Page 3 - Fishing Report 11-24-15

Darl @ Fishing with Darl Black; filed 11/23: “What a

difference the weather can make! On Veteran’s Day 11-

11, while breaking in my new Yamaha motor and lock-

ing in spots with the new Garmin GPSMAP 7608xsv, I

occasionally dropped a blade down to suspected fish,

catching mainly crappies with the occasional sublegal

walleye. But when I pulled onto one hump late in the

afternoon, there was a school of big fish down there. Garmin GPSMAP clears shows fish on hump

(See pic of sonar screen) I hate to use the worn out

metaphor, but the walleyes were stacked like cord

wood. Every drop of my ¼-oz Heddon Sonar was a fish…not

huge ‘eye but all keepers. However, there was no one else in the

boat to pose as model! Not desiring to keep any fish, I immedi-

ately released each ‘eye I caught. That week, the 9th through the
13th, was the same time that Dave Lefebre was on the lake for

his annual multi-day Pymatuning trip. (See his report next.) But, Yes, they were walleye!

when I returned the following week for three days – Sunday,

Monday and Tuesday 15th-17th, all we could muster was a single legal ‘eye each day. The

previous week was the New Moon and somewhat breezy, overcast, raining weather. The
15th – 17th were exceptionally nice days for November. The conclusion we all know – wall-

eye bite better on foul days, and the New Moon likely helped.”

Dave Lefebre (Erie); filed 11/23: “On our annual fall Pymi

trip this year, we caught bigger than average walleyes; out

of the last 6 eye, all were 23 to 28 inches. Fished the first

four days with my uncle Denny and Dad, ending up with

An 8 pound walleye for Lefebre 250 crappies and 10 keeper walleyes, including one 8
pounder. I went back down on Friday the 13th in the foulest

of foul weather and caught 6 big ones, including another 8

pounder. The hot bait was a 1/4-ounce gold Silver Buddy in 14 to 17 feet of water in the

South End. Look for the bite to get better as the water gets colder.”

Editor’s Note: On the 19th, I headed to Conneaut Lake to fish smallmouth, but courtesy
docks were out at both Fish Commission access and Fireman’s Beach; didn’t want to pull
the boat up on the ramp in the high wind, so I drove over to Pymatuning at the Jamestown
ramp where the understanding State Park manager keeps the courtesy docks in until the
lake freezes. Tip of the hat to State Parks! I did quick check on water temp (49 degrees),
ran to a couple spots to test the walleye bite and then back to dock to run the gas out of