Page 3 - Fishing Report | 12-17-15

Darl @ Fishing with Darl Black; filed 12/16: “Got together with old friends Dave Lefebre
and Ernie Pate for what will likely be my last Pymatuning trip of the year. Crappies were in
the crosshairs, and finesse was the key. We ended the day with 52 crappies over 10” in the
livewell. Catching 2 to 3 crappies for every fish kept gave us a tally of between 150 to 200
crappies, plus another 50 or so small perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill,
pumpkinseed, rock bass and sub-legal walleyes. All but a handful of fish were caught on
soft plastic – no live bait. Southern Pro Tubes and Bobby Garland Baby Shads caught al-
most every fish; blades baits accounted for 10 to 15 fish.” (See photos on previous page)

Dave @ Richter’s Tackle Shop; filed 12/15: “I have not been out fishing but my son made it
out the other evening after work. Fishing from shore he caught a mess of crappies and
couple nice largemouth bass; see photo. Lots of guys are catching crappies – more than
I’ve seen during the late fall in a long time. A few walleyes are being caught on blades but
no one I know is setting the lake on fire with walleye catches. It has been a bad fall for
walleye catches. You have got to be extremely persistent to catch a few walleyes. There
has been so much bait near the surface this fall that walleyes may not be feeding in the
usual places and depths…but rather gorging on the high-riding shad schools which have
not started dying due to warm temps. Fish Commission surveys say the walleyes in all sizes
are in the lake…but we don’t seem to be catching them. Hope it’s not the Lake Wilhelm
syndrome.”

Ken Smith (Sharon); filed 12/15: “I’ve been having great
crappie fishing at Pymatuning this fall. Since Thanksgiving,
I’ve been averaging about 35 crappies per trip with my
best day being 50 crappies, along with some perch and
rock bass. All my crappies are coming on Bobby Garland
Baby Shad jigs tipped with Berkley Crappie Nibble. The best depth range has been 13 to
16 feet over brush. I have not caught any walleye – but I’m not fishing for them.”

Conneaut Lake

Marilyn Black (Cochranton); filed 11/30: “We spent
Bronzeback Friday (Black Friday after Thanksgiving) fishing for
smallmouths on Conneaut Lake. Although conditions were rea-
sonably good for fishing with mild breeze and spitting rain as
front approached, smallmouths were not active – but small
perch were everywhere from shallow to deep. I did manage
one smallmouth – my largest smallmouth of the year. It was a
solid, well-proportioned 5 pound plus fish. I caught it on a