Western Erie WCO Report / WCO Bowser & DWCO Leighton Congratulations!!! Ed Kissell was recently named the Presque Isle Audubon Society's Environmentalist of the Year for his work to save and protect Erie's waterways and wildlife. Everyone familiar with the water knows of his personal efforts on behalf of the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie for Cascade Creek & public access issues along the Bayfront. Ed's humility & total lack of ego would no doubt find him embarrassed to receive personal recognition but I can think of no better person more deserving. With all respect, the Erie County Officers wish him sincere congratulations on his award. More Awards… The Walnut Creek Marina Sunset Garden Project has received the award for the "Civic Beautification Award" for the best Small Garden given by the Erie County Council of Garden Clubs in cooperation with the Erie Times News. The honor was received at their annual luncheon by garden civilian coordinator Christie Ferrier & PFBC representative Marilyn Soltis. Excitement is building as the Memorial Wall is nearing a starting date. Granite blocks are still available for the initial section if you wish to get one engraved for your family, organization, business, or departed loved one. You can call or email WCO Bowser to request an order form. 814-774-0928 or jwb014@aol.com Coffee & Food Vendors at WCAA Permits were issued to two vendors to supply coffee & food at the Walnut Access. This is being tried on an experimental basis this fall to ascertain the workability. Excessive litter from the food wrappings or coffee cups may end this service. Please help us keep the access area clean & show that sportsmen can clean up our own ranks. Steelhead… Recent rains are finally starting to produce some fish in numbers. The season is running about 2 months behind previous years and it looks like November will be the "big one". Currently, fish are up to Millfair Road on Walnut, Legion Park on Elk, Crooked & Raccoon are still running late but fall smolt plantings will be protected from the crowds this way. Best bets continue to be the Project Waters & the Elk Creek Access.
Rt. 5 Elk Creek Parking… The best bet to access this area of Elk is to utilize the PFBC Parking Lot located at the foot of the hill behind Elk Creek Sports Store. There is plenty of parking in an area away from the crowds placing you just downstream of Rt. 5. Thank you… WCO's Bowser & Kerr would like to thank Seasonal WCO Tom Edwards for his great assistance during the October steelhead work. Tom is getting laid off on October 26th until a permanent district is assigned and it has been a pleasure to work with him on the Erie tributaries this fall. Hope to see you back on the job soon. Eastern Erie County / WCO Tom Edwards ... Four-mile creek is seeing a fair number of fish up to the falls at the Lawrence Park Country Club. Local Waterways Conservation Officers have been receiving numerous complaints regarding snagging at this location. Anyone wishing to report violations may call Walnut Creek Access at 833-2464 during the day seven days a week or the Northwest Regional Office at 337-0444. ... Twelve-mile creek is seeing decent numbers of fish up to the falls at route 5. ... Sixteen-mile creek has seen landowner problems in recent weeks, we ask all fisherpersons to respect landowners' rights, and failure to respect the landowner will result in posted property and loss of access. This is something that nobody wants and can be easily avoided. ... Twenty-mile creek is seeing the heaviest pressure on the east side and is continuing to receive a solid number of fish. Steelhead are beyond the railroad trestle south of route 5. We remind anglers that the eastern side of twenty-mile creek south of route 5 to the abandoned railroad trestle is posted by the landowner, also that stretch of stream north of route 5 on the eastern side is closed beyond a certain point. There is signage and explanations of those areas that are posted located both north and south of the route 5 bridge. Western Crawford / WCO Joe Russell Pymatuning Lake- The WALLEYE were biting again this weekend on the southern end of the lake, around Ackerman Island. All the fishermen I talked to that went anywhere else on saturday got skunked. Sonars and jigs still seem to be the hot ticket from a boat at about 8 to 15 feet of water. Even though the ones that didn't catch anything came back without any fish I didn't hear a single complaint about the day, it was GORGEOUS. Several fishermen did have trouble locating bait though and fishermen are reminded that RICHTERS on rt. 322 just outside the park burnt down a couple of weeks ago so bring your bait with you. The State Park renovations to the Jamestown Marina are in full swing as you can see by the pictures I have included. When finished this will be a 1.6 Million dollar project, going from 146 slips to 186 with all new handicap accessible docks. The minimum depth for the entire bay is supposed to be over 5 feet with some areas in excess of 17. The contract states they can be done by may 24th but in speaking with John Houghton the park manager they should be done by New Years unless they have an unforeseen incident. This next year will also see a renovation project for the Turnersville/Jamestown boat launch and the Manning boat launch both of which should come to 200 thousand dollars, they will be handicap accessible as well and should be much nicer and safer docks. They are also planning a sewer project for the park to change all their pit latrines to flush facilities, and a 3.5 million dollar road renovation project. Should you happen to be in the area and you have a minute you should stop at the park office and tell them what a great job they are doing, everyone loves to complain when they don't like something but very few will take the time to say anything if they like what is going on. Conneaut Lake- fishermen are still picking up fish here but it isn't receiving the numbers of boats that Pymatuning is getting. Bass, Bluegill, and White bass seem to be the fish of choice and if you don't want to fight other boats and you don't care about walleye this may be the choice for you. Variety still seems to be the key here and if you find something that works stick with it and keep presenting it to them. Weed beds are starting to disappear so structures are probably your best bet. It is with remorse and great sadness that I mention the passing of one of our own this week. WCO Leo George from Northern Wallenpaupack died on October 22 at the early age of 45 in his sleep. Leo was one of my field training officers as a cadet and a friend, he had a reputation as being hard working, fair, and professional. He was an excellent officer for the sportsmen and a definite asset to the resources of Pennsylvania. He will definitely be missed by me and his fellow officers. REST IN PEACE LEO
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