Weekend Fishing

I quit using livebait (especially for muskies) about 15 years ago. Finding/catching/transporting/babysitting big bait was just too much work. The times I did go catch it with hook and line, the largest stuff I could get was 7-8". With stuff that small, it did not really matter if I was rigged with a quick-strike rig or circle hook because they would usually inhale it before I could set the hook. Around that time, new rubber baits were hitting the market and my catches actually went up. I was covering more water hunting active fish instead of hanging around an area waiting for a grab. My clients got more enjoyment out of 'running and gunning' plus it was safer for the fish.

For me, it is not worth the risk of the fish just to put one in the net. If I had access to 12-18" suckers, I may have a little different view.

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Originally Posted by Red Childress

I quit using livebait (especially for muskies) about 15 years ago. Finding/catching/transporting/babysitting big bait was just too much work. The times I did go catch it with hook and line, the largest stuff I could get was 7-8". With stuff that small, it did not really matter if I was rigged with a quick-strike rig or circle hook because they would usually inhale it before I could set the hook. Around that time, new rubber baits were hitting the market and my catches actually went up. I was covering more water hunting active fish instead of hanging around an area waiting for a grab. My clients got more enjoyment out of 'running and gunning' plus it was safer for the fish.

For me, it is not worth the risk of the fish just to put one in the net. If I had access to 12-18" suckers, I may have a little different view.

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I totally agree the quickstrike rigs ae not worth using on 6-8 inch chubs suckers and they are all so big its gawddy looking with smaller bait anyways. Im about where you are with this Red and giving up on the Live bait for now unless I find access to bigger suckers 8 inch plus atleast...Do you know any bait shops that actually carry suckers? I dont mind traveling as I can grab a few and store in my tank any advice greatly appreciated

Maybe call around the Chautauqua Lake area tackle shops......

We hunted some walleye and trout on Saturday and picked up a few eyes but no trout, again. Chased muskies on Sunday and we lost a very nice fish in the gale force winds. Both days we quit a few hours early due to rain/snow/Steelers game. Lots of fishing coming up over Thanksgiving break so hopefully we can stick a biggun or three between now and Xmas.

I fished all day sunday til 6pm and caught nothing was fishing a cove off the river about 100yds long about 75 yds wide..Was one other boat fishing same cove watch them land atleast 2 fish that I know of..they were definantly musky fishing too...

On Sunday, Steven (a middle school stud wrestler from the Pittsburgh area) caught his first musky on the 2nd cast of the day. He forgot his jacket that morning so he had to borrow a sweatshirt from me (in case your were wondering why his shirt looked like a dress).

We chased a mixed bag of fish during 4 of the last 5 days. Walleye fishing was good for us yesterday along with a few really nice trout sprinkled around the holiday. The bass fishing was OK but nothing like it usually is. We put 3 muskies in the net but really had to grind on them. We also hooked and lost 2 other muskies.

Here is Steven's first musky after his 2nd cast of the day:

Attachment 26315

That had to be a thrill getting that fish one the second cast! Perfect strategy to get a kid interested! Noticed your comment Red about the bass. Has this been a trend for you? I've pretty much stopped fishing the Warren area for bass in the fall as the fishing has reached all time lows for me in terms of smallmouth in that area. I've ranted about my theory for the decline before...just curious if this trip was normal for you this year or if you'd have other bass trips recently that were up to standard so to speak. I've been targeting walleye on the lower river and fishing has been great. Even have three musky including a 45-50 inch tank that was lost at the boat.

ppalko were you targeting walleye on the river? I fished lock 2 sunday for musky with no luck my brother went after walleye didnt fair to well

We were after walleye. The three musky were hooked on small jigs which in years ago happened fairly often but lately has been really rare. Nice change. Walleyes averaged 14-18 inches which is typical.

Regarding the bass situation.........The Fall of 2015 and 2016 were warmer than normal which held up the bass migration into the Warren area. Franklin/Oil City/Tionesta has been red hot this Fall and I think there is a large population on the way. The Amish have been struggling to put together large stringers (from what I can tell) and have not been fishing too much this Fall as compared to other years. The 2 Winters prior to 2015 were bad ass and the larger bass seemed to be arriving at their normal time. We had very good catches from 1994-2014 BUT I am chasing bass so infrequently that it is probably unfair to use my experiences as an accurate barometer. There have been (and always will be) those tough days sprinkled in between the fantastic days of 100+ fish between 3 guys.

So, I am not sure if there are too many fish being harvested or if it is just a water temperature thing keeping the final wave of bass from moving up. I am leaning towards over-harvesting. My Lowrance has not shown me the larger bait clouds over the past 2 Novembers either. Have the higher river levels had something to do with it this year? I am just not sure.

I do know one thing for sure......The musky numbers are lower than normal so maybe they are hung up with the bass somewhere South of Warren.

We've discussed the bass situation in the Warren area (refinery dredge) last year and I'm pretty convinced that over-harvest has had quite an impact. The fishing took a huge nose dive for the past two years and actually was already in decline in terms of number 3 years ago. I fished that area in question for 20 years and it was incredibly predictable and the catch rate for bass was off the chart from October until the river hit 40 degrees. Flows had little influence other than to change locations within that area. One other interesting change in over the years was the walleye population. 3 years ago out of the blue, I caught as many walleyes as bass. Up to that time, I'd probably only caught 10 in 19 years from that area save for a really good year at the start of that bad streak for walleye. The bass population has really changed in my opinion and not for the better. Good luck with the musky...I think I may hit the Tionesta area of the weekend to see what kind of walleye numbers are available since I no longer head up to Warren with the lack of fish being the reason, I need a replacement.

Kinda slow for us this weekend. We hooked/rolled and lost 2 decent muskies with 1 other decent follow. The weather looked good, we looked good but evidently the fish did not think so. :)

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Originally Posted by Red Childress

Kinda slow for us this weekend. We hooked/rolled and lost 2 decent muskies with 1 other decent follow. The weather looked good, we looked good but evidently the fish did not think so. :)

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Bass catches have been down for us for two years now in the Emlenton/Kennerdell area. Sizes are still pretty good. However, the overall catch rates are down. Increased species diversity has increased however. This summer there was a day where our usual bass tactics resulted in more walleye than bass. This was a first in our 30 years of the area. Are bass populations controlled only by natural reproduction and slot limits?

To my knowledge, bass are not stocked anywhere in PA by the PFBC.

School cancelled Friday so I had time to dig myself out and take care of the boat launch for Saturday. We pounded the water all day in some rough weather/wind but only netted 1 smallish pike. No follows at all either. Decided not to fish on Sunday because the fishing has been very slow for my boat and keeping up with the snow plowing proved to be deal breaker. I was planning to fish 1 last weekend before Xmas but some very cold temps/bad weather coming for us here in Siberia....plus, a weak musky bite to boot. Decisions, decisions.

2016 is in the books I decided to put the boat away for awhile and take a break. It is just too much work keeping my hill/launch plowed well enough to get my boat back in the garage afterwards. (If we had a solid musky bite, I may be able to find the energy to keep going.:)) Good Luck to those of you who are still able to get out!

congrats on great season..cant say im not disappointed was hoping you was going over break..oh well will get with you in spring..think Im going over break couple times finish out season...merry christmas

Both my daughters are in basketball right now so it is time to hang with the family and enjoy the holidays. Good luck and be safe!

Big thaw on the way for Monday. Expect river levels to remain high and even increase over the next week or two.

Thinking about sneaking onto the river later this week if the temps hold up. River is high but may get super high following this thaw. Good luck and be careful out there!

Flow is pretty heavy right now and water is super high....Got out Sat and Monday with no Luck...Monday was up at lock 8 and was lots of ice on sides and big chunks floating down river...lots of debris and leaves...tried getting up in a cove of river dredged out for barges and was iced over and couldnt fish...Good luck if you get out hopefully better up your way than it was down mine...also about 99.9% for the 17th Red will know for sure first week of january hopefully that soon enough for you but about sure we good...Good Luck my Man

Just checked the extended outflow forecast and we will see a significant increase in outflow at the end of the week. Just too much thaw to avoid the increase. Looks like 2016 is definitely over for me with daughter's basketball tournament today and tomorrow and debilitating back spasms at the moment. Hopefully, January has mild temps with manageable snowfall.

River is officially blown out especially south of Warren. Water temps have really dropped quickly via snow melt. We got a solid 3 inches of wet snow last night with 4-10 more coming tonight/tomorrow. Lake effect snow warning until 10pm Friday night.

Has anyone been fishing anywhere?

Big snow dump on the horizon for this area......1-2 feet by Thursday nite.

The only fishing I'll be doing is on the internet unfortunately.

I don't do Resolutions, but I am setting a goal for myself for the next couple of years. I've never had a mount or reproduction of a fish in all my years of fishing. I am going to try like hell to get a decent Tiger (40+") with nice markings and get a repro done. I figure that I am due. Anyone who has had a repro done have any advice for measurements/pictures, etc..., please let me know.