Fishing report
Wading in cool trout streams in summertime is a timeless Southwestern Pennsylvania tradition.
But not in November.
With the recent deep freeze and snow behind us, Jordan Stranko of Greensburg dug through his garage to find chest waders and spinning rod stashed since August.
With his knowledge of Loyalhanna Creek and an Oct. 12 stocking of the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section, he surmised that snow melt may have washed some rainbow trout to the lower end of the special regulations area.
Tuesday at about 3 p.m., he parked on Two Mile Run Road, peered into the pool beneath the bridge and located a group of trout in standard regulation waters.
“The first thing I noticed was the trout were down really deep and on the bottom,” he said. “I tied in a hair jig with three split shot about 8 inches above it, threw it in and let it get to the bottom. I gave it a few pops and had a hit. To my surprise, the biggest one in the bunch, which I thought was a big sucker, came up and started rolling. I noticed immediately [that] the pink side meant big trout.”
Stranko stepped into the flow and reached for his net, which was still buried somewhere in the garage. Dangerously chest deep for about 5 minutes with icy water leaking under his safety belt, he reached under the surface and grabbed the big fish by the gill plate.
“My hands were numb but the excitement overcame me,” said Stranko. “It was the biggest tiger trout I have ever caught.”
The 22-incher was marked by the striated pattern typical of the hybrid species. Tiger trout occur when brown trout eggs are fertilized by brook trout sperm.
Brook trout spawn naturally in Loyalhanna and the state stocks browns, but crossbreeding is extremely rare.
It’s more plausible that the tiger trout escaped from a private hatchery upstream near Laughlintown and was washed downstream with the snowmelt.
Lake Erie tributaries (Erie County) A deep freeze kept many steelhead anglers off the streams, but those who braved the cold Saturday and Sunday found fish in Elk Creek.
Flow and color were ideal, but floating slush complicated fishing, particularly for fly anglers.
Good-sized steelhead were sighted in most tributaries, with catches reported off the wall at Walnut Creek Access Area and at the falls on Sixteen Mile Creek.
Daytime temperatures of 45-50 degrees were expected this weekend with rainfall likely to increase flow Friday and Sunday.
Pymatuning Reservoir (Crawford County) Despite a cold west wind, weekend anglers reported walleye suspended at 20-25 feet and panfish taking tipped jigs at submerged drop-offs.
Lake Arthur (Butler County) Fishing was cold, slow and difficult, but two separate reports indicated hand-sized bluegills taking tipped jigs near deep water drop-offs protected from the wind near Mt. Zion Church.
Connoquenessing Creek (Lawrence County) Last week, Steven Sturgess of Ellwood City caught and released two smallmouth bass of 18 and 20 inches near the confluence with the Beaver River.
Pine Creek (Allegheny County) Rainbow trout took spinners at the mouth of Willow Run Nov. 13. Three days later, two Pittsburgh anglers released four rainbows taken on nymphs below the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section off Mt. Royal Boulevard.
Loyalhanna Creek (Westmoreland County) Early this week, trout that were likely stocked in the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section in October were washed downstream by snowmelt and suspended near the bottom in deep water with moderate flow.
Dunbar Creek (Fayette County) David Doyle of Monroeville caught and released two browns (nymphs) and a rainbow (Wooly Bugger) in Catch and Release Fly Fishing Only waters off Betty Knocks Road.
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