Central Pennsylvania Fishing

PFBC 2008 Biologist Report - Lackawanna Lake

Area 4 biologists completed the field work portion of a three-year study on Lackawanna Lake crappies during the week of April 21, 2008. This state park lake located about seven miles north of Scranton continued to support excellent numbers of crappie and bluegill. As was the case in 2007, 7 to 9 inch fish dominated the crappie population (Figure 1) and 6 to 8 inch fish dominated the bluegill population in 2008 (Figure 2). The complete list of fish caught during the survey is in Table 1. Included in the catch were two 28 inch chain pickerel that probably weighed about eight pounds each. The current state record chain pickerel weighed 8 pounds, 14.8 ounces and was caught at Long Pond, Wayne County, in 2002.

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In the first article in this series on fishing for small creek smallmouth bass, I covered some really basic strategies for dealing with cold water conditions. The second water condition that you will commonly experience in the spring is high water. High water can be tough to hone in on the location of the fish and to get our bait in the strike zone long enough to induce a strike. In high water conditions, fish scatter and water clarity drops. In this article I’ll divulge some of my time tested strategies and baits for yanking them out under these conditions.

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This past weekend I spent four days in a row fishing for smallmouth bass in a local creek. This year is really no different than any other year that I’ve fished the creek. It did get me thinking, however, how difficult it can be to locate and catch small stream or creek smallmouth bass in the early spring before the spawn. Yes, the waters are smaller but the conditions are tougher. The smallmouth in them are extremely sensitive to changes water levels and temperatures. As we all know, there is no other time in the year that these variables can swing from one extreme to another like in March and April in the northeastern United States.

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I just revamped my blogs photo galleries. I added some new pictures from this season. I’ve organized the photo albums by the body of water where they were caught. No big fish yet this season but the year is young!!

Pennsylvania Fishing Photographs

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Cabin Fever Finally got the best of me! I headed out for the lower part of spring creek armed with my trusty spinning rod and some home made spinners. I was also wearing the newest addition to my fishing gear. A Dry-Plus wading jacket by By Cabelas. I’ve worn the jacket a few times this winter while fishing and I plan to post a review of the jacket in the very near future. The fishing results were mixed but all and all a pretty darn good hour or so on the water. Just what the doctor ordered!

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