FISHING REPORT - SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

Steve Udick's 44 1/2-inch Allegheny River muskie. Steve Udick photo.

Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay Rough weather put the kibosh on fishing this week. Prior reports included smallmouth bass in 30 to 50 feet, as well as smallmouth and largemouth bass on drop-shot rigs in 17 to 25 feet just outside the bay. The bay was yielding crappies up to 14 and16 inches, with the Duck Border Patrol dock and Presque Isle Marina productive spots. Big bluegills were reported off the south pier. Largemouth bass were hitting rubber worms in 8 to 12 feet on the outside edge of weed beds Sept.1. Other anglers reported numbers of small bass. A few steelhead were at the creek mouths.Lake LeBoeuf (Erie County) Bill Logan of Pleasantville caught a 35-inch northern pike while casting a curly-tail bait for muskies. Union City Reservoir (Erie County) Shore anglers were releasing northern pike on shiners and minnows by the dam in recent weeks. Allegheny River/Allegheny Reservoir (Warren County)Terry Schrader of Warren landed two walleyes, 24 inches, 5 ½ pounds and 23 inches, 5 ¼ pounds, in the outflow of the Kinzua Dam. Catfish were hitting at night. The reservoir was yielding white bass.Pymatuning Lake (Crawford County) Cooler nights made walleyes a little more active, with 22- to 26-inch fish reported by anglers drifting jigs and crawlers. Crappies were hitting minnows in 14 to 20 feet. Conneaut Lake (Crawford County)Chad Templin of Saegertown and a buddy caught a dozen bass about 2 pounds drop-shotting the outside weed lines the morning of Sept Canadohta Lake (Crawford County) Bill Logan of Pleasantville caught a 5 ½-pound largemouth bass. Other anglers reported bass and northern pike. A Union City angler caught a 7 ½-pound largemouth. French Creek (Crawford, Venango counties) An angler caught two northern pike on a white bucktail spinnerbait, and released a 20-inch smallmouth bass.Allegheny River (Venango County) Catfish were the main catch, with flatheads biting on live bait. Steve Udick of Oil City released a 44 1/2-inch muskie on a 4-inch tube jig while targeting bass near Oil City. Other anglers caught smallmouth bass up to 17 inches on rubber worms in various depths. Lake Wilhelm (Mercer County)Bluegills were being taken on waxworms, while crappies, 8 to 10 inches, were hitting minnows. Largemouth bass, 14 to 17 inches, were reported on crankbaits in about 11 feet of water. Rich Black of Slippery Rock and Rich Burnside of Clintonville released 10 largemouths up to 17 inches. Lake Arthur (Butler County)A fair number of largemouth bass, catfish, and bluegills were reported, along with a few striped bass in the evenings.Glade Run Lake (Butler County)Small-size bass and bluegills were reported. Allegheny RiverBass up to 3 pounds, a couple of 15-inch walleyes, and the occasional flathead catfish were hitting on the bottom near the dams, mostly from shore. Highlights of the Downtown TriAnglers’ Wednesday outing on the North Shore included a 20-inch smallmouth buffalo released by Tom Lippert of Spring Garden, and a 19-inch channel catfish released by Dave Gaborek of Bethel Park.Monongahela RiverBig flathead catfish were biting live bluegills and chicken livers. Channel cats and freshwater drum also were reported. Ohio RiverRuss Greshauk of McKees Rocks caught a 26-inch, 6-pound 2-ounce walleye, and two other walleyes 19 and 17 1/2 inches on 4-inch white twister tails in the back channel, Sept. 3. Youghiogheny RiverA slow bite was reported despite last Friday’s state trout stocking, but some nice smallmouth bass were caught on crayfish between the Casselman River mouth and Ramcat Run. Youghiogheny Reservoir (Fayette County)Five anglers boated 23 smallmouth bass up to 18 inches and some nice perch in 15 to 18 feet. Other anglers caught channel catfish near the Route 40 bridge. Cross Creek Lake (Washington County)Largemouth bass and crappies were reported amid light fishing pressure. Keystone Lake (Armstrong County)Largemouth and smallmouth bass were reported. A few walleyes were hitting near Reefer’s Cove.Glendale Lake (Cambria County)Crappies, a few nice-size northern pike, and bowfin were reported. Clover Reservoir (Cambria County)A good perch bite was reported in recent weeks. Wilmore Dam (Cambria County) Anglers were catching bass in recent weeks. Yellow Creek Lake (Indiana County)Perch and a few walleyes and bass were reported. Hemlock Lake (Indiana County) Small numbers of mostly small-size bass and northern pike were reported. Lake Somerset (Somerset County)Crappies were hitting off the pier. Channel catfish and a few largemouth bass also were reported just prior to the drawdown that began this week. Quemahoning Reservoir (Somerset County)One angler caught 27-inch walleye. Others caught a few northern pike and some smallmouth bass.

MONSTER PIKE BOATED IN ALLEGHENY RESERVOIR

Jim Sprankle pike. Grizzly Gary Bait and Tackle photo.

Although he set out to boat a big muskie on the Allegheny Reservoir, Jim Sprankle caught what was, inch for inch, a more spectacular fish---a 49 ¼-inch northern pike.
The 42 year old Indiana County lure maker caught the 26-pound 12-ounce behemoth with 22 ¼-inch girth around 7:30 pm, Aug. 25. He was trolling one of his own 11-inch jointed plugs---a red and white Sprankle’s Pile Diver---21 feet down in 22 feet of water at about 3.2 miles an hour, he said.“I thought I had a nice muskie on,” said Sprankle, who didn’t get much of a fight on 100-pound test. “It gave a couple of good tugs and came right to the boat. When it came to the surface and turned sideways, I kind of flipped out. I was like, ‘Holy *#@, it’s a pike! I can’t believe it!’”
His buddy Chris Costello, also of Indiana, netted the fish. Sprankle knew instantly he would keep it. “I’ve been muskie fishing 12 years and I’ve let 50 pike go in my lifetime, but this was a quick decision,” he said. “I don’t like killing fish, but I know I’ll never catch another one that big again. It will help out our business.”Sprankle makes solid plastic floating lures marketed wholesale under the brand name Sprankle’s Bait. The Allegheny River watershed is known for yielding monster pike, including the state record---a 35-pounder iced New Year’s Day in 2000. The reservoir and river also produced four of the five largest pike caught anywhere in the state last year. Sprankle’s fish was bigger than all but one----a 30-pounder Rex E. Moretti caught in the Allegheny River watershed in Warren.“This is a giant pike even by Canadian standards,” Sprankle said of his trophy. “The really neat part is most people don’t even catch a muskie this size.”Sprankle thinks the Allegheny Reservoir’s pike fishery has gotten even better in recent years, an observation backed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. “The number of pike does appear to be improving. We’ve surveyed some good year classes,” said agency biologist Tim Wilson. “Pike like cool, deep water, which the Allegheny Reservoir has. Not many pike grow to the size of (Sprankle’s) fish because pike are aggressive and easily caught. They just aren’t left to live long enough to get that big.”Sprankle took his pike into Grizzly Gary Outdoors, a Warren County tackle shop owned by radio personality Gary Wert, who also maintains a website, where Sprankle’s feat soon became the topic of the day. It generated kudos as well as a debate about whether Sprankle should have harvested his catch. In an informal website poll, respondents favored catch and release. Someone named Buckhorn posted the following: “I would take pics, measure, and get a reproduction made up. That way, someone else can get enjoyment out of catching a trophy fish, too, and hopefully they would do the same and release it. To me, there is no sense in killing a trophy fish just for the sake of mounting it.”
In contrast, Big Buck posted: “I release many, many fish. But if I got what I figured to be a true trophy, like a 50-plus musky, it would go to the taxidermist. They make those complete fakes now, but, hey, it's fake. A true trophy fish has lived many years and spawned many times; its job is done.”Wert and his shop partner Tim Kolstee differed in their opinions, too, with Kolstee defending harvest of a trophy and Wert leaning toward release. “I understand you get it mounted and tell stories for years and years and have something to show your kids and grandkids, but I’d have let it go to live and fight another day, and in a couple of months it might have become the new state record,” Wert said.

FISHING REPORT SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

Chris Wolfgong with 30-inch Allegheny River northern pike. Chris Wolfgong photo.

Lake ErieThe perch bite was excellent midweek straight out of Walnut Creek in 47 to 55 feet. Walleye fishing slowed a little, but mixed sizes were still coming in the first and second trenches in 75 to 80 feet. Anglers were also picking up a few steelhead up to 10 pounds while trolling for walleyes. Although a few brown trout and even fewer steelhead have been showing up at the creek mouths overnight, it is not worth a trip to Erie to target them, according to Poor Richard’s Bait and Tackle.Allegheny River/Allegheny Reservoir (Warren County)White bass were active for anglers drifting golden shiners in the reservoir. One angler limited out on walleyes in Willow Bay. Catfish were biting in the river. Pymatuning Lake (Crawford County) The walleye bite improved last weekend, with anglers doing well on jigs and crawlers in 14 to 22 feet. Crappies were hitting in 14 to 20 feet around stumps, brushpiles and other structure. A few slabs up to 15 inches were reported. A few muskies up to 39 inches were released by anglers trolling plugs. Conneaut Lake (Crawford County)Butch Ritter and his son won last weekend’s local bass tournament with a limit totaling 14 ½ pounds, including the lunker---a 6 1/3-pounder caught on a drop-shot rig. Bass in mixed sizes, including many sublegals, were reported by other anglers. Tamarack Lake (Crawford County)
Slow fishing was reported, with small panfish hitting fathead minnows and red worms. Woodcock Creek Lake (Crawford County)A few walleyes and smallmouth bass were reported this week. Canadohta Lake (Crawford County)
Bill Logan of Titusville reported three muskie “follows” on a 10-inch lure and brought a 24-inch walleye to the boat. A few largemouth bass were reported. Allegheny River (Venango County)Anglers reported very good smallmouth fishing, with big numbers in mixed sizes from sub-legal to 18 ½ inches over the past couple of weeks. Chris Wolfgong caught a 30-inch northern pike Sunday. Chuck Sari and his son caught 21 smallmouths and four walleyes on live chubs last weekend, but the walleye bite was spotty.Lake Wilhelm (Mercer County)Al Means of Sandy Lake released three bass, averaging 2 to 3 pounds, in 12 feet, Wednesday. Warm water in recent days has sent fish deeper. Small panfish also were reported. Lake Arthur (Butler County)Dan Lynn of Renfrew caught a 5 ½-pound, 21 ¼-inch largemouth bass with 15-inch girth Sunday. Water temperatures had dropped to the mid-70s prior to this week’s heat wave. A little evening hybrid striper and walleye action was reported. Catfish were hitting. The crappie bite slowed. Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio riversRon Pate and Mike Rychorcewicz, both of Butler, won last Saturday’s Keystone Bass Buddy Circuit tournament out of the Southside’s Riverfront Park, with a 6-fish limit totaling 8 1/3 pounds. Dan Lyle of Kittaning caught the 2 ¼-pound lunker. In all, 86 two-person teams caught 176 fish totaling 193 ½ pounds, including 159 smallmouths, 1 largemouth, and 16 spotted bass. Eleven teams weighed limits.Cross Creek Lake (Washington County)
Bluegills and crappies remained the dominant catch again this week, with the bass and walleye bites down. Anglers were catching larger bluegills drifting mealworms and maggots in the deeper water. Crappies were hitting in 10 to 15 feet for anglers trolling yellow and brown Joe’s Flies or prop jigs tipped with minnows. Youghiogheny RiverA trout-stocking by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission was slated for today.Youghiogheny Reservoir (Fayette County)Lee Dively of Confluence released a 19-inch smallmouth and other anglers reported limits earlier this week.Virgin Run Dam (Fayette County)The fish and boat commission is slated to begin drawing down water to control aquatic plant management next week.Somerset Lake, Highpoint Lake (Somerset County)The fish and boat commission is slated to begin drawing down water for plant control next week. Raystown Lake (Huntingdon County)A slow bite was reported for largemouth, smallmouth and striped bass.