7 day forecast
District Fishing Report: 6.22.12
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Pymatuning Reservoir (Crawford County): Walleye fishing has been hot since spring, but wildlife officials say so many legal harvests have been removed from the lake that recent catches were shifting to the sublegal. The most effective bait was worm harnesses fished in less than 10 feet.
Allegheny River (Venango County): Jigs and white flukes were the hot bait for smallmouths, and cut bait, chubs and other live baits took catfish with many hookups at dusk.
Justus Lake (Venango County): Bass fishing was slow but anglers caught trout as deep as 25 feet, particularly near the dam.
Piney Dam (Clarion County): Anglers reported nice catches of bass, walleyes and yellow perch.
Lake Arthur (Butler County): In April John Mook of Sewickly released a 20-inch, 5 1/2-pound largemouth, caught on a Chatterbait.
Raccoon Lake (Beaver County): The June 16 opening of bass season was largely a bust, although some 12-inch largemouths went for jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, and one 18-incher was taken at dusk near the beach on a topwater plug.
Keystone Lake (Armstrong County): Bass season opened with a slow bite and walleye fishing had slowed. Some bluegills and crappies were caught.
Allegheny River (Allegheny County): During a June 13 fishing field trip with the Outdoors Club of City Charter High School, 15-year-old Thomas Bayerlein of Carrick caught and released a 33-inch northern pike off the North Shore, Downtown. Northerns are rare in waters near The Point. The ninth grader caught it on a spin-cast rod with a worm. He was issued an Angler Award citation by the state Fish and Boat Commission.
The catch of a northern marked an auspicious debut for this year's Downtown Tri-Anglers, a Venture Outdoors project in which people gather to fish 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays on the North Shore near the Clemente Bridge. Rods, tackle and bait provided, state fishing license required for age 16 and over. For details call 412-255-0564.
Using a floating jointed Rapala, Tom Hudec of Monroeville caught a 21-inch smallmouth near the mouth of Deer Creek.
North Park Lake (Allegheny County): Some bass were taken, but the June 16 opening of bass season was generally slow on this impoundment managed within the Big Bass program (15-inch minimum, daily limit four combined species).
Yellow Creek Lake (Indiana County): Bass fishing was slow and the walleye bite had diminished, but bluegills, crappies and catfish were active. Fish and Boat reports a 30-inch northern was spotted.
Glendale Lake (Cambria County): In early June the state stocked 32,000 walleye fingerlings. Some nice bass were caught during the first week of bass season, and crappie catches were sporadic.
Quemahoning Reservoir (Somerset County): Bucking the trend of a slow opening weekend bass bite, nice largemouths and smallmouths were taken in this Big Bass program lake.
Lake Somerset (Somerset County): Bass fishing was generally stable on this Big Bass impoundment despite the lake being drawn down 6 inches for aquatic plant management.
Canonsburg Lake (Washington County): The trout bite has slowed, and lots of small panfish were caught.
Spring Creek, Penns Creek (Centre County): With flow rates in the fishable range, both creeks yielded trout. Caddis patterns and nymphs were hot.
Ohio: Dominic Westbay, a 15-year-old student at Shenango High School, caught a 42-inch, 31-pound grass carp at a private pond.
West Virginia: The winner of the June 16 Chester Newell Sportsmen's Club Catfish Tournament was Kenneth Mellot of Calcutta, Ohio, who landed a cat measuring 41 1/2 inches. The contest was held on the Ohio River from Wheeling, W.Va. to Pittsburgh, and included 76 anglers. The next tournament is scheduled for July 14. For details call 304-387-3982.
Report your catch to fishingreport@post-gazette.com. Include angler's name, age (for children), place of residence, species, size, body of water, date of catch and phone number (not for publication).
First Published June 22, 2012 12:00 am
