trips on the Allegheny on Sunday September 16 th after the river had receded. We are catching lots of smallmouths, including plenty of big ones up to 19 inches, along with quality size walleyes. Spinnerbaits, soft swimbaits and flukes have all been productive. Even though last weekend s cold front made it feel like fall, the fish are still in summer locations i.e. near fast to moderate current. (See photos below) Bill Logan (Pleasantville); filed 9/21: Fished the river on Monday. Water was stained with about 1 foot of visibility. I caught 2 pike and 8 bass up to three pounds on Chatterbait. Last Thursday, I got five on Rapala X Rap Shad, Chatterbait and Yum Dinger. (See photos below))

7 The Livewell Brought to you by: Wiegel Brothers Marine 704 ½ Elk Street Franklin, PA Phone Affordable and efficient Express river rig Or go with Extreme Shallow Become an Allegheny River Rat with one of these two rigs now at Wiegel Brothers Marine in Franklin Rick says Shenango hot bite continues: White Bass Hybrid Striper Hybrid Striper Jeramie says Erie walleye bite continues. Go fish for them as soon as possible.

8 Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA East End Angler now handles GAMMA Line. You can find GAMMA LINE locally at the following tackle shops: Abe s General Store - Rt. 62, North of Oil City in President Township Consumer Direct Sports (CDS) Grove City Outlet Mall, PA Griffins Bait & Tackle Cooperstown, PA Maurer s Trading Post Franklin, PA East End Angler Erie, PA PRIZE WINNERS (To claim your prize, you must Darl Black your shipping address) Jeramie Joy name pulled for spool of Gamma Line Bill Logan name pulled for pack of 412 Bait Company baits plus Radians Polarized Safety from American First Aid Winners must contact me by with their address to claim the prize. Gamma Tip From Darl Black: To use braid or not to use braid? That is the question. For the summertime deepwater gill and seed bite as well as fall deepwater crappie bite, I employ a drop-shot presentation with guide clients. Initially, my 7-foot BnM dropshot rods were spooled with 6-pound Gamma Panfish. Then I considered my guests would more easily determine a bite if I spooled with 8-pound Gamma Torque braid and a three foot Polyflex leader. But after two seasons I ve come to the conclusion that braid is not working. The copolymer leader and braid main line are constantly tangling when fishing vertically and the line from one customer s rod entangle with the line from another customer s rods as we drift and slow troll over cover. The resulting mess of knotted braid and mono is difficult if not impossible to untangle. So starting this fall, I m going back to straight 6-pound Gamma Panfish Polyflex (copolymer) line on my panfish dropshot rods. Remember, if it s not working for you change it!