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Lawrence Karam of Morningside, who has been fishing one dam on the Allegheny River for 35 years, said the current fall bite is, so far, the best ever.
Over five recent days he released four walleyes from 8 pounds 12 ounces to 11 pounds 2 ounces, drop-shotting creek chubs he'd trapped in a local tributary. The catches came from shore between 6-8 p.m. -- prime time for walleyes to forage. Karam ties a sinker to the end of his line and places the chub-baited hook about a foot higher. He said walleyes were feeding so aggressively the larger fish hit the bait before it reached bottom.
"I missed a couple big fish, too," he said.
Colder nights have dropped water temperatures, spurring walleyes to begin chowing down for winter. Recent rainfall raised water levels a little, said Karam on Tuesday. "The fishing was great and it's only going to get better."
Lee Murray of Lock Three Bait and Tackle in Cheswick weighed Karam's biggest fish, which measured more than 31 inches and had a 17 1/2-inch girth.
"From now through next March is big walleye time," said Murray. "You'll get your biggest fish of the year."
Three of the five largest walleyes reported in Pennsylvania last year also show how hot the bite can be when local rivers turn cold. Ranging from 12 pounds, 1 ounce to 12 pounds, 7 ounces, they were caught on various parts of the Allegheny from October through early March on a crawler, a jig and a shad rap.
In cold water, walleyes congregate together and are easier to locate. The key is to find areas with less current, or where calm water meets riffles because it gives fish the best of both worlds: the option of fast water when they want to feed and slack water when they want to save energy. In the lower, navigable reaches of the river, water downstream of lock chambers can be productive because it is deeper, well-oxygenated and dense with bait, offering the sort of current seams where walleyes can comfortably forage.
Murray said the dams fished well in late November because lower flow on the river minimized current.
Outdoors editor John Hayes will share details of the Post-Gazette's reporting on the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's new trout management plan at a free public meeting of Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at VFW Post 810, 3801 Clairton Blvd. (Rt. 51), Brentwood. Call 412-963-2824.
"That allowed fish to get up close to the dams," he said. "When water gets higher, they'll move out of the current to deeper holes, like at Highland Park. That'll be a great spot all winter."
Bank fishermen prefer higher water, Karam said, because it brings walleyes closer to shore.
Middle Allegheny River guide Jeff Knapp said high water tends to better define the slack water areas he targets in winter on the free-flowing stretch that begins at East Brady.
"I like the water behind islands and shoreline points, and some of the most consistent places on any river are the gravel bars at the mouths of tributaries," he said. "Depths that hold walleyes will vary, but you don't want to fish too shallow. You'll want to fish 6 to 8 feet or deeper."
You'll also want to slow your presentation, he said, since walleyes' willingness to chase bait plummets in relation to falling water temperatures.
"The best approach is a bottom presentation, with a jig and minnow or jig and soft plastic. What I fish a lot are bucktail jigs," said Knapp. "As far as color, I have a lot of faith in olive green. ... I usually use a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce weight and do an edge-drift through slower pools. The bite will be relatively light -- just a thump -- in cold water."
Knapp guides until the river freezes over, but limits winter fishing to daylight hours.
"When it gets cold, I'm not out at the crack of dawn, although walleyes will hit at that witching hour" he said. "I generally get on the water mid-morning and I'm off the water by the time it gets dark. I find that last half hour to 45 minutes is when you often have the best bite."
Anglers are likely to find varied year classes on the free-flowing Allegheny since young-of-year fall surveys in October also yielded incidental catches of adult fish, ranging from 15 to 30 inches, according to Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission regional biologist Al Woomer.
In recent years, the agency has not stocked walleye fry in most of the Allegheny River system in an effort to determine if natural reproduction alone can sustain populations there. The study is on-going, but Woomer is encouraged.
"Our surveys at five sites showed good young of year numbers downstream of Oil City and more variable numbers upstream at President and Tidioute," he said.
French Creek has been stocked with walleyes, but will be taken off the stocking schedule next year. One of the most ecologically diverse waterways in the state, it can yield monster walleyes.
Avid angler Rob Genter of Tidioute fishes the entire stretch of Allegheny from Oil City to the Kinzua dam and said it only gets better as temperatures fall.
"Walleye peak in numbers in mid-December. After that, you don't get as many bites, but you get really big fish in January and February," he said. "We catch walleyes we never see in June, July and August."
Genter fishes suckers or shiners because the blue-dot minnows locals call "riffle runners" are hard to catch on hook and line at this time of year, he said.
"Walleyes seem to like the greasier bait in winter, anyway, and suckers and shiners don't wiggle as much, either, which is what you want when walleyes are moving slower," he said.
Genter fishes a jig and minnow with 1/8th ounce weight in black, chartreuse or pink. Like Knapp, he targets any break in current, such as the water around bridge piers or where brook trout streams enter the river.
"I do 99 percent of my fishing from a boat," said Genter, "but in cold weather, bank fishing can sometimes be the better way to go because they'll be in the slack water closer to shore."
The state record for walleye was set in 1980 when a 17-pound 9-ounce fish was pulled through the ice on the Allegheny Reservoir.
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