Page 5 - Fishing Report | 3-13-19

Phil @ Poor Richards; filed 3/11: Streams busted up over weekend; no fish reported. Water
is coming down today but will retain some color.

Becky @Elk Creek Sports; filed 3/11: Too much water and too much current over weekend.

But no major rain in forecast. Setting up for a good weekend of steelhead.

MERCER COUNTY

Shenango Lake

Corey Bice, Sharpsville; filed 2/23: I’ve had a decent ice season on She-
nango although ice conditions were changing due to weather and rain.
You have to know how to get out to good ice. Today I caught crappies
pretty good, including my largest for the season. (See photo)

Editor’s Note: I met Corey while doing a drive around of Shenango at the Corey’s big Crappie
end of February. His was the only ice fishing report I received from She-
nango Lake this season. As a USACE flood control lake like Woodcock, Shenango is prone to
unexpected raising and lowering of water level based on rain fall. The ice is slower to form

due to current, and the ice pack can break loose from shore during times of heavy rain as
lake level raises.

Lake Wilhelm
Keith @ Dutch Fork Custom Lures; filed 3/9: I fished Lake Wilhelm
on Friday, March 8 for one last ice trip of the year. My daughter

was home on spring break, so we borrowed some gear and head-
ed to the south end of the lake. In 18 feet of water we caught
crappie and bluegill on small spoons and jigs tipped with maggots.
However, the sunny afternoon proved a bit tougher. With sun out,
Wilhelm Crappie/Keith photo
crappie stopped biting. But we moved shallower to 15 feet and
bluegills continued to bite – but mostly smaller fish. We only caught a few large crappies.
Other guys were only catching small fish in the afternoon, so we left.

Bo @ BC Baits; filed 3/9: We had a couple anglers out on Wilhelm throughout the week.
They reported catching good amounts of crappies and bluegills on white Pickworms and
pink Terry Bugs down towards Launch 1 and the Dam. The ice today was an average of 4
inches and appeared to be melting fast. I fear safe ice fishing has come an end with this
evening’s rain. I did fish Neshannock Creek this evening with a flyrod. I observed a number
of trout but only hooked up once using a pink Pickworm.