A couple of my boys and I were able to spend several evenings fishing the Ohio River below the Montgomery Dam last week. Seeing only one or two other anglers each time, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. In each instance, the others left shortly after dark. That was a bad decision on their part as that was when we started catching fish.
Throwing a variety of large bucktails or minnow-type sinking plugs, we landed a few walleye in the 18- to 24-inch range along with a freshwater drum or two. Strangely, we hooked up with only one hybrid striper.
Dennis Osterrieder has been fishing mostly during daylight hours and says the fishing has been slow. He was at the Montgomery Dam recently and had the place to himself when he caught a white bass and, later, a 25-inch hybrid striper, one of the bigger hybrids he has landed.
"He put up a heck of a fight in the current. As he got into the shallow water, I could see how big he was," said Osterrieder, of Hopewell Township.
Osterrieder has been having his best results with live bait and minnow-type plugs.
The hottest action on the local rivers is for catfish. Anglers fishing at night are doing well landing large flathead and smaller channel catfish. Cut bait and live panfish are the baits of choice. A large flathead that might have set a new state record was caught last week. The fish weighed slightly over 60 pounds on an unofficial scale and was released unharmed.
Anglers fishing Raccoon Creek Lake reported a slow bite over last weekend with the best fish being largemouth bass in the 3- to 4-pound range. Plastic worms and creature baits worked the best.
Lake Wilhelm in Mercer County is a pretty good bet right now. Boat anglers are doing well catching largemouth bass, walleye, crappie, bluegill and yellow perch. I could not find any reports of good channel catfish action.
Crawford County waters are producing walleye, smallmouth bass, panfish and musky. While French Creek has been low and hard to fish, Woodcock Creek Lake, Canadohta Lake and Sugar Lake are producing. We made the trip to Conneaut Lake two weeks ago, and the pleasure boat traffic was overwhelming.
Some of the best reports are coming out of Lake Erie and the Allegheny Reservoir at the top of the state.
At Lake Erie, anglers are catching walleye in 45 to 60 feet of water using plugs, crawler harnesses and spoons and also lake trout in 100 to 113 feet of water. Largemouth bass and panfish are active in the weed beds in Presque Isle Bay.
A variety of fish are being caught at Kinzua. In the reservoir, anglers are catching smallmouth bass on small crankbaits, jigs, stickbaits and plastic worms in two to 20 feet of water in the early mornings and walleye in depths of six to 40 feet using crawler harnesses, spoons and spinners. Below the dam on the river, muskellunge and brown trout are hitting live bait, smallmouth bass are taking tube jigs and the walleye are picking up just about everything.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission reminds anglers to take summer weather conditions into consideration when fishing for trout. In many cases during hot and dry conditions, trout will seek out the closest source of cold water to provide thermal relief. This often results in many trout congregating at the mouths of cool-water tributaries or spring seeps.
The commission asks anglers to consider that while crowded and thermally stressed trout in a pool of water may look like an easy target, these fish are typically in poor condition and difficult to catch. Anglers should avoid fishing for trout during these conditions, as it can have lasting impacts on the population.
Mike Barcaskey is a local sportsman. He can be reached at mikebarcaskey@outlook.com.
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Outdoors: Fishing holes where the fish are biting - Ellwood City Ledger
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