Fishing report
Lake Erie tributaries (Erie County) Recent rain and snowmelt stained the water, increased flow and beckoned fresh fish to join a major run on Lake Erie tributaries. When the water began to drop Monday, the creeks were loaded with big steelhead and brown trout. Small streams drained faster than bigger waters.
“Finally got the rain we needed last weekend and a bunch of fish came in,” said fly fisherman Alex Ielace of Port Vue. “Conditions were pretty much perfect. Water had just dropped and was a good green color.” Ielace hooked 15 steelhead and browns and landed 10 on east side streams. During his first steelhead trip Monday, Martin Rishel of White Oak was retrieving an egg sac on lower Elk Creek when a speeding steelhead smashed into the bait within a rod’s length of his position, giving him his first catch. In two days last week before the rain, Ben Rush of Upper St. Clair caught his first several steelhead on Walnut Creek including a fish that measured 29½ inches and weighed 9½ pounds. The National Weather Service announced a lake effect snow warning Thursday, cautioning that Lake Erie would be hit with a “crippling” period of thundersnow and nearblizzard conditions. Snowfall of 5-8 inches was expected Friday in Erie County with temperatures dropping to the low 20s through Saturday night. NTS predicted the mercury would be back in the 40s by Monday.
Shenango Reservoir (Mercer County) Crappies were suspended at 15 feet near submerged drop-offs.
Neshannock Creek (Lawrence County) Despite chilly air temperatures, waters below the dam at Volant were in good shape for autumn trout fishing. The Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section had good flow and about 18 inches of visibility. Last week, Wooly Buggers and Pheasant Tail nymphs were hot. Downstream from the Route 201 bridge, anglers caught and released rainbow trout presumably from an October state stocking.
Lake Arthur (Butler County) Low angler pressure was reported, but hand-size bluegills were caught off a steep bank on the south shore.
Pine Creek (Allegheny County) Spin angler Steven Alton of Etna caught and released three rainbow trout behind the driving range. The Delayed Harvest Artificial
Lures Only stretch was stocked Oct. 13.
Deer Creek (Allegheny County) Light rain Saturday put a little stain on the water, just enough to hide an off-white Wooly Bugger until it was about a foot in front of fish Sunday, said Allan Barton of Monroeville. He released three rainbows and lost several more in the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only area below the juncture of Route 910 and Campbell Road.
Twin Lakes (Westmoreland County) About a month after Fish and Boat’s fall trout stocking, rainbows went for live bait fished deep off the lower lake dam. On Oct. 30, a Greensburg angler targeting catfish in waters off a steep hillside below the Lower Lake Loop trail caught a 20-inch channel cat on a gob of crawlers suspended a foot off the bottom.
File your fishing report and high-resolution digital photos (1MB minimum) at fishingreport@ Include name, age (for under 18 years), town, species, size, body of water and details of the catch.