September 22 issue of NW PA Fishing Report

This September 22nd issue of the NW PA Fishing Report welcomes the first day of calendar autumn. The cool down is on the way and will be felt big time by the weekend. Fishing wise, there are ample options, including the start of the Erie steelhead run now underway and a very strong flowing-water smallmouth...

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September 8 NW PA Fishing Report

The air conditioning isn’t running constantly all day. It was so cool in the mornings this past week I had to pull on jeans instead of shorts. The last couple fronts can properly be called cold fronts. Water temperature in area lakes has fallen out of the 80s into the high 70s. The summer season...

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July 28 NW PA Fishing Report

The Lake Erie walleye bite is exceptionally good right now with lots of eating-size fish; this should continue through August. Inland bodies of water are receding except for a couple flood control impoundments. In addition to the Erie walleye bite, the hottest inland lake this summer is Shenango Lake – still high with only one...

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July 14 NW PA Fish Report

The Erie walleye bite is on strong – if you can dodge the storms to get out for few hours. On inland waters, bluegills, catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and hybrid stripers have been supplying the action in area lakes and rivers. However, with heavy rain of the last couple days, the Allegheny, French Creek,...

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June 30 NW PA Fish Report

Summer is here and fish are transitioning to summer foraging areas. Depending on the species you desire, that are a variety of angling options. Some of the hot bites right now are offshore walleye on Lake Erie, smallmouth bass in Lake Erie, smallmouth bite in rivers/creeks, walleye at Pymatuning, crappies at Shenango Lake and catfish...

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April 21 NW PA Fish Report

April is a time of weather extremes and those cold extremes can shut down shallow water springtime fish species. Fishing success can be impressive during warming trends, only to go into a downward spiral with the next cold front. Pymatuning Lake, Shenango Lake and Allegheny River have seen hot bites go up and down the...

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March 17 NW PA Fish Report

The ice is gone! We can fish open water! However, with a slightly early than normal ice out, it seems some of the expected ice-out bites are a little slow. I think by this weekend – First Day of Spring – or the latest early next week, angler should be experiencing better bites. Nonetheless, this...

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Feb 12 NW PA Fish Report

With less than six weeks until the first day of spring, Ice Fishing in NW PA is finally I full swing. And looking at the long-range forecast, it appears they will be ice fishing right through mid-March. Steelhead streams are frozen, and both the Allegheny River and French Creek are chunked up with ice. Ice...

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Jan 22 NW PA Fish Report

Mid-winter in NW Pennsylvania. Over last couple weeks, only a couple small lakes had sufficient ice for ice fishing activities. But with extended cold spell upon us, sometime in the next week the ice should be of sufficient thickness to support hardwater group fishing activities on more for lakes. However, the extended cold will freeze...

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Dec 14 NW PA Fishing Report

Across NW PA, fishing has slowed down – except for action in the steelhead streams. Strong agreement that this is one of the best returns of steelhead in some years. If winter weather does hit too hard, tributaries should remain open for several more weeks. On inland rivers and lakes, fewer anglers are out right...

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