NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT

Transcription

1 NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: October 11, 2017 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service The Landing Net by Darl Black Sweet and Sour: Lots of steelhead in the lower sections of Erie tributaries and lots of anglers too but more sustained water needed to move the fish upstream. (See what Erie Bait Shops have to say about this year s run.) Shenango River Lake continues to produce wonderful striper, white bass and crappie catches but the topwater striper fishing may be fading soon. (Rick, Randy and Ken will keep us posted.) Smallmouth bass on Allegheny are starting their fall bite but floating weeds can foul up almost every cast. (Read the Gamma Tip from Jeff Knapp hot fall baits on Page 12) The PFBC conclusively found it is KHV that is killing carp at Pymatuning and its impact on carp is diminishing with cooler water but don t be surprised should it come back in the future. (Read more on this virus and why it s safe to go back to Pymatuning in this issue on Page 8.)

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 Myers Sportsman s Connection; filed 10-9: Even though French Creek flow is very low, we ve have reports of walleyes being caught. The bigger eyes are coming on our GeeTee Jigs made locally in Meadville. Also it s that time of year when anglers typically start catching walleyes in Woodcock Creek Lake. Angler Al (Franklin); filed 10-5: On Thursday the 5 th, from 6 pm to 7 pm I drifted creek minnows along a current shoot that slipped into a decent pool. Just as a live minnow would drift into the pool, a smallmouth bass would hammer it. I caught and released seven smallies before they shut off. (See photo) CRAWFORD COUNTY Angler Al s smb Pymatuning Lake Jamestown Marina; filed 10-9: With combination of wind and rain the last few days, not many anglers are out. Seems the walleye and crappie bite for many anglers has died. However, Ken Smith of Sharon was catching good crappies this week according to a park ranger who talked to him over the weekend. Many anglers are taking their boats out; the marina will be closing the end of October. Richter s Bait & Tackle; filed 10-9: We sure can use the rain. Now only if the water temperature would start to drop. The lake temp actually rose to the high 60s following the warm spell we had. Not a good thing when temp should be falling. I am hearing of some crappies being caught, but nothing on walleyes in the lake. However, a few anglers are still catching

3 walleyes in the river below the dam. Best bite in the lake right now might be perch they are getting some nice ones. Duck-N-Drake; filed 10-9: With water temp climbing instead of falling, I m not hearing much about walleyes. I had a good report on crappies this weekend from one group they caught them on medium minnows. I m also hearing about small perch and catfish. Hope the water temp starts dropping to improve the fall bite. We will be open through the end of October for your fishing needs. Gateway Bait & Tackle; filed 10-9: Not much happening. They are catching a few walleyes off the causeway, as well as some crappies off the causeway at night. Couple customers are running Yellow Bird side planers along the shore on the South End and picking up occasional walleye. I m looking forward to the water temp dropping to bring on the fall bite. Poff s Place; filed 10-9: Well it seems the walleye bite is a bit better since the last time we talked. I have customers picking up a walleye or two each time out. One fellow caught a 28 incher over the weekend he was pleased! Not hearing anything on crappies right now. Ken Smith (Sharon) See photos - Oct 4 th : Went up to Pymatuning today. Started slow but bite picked up once I found the right color. Put a limit in the box including a 14-1/4 inch black. Caught them in 9 to 12 feet of water. Bobby Garland Baby Shads ruled the day. Dead carp smell wasn t bad on South End, and I only saw a few rotting bodies of carp. - Oct 7 th : Coach Odem and I headed to Pymatuning today. We did real well on slab crappies. Hot Grubs and Bobby Garland Shads put them in the box. Conneaut Lake Marilyn Black (Cochranton); filed 10-7: Decided I didn t want to chance the smell dead carp at Pymie, so Darl and I went to Conneaut Lake. Bit of a mistake; should have gone to lake with more wind protection. That projected 10 to 20 mph wind was all of 20 mph out of south. White caps across most of lake forced us to fish the far south end. It was crowded with all the other fishing boats tucked into same area. We could not get any big fish bite going, so we had a contest for smallest fish on a lure. I won with a perch the same size as the blade bait I was using. (See photo)

4 Woodcock Creek Lake Marilyn Black (Cochranton); filed 10-9: I did not have time to fish today on this holiday, but I did drive by Woodcock Lake. With the water being drawn down, you can see various fish-attracting habitat enhancements. For instance, there are 18 wooden cribs along the shoreline west of the causeway road. Now is the time to take you camera and sketch pad to record structures for future fishing! ERIE COUNTY Lake Erie & Tributaries East End Angler; filed 10-9: It s been a little windy up here lately so not many people are getting out on the lake. But I did have some reports of walleyes still being taken. Best report was off Shades Beach at 50 down over 65 to 85. Also perch at 73 feet off Shades. Shore fishermen are catching perch off the Border Patrol Dock. Steelheads are in the lower holes on Four Mile and Twenty Mile. One of the best steelheads this past week was a 12 pound 32 incher taken by Steve Mitchell. (See photo at left) Poor Richards; filed 10-9: The tributaries have been up and down with the sudden but short lived rain twice this week. When high and muddy like this morning steelies are running upstream. When the stream clears a bit, they are catching fish pretty good. With decent rain expected on Wednesday the 11 th, we should good have very good fishing by the weekend. Elk Creek Sports; filed 10-9: Elk is a bit high and muddy this morning so fish should be moving on up. Elk will likely be fishable by Tuesday and Wednesday. Then more rain on Wednesday and hopefully clear enough have a good weekend of fishing. I am astonished at the number of steelheads that have already arrived in the lower holes of west side streams. Estimated count the other day in Walnut was over 4,000 steelheads. Elk and Crooked have lots of fish waiting to move also. Latest report had walleyes at 70 feet but the bite is slowing; likely will not last much longer. No word on perch. Dominic with steelies from Walnut. Marilyn Black photo.

5 Uncle Johns Elk Creek Campground; filed 10-7: Anglers staying at our campground have been having a great time catching steelhead this past week. Excellent steelhead catches so far this fall. At daylight the other morning, we observed over 200 steelhead move upstream past the campground. (See photos above) MERCER COUNTY Lake Wilhelm Fergie s; filed 10-9: After being in the low 60s weeks ago, the lake temperature has risen to 70 degrees with the recent heat wave. Temp is going in the wrong direction! We had a report of some nice walleyes being taken down around Launch 2. Also, the word is crappies are hitting in the Marina. Brandon Consumer Direct Sports; filed 10-9: I got out fishing on Wilhelm for a little while on Saturday the 7 th. I caught quite a few bass on spinnerbaits under windy conditions, including this 5.02 pound. Hoping to get back up to Wilhelm for a repeat performance soon. (See photo at right) Brandon Hanna s Wilhelm Fiver! Shenango Lake Fish West PA; filed 10-9: Fish are absolutely getting active as water temperatures come down. All Species are feeding now. Boat traffic is low right now and this is a gorgeous time of year to be on the water. Great time to go fishing! (See photo of Randy and friend at left; also cove photo courtesy of Fish West PA.)

6 Rich Como (Sharpsville); filed 10-8: With water temperature and lake levels both dropping very slowly, the fishing on Shenango is still very good. Warm weather this past week has kept the hybrid stripers and big white bass very active. Lots of fish are still feeding heavily and pushing baitfish to the top. Action can be any time of the day this time of year. Crankbaits and shad imitating lures are very productive both shallow and deep. Smallmouth bass have started moving shallower; very impressive size. Channel cats are still hitting and following the schools of hybrid stripers. Both white and black crappies are being taken in shallow water. Walleyes are spotty. Get out and fish before the really cold weather gets here! (See photos here and in Livewell) Rick Como photo Ken Smith (Sharon) (See photo) - Filed Oct 2: Fished Shenango today for crappies. The bite was really good and size was good as well. Crappies were shallow today. Got almost all of them 5 feet down over less than 10 feet of water. Bobby Garland Baby Shads in variety of colors put them in the box. - Filed Oct. 3: At Shenango again today. Got a nice perch along with very nice white crappies. Same program as yesterday, but in different area. Shenango crappies Ken Smith photo VENANGO COUNTY Justus Lake Angler Al (Franklin); filed 10-4: I spent a few midday hours today on Justus Lake drifting large creek minnows on the outside weedlines and around the coves. I landed seven largemouth bass and two smallmouth bass very aggressive bites from all bass today. (See photos) Justus Lake Smallmouth Justus Lake Largemouth

7 Allegheny River Gene Winger (Oil City); filed 10-9: With water temperature dropping into the low 60s, the smallmouth bite has really been heating up with the big boys hungry for a fight. Hitting the river for a few hours every evening, I m landing a lot of nice sized smallies, most over 16 inches with some pushing 20 inches really great action just before dusk. Finding some bass scattered around structure in shallow water but most have been stocked up at the tail end of larger pools in 3 to 4 feet of water. The killer bait has been Winco 3.75 inch Amazing Dace Swim Bait on a 1/8-ounce jighead. Floating weeds are a problem, so most of the time the hits come on the initial drop. If you can keep out of the floating weeds, a very slow retrieve with a pause every few feet works. (See photos here and in Livewell) Jeff Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 10-6: Between guide trips and fun trips with friends & family, I ve been on the river nearly every day the last two weeks. The continuation of summer-like weather, shorter days combined with a scattering of cold nights, has the river smallies in a variety of locations. We ve been catching them in slower, deeper pools, and extended tail-outs, typical of fall fishing. But also we are still getting them along shallow riffle areas, especially later in the afternoon after the water has warmed up some. Rapala X-Raps, soft jerkbaits and soft swimbaits, and Z- Man s Hula Stickz fished on a 1/8-ounce jighead have all been productive. We are getting lots of smallies (plenty of 15 to 20 inch bass) and some quality-size walleyes as well. Gamma Torque combined with a Gamma Edge leader of four feet has been the delivery system for these baits. Looks like we re off to a great fall! Although I have lots of dates booked, I still have some open dates as of right now. Pete filed 10-9: We fished the Allegheny on Oct 4 th. The bite was good in the morning, but tapered off in the afternoon. We caught a few nice smallies. (See photos here and in Livewell) Gene Winger / Winger photo Jeff Knapp photo Pete Cartwright / Cartwright photo Bill Logan (Pleasantville); filed 10-9: Fishing upriver north of Oil City has been tough. I have found bass on shallow, slow pools with a 4-inch Dinger rigged weedless the go to bait amid the floating weeds. The last three trips I have averaged a dozen fish, but no really big bruisers. RJ Graham (Tionesta); filled 10-7: My buddy and I fished the Oil City pool today. We caught around 30 smallmouths mostly on tubes. (See photo) RJ Graham photo

8 What you need to know about Pymatuning Lake s outbreak of Koi Herpes Virus Most regional anglers are aware of the massive carp kill at Pymatuning which started in late August and ran through September. In a September 24 th news release, the PFBC confirmed a virus was responsible for the carp deaths at Pymatuning. According to the release, the virus, known as the Koi Herpes Virus (LHV) only affects Carp and Koi. The virus dos not affect humans and should not be considered a risk to human health. PFBC believes the virus was introduced into Pymatuning by an individual releasing infected Koi into the lake or may have been present in bilge water (or livewell water) of a boat. While there is no cure or any way to get rid of the virus once in the water, the infection has run its course this year but may appear again in the future. The PFBC reminds anglers and boaters the best way to prevent transmission of viruses or invasive aquatic weeds is to thoroughly clean your boat/trailer and drain all water before moving to another water. I had posted a link to the News Release on my Facebook Page Fishing with Darl Black. As a result, I received several comments from anglers concerned about other fish possibly being infected by the virus or killed by the application of herbicides on Pymatuning to control invasive Hydrilla. One angler included this photo a Largemouth Bass which I dubbed The Swimming Dead one glance tells you why. For clarification on the issue on impact on other species, I sent the photo and my questions to Tim Wilson, PFBC Fisheries Manager Area 1. His response follows: The Swimming Dead It is impossible to diagnose disease from a picture. However, the wounds aren t consistent with either Koi Herpes Virus or aquatic herbicides. Koi Herpes Virus affects only Common Carp and Koi (which are nothing but Common Carp breed for their colors; with breeding going on for so long, some people consider Koi a subspecies or separate species). If the virus was to mutate and start affecting a new species, it would most likely affect another member of the Minnow family (Cyprinidae of which carp are a member). It is highly unlikely that it would jump to a whole new family (Sunfish or Centrarchide of which bass are members). We night electro-fished Pymatuning for young of year Walleyes on 9/19 and 9/27 and saw dozens and dozens of Bass all were healthy. If KHV could now infect Bass and kill them, it would be killing a bunch of Bass. We also receive claims from the public regarding the use of aquatic herbicides they believe are sickening and killing fish. It just isn t the case. All herbicides are thoroughly tested and applied

9 by trained professionals. Permits for applications would never be authorized if these chemicals caused this kind of damage to fish. In this case we are talking about a single fish. If aquatic herbicides had been improperly applied to the point of causing harm to fish, it would have done so to a large number of fish al all species that were present in the treatment area. A more likely explanation is perhaps this bass was previously caught and handled very poorly, resulting in a fungal or bacterial infection because the slime layer was compromised. The natural annual mortality rate for adult bass can range from 20 to 80 percent. It appears to be a pretty big Bass, so it might be dying of old age. While we want people to report sick or dead fish, mostly our concerns are when many fish of one species are found dead or dying (a sign of disease) or a large number of all species are found dead or dying (a sign of pollution). We don t get too worked up when an individual fish is found sick or dying. end- Note from Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service October 11, 2017 When large numbers of carp started dying at Pymatuning and the Fish Commission implied it was a virus, I alerted clients who had booked crappie trips for the fall. Whether it was the dead fish smell or concern about health risk, it was decided to postpone their trips until spring. However, since the PFBC has positively confirmed it is KHV killing the carp and there is no human health risk (and new carp deaths have practically ceased) I am offering crappie trips to Pymatuning during the last two weeks of October and first week of November. Numbers of anglers continued to fish through the carp virus outbreak, keeping and eating crappies and walleyes. According to available info, it looks like we will live with periodic outbreaks of KHV killing carp, just has we have lived with red spot killing musky & bass. I have limited open dates during the next three weeks, so call me to discuss a date crappie fishing. Also offering C&R bass trips to Conneaut Lake during this time. Call or darlblack@windstream.net.

10 Livewell Overflow brought to you by Wiegel Brothers Marine Shenango Lake continues to produce fine catches into October. Ken Smith s White Crappie catch Shenango Rick Como with Smallmouth Bass Rick Como with White Bass Erie Steelie for Matt Lazeroff Man s best friend sticks with him even when the fish aren t biting.

11 The Livewell Brought to you by: Wiegel Brothers Marine 704 ½ Elk Street Franklin, PA Phone Jeff Knapp continues to guide clients to river bronze through the fall on the Allegheny Jeff Knapp photo Jeff Knapp photo Jeff Knapp photo Ken Smith s inch crappie from Pymatuning Pete Cartwright guides clients to big smallmouth on the Allegheny Gene Winger / Winger photo

12 Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA Gene Winger uses Gamma Line exclusively for fishing on the river 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 Ken Smith is winner of the spool of Gamma Fishing Line and Angler Al is the winner of a pack of Galida s Grubz for this issue of the Fishing Report. Please your shipping address to Darl Black to claim your prize. Gamma Guide Jeff Knapp s October/November Tip Around mid to late-october a transition occurs that savvy anglers welcome: The arrival of late fall fishing. Be it lake, river or reservoir, early fall can be tough, with fish scattered in a variety of niches due to the rapidly changing conditions. But come late fall things stabilize. Gamefish concentrate around remaining submerged green weeds and channel edges in still-water environs; river fish gather up in areas of reduced current. One of the most productive means of duping late fall river bass and walleyes is slow-rolling a soft swimbait. Last fall I had great success with soft swimbaits including Keitech's Swing Impact, Bass Pro Shops' Speed Shad, and Reaction Innovations' Little Dipper. These baits feature

13 large paddle tails that activate the swimming motion with little movement, perfect for late fall fishing. I rig the bait on a quarter-ounce BPS Shroom Head jig. Working the bait is an exercise in simplicity, just slow and steady. Move it just fast enough to keep it from hanging up, making occasional bottom contact. When fish hit this bait they tend to engulf it, even in 40 degree water. I prefer fishing swimbaits on a casting rod, more specifically St. Croix's Avid X, the 6.5 medium power/fast action model. My low-profile reel is loaded with Gamma Edge 10 Steve Gierl, early Nov 2016 trip / Knapp photo or 12-pound test fluorocarbon line. It's a great combo for not only soft swimbaits, but suspending jerkbaits too, another top late fall option.