Photo by Darl Black - Bluegills will be the hot fishing ticket over the next couple weeks while these scrappy panfish are on beds.
Reporting date: May 31, 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
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
Special Note: Just prior to the Memorial Day weekend, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and DEP issued a “Do Not Consume” warning for any fish caught in Pymatuning Lake and Tamarack Lake. Unusually high numbers of dead fish washing up on the shores in both lakes was the reason for the warning. Fish are being tested and a report on likely cause of the die-off is expected this coming week. However, many long-time anglers attribute the die off to spawning stress coupled with the erratic water temperatures this spring which may have triggered a bacteria or virus attack on weakened fish – a situation that has happened before.
Crawford County Waters
Pymatuning Lake
Dave Richter at Chris’s Tackle Box was extremely unhappy with DEP for issuing the Do Not Consume warning, especially right before the big Memorial Day weekend. “DEP blew it way of proportion. The warning kept a lot of people away from the lake; it hurt business in a big way. Pymatuning recently experienced a 20 degree rise in temperature in a two-week period during the peak crappie spawn – stress on spawning that’s what did it. We’ve seen it before. I went out Thursday evening, caught a mess of crappies and ate them; I haven’t grown a third eye or anything, and I’m still standing.” Richter said those anglers out on the lake are catching numbers of crappies in the shallows and a little deeper, some still with eggs. Also the walleye bite is picking up, with several limits reported to the store that were taken by trolling Hot-N-Tots.
Eric Marsh of Conneaut Lake, PA says the bass fishing at Pymatuning was a bit slower over the weekend than in past weeks. On Sunday morning, he landed seven largemouth bass up to 2-3/4 pounds. Marsh was flipping a “creature bait” to offshore stumps and around lily pad beds.
Conneaut Lake
A Memorial Day morning call-in report from Conneaut Lake by Bryan Stuyvesant says the bass fishing is slow. “It’s the bass post spawn blues. I’ve only caught one bass in two hours. They are catching some crappies on the humps and along the weedbed edges in 4 to 8 feet of water. I’ll be out of here shortly before the frolickers hit the water; yesterday there were 3-foot waves on this lake from all the boat traffic.”
Photo by Darl Black - French Creek is a wading-friendly stream for anglers searching for smallmouth bass and walleye.
Photo by Darl Black - French Creek is a wading-friendly stream for anglers searching for smallmouth bass and walleye.
French Creek
Although French Creek level looks good, the bass fishing has been slow this week according to Doug DeVore of Cochranton, an expert on French Creek. DeVore fished for a couple hours Saturday evening, but landed only a single smallmouth. “I expect the topwater bite to come on strong as bass finish the spawn.”
On Sunday morning Kevin Dilly of Crawford County was preparing to lead a multiple canoe & kayak trip from Cochranton to Utica. He had high hopes for catching smallmouth with a Rapala Minnow and buzzbait.
Tamarack Lake
On Sunday, this writer drove along Tamarack Lake. Typically on Memorial Day weekend, the lakeshore is lined with fishermen near each access point. On this day, not a single shore fisherman was seen and there were only 3 boats on the entire lake – apparently anglers chose to fish elsewhere due to the fish consumption ban. At the first access at Pettis end of the lake, I noticed several hundred dead fish lying on shore – all small crappies. Lively minnows were in the water along the bank, and swirls of bluegills on beds were visible, indicating that whatever caused the death of the crappies had not impacted every species. However, the odor of decaying fish was enough to turn this angler away from staying long.
Woodcock Lake
Jim Keller at John’s Bait Shop had reports of walleyes being taken in 31 feet of water on leeches and medium shiners. He went on to say people were fishing everywhere over the weekend (especially for panfish), and that he had almost sold out of bait as of Memorial Day morning.
Canadohta Lake
Jerry VanTassel at Timberland Bait says the walleye are finally hitting on nightcrawler harnesses (spinner rig) slowly trolled along the weedlines. Bluegill activity is off the charts with beds everywhere. In addition, he had reports of several anglers breaking off big musky – perhaps one or more of the trophy-size ones reported following baits last week. If you are looking for musky, Canadohta may be the place to go this week but be sure to go with heavy tackle!
Crawford County Trout Streams
No reports, but fly fishing should be good on Woodcock and Conneaut Creek.
Geneva Marsh
Mike Horrobin (Maurer’s Trading Post) reports that anglers are catching lots of bowfin on live minnows while fishing for crappie and northern pike.
Venango County Waters
Allegheny River
Dale Black says bass fishing on the Allegheny River this past weekend was very tough. “Dropping water level tends to shut fish down. Plus the tremendous amount of traffic from shore fishermen, canoe, kayaks and personal watercraft really made finding areas to fish very difficult. Some bass were still observed on beds, but all shallow water smallies were very skittish. Most of our fish were taken on Dinger stick worms. We caught and released 30 on Saturday with the biggest one 19 inches. On Sunday our biggest one was 17 inches.” River walleye apparently remain elusive.
Justus Lake
A report of a really big musky taken at Justus Lake came into Sue’s Bait Shop this week, but they did not see the fish or have any specifics on the size or lure used. Trout fishing in the lake is slowing, but the panfish bite is expected to pick up in the coming week.
Oil Creek
Although no specific Oil Creek report came in, I expect they had a banner week with fly hatches on Oil Creek based on other reporting. You can expect the fly fishing to remain strong through the coming week.
Venango County Trout Streams
Mike Horrobin at Maurer’s Trading Post says: “The beautiful weather this week helped warm the water and let the water levels return to normal. The trout fishing has been wonderful all week. Every evening we have had Coffin flies the last half hour before dark and the Green Drakes have been hatching sporadically all day. The tiny yellow stoneflies started on Little Sandy Creek, and if they are not coming off on Two Mile Run yet, they will be hatching there shortly. Next week some of these hatches will wane, but we should see more of others, including Light Cahill, Grey Fox, BWO, Sulphurs and perhaps Leadwing Coachman.”
Fishing Tip
Early June in Northwest Pennsylvania is the peak of bluegill bedding. Bluegills are abundant in every lake, with Woodcock, Justus, Canadohta, Conneaut and Pymatuning producing some of the larger ‘gills. And for a secluded bluegill fishing hole, don’t overlook little Crystal Lake on Gamelands at Hartstown.
“One of the top producers of panfish as the water warms is the simple hackle Ant. Black is the #1 color, you should carry them in a variety of colors just in case. Tip the Ant with a maggot or wax worm. Use a weighted float or spinning bubble with a 12- to 24-inch leader to the ant. Fish around weed edges, open pockets in weedbeds, next to a stump, brush or dock. After the cast, wait until the rings subside and then retrieve very slowly.” – Mike Horrobin. (Mike’s Ants are available at Maurer’s Trading Post.)
Outdoor Calendar of Events
June 19, 2010 Antlers & Anglers Sportsman Showcase, Meadville;
814-337-8030 (Vendors, seminars, demonstrations)
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 (Held at Riverfront Park; 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: French Creek
Many area anglers expect the smallmouth fishing in French Creek to explode during the first part of June – as long as heavy rains do not occur. The main stem of French Creek rises in the wetlands of the western panhandle of New York State. The stream crosses into Erie County flowing for 80 miles before joining the Allegheny River at Franklin. The 41 miles in Crawford County and 14 miles in Venango County are extremely popular with kayakers and canoeists, and most sections are easy to wade. The primary species in the lower 55 miles are smallmouth bass, rock bass, walleye, northern pike and musky. The typical French Creek smallmouth is 10 to 15 inches, although the occasional four-pounder will be taken. Among the productive lures for smallmouth are long floating minnow baits, topwater plugs, buzzbaits, spinners and tube jigs. Hellgrammites, sand pike and riffle-runner minnows captured from the Creek are also popular live baits. Summertime walleye are also caught sand pike and riffle minnows, plus jigs tipped with a nightcrawler or leech. Starting in northern Crawford County and continuing to the Allegheny River, the public launch sites are at Cambridge Springs, Saegertown, Meadville, Wilson Chutes, Shaw’s Landing, Cochranton, Utica, and Franklin. For more insight on this unique creek, visit the Pennsylvania Environmental Council website at www.pecpa.org/region/northwest.
Keep Up with More NW PA Fishing at http://darlblack.blogspot.com
