NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: May 9, 2018 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service Rob Selle with brace of Allegheny smallies caught near Franklin The Landing Net by Darl Black I don t want to jinx it but it really looks like spring has finally arrived to NW PA. And it literally happened overnight. After a wet, cold, snowy April (including snow on my vehicle the last several days of April, Mother Nature suddenly threw the switch. Three days into May the temperature was near 80 degrees. And BAM! Fish species which had been slow to bite on inland lakes were eagerly biting. This past weekend while I attended the PA Outdoor Writers Conference, I began receiving reports of largemouth bass, big crappies, white bass, walleyes, pike and muskies being caught at Pymatuning Lake and Shenango Lake. Smallmouth Bass were blasting artificial baits on the Allegheny River and at Presque Isle Bay. Yep! A switch was flipped! Now is not the time to cut grass, wash cars, dilly around other spring Honey-Do list. Now is the time to Go Fish!
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. News Items Crappie Fishing Seminar: Pymatuning Sportsmen s Club; Wednesday May 16 th, 6 pm to 8 pm. Must have ticket due to limited seating. Check Pymie area tackle shops or Myers Sportsmen s Connection in Saegertown for free tickets. Bluegill Bev Panfish Tournament: Conneaut Lake; Saturday June 9 th. For more information, contact Loby www.conneautlakedjloby.com Crappie Mates Fishing Team Bluegill Bev Conneaut Tourney BMCC Father s Day Buddy Bass Tournament: Presque Isle Bay; Sunday June 17 th. For more information, contact Eric Marsh epmarsh@zoominternet.net. New Allegheny River Map & Guide: A revised and update version of the Allegheny Wild & Scenic River Map & Guide is hot of the presses and now printed on waterproof paper. The free Map & Guide may be picked up at the Oil Region Alliance Office at 217 Elm St., Oil City during regular office hour from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday. Erie Sport Store: Holding their first storewide sale in 67 years. Everything in the store on sale including fishing tackle with up to 50% off!
FRENCH CREEK Flowing through all four counties Angler Al Diary (Franklin) - 5-4: I welcomed the opportunity to spend time wade fishing on the waters of French Creek with gentlemen attending the PA Outdoor Writers Association conference in Franklin. The morning bite showed some promise although nothing made it to the net. The afternoon session provided little results, except for one chunky smallmouth caught, filmed and released. - 5-5: It s amazing what a difference a day makes. I went back down to the exact same spot I had taken the writers on Friday morning and caught three nice smallmouth bass. Evening found me back at the same spot, and I landed three walleyes and more smallmouths from the same current seam. The largest walleye went 23 inches and two of the smallies were pushing 4 pounds. Only wish these fish would have hit for the guys on Friday. (See photos) CRAWFORD COUNTY Pymatuning Lake Norm @ Jamestown Boat Livery; filed 5-7: Action is picking up for anglers renting boats. Over the weekend, crappies started biting on the South End. Also over weekend, boat anglers had daytime walleye action by drifting with crawlers on the South End. Richter s photo Dave @ Richter s Bait; filed 5-7: Fish are biting! Customers reported doing very well on crappies and walleyes. During the day, walleyes were taken by drifting with a jig-n-minnow or jig-n-crawler. There is still a decent night wading bite but it is slowing down. Musky are spawning, so incidental musky catches are up. (See photo) Richter s photo Laurie @ Duck-N-Drake; filed 5-7: It was a good weekend for crappies on the North End with anglers catching them very shallow with small jigs or minnows. Perch are shallow with crappies, too. The bass bite has turned on big time since two weeks ago when bass anglers were striking out. Customers are reporting two distinct walleye presentations that are producing. First, drifting crawlers in 7 to 8 feet of water is working. Second, trolling Shad Raps in 15 to 18 feet seemed a bit early for trolling that deep, but that s their report. (See photo) Limit catches of crappies
Russ @ Gateway Bait; filed 5-7: The PLA Crappie Tournament was a success with many goodsize crappies caught in shallow water. The night wading bite is slowing but they are still catching some on the Ohio side at Cabin Beach and Fishing Point, and across the lake at Orchard Access. Daytime walleye bite is best in 6 to 8 feet with jig-n-crawler. Sam @ Robinson s Bait; filed 5-7: Crappies in less than 2 feet of water up North. Walleyes on the hump south of Harris Island by drifting crawlers, and some taken by trolling Flicker Shads. A jig-n-minnow is catching perch right now. (See photo) Northeastern Crawford County Jerry @ Timberland Bait Shop; filed 5-7: The crappie bite has slowed at Lake LeBoeuf; if you didn t have a very lively minnow on the hook, you didn t catch any crappies. Oil Creek is still holding trout; I caught four nice rainbows over the weekend, and transferred them to pond at the tackle shop. Timberland Bait now has everyone s favorite bait for walleyes: LEECHES! (See Timberland s Leeches photos) Robinson s photo eyes ERIE COUNTY Jerry s trout Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie Lake Erie Bait & Tackle; filed 5-7: The smallmouth bass bite is on in the Bay. A variety of lures are working, including tube jigs and jerkbaits. Perch are being caught on the North and South Piers. Rich @ Erie Sport Store; filed 5-7: Lake Erie fishing is underway and there have been reports of perch being caught on the East Side of town in 50 feet of water however it is sporadic bite. Fishermen I know have not have success on the East Side. There have been some catches of perch on the West Side off Walnut and West of Walnut in 39 feet and off Trout Run in 25 feet. The early season perch fishing is hit and miss but mostly miss. Emerald shiners have been hard to get everyone hoping that changes. But the shiner population appears to be way down. Walleye fishing is just starting; had our first report of a nice catch of walleyes in 10 feet of water on jigs west of Walnut Creek. At the store, we are having a storewide sale right now on everything in the store including fishing tackle with up to 50% off! Danny Jones with Erie Smallmouth Bass
Lynn @ East End Angler; filed 5-7: The Minnow Man at East End Angler has Emerald Shiners! Come on down for the best perch and crappie minnows! Customer reports have crappies biting in the Lagoons and perch being caught off North & South Piers. Smallmouth bass bite is hot at North East Marina. Over the weekend, they were catching Lake Trout in 62 to 67 feet of water from Shades east to the Ws. Also perch and a few walleyes were biting in 46 feet of water just east of the GE Stacks. Still some steelhead in the streams, Minnow Man has Emeralds and Seven Mile and Twenty Mile both received stocked brown trout this past week. (See photo) Brittney @ Poor Richards; filed 5-7: The Lake is muddy near shore due to recent winds. I ve had customers report catching Lake Trout in 55 feet of water off North East. They are calling the walleye bite spotty in 55 feet and the perch bite super spotty. Rebecca @ Uncle John s Campground; filed 5-7: Hard to believe, we are into the first week of May and our campers are still catching steelhead in Elk. We have video posted of steelhead jumping out of the water over the weekend, plus some weekend catches. (See Photo) Uncle John s photo Dan @ Elk Creek Sports; filed 5-7: There are still some steelheads in Elk Creek mostly down low and on their way out as the water finally warms. Smallmouth bass are moving into Elk; I ve had reports some are as far upstream as the Legion Hole. There are also some stocked brown trout and suckers in the stream. But smallmouth numbers will only improve over the next week or so. Erie County Inland Lakes Lynn @ East End Angler; filed 5-7: Customers are still catching crappies at Eaton Reservoir. The trout and panfish bite at Lake Pleasant is going strong. (See photo) MERCER COUNTY Eaton crappies Lake Wilhelm Vicki @ Fergie s Bait; filed 5-7: There were a good number of anglers on the lake over the weekend, but no one provided feedback about catches. We are still only getting lake temperature readings in the 50s.
MERCER COUNTY continued Corey @ Lake Wilhelm Marina; filed 5-7: It s been a slow start to spring weather, but finally some of our rental customers are enjoying success on crappies. One group came back in with 40 -some crappies. Two other guys really had the crappies dialed in they brought in 99 crappies from 8 to 13 inches, just one shy of a two-person limit. However, many other anglers struck out completely. I guess we would have to say the bite was spotty but great if you found the right spot! Shenango Lake Scott Selle; filed 5-7: Here is a pic of a Shenango Lake slab crappie caught this past weekend by my son Rob Selle. We kept 10 keepers to fillet. All crappies were caught on small panfish tubes suspended below a bobber. (See photo below) Kevin Austin (Farrell); filed 5-7: The crappies are biting at Shenango Lake. I came home with 20 fish all 10 inches or bigger, and threw back a lot of smaller ones. I was using a glow in the dark jig, fishing it 20 inches deep. Rick Como (Sharpsville); filed 5-7: Shenango Lake fishing has been steadily improving with warmer air and warmer water temperatures. Pike fishing remains good with nice size fish being caught; they are holding in shallow water and shoreline points. Minnow-imitating lures are best. White bass fishing are biting and these fish have started entering Pymatuning Creek and Shenango River on the annual spawning run; the river run usually lasts through month of May. Crappies are hitting right now and there are some nice size ones being caught; catches should improve in next few weeks as temperature goes up. Walleye season opened this weekend and the lake bite is starting. We are looking for a better walleye season on Shenango due to the extensive shad winterkill. (See photos below) Hot bite at Shenango Lake: Rick Como (white bass) Rick Como (pike) Rob Selle (crappie) Julie Como (crappie)
VENANGO COUNTY Sugar Creek Angler Al; filed 4-27: Ten year old Mikey Galkowski was drifting a crawler in sweet ol Sugar Creek. The end result was a 21 inch brown trout and a very happy youngster. Oil Creek Bill Logan (Pleasantville); filed 5-4: Fish Commission stocked Oil Creek at Petroleum Center this week with 270 trophy trout. So I went trout fishing! I broke one off, lost one and landed two over 19 inches, as well as four regular stockies in just two hours. All on a Triple Threat Streamer. Mikey with 21 in Brown Allegheny River Bill Logan; filed 4-27: Today I caught 51 smallmouth bass and a small pike. Top lures were tubes, swimbaits and Galida s Grubz. Two bass hit the 20 inch mark. My hands are cramping! Gene Winger (Oil City); filed 5-6: Over the past two weeks I ve had exceptional bass fishing despite fighting high winds and rain. With water temperature finally reaching the mid-50s bass have started moving towards typical spawning areas. I ve been catching most smallies on tubes and jerkbaits in five to six feet of faster moving water and in current breaks adjacent backwater flats. I ve also been experimenting with River2Sea 168S Glide Bait and having really good success; caught several bass tipping the scales at 4-plus pounds. Big bass love these glide baits! (See photos in Livewell) Jeff Knapp @ Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 5-6: River smallmouth action has been good. Bass are showing up near spawning sites as result of dramatic rise in water temperature. We are getting bass in the 18 to 20 inch range on all guide trips. Patterns change from day to day, but Z-Man TRD Tubez, soft jerkbaits, soft stickbaits, and hard jerkbaits are all in the mix. Water temp on May 6 was 60 degrees. (See photos in Livewell) Pete Cartwright @ SmalliesontheYough.com Guide Service (see photos) - 4-25 Allegheny River: cool rain cloudy 52 degrees; water temp 52 degrees. High water forced us to target eddies. Bass were there! I caught some real hawgs using a slow roll with my 412ube Illusion color that I helped to design; using 8 lb. Gamma Edge means I didn t lose the big ones. Fish can be caught in all conditions if you find the right bait. - 5-1 Allegheny River: warm 78 sunny; water temp 57 degrees. I caught smallmouth in current using 412 tubes from 412 Bait Company. I also targeted eddies using Rapala X-Rap for some additional nice fish. As always, spooled with 8lb. Gamma Edge. Two biggest bass were 20 inches. (See Photos on next Page)
No boat yet? Best time of year to find good fish within a cast of shore. All these fish caught while wading or fishing from shore. Pete Cartwright is a wade fishing guide on the Allegheny River: Angler Al regularly wade fishes French Creek Lunker Mike pursues bass in area ponds Dale Clemmer with Pike from Conneaut Marsh Musky at Woodcock spillway (Myers Sportsmen s Connection photo)
The Livewell Brought to you by: Wiegel Brothers Marine 704 ½ Elk Street Franklin, PA 16323 Phone 814-437-2077 www.wiegelbrothersmarine.com Debbie@wiegelbrothersmarein.com Caught by Boat! Ernie Pate knows Crappies. Bet he got them on a Galida s Grubz! Gene Winger knows Allegheny Smallmouth Bass! Donnie Horvath (Knapp photo) Doyle battles Allegheny Smallmouths Jeff Knapp s client catches river giant
Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA 16301 www.gammafishing.com www.froghairfishing.com 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 Robinson s Bait & Tackle Linesville, PA Gamma Catch of the week Gary Gatnarek PRIZE WINNERS (To claim your prize, you must email Darl Black your shipping address) Cover Shot Rob Selle wins a pack of bass baits from 412 Bait Company Gamma Line Gary Gatnarek wins a spool of Gamma Line Someday Isle Tackle & Road Runner Lure pack Donnie Horvath Gamma Tip From: Gamma Guide Jeff Knapp SPINNERBAITS FOR RIVER SMALLIES When high/dirty water pushes river smallmouth tight to shore, few presentations are as effective as throwing a spinnerbait right up against the bank. I use a St. Croix Bass X baitcasting rods and an Abu-Garcia Revo baitcasting reel loaded with 12- pound test Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, which allows me to work flooded grass and wood with confidence. Short arm spinnerbaits such as Fitt Custom Lures River Rascal are ideal for river smallmouth bass. (continued)
Success rates are often determined by how tight to shore you can land your cast. Big smallmouth -- and this is a big fish pattern -- don t often move far to intercept the spinnerbait. The baitcasting combo allows you feather your cast right on the mark. And the quality line handles the inevitable abuse. Rollin on the River