I actually got a mention in the Northwest PA weekly fishing report

Kayak angler Juan Veruete with French Creek smallmouth. (Photo by Dan Henninger)

I had the pleasure of fishing French Creek and the Allegheny River with three outdoor writers. It was quite an experience. French Creek was beautifully and offered some fantastic smallmouth bass fishing. Quite simply, the Allegheny River is a fish factory! Even after 4 days on the water of this great region of Pennsylvania, I found myself wanting to stay longer! Check out the report on French Creek below and the one on the Allegheny River. On the Allegheny River we ended up with 6 fish over 17 with two being 19 inches! Awesome fishing!

Northwest Pennsylvania Weekly Fishing Report

Reporting date: June 14, 2010

Sponsored by:
Crawford County Convention & Visitors Bureau – www.visitcrawford.org
Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism – www.oilregion.org

Information contributed by:
Chris’ Tackle Box, Jamestown, PA
Sue’s Bait & Tackle Shop, Cooperstown, PA
Maurer’s Trading Post, Franklin, PA
Oil Creek Outfitters, Titusville, PA
John’s Bait & Tackle, Meadville, PA
Van Tassel’s Timberland Bait, Canadohta Lake, PA
Bassmasters of Crawford County

Note: The information in the NW PA Weekly Fishing Report is based on the observations and opinions of individuals at the reporting tackle shops and expert area anglers.  Although the information is reliable, it is not independently verified.

Contact: Darl Black, darlblack@windstream.net

Comment: It’s been three weeks of prime fishing time, and the state-issued “Do Not Eat” advisory remains in effect on Pymatuning Lake and Tamarack Lake in Crawford County.  Walt Young, Pennsylvania Outdoor Times editor, was in town over the weekend with a group of writers; he wanted to fish Tamarack Lake having heard so much about it.  We arrived at Tamarack at 8 AM on Saturday morning and drove around the lake.  Not a single shore angler was seen, nor was a single boat on the lake…this was the opening day of the regular bass season!  Over at Pymatuning, tourism based businesses are hurting in a big way; angler numbers are way down according to local shops.  In addition, the continuation of stormy weather has fouled trout streams, French Creek and the Allegheny River, forcing some anglers – but not all – to fish elsewhere.  Nonetheless, there are plenty of fishing opportunities in Crawford and Venango Counties.  It is possible to catch fish in dirty water if you alter your tactics.  And remember, it is a “do not consume” advisory – not a “do not fish” advisory on those two lakes.

Crawford County Waters

Pymatuning Lake
Dave Richter at Chris’ Tackle Box says the fish are biting, but few anglers are there catching them because the “Do Not Eat” advisory has them scared to come to the lake.  “Those anglers who choose to ignore the state advisory are catching a bunch of walleye – and you can be sure they are going home rather than back into the lake!  Over the weekend, we had reports of successful anglers drifting the lake with nightcrawlers on a jighead to catch limits of walleye.  The biggest fish reported was a 28-incher.  Trollers were catching them on the ever-popular Hot-n-Tot and on the Storm Thunderstick Jr.  Walleye were being caught from 7- to 18-feet,” says Richter.  “Crappies are done spawning, and now biting in 12- to 14-feet of water around brushpiles and man-made structures.  Bluegills are on beds in the shallows, and should be there through the week.  However, the musky bite has fallen way off since earlier this year; trollers are not reporting success.”

Conneaut Lake
Reports from Conneaut were spotty over the weekend.  Some bluegill and crappie action, but not much in the way of bass fishing activity given it was opening weekend.  On Sunday, Bryan Stuyvesant of Conneaut Lake caught a couple small smallmouth bass and two northern pike at Conneaut, noting that bass catching success is real slow right now with post spawn fish.

French Creek
At the invitation of the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau, four top kayak-bass-fishing outdoor writers were in Crawford County on Friday and Saturday to fish French Creek.   Jeff Little (author of “In Pursuit of Trophy Smallmouth Bass – My Life In A Kayak”), Chris Gorsuch (PA Angler & Boater magazine), Juan Veruete (Kayak Bass Fishing website) and Walt Young (PA Outdoor Times) arrived Thursday evening to a moderately high and moderately dirty French Creek.  The level was safe for kayaking but not conducive to successful smallmouth bass fishing.  Nonetheless, the group managed to catch some bass and walleye during two days of float fishing.  Many of fish were taken on small crankbaits, particularly the smallest Big O crankbait in Firetiger pattern.  The guests remarked how nice it was to be on the quiet, secluded sections of the stream so close to Meadville, as well as noting the high number of newly-hatched smallmouth bass fry swimming tight to the shore trying to survive the high flow.

Tamarack Lake
Jim Keller at John’s Bait Shop has reports of a few bass anglers this past week catching largemouth up to 22 inches from the Meadville end of Tamarack Lake in lily pads and spatterdock.  However, the number of anglers on the lake remains extremely low due to the state’s “do not consume” advisory.

Sugar Lake
Keller reports that friends fishing Sugar Lake from the shoreline are catching nice yellow perch, crappies and bluegills – as many as 100 panfish from shore per outing.

Woodcock Lake
No report.

Canadohta Lake
Jerry Van Tassel at Timberland Bait says the fishing success at Canadohta remains strong.  “Anglers have caught more walleyes this year so far than any year in recent history.  They are fishing the outside weedlines with worm harnesses (with nightcrawler) and leeches on floating jighead with walking sinker.  Walleyes are running 15 to 20 inches, with an occasional trophy – such as a 33” 15.5 pound ‘eye taken by a Titusville angler.”  Jerry adds that bluegills are still on the beds.

County Trout Streams
Jim Keller (John’s Bait) says anglers with live bait are catching trout in Little Sugar Creek.  He has been selling Nitro Worms, fathead minnows and meal worms to the trout crew.

Venango County Waters

Allegheny River
After two weeks of rather mediocre fishing success, the river started paying anglers back on Sunday.  With the high and dirty flow, walleye and smallmouth catches had been spotty at best…but a couple of out-of-town anglers showed local angler Dale Black exactly which baits were needed for the high, dirty water.  On Sunday, Walt Young (Pennsylvania Outdoor Times) and Juan Veruete (fishing blogger on VisitPA) used spinnerbaits and crankbaits to outfish Dale and yours truly.  While I only stayed a couple hours, when the other three anglers quit at 8 PM, they had landed 70 smallmouth and 7 walleye – mostly on small crankbaits.  The largest smallmouth was 19 inches and the largest walleye about five pounds.

Justus Lake
Sue’s Bait and Tackle just down the road from Justus Lake sold a lot of minnows this past week, but didn’t receive any reports back from anglers.  “It’s been a rough spring season with so much bad weather – that always seems to fall on the weekends,” says Sue.  “However, Justus Lake is a great summertime fishery, so we expect to see improved largemouth bass, trout and musky catches over the next several months.”

Oil Creek
Mike Laskowski at Oil Creek Outfitters: “After a long period of high muddy water, Oil Creek is fishing well. Cahills and Caddis are hatching.  Fish are also being caught on nymphs and Triple Threat Streamers.  Oil Creek’s smallmouths are also getting active.”

County Trout Streams
Mike Horrobin at Maurer’s Trading Post: “We had some nasty thunderstorms this past week that muddied the water.  That being said, some people were catching fish in the off-colored waters.  The small trout streams recovered faster, and after the first surge of storm water the fishing was pretty good.  I noticed a lot of cranefly activity and small mayflies.  ‘Small’ may be the operative word, as the water warms it is a good rule of thumb to watch for the smaller insects.  I saw a lot of micro type caddis and mayflies as well as some caenis.  A customer complained about the size he saw; when I told him we called it “the curse” years ago, he heartedly agreed.  There was some good stonefly activity in the evenings.  Fishermen were doing well on any peacock bodied nymph like the Prince or Zug Bug, so that leads me to believe there is also some leadwing coachman nymphs moving around the stream bottom.  Watch for their husks on the stream rocks above the water.”

Fishing Tip

Mike Horrobin on trout: As the daytime temperature gets into the high 80s, focus your fishing during the cooler times of day.  The cooler water will hold more oxygen and trout will start to look for cooler water or more highly oxygenated waters.

Walt Young on river smallmouth in dirty water: Tie on a small crankbait that will clip the bottom on gentle-slope river shorelines.  Use one with some red, orange or chartreuse in the color pattern.  Be sure the belly hook is red, as bass will focus their strike at the belly hook; do not put a red hook on the tail.  Retrieve at a moderate pace, not too fast and not too slow.

Outdoor Calendar of Events
June 19, 2010     Antlers & Anglers Sportsman Showcase, Meadville;
814-337-8030 (Vendors, seminars, demonstrations)
June 19 & 20        French & Indian War 5th Annual Encampment at
Custaloga Town near Carlton; 814-694-3684,
July 24, 2010     Kids Fishing Day, Timberland Bait; 814-694-3474
July 30, 2010     United Way Bass Classic at Conneaut Lake; 814-382-0686
August 28, 2010     Rock In River Festival; Riverfront Park, Franklin; includes the PA Stone Skipping Championship featuring the National Champion and Guinness Book of World Records holder Russ Byers; other river sport demonstrations plus family activities.

Featured Waterway:
In place of a featured water way, I wanted to call attention to a fish species that is often maligned by mainstream anglers – the carp.  Regardless what might some anglers may blame on this fish, it is nonetheless an outstanding fighter when hook.  The Carp Anglers Group (CAG) is a nationwide organized group of fishermen dedicated to catching big carp.  Oil City’s Pat Ganley, well known in Allegheny River catfish circles and a founding member of the Bassmasters of Crawford County, was a member of CAG and an avid carp angler up until his unexpected passing during the winter.  The Western Pennsylvania chapter of CAG held a Pat Ganley Memorial Outing June 4-6 at nearby Lake Wilhelm, one of Pat’s favorite lakes.  Yes, they set up on a shore and fish for 24 to 48 hours straight, and yes, they didn’t let the thunderstorms and threat of tornado chase them off the shoreline – although they did retreat to the safety of their cars from time to time.  Fishing gets better as the event goes on due to baiting (chum) placed in the water.  The big fish of the event was a 23 pound carp taken by Tim Petrak.  For more information on carp fishing and CAG organization, contact Steve Lojak at pacarper1@yahoo.com.

Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com