This Report is brought to you by PA Great Lakes Region tourism with additional sponsorship from Wiegel Brothers Marine and Gamma Fishing. We answer the question “What’s biting in the lakes streams and rivers of Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Venango counties?”
FRENCH CREEK – flowing through all four counties
Bill @ Bill’s Bait and Tackle; filed 4/20: “French Creek has been experiencing high water most of the spring due to an abundance of rain. There has only been an occasional report from anglers having success in French Creek. Currently French Creek is bank full and muddy. However, everyone is looking forward to the opening of walleye season on French Creek in a couple weeks.”
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Pymatuning Lake
Dave @ Richter’s Bait & Tackle; filed 4/20: “Given the nice weather over the weekend, not many anglers out on the lake. They must have gone trout fishing. The crappie bite in the northern mud bays is tapering off, and the bite will now spread southward. They are catching a lot of perch and bluegills right now. Waders are out every evening for walleyes and doing fairly well with either a jig & tail, or Rapala Minnow.”
Norm @ Jamestown Boat Livery; filed 4/20: “Not a lot happening yet on South End. Anglers are catching walleye during the day on VIB-E blades from boats and in the evening wading near shore on Rapala Minnows.”
Hooker @ Hill’s Country Store; filed 4/20: “The walleye bite is hot and heavy near the creek mouths in the evenings with either a jig-n-minnow or Rapala Minnow. I had a report of two young brothers catching a 24 inch and 26 inch walleye at dusk. Crappies are moving up from deeper water on the section of the lake south of the Andover Causeway. Hooker’s Fishing Taxi is rigged and ready to fish.”
Laurie @ Duck-N-Drake; filed 4/20: “It has been quiet the last few days. Perch are hitting all over the lake, and the crappie bite is picking up in the Stumps as well as bays in the mid-section of the lake. And there a lot of anglers wading in the evening on the shallow points throwing long minnow plugs or a jig-n-minnow.”
Cathy @ Poff’s Bait & Tackle; filed 4/20: “I’m hearing reports of a few walleyes taken by customers. But most talk is about big crappies and big perch.”
Sydney @ Robinson’s Bait; filed 4/20: “The word from the North End of Pymatuning is fantastic! Walleye and perch are being caught at Red Cross and Harris Island Stumps on fatheads and some on crawlers. The word is crappies are hitting in about 6 feet of water on minnows. Bluegills are also starting to be caught in numbers around Red Cross area. Joseph Boyle caught a 4.5 pound catfish on Saturday (picture in Livewell) – his first of the year. No word on bass yet. We had many stories of trout being taken Saturday at Conneaut Creek. We have done some major remodeling hits winter and now have a tank on the wall filled with Pymatuning Native fish residing it – stop by and see it!”
Brian @ Espyville Marina; filed 4/17: “We are open and renting pontoons! The tackle store here has been selling out on ¼-ounce VIB-E for jigging. Hot-N-Tots are selling well, too. The crappie bite in the shallow water up North has been good. Angie Fitzpatrick caught a 15-1/4 inch Black Crappie on minnow from the fishing dock at Linesville Marina on Thursday.”
Dean (Pittsburgh); filed 4/15: “I stayed at the cabins and fished Pymatuning from April 10 to the 14. One thing for sure – next year couple years will be great for crappie and bluegill. We caught a ton of little guys. Strange spring for big crappies…by the 14th the surface temp was 60 degrees in the shallow bays but no concentration of keep crappies (over 10 inches) for us. However, a handful of keepers went around 2 pounds. (See photo in Livewell)
Woodcock Creek
Jeff Reichel (Meadville); filed 4/11: “Jacob and I took advantage of the Mentored Youth Trout Day and fished Woodcock Creek near Saegertown. Jacob caught his first ever trout – a rainbow. We caught and released 4 trout in total and long line released several others. Most fish hit Rooster Tail spinners. The brown trout in the photo was the only one taken on a woolybugger with the fly rod. All in all, a good day on the creek.” (See Livewell)
ERIE COUNTY
Presque Isle Bay
Jim @ Lake Erie Bait & Tackle (Formerly B.A.C.); filed 4/20: “Fishing has been really good this past Friday and Saturday in the Bay. Water temp is 42 degrees in the main part of the Bay. Anglers are caching big crappies in the Lagoon plus nice perch off the north Pier and at the Waterworks. There have been reports a few smallmouth caught as well. There is still some ice on the main lake.”
Rich @ Erie Sports Store; filed 4/20: “Most fishing reports up here involved the Bay and pier fishing right now. Very little fishing activity in the Big Lake due to late ice. Perch fishing for many has been spotty, but for others there have been limits of nice perch. Depending on the day, the wind and the time, good perch fishing can be had at the Liberty Park/Perry Landing Pier and Border Patrol Dock at foot of Holland Street. There have also been good repots of perch coming off the North Pier when wind is favorable. Those in boats, canoes and kayaks have reported very nice catches of perch at mouth of Liberty Pier and deeper areas off Stink Hole. Several pier fishermen have caught nice steelhead and brown trout. Several brown trout have been caught off the Marina Pier and Waterworks Dock. Crappie fishing has been good at Presque Isle Marina, but spotty at the Stink hole – that could change any day. Also, crappies, bluegill and perch have been caught in the Lagoons. OUR FISHING TACKLE SPECIALS include: buy 3 lures, get one free; buy 2 jars of salmon eggs/Power Bait, get one free. Full-size Emsco Tiger Shark Kayak…just $149.98. Top line hip boots…$39.98.”
Danny Jones (Erie); filed 4/20: “I was out on the Bay yesterday for a couple hours and caught 24 largemouth bass. It was pretty windy. With the north wind, it was really cold – about 25 degrees colder than at my house which is only 15 minutes away. Water temp was anywhere from 49 to 54 degrees. I caught every fish on a Bay Rat Battle 1.5; that is a square bill crankbait that runs about 4 feet deep on 10 lb. GAMMA Edge. The best two colors were Chrome Feisty Shad and Bluegill. Visit bayratlures.com to check them out. Smallies should be coming into the Bay in force within the next week or two. (See attached photos of largemouth bass)
Ric@ Trout Run Bait; filed 4/19: “The Bay is fishing well. Crappie bite has been good in Stink Hole and the Lagoons. Perch have been biting but you need to be on the right spot to grab decent numbers of keepers. Browns and steelies have been hitting in the Bay; boat trollers picking them up as well as dock fishermen. Smallmouth should show up soon.”
Thomas Watral (Eire); filed 4/16: “Very large perch are hitting everywhere in the Bay. Hot spots are South Pier and Borders Dock. Most perch are 12 to 14 inches, hitting Subiki Rigs tipped with minnows. Pike and crappies are on fire in the Lagoons; best baits are large spinners for pike and Mini Foo tipped with wax worm for crappies.”
Paul Stewart (Butler); filed 4/13: “Went shore fishing perch this past Saturday at PIB. I was surprised the bay was ice free. But it was very windy in the AM, settling down after lunch. We caught more small perch than we could count, but about every 15th perch was a keeper. Ended up with 40 in the bucket between the two of us.” (See photo)
RJ Graham (Tidioute); filed 4/12: “I fished PIB today instead of Shenango Lake. I caught 24 largemouth bass on crankbaits. (See photo)
Tributary Streams
Jeff @ Poor Richards; file 4/20: “The trib steelhead bite is slowing down. Anglers are still getting a few steelheads on Elk Creek – mainly in the middle section. A few steelheads are running into the mouth of Walnut in the early morning, but going back out. Some action on steelheads at the mouth of Trout Run along the shoreline.”
Becky @ Elk Creek Sports; filed 4/20: “Everyone is catching stocked trout on Elk Creek. There is only an occasional steelhead being caught. I had a report of big brown. That’s about it from this weekend.”
Ric Gauriloff @ Trout Run Bait; filed 4/19: “Beautiful weather around these parts for the weekend. Many stocked trout are being caught in Elk Creek and Gravel Pits. Steelheads continue to be caught in the feeders. Elk and Crooked Creek are still giving up steelies. Steelies have been on beds the past week, so shallow runs with gravel bottoms are producing nice fish. Smallmouth bass are moving into Elk; anglers caught bass behind Uncle Johns yesterday. In a week or so great smallmouth fishing should be on. Emerald shiners were the number one bait this past week. Those using flashy jigs and streamers also did well. Fly fishermen using bugger and flashy streams getting fish, too. Small nymphs will work but you will also be catching sucker on nymphs.
Tim @ North East Marina; filed 4/17: “Right now the fishing from boats on the lake is non-existence due to ice cover. The marina is ice free with anglers catching some steelhead and brown trout. Both 20 Mile and 16 Mile Creeks are producing nice catches – seems to vary day to day. We are expecting a fantastic lake trout fishing once the ice clears and lake temp reaches 42 degrees. We should start to see the brown trout program on Lake Erie take off this year. We will talk to you later on some brown trout spring tactics.”
Lake LeBoeuf
Jim Simonelli (Erie); filed 4/17: “I caught a northern pike on a fly rod with a red/white pike fly in LeBoeuf about noon on the 17th of April.” (See photo)
MERCER COUNTY
Lake Wilhelm
Vicki @ Fergie’s Bait; filed 4/19: “Fishing has been off to slow start at Wilhelm and there are a lot of dead gizzard shad along the shore causing a bad smell. But as the lake warms up, the bite has improved. Anglers are catching crappies and bluegills from shore using a small jig tipped with a maggot or minnow below a float. This approach works whether fishing down lake near the dam or on the upper causeway in the stumps. No word on any bass being caught and released. When walleye season opens the first week of May, we will see many more anglers on the lake.”
Deer Creek
Boy Scout Troop 254 (Saegertown) held their annual First Weekend of Trout Season Campout along the banks of Deer Creek in northern Mercer County. Their base of operation is the special Youth Fishing Area, part of the Trout Unlimited Deer Creek Project. Boy Scouts fish the stream and assist younger kids fishing the Project area. Scoutmaster Merle Knickerbocker said everyone was enjoying the nice weather on Saturday, given that past years the weather had been inhospitable or the stream was running high & muddy.
Shenango River Lake
Ramps are open and docks are in at Shenango Lake. While the number of boats on the lake was somewhat limited during the opening day of trout season, there were plenty of shoreline anglers. Anglers were spread out from the Shenango River Arm up the Pymatuning Creek Arm to Orangeville. A number of anglers were fishing the backwaters of Shenango Lake below the dam at Orangeville in hopes of catching a striper or some white bass. The Shenango River below the Shenango Dam was filled with anglers fishing for trout.
Lake Julia (Buhl Park Lake)
The rehabilitated Buhl Park Lake was once again stocked with trout for opening day. Many adults and children lined the shores, and many were catching trout.
VENANGO COUNTY
Bill @ Griffins Bait & Tackle; filed 4-19: “Here at Griffins Bait and Tackle, we have a mix of lake and stream fishermen come by. On the Mentor Fishing Day for youth, Logan Haylett caught a 20 inch 3-pound 4-ounce golden trout on Woodcock Creek. Logan was using a black Panther Martin Spinner with red hook. Chad Feltenberger landed a 7 pound walleye at Pymatuning Lake using a Sonar blade bait. We have been selling a lot of butter worms, maggots, wax worms, meal worms, fathead minnows and crawler harnesses.
Trout Streams
Jody @ Maurer’s Trading Post; filed 4/19: “Just got back from fishing the opening day of trout. We had a ball. Five of us fished Upper Two Mile Creek and caught 17 nice trout. Wax worms and butter worms were the best baits, along with Trout Magnets and C.P. Swings as the productive lures. The weather was absolutely beautiful and everyone we talked to in the store and on the streams caught fish. By the way, we are now stocking GAMMA Fishing Line and had rave reviews from our customers about it already!”
John Hummel (Kennedale); filed 4/19: “Perfect weather brought lots of fishermen, including female anglers, to East Sandy Creek for opening day of trout. Everyone seemed to be having at least moderate success. First picture is Raymie Mazanke (Kittanning) landing a trout in the evening. Second picture is Josh Varhola (Vandergrit) with his morning catch.” (See Livewell)
Chuck Sari (Franklin); filed 4/19: “I spent the first day of trout season with Reece and Kelan Sari. Reece is holding an 18 inch rainbow that he caught on a wax worm; Kelan is hold four trout he caught using minnows. All fish from Little Sugar Creek.” (See Livewell)
Dennis Beggs (Franklin); filed 4/19: “We fished Oil Creek today. Caught and released about 25 trout among the three of us. No large ones; mostly rainbows taken on eggs, salted minnows and spinners. Here is a picture of Kory Slye with a trout and his dad, Kim Slye in background. Great day to be outdoors!” (See Livewell)
Angler Al (Franklin); filed 4/18: “The weather was pleasant for this year’s opening of trout season. I ventured over the hill to Wyattville section of Sugar Creek. When I arrived the banks were lined with anglers. However by 10 am most of the fishermen decided to leave as the bite was a bit sluggish. However it picked up thereafter and I captured a few pictures of those who were successful. John Neely (Cochranton) landed an 18 inch Palomino on a wax worm. Quinn Ritchey (young lad from Cooperstown) landed a 21 inch Palomino. His fish hit a mealworm. It was great to see the heritage of fishing flowing. I witnessed fathers with their sons, uncles with their nephews and even a few grandparents invested time to mentor our sport. Hats off to all who were able to do the same. (See photos in Livewell)
Allegheny River
Gene Winger (Oil City); filed 4/20: “I fished the river on Friday, April 17th and got skunked! The river as over eight feet and sill somewhat muddy, but it was nice to be out! However, Saturday was a different story. My fist smallie was 19.5 inches – what a way to start the 2015 season! Over the next four hours, I landed 8 smallies, all in shallow water close to shore using a Winco Solid Body River Darter.”
Chris Wolfgong (Oil City); filed 4/19: “Dale Black and I fished the river today from 9 am to 1 pm. We caught at least 10 nice smallmouth in the 17 inch to 19 inch range, and one nice walleye. A majority of fish were caught in fast water or in the adjacent eddy. We tried a couple different baits but the best bite was on tubes.”
Pete Cartwright (Pittsburgh); filed 4/19: “Great fishing on the Allegheny River on April 17th, 18th and 19th. It was my first trip out for my annual opening day of trout Smallmouth Bass Outing. The smallmouth fishing was great. We landed nice fish from 19 to 21 inches, plus a huge 23 inch smallie with a 15 inch girth. All fish came on 412 Tubes from 412 Bait Company. Most of the fish came from faster current.” (See photos in Livewell)