NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FISHING REPORT Published by Blackwolfe Communications LLC Issue: May 24, 2017 The NW PA Fishing Report is brought to you by: Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service One of Jeff Knapp s clients on the Allegheny River Danny Jones clients on Presque Isle Bay The Landing Net by Darl Black This has been an incredibly odd spring. Typical patterns on inland lakes have not materialized for the most part. Weather has been a major factor wind, cooler temps that normal, excessive rain and more wind. Mild winter did not thin out the baitfish crop of gizzard shad and alewife at Pymatuning, and lack of ice cover encouraged very early weed growth especially across the North End of Pymie. Walleye fishing in May has been poor, and crappie fishing anything but strong on the Big P. However, there are bright spots. Reports are coming in that the smallmouth bass fishing on Presque Isle Bay is best in years, and the Allegheny has been kicking out nice smallies when the river isn t high and muddy. Word is Shenango Lake stripers are on. Still lots of stocked trout to be caught, too. With the big fishing weekend coming up, pick your lake, stream or river and 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. Upcoming Events Fish & Boat Commission: May 28 Marks PA s First Fish-for-Free Day (Harrisburg, PA) Families and friends visiting Pennsylvania s popular outdoor spots over the Memorial Day holiday weekend can enjoy a day of free fishing, thanks to the PA Fish & Boat Commission. Sunday, May 28, marks the first of two free fishing days in the Commonwealth. The second is Independence Day Tuesday, July 4 th. Fish-for-Free Days allow anyone resident or non-resident to legally fish in PA without a fishing license on the designated day. All other fishing regulations apply. Pymatuning Lake Association: PLA Fish Habitat Project Planned for June (Espyville, PA) The Pymatuning Lake Association will be constructing 125 cribs which will be placed into the lake to provide habitat for small fish. The event will be held Wednesday, June 14 th, starting at 8:30 am. The location is Ohio State Campground Boat Launch off Pymatuning Lake Road. Volunteers are needed. Anyone middle school and older are welcome. Pizza and beverages will be provided. For more information visit www.pymatuninglake.com or call 724-418-1501 Loby s Premier Entertainment: Conneaut Lake Bluegill Bev Memorial Tourney (Conneaut Lake, PA) The annual Bluegill Bev Memorial Fishing Tournament will be held at Conneaut Lake on Sunday, June 4 th 2017. One or two person teams fish for a variety of panfish, followed by an awards ceremony and shore lunch. Entry forms may be picked up and dropped off at Walt s Tavern, Rt. 618, Conneaut Lake. For more information and rules, contact Loby at 814-510-9056 or loby@zoominternet.net.
County by County Reports FRENCH CREEK flowing through all four counties Tabetha @ Myer s Sportsman Connection; filed 5-21: With cooler temperatures, walleyes are biting in French Creek when the water isn t too high and muddy! CRAWFORD COUNTY Pymatuning Lake Dave @ Richter s Bait & Tackle; filed 5-22: It s been a tough couple weeks for many anglers, although reports of crappies seem encouraging but scattered. A few guys seem to be connecting with walleyes, but for the most part the walleye bite is poor as judged by the two big walleye tournaments held over the weekend. However, after the Saturday tournament, Fishing Frank headed out in the evening and caught several walleyes and lost a huge musky. Some are pointing the finger at too much baitfish in the lake. I don t know. There seems to be plenty of perch and catfish being caught and would these fish be eating the same bait as non-cooperative walleyes? Exception rather than rule this spring...richter photo Norm @ Jamestown Marina; filed 5-22: With reading of 61 degrees at 10 feet deep, water temp is behind where it should be which could account for crappies not spawning yet on South End of lake. But walleye bite is even slower than the crappie bite. With a mild winter, too many gizzard shad and alewife survived. Simply too much feed in the lake. Laurie @ Duck-N-Drake; filed 5-22: Some anglers are doing well on crappies in the mid-lake section; they say 10-12 feet on a drop-off is a good spot and small minnows are the answer. Over weekend, some customers reported getting walleyes in 4 to 6 feet of water on jig-ncrawler, while others reported some eyes trolling with Berkley Flicker Shad in 19 to 22 feet. Bluegills are beginning to move in. Perch seem to be everywhere. Russ @ Gateway Tackle; filed 5-22: What can I say things are slow! Walleye bite is poor. Don t know if it s the weather or too much baitfish. Winter may have been too mild. Some guys are still wading for crappies in the shallow water which tells me the spawn is behind schedule. Brandi @ Poff s Place; filed 5-22: Not a lot to report. I did have a customer bring in a 28-inch, 9 -pound walleye over the weekend but not much more.
Sam @ Robinson s Bait & Tackle; filed 5-22: The Someday Isle Tackle Fishing Team will be back for another in-store promotion/seminar this Memorial Day weekend. They will have their entire line of jigs in all the hot colors for sale. Ken Smith (Sharon); filed 5-22: I fished the South End of Pymatuning on Friday. Put nineteen crappies in the box. Fished both deep and shallow with jigs and Crappie Nibbles. Most the females still had eggs, and the tails on the males were not beat up so it s looking like a later than normal spawn coming. Jim McClave (Andover); filed 5-21: I m spending a lot of time looking for walleye with minimal results. Somewhat better results on crappies down around Jamestown. Mike Parks (Meadville) filed 5-21: What s up with Pymatuning walleye? The Pymatuning Lake Association held their annual walleye tournament on Saturday, May 20 th with 96 teams but only 14 teams caught any walleye, and many of those had a single fish. On Sunday, May 21 the Ohio Walleye Federation held a Pymatuning Tournament with 27 teams; only 6 teams weighed fish for total of 9 or 10 eye caught. Darl @ Fishing with Darl Black Guide Service, filed 5-20: Crappie fishing at Pymatuning this spring so far has been the most inconsistent that I ve experienced since I started seriously chasing them on the lake eight years ago. And the month of May has been the worst year for both numbers and size in the 50 years I ve casually fished the lake for crappies. It s been up and down like a roller coaster but mainly down. My guests have struggled on practically every trip since the end of April. Wind and storms have had a negative impact, especially about Rich Danilchak and son Matt on Saturday where one can fish. Heavy weeds in the North End have overrun areas where I ve never seen them before. Colder than normal water temp is another factor the crappies we caught in the South End on Saturday, May 20 showed no signs of spawning. Black crappies came from 8 to 9 feet, while white crappies came from 14 to 20 feet one here, one there. Looking like another cooler than normal week coming up. I m off over Memorial Day Weekend, and look forward to improved conditions when I start trips again in June. (See Photo) Eric Marsh @ Bassmasters of Crawford County; filed 5-16: The father and son team of Blain Bartley and Blain Bartley Jr. from Zelienople won our Pymatuning Spring Classic Open on 5-13. They weighed a limit of 8 bass weighing 23.3 pounds; they also took Lunker with a 5.39 pound largemouth. (See Photo) The Bartleys win Pymie
Woodcock Creek Lake & Outflow; Woodcock Creek Tabetha @ Myers Sportsman Connection; filed 5-21: There are a lot of trout left in the streams due to unfishable conditions after the last inseason stocking in local waters. Here s a photo of what awaits anglers in Woodcock Creek and other local streams. Joshua Myers caught this rainbow on a fly he tied. Also the walleyes are turned on. Great reports on both numbers and size of eye being caught in Woodcock Lake and Spillway area. All the usual baits and lures are working, but leeches seem to be the best bait. Presque Isle Angler Bait Shop reports that Jeff Pohl, one of their customers, caught a very nice musky from Woodcock Lake over a week ago. (See photo in Livewell.) Lake Canadohta Jerry @ Timberland Bait; filed 5-22: Anglers on Canadohta had a great weekend on northern pike in the lagoon section of the lake. Also good catfish bite going on. Over at Union City Reservoir, reports are crappies and bluegills are biting. With Memorial Day Weekend on the horizon, there will lots of people at their cottages on Canadohta, looking to fish. Here is what I would do: First, hit the local trout stream early. Then about mid-morning run the boat out onto the lake, drop a line over the side and eat lunch while sipping your favorite beverage. After a satisfying early dinner, head back onto the lake for some serious walleye fishing as the sun goes down. ERIE COUNTY Joshua Myers Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay Mike @ Lake Erie Bait & Tackle; filed 5-22: The weather has been pretty rough up here. Anglers really have had to pick their days to get out. This past week there hasn t been much reported on perch or crappies in the Bay. However, the smallmouth bass bite in the Bay has been great. Anglers are saying it s one of the best springs ever. Bass will be going on beds soon. Out in the main lake, anglers have started picking up walleye along the shore off Elk Creek and Trout Run. Anglers have to wait for calm conditions. Jeff @ Poor Richards; filed 5-22: Rough spring. Weather has been terrible. Wind, wind and more wind. Just over weekend, the lake was rolling 4 to 6 footers. The near shore walleye bite has been good when boats can get out. Trolling parallel to the shoreline is 15 to 18 feet between Walnut and the Condos have been the best area. Shore anglers have not been doing as well. The shoreline eye bite usually turns off when the lake climbs into the 60s. However, with the NE blows, the water temp near shore is still in the high 50s.
Becky @ Elk Creek Sports; filed 5-22: The wind is keeping people from getting out on the lake. A few anglers are catching walleyes in the late evening fishing from shore near mouth of Elk and other streams but they need a calm evening and there have not been many of those. Some boats have been limiting out pulling Rapala Husky Jerks parallel to shore. Because Elk is cooler than normal, there are still some bass in the stream and even a few steelhead! Rich @ Erie Sports Store; filed 5-22: Lake Erie fishing reports are thin due to the weather and small number of boaters getting out on the lake in the past couple weeks. Perch fishing has generally been very slow. The best spots I heard were off of Walnut Creek in 50 to 60 feet. Smallmouth bass have been hitting in 10 to 20 feet of water on both the Eastside and Westside of town. Walleye fishing has seen some catches during the day in 20 to 40 feet, and shore anglers casting stickbaits have done okay in late evenings when the wind cooperates. Danny @ Erie Bass Charters; filed 5-22: Hi guys! We ve had multiple smallmouth bass trips out of Presque Isle Bay this past week. The smallmouth fishing is at its peak. My clients caught over 60 smallmouths in two days of fishing. We caught most of them in 8 to 10 feet on jerkbaits, drop shot baits and on Steel Shad Blade Baits. Like I said, the fishing is as good as it gets right now and I still have some open dates. Book today at Eriebasscharters.com. (See photo on cover) Pete @ SmalliesontheYough; filed 5-15: Cool spring day with a nice chop in the bay. The day stared okay, landing a nice perch on a tube. We drifted a few more times on a lineup, and caught 3 smallies the biggest was 4.1 pounds. Then we struggled the rest of the day in stained water. (See photo) Uncle John s Elk Creek Campground reports that their guests are now focusing on walleyes in the lake since steelhead have left the streams. Pete Cartwright on PIB MERCER COUNTY Lake Wilhelm John @ Fergie s Bait; filed 5-22: Crappie and bluegill fishing is picking up, especially between I- 79 and Launch #3. Some really nice crappies are coming from the shoreline deadfalls in the lower lake nearer the dam. The average size is reported as 9 to 11 inches, with some bigger ones going to 17 inches. A few guys are starting to pick up walleyes by trolling between the Causeway and Launch #2. Marcie @ Lake Wilhelm Marina; filed 5-22: We ve had good reports of crappie biting, but nothing on walleye or bass. Starting Memorial Day Weekend, we will go to full hours: 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week.
Bill @ Griffins Bait; filed 5-18: Scott Selle and his son Rob caught 90 some crappies at Lake Wilhelm last week; a few were as big as 14 inches. (See Photo) Scott Selle /Whilelm Shenango River Lake Randy Hedge @ FishWestPA; filed 5-22: Shenango hybrid stripers, bass, walleye and crappies are all starting to get active with warming temps! (See striper photos above of Randy & crew) Rick Como (Sharpsville); filed 5-22: Striper fishing is very good on the main lake points in early morning and late evening. The white bass run is on in the river with white Roostertails and Twisters working great! Crappies and bluegills are hitting but the size is small. Walleyes are being caught in 10 to 12 feet of water, but it s spotty; should pick up this coming week. The lake is finally at normal summer pool and fishing for all species is starting to turn on. Ken Smith (Sharon); filed 5-21: I fished Shenango Lake last Wednesday. Caught over 40 crappies in just a couple hours but they were all cookie cutter 9-inch fish; released all of them. Hope to find spawners this week. I also caught some good-size bluegills from previous years bedding areas. They are not on beds yet, but a few were getting beds ready; kept eight for a fish fry. Mike @ CDS; filed 5-22: I fished a crappie tournament on Shenango a couple weeks ago from 7 am to noon. My partner and I caught 64 crappies but all were small. Our 20 fish we weighed in only went 6 pounds. The winning stringer of 20 crappies was only 9 pounds. I ve been fishing Neshannock Creek by kayak the past couple weeks, catching both trout and smallmouth bass on a Rebel Wee Crawfish. Usually getting 20 to 30 fish on each float; my best was a 20 inch rainbow trout. VENANGO COUNTY Trout Streams Mark Domhoff (Cochranton); filed 5-22: Here are a few pictures of over 30 brown trout and rainbow trout that Shane Hites and I caught in Sugar Creek on Saturday. The fish came on a Joe Fly tipped with nightcrawler. (See photo here plus more in Livewell) Mark Domhoff photo
Angler Al (Franklin); field 5-21: Tom Yancy and Ralph Rhule from Altoona area were visiting guests of mine. They enjoyed fishing for trout on Sugar Creek. Although fishing was a bit slow one day, their overall three day total exceeded 40 fish, which were mainly stocky 12-inch rainbows. Drifting either a nightcrawler, wax worm or fathead minnow did the trick. (See photos) Angler Al photo Angler Al photo Bill @ Griffins Bait Shop; filed 5-18: Damien Sloan caught a nice 18-inch 2-1/4 pound rainbow trout while fishing Sugar Creek near Cooperstown. Dennis Beggs Dennis Beggs (Franklin); filed 5-15: I caught a couple nice brook trout last week on East Sandy Creek a fat 20 incher and a slender 18 incher. I released the 20 incher and kept the 18 incher because it was bleeding and fried it for supper. Same day fresh trout is my favorite and I have one meal each year same day caught YUM! My fishing buddy, Kim Slye, also caught an 18 inch brook trout last week on East Sandy. We caught and released 30 trout (50% brook and 50% browns) on Wednesday and 34 (all brown except on brook) a couple days later. We were drifting salmon eggs and salted minnows Lot so fund taking a couple days off work and getting out and the scenery on the stream is tremendous! (See photo here and more in Livewell) Allegheny River Jeff @ Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 5-21: The warm-up during the week of May 15 th quickly elevated water temperatures from mid 50s into mid-60s. As of May 21, Allegheny River smallmouth bass were in some stage of spawn: pre-spawn, on beds and likely some post-spawn females. Semi-protected shallow flats with gravel bottoms (and areas nearby) produced lots of action from quality-size bass in the 14 inch to 20-inch range. We also targeted walleyes during the some trips, catching walleyes in the 17 to 22-inch range on Bomber Suspending Long As. Most of the Jeff Knapp bass came on Winco s Solid Body River Darter, Zoom Super Flukes and BPS tube/mushroom head jigs. (See photo here and more in Livewell) Steve Udick (Oil City); filed 5-21: My son-in-law Guman Gezici from NY, NY got his first smallmouth bass on Mother s Day. Actually he made a rookie mistake admiring the first fish over the water, it wiggled off the hook before he could get the picture. He was using a Rapala Firetiger Husky Jerk. The egg-laden female smallie I m holding in the other picture was the fattest fish we picked up in Oil Creek. Bass were sunning in the warmer water, and hit black tubes. Steve Udick
FISHING WITH LEFEBRE In this issue of NW PA Fishing Report, Bassmaster Elite Angler Dave Lefebre of Erie, PA offers advice for post-spawn crappies: After weeks of fishing pre-spawn and spawning crappies with bobbers and dipping jigs into cover, I really look forward to post spawn crappies in early June. I put away the bobbers and extra-light jigs. The ones I target are crappies in transition, moving deeper and moving out. Fishing these transition fish is more like bass fishing. I use heaver heads 1/8-ounce that s heavy for me when crappie fishing. I dress the head with a Yamamoto Curl Tail Crappie body. Fish these on a 7 3 medium light rod with 4 pound test. Fish it like a swimbait throw it out, let it sink and swim it back slowly. I m in search mode, fishing edges of weedy flats, stumpy points and moderately deep cribs or brushpiles. This technique works in all lakes. CLASSIFIED AD For sale: 2003 Jet Boat Rig including a Lund 18 Goldline Jon Boat, 90 HP Honda Jet, Load-Rite Trailer, Lowrance X67C Sonar, MinnKota Bow Mount Power Drive Model 812 and custom canvas cover. Used only 10 times sine new; kept entire time in garage. Must see to appreciate! Contact Kathy Kulinski at 814-673-0766. Livewell Overflow photos On East Sandy Creek Dennis Beggs Kim Slye Jeff Pohl s Woodcock muskie On Sugar Creek Mark Domoff photo Shane Hites
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 See the latest G3 Boats at Wiegel Bros. Allegheny walleye/ photo by Jeff Knapp Allegheny smallmouth/ photo by Jeff Knapp Guman Gezici/ photo by Steve Udick
Black Knight Industries Oil City, PA 16301 www.gammafishing.com www.froghairfishing.com 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 winner of the Tackle Prize for this issue of the Fishing Report. Please email your shipping address to Darl Black to claim your prize. GAMMA TIP As editor of this newsletter, a licensed fishing guide and longtime outdoor scribe, I am frequently asked what line I use. It s an easy question to answer. Gamma Line! But it s not just because Gamma is a sponsor of the NW PA Fishing Report. I use Gamma Polyflex and Edge because I have found them to be the strongest, most manageable line among major brands in a diameter to diameter comparison. When I say Gamma four-poundtest breaks at around 8 pound, someone will ask why it isn t it labelled 8-pound-test instead of four. Now we get into the politics of US line measurement. In the US, pound-test ranking is not actual break strength. The US tackle industry classifies a line s pound test rating according to diameter, as opposed to actual break-strength. All diameters which fall between such and such are 4 pound, and on up the scale. Actually every US line rated at 4 pound test will break above 4 pound test because we do not rate line by actual break strength. Gamma line undergoes a treatment process which makes it stronger than any other line in the same pound-test diameter category. Therefore, the end product for GAM-
MA in the Polyflex nylon (mono) and Edge fluorocarbon lines, are products that thinner in diameter (more manageable) but stronger than the competition s same diameter line. Check out the regional shops which handle Gamma line from the list above. If they do not have the line type and pound test you desire, contact Gamma at sales@gammafishing.com about getting the line you want. Some of the fish in this issue taken on Gamma Line: