This Report is brought to you by PA Great Lakes Region tourism with additional sponsorship from Wiegel Brothers Marina and Gamma Fishing. We answer the question “What’s biting in the lakes, stream and rivers of Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Venango counties?” FRENCH CREEK – Flowing through all four counties –
Pete Cartwright (filed 7/26: “Saturday evening I waded French Creek just north of Franklin and had better success than earlier on the Allegheny, landing a healthy 20-inch smallie along with a few other nice 15 to 16 inch fish.” (See photo)
Angler Al (Franklin); filed 7/26: “French Creek disappointed me. I went to a spot I would normally catch at least one smallmouth on live creek baits, but after an hour without a bite, I went home.”
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Pymatuning Lake
Norm @ Jamestown Marina; filed 7/26: “The musky bite is on right now like I have not seen in years! Bass fishermen are catching muskies left and right as well as musky fishermen. I had a number of customers catching walleyes by trolling Rapala Shad Raps on lead core line in about 20 feet of water.”
Dave @ Richter’s Bait; filed 7/26: “Anglers are still catching a surprising number of walleyes during the day for mid-summer. They are getting some by casting nightcrawlers to the weed edges in 6 to 10 feet of water. Another group of fishermen are trolling 18 to 20 feet with Rapala Shad Raps and Berkley Flicker Shads. The night walleye bite over the weedbeds has faded. Bass fishermen are reporting good catches of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. And there is a big musky bite going on too – perhaps the result of the stained water we have in the lake. All in all, fishing is good this summer.”
Patty @ Poff’s Place; filed 7/26: “Feels like summer has finally arrived and the catfish are biting all over the lake! I’m still getting reports of walleyes being taken by trolling Hot-N-Tots on the South End. Plus a few anglers are catching some crappies by fishing directly over the deepwater cribs. Also, they were catching crappies off the causeway in the evening over the weekend.”
Laurie @ Duck-n-Drake; filed 7/25: “Marty Miller caught a beautiful walleye on the North End of Pymatuning on the 25th in 10 feet of water off the Stumps. It measured 29 inches and weighed 7 pound 14 ounces. He was trolling a Rapala Shad Rap in blue and white. Also on the 25th, John DiGiando caught a 14 inch crappie on the South End!” (See photos)
Hooker @ Hill’s Country Store
- Filed July 19: “Hey Darl, with Pymatuning Lake water the color of the Illinois River on St. Patrick’s Day, the fish are staying very shallow for this time of year. Guests on Hooker’s Fishing Taxi having remarkable crappie success in the still flooded trees and overhanging bushes. We are fishing small Bobby Garland Baby Shad jigs under small floats, pitching and flipping to the little tunnels and holes in the cover. Many locals are catching jumbo perch in 8 feet of water on gravel points. The fish are not where we think they should be for this time of year, so we just fish where they are.”
- Filed July 25: “Hey Darl. Well it’s almost August but for this unusual year crappie fishermen should be thinking about typical fish locations for mid-June. The water level has dropped about a foot since last weekend, pulling all the bait and predators away from the bank. The fish are following the points and ditches out to their deep water haunts. They have taken advantage of the shallow feeding and packed on some weight. Larger Bobby Garland baits like the Swimming Minnow and Long John are working. These larger baits can be fished a little faster to generate a reflex strike, exciting the entire school.”
Brendan Conlon (Butler); filed 7/21: “I caught a nice musky on the Sunday during the Memorial Tournament for Ken Pate. I hooked it during the last 15 minutes of the tournament so we did not have time to measure it, but I guess it was in the upper 30 inches in length. I caught it on a white spinnerbait with double willow blades – don’t remember the brand since I’ve had it for years!”
Canadohta Lake
Jerry @ Timberland Bait; filed 7/27: “I am completely sold out of Storm Hot-n-Tots – all my new stock as well as used ones on the rack. During the last week, Canadohta walleyes have taken a fancy to Hot-N-Tots trolled by an electric motor. It is wild! I’ve also heard they are catching some muskies at Woodcock on live bait from the causeway, and pike are biting in French Creek at the Union City Dam outflow.”
ERIE COUNTY
Lake Erie
Jeff @ Poor Richards; filed 7/27: “Walleyes are being caught in 70 to 75 feet close to the Ohio line. Although hit and miss so far this summer, perch fishing is picking up some with limits being taken in 50 to 52 feet of water.”
Dan at Elk Creek Sports; filed 7/27: “They are consistently picking up decent walleyes in 75 to 80 feet of water. Perch have been sketchy, however it seems like it may be improving in 43 to 45 feet of water off both Walnut and Trout Run.”
Rich @ Erie Sports Store; filed 7/26: “The fishing on Lake Erie has been a bit spotty until recently as the weather has finally stabilized. They are now picking up walleye in 35 to 45 feet on crawler harnesses. The guys out deeper in 55 to 70 feet are doing well on deep diving crankbaits like Bagley’s and Bay Rats. Planer boards with 7 to 10 colors of lead core line have been working. The perch fishing is spotty. Best spots are between Trout Run and Elk Creek in 40 to 50 feet. Several limits of very nice perch have been taken, although there is a lot of junk fish in with the perch.”
Dave Horvath (Mercer); filed 7/24: “Hi Darl. I fished Lake Erie West today. The lake was beautiful and the weather sunny and hot. Perch still are not schooled up yet – the bite is spotty. We trolled for walleye and managed to fill half out tickets – but that’s why we call it fishing! It was a great day on the Big Pond. We also caught a bunch of white bass and sheephead. Tight lines!”
Thomas Watral (Erie); filed 7/25: “Anglers are catching perch and a few walleyes on the South Pier, and perch and crappies off the Borders Dock. Fishing at night has been very good. I’ve seen some nice walleyes, catfish and a few bass taken at night. Dusk to full darkness is best time; best baits have been larger minnows, leeches and crawlers.”
Inland Erie Waters
Thomas Watral (Erie); filed 7/25: “There are still lots of nice trout in the upper holes of the tributaries from Walnut to Twenty Mile; best baits have been minnows and crawlers. At Lake LeBoeuf, there are reports of pike being caught. Anglers are reporting walleyes and bass on large minnows south of Union City Dam on French Creek.”
MERCER COUNTY
Lake Wilhelm
Vicki @ Fergies Bait; filed 7/27: “Our customers are doing decent on walleye in the early morning and late in the day – little action mid-day. The best walleye bite is in 18 to 20 feet of water near the dam. Crappies are being caught suspended below the surface on shady banks both early and late; the best shorelines are from Launch 4 to the dam.”
Russ @ Wilhelm Marina; filed 7/26: “Walleye seems to be the best bite going on right now. I’m very pleased how our fishing contest is going, including our kids division. Just today, a 14 year old brought in a 27.5 inch 8 pound walleye – taken on a Hot-N-Tot. This past week, one customer caught three walleyes: a 28 inch 7.5 pound, 25 inch 5.5 pound and 21.5 inch 3 pound – all taken on Hot-N-Tots. We’ve been painting our pontoon rental fleet in bright colors so they are readily identified on the lake. Just this week we purchased six used Grumman fishing boats from another marina. We will have them ready to fish in short order. Other good things are in the planning stage, too.” (See photo)
Angler Al (Franklin); filed 7/26: “I spent a couple hours trolling Hot-N-Tots for walleye at Wilhelm without success. So I switched over to bass. Las year I won a prize tackle package from the Fishing Report that included Yum F2 Ferocity 3.75” Crawfish. Casting it to the weedline near Launch 4, I caught a fine 2-pound largemouth.” (See photo)
RJ Graham (Tionesta); filed 7/26: “We fished a team tournament at Wilhelm today, and turned into lost fish and missed opportunities. We ended up weighing four bass for 12 pounds. We dropped 3 bass around 3 pounds each. It took 5 fish for 20 pounds to win, so mistakes really cost us. All our bass came on crankbaits.”
Shenango Lake
Jon @ Consumer Direct Sports; filed 7/27: “Our store owner Jerry Hanna has been fishing Pymatuning, Shenango Lake, Conneaut Lake and other waters the last week, catching a good number of bass everywhere. You can judge by our sales as to what anglers are catching – we are sold out of Bomber Long A’s (for walleyes and stripers at Shenango) as well as a big dent in our Storm Hot-N-Tots with silver and red being the most popular color (for walleyes at Pymatuning and Wilhelm). We are also selling a lot of Storm Thundersticks, Shad Raps and the new Rapala Shadow Rap. The Erie smallmouth anglers have put a big dent in our Jackall Cross-Tail Shad and Strike King drop-shot bait stock, too.”
Steve Hughes (Clarion); filed 7/27: “I fished a tournament on Shenango on Saturday. It was a tough day for us – we only caught four keepers to the boat and had three bass jump off! We were throwing Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbait in 8 to 12 feet of water. It was tough for everyone – 15 pounds won but lots of teams did not have fish.”
VENANGO COUNTY
Sugar Creek & Justus Lake
Angler Al (Franklin); filed 7/26: “This past week I fished Sugar Creek, whereupon I nailed the trout species trifecta – a brown, brook and rainbow. All were taken on a nightcrawler in the 30 minute period before dark. Also my trip to Justus Lake produced 11 largemouths and 1 smallmouth on Sunday morning; all were taken on blood red hooks tipped with live creek baits.” (See photo)
Allegheny River
Gene Winger (Oil City); filed 7/27: “After two months of high muddy water, the Allegheny is back to normal! Thursday evening the water was still a little dirty but my 6-year old granddaughter Olivia and I managed several nice smallies with the largest measuring 18 inches. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the bite got tough; I landed only a few small bass and a walleye. Most fish were caught tight against the shore or in the shallow fast moving water. We tried everything, but the most productive baits were Winco’s Tastee Tube Supreme and the 3.75” Solid Body River Darter.” (See photo)
Pete Cartwright @ SmalliesontheYough.com; filed 7/27: “I fished up river on the 24th and caught one 19 inch smallmouth, as well as a few dinks all on 412 Bait 412ubes. On the 25th I fished the river in Franklin and caught few bass around 13 inches. Don’t know why the bite was so tough – other than the water being somewhat dirty than normal.”
Marilyn Black (Cochranton); 7/25: “Darl and I fished the river at Oil City for couple hours after work on Friday – mainly testing out the jet motor after having new seals installed. We had one blow up on a buzzbait in the fast water. Saturday afternoon we launched at Franklin. Bite was nearly non-existent. Darl caught a couple smallies in the 13/14 inch range on a handtied Jimmy D River Bug hair jig.”
Frank Malek (Oil City); filed 7/24: “Today, Friday the 24th, we caught a 7 pound and huge 10-pound walleye. Tubes were the bait of choice.” (See photos)
RJ Graham (Tionesta); filed 7/23: “I fished the river Thursday, July 23 and caught about 30 smallmouth bass. The biggest was 4.5 pounds. All were taken on a jig-n-craw.”
Ken Anderson (Tionesta); filed 7/13: :I caught a 20.5 inch walleye on Saturday July 11 on a Rapala Scatter Rap crankbait while trolling the Allegheny River near Tidioute in muddy high water. Not a big deal but I wanted to let you know the bait was one that received as a prize for contributing to the Fishing Report two years ago. Please thank the sponsor of the prize – Rapala. Oh, I’ll need to buy another because that pinkish purple-red one is hook to the bottom of the river now!” (See photo)