Page 2 - Fishing Report | 8-24-15

NW PA FISHING REPORT FOR AUGUST 24, 2015

This Report is brought to you by PA Great Lakes Region tourism with additional sponsor-
ship from Wiegel Brothers Marine and Gamma Fishing.

We answer the question: “What’s biting in the lakes, streams, and rivers of Crawford,
Erie, Mercer and Venango counties?”

FRENCH CREEK – flowing through all four counties

Jerry @ Timberland Bait & Tackle; filed 8/24: “Customers floating upper part of French
Creek have been catching smallmouth and walleye on hand-tied hair jigs in the deepest
holes they can find. With the water so shallow, gamefish are holding to the holes – at
least during the daylight. The best jigs are crayfish patterns tied locally and available at
Timberland Bait & Tackle.”

Angler Al (Franklin); filed 8/23: “I didn’t have time to fish this week personally, however I
did speak with a couple anglers who did. My friend Matt Watson caught a few decent
walleye on several occasions during the evening hours on French Creek. His presentation
primarily was a Rebel Frog lure and a Shad Rap #5. While in Erie on business, I swung by
Walnut Creek Access. Check the Erie section to see what I learned.”

Editor’s Note: With the nice weather and low
water level recently, French Creek has been
overflowing with kayakers, canoeists, and tube
floaters on weekends – but few anglers. I had
been scouting the Creek for bluedots, making
several trips to different access areas without
locating any bait. Exceptionally high water in
early summer followed by exceptionally low wa-
ter within weeks may be contributing to lack of
baitfish. I spoke with Dustin Shay just before he
left for a western adventure last week; he stated even the regular rats were having trou-
ble finding their favorite indigenous baitfish for creek & river smallmouth. The good news:
I finally found a section of creek with lots of bluedots. Now I’m ready to gather bait and
go fish! However, it is too warm to hold baitfish overnight in an aerated cooler; but if you
have a spring creek on your property, then you might be in luck for holding bait.