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Erie Report ... Wco John Bowser & Dwco Randy Leighton... The office at the Walnut Creek Access Area will be open on weekends starting
the Opening Day of Trout Season. Hours will be announced soon. Their phone
# is 814-833-2464 and is a convenient place to direct questions or report
violations.
The spring steelhead season should last longer than usual with
temperatures still dipping into the 40s at night and predictions of rainfall.
Forecasts for the big trout opener are already calling for a chance of
showers. There will still be plenty of steelhead in the tribs for opening day
along side the stocked browns. The Upper Fairview Gravel Pit, the Waterworks
Ponds on Presque Isle Park and Lake Pleasant will offer an alternative from
the stream fishing.
Remember the tribs are closed to fishing for a 32-hour period from
midnight Thursday, April 12 until 8 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to allow for
stocking.
The size limit on the tribs for trout is 9 inches -- if you land a fish
shorter than that, it is probably a steelhead smolt and must be released
immediately unharmed. Please be careful with these as they are future trophy
fish.
April 14 also marks the change of the bass limit on Lake Erie and the
tribs from four bass of 15 inches or larger to one bass of 20 inches or
larger.
Anglers made good catches this past weekend in Misery Bay both by boat
and along the wall near the Perry Monument. Two local fishermen almost
limited out in an hour with a nice catch of good sized perch . A weighted
float for casting distance, 2- to 4-pound test line, a #12 hook with a bucket
of shiners did the trick for these lucky anglers. (Strikes are subtle in the
cold water and a sharp eye on the float action is critical for success.)
Crappie are still holding in the lagoon area close to the canoe livery,
near the third parking lot from the entrance, and throughout Misery Bay and
Horseshoe Pond. Anglers were doing fair to good on the North Pier catching
some perch.
Officers have already found early season violations by careless boaters:
insufficient and worn out PFDs, failure to display lights after sunset,
expired boat registrations and children not wearing their PFD's as required.
(All children 12 years old and under must wear a PFD while underway in a boat
20-feet or less.) Make sure your sound producing device is in good working
order and your fire extinguisher is fully charged. Boats over 16-feet on Lake
Erie require unexpired visual distress signals. Additional recommended safety
equipment should include a bailing device, a good anchor with sufficient
line, first aid kit, spare bulbs and fuses, and a marine radio.
The New Steelhead Record is "OFFICIAL" it has been set on the April 1,
2001 catch of Corey Brown with his 20lb -3oz Steelhead. Harrisburg has
reviewed and approved the new record making it the second one to be set in
Walnut Creek within 10 months and within 500 yards of each other. The 4th of
July Brown Trout record was caught by Fazle B. and weighed in at 19lb 10 oz. Pymatuming Report / WCO Joe Russell
Crappie and perch have been outstanding so far. I checked several
fishermen Saturday night who had conservatively 75-100 slab crappies. The
perch and crappies seem to be in the north end as well with the majority
being caught in the back waters. They are still doing good around the
spillway, however clear sunny days seem to slow the fish catch down. There's
not a lot of activity on the southern end of the lake yet, and very few fish
caught wading.
All the big fish still seem to be deep as of Saturday, April 8 and
anglers were catching smaller numbers, but larger fish.
Craig Billingsly, Area 1 Fisheries Biologist, said this year should be
good for anglers because there have been big fish in the trap nets. The musky
nets are in the main lake now and boaters should be aware of them.
(Chad Foster, 17, of Carlton, Pa., with his first walleye at 19 inches had
his photo taken by WCO Russell, but we are still trying to figure out how to
post it.)
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