Page 5 - Fishing Report | 12-19-2018

Allegheny River
Jeff Knapp @ Keystone Connection Guide Service; filed 12-16:
Recent fishing activity has been outstanding. With water temper-
atures dropping into the 30s I’ve been targeting walleye on both
the middle (free-flowing) and lower (navigable) Allegheny River.
We’re getting both numbers and size on guide trips and “buddy”
trips. Plenty of keepers in the 16 to 20-inch range, as well as

large females which we release. Recently the river produced my
personal best walleye, at 13.44 pounds/31 inches. On Keystone Power Dam we’re still catching
big smallmouth bass, along with occasional walleye and tiger musky. During the recent period
Keystone produced my personal best inland (not Great Lakes) smallmouth bass at 5.56
pounds/22.25 inches. Getting the walleyes on hair jigs, jig-n-minnow and blade baits. Blade
baits for smallies. I’ll continue guiding as long as the weather and river/lake conditions allow.

(PS – Last minute call from Jeff saying the smallmouth bite at Keystone appears
to have ended.)

Pete Cartwright @ Smallies on the Yough; filed 12/16: We
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fished the Allegheny on the 15 . Water temp was cold. We
used 412ubes to land some nice smallmouth and a few wall-
eyes. All smallies were 16 to 20 inches. The bite was pretty
good for an hour or so, then it slowed. This might be the last
trip until spring…but you never know!

Mike McFadden at Mike’s Custom Baits; filed
12/16: The walleye fishing in the river has been very
good this late fall when the water level was up. We
were limiting out on decent walleyes around

Thanksgiving. But gradually the river level dropped
and the walleye bite slowed. On my last couple trips
this past week, I’ve only managed a few sub legal
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walleyes and maybe one or two legal ones. On the 16 , I actually caught more 12 to 14-inch
smallmouth bass than walleye, including one four-pound smallie – all on Ned Rigs.

Bill Logan (Pleasantville); filed 12/15: I was musky fished the Allegheny today near Tionesta. I
had a 30 pounder follow my bait, a huge half-pound curly tail grub. I kept casting. It followed

again. I kept casting. It hit. Game on! I could hardly hold it on my musky rod with 80 lb. braid. I
expected the rod to snap. Water temperature was in the mid-30s. Finally played it out enough
to guide it into the net. But the hooks tangled in the mesh by the rim. I had a 50 inch plus
musky across my net but not in it. It thrashed and got free. What a thrill! Life is good today.