Buck Magnet

Hey guys,

As some of you know, I have been having a rough time trout fishing here in PA this year, and I am starting to wonder what is going on!

The first day, I fished a small stream called Brush Creek which gets very little pressure. I didn't catch a single trout, and I only saw 4 trout caught. That afternoon I went to Little Mahoning and yet again, I didn't catch any trout, and I never saw any pulled out! I talked to a bunch of guys and none of them caught any.

Since then, I have been fishing Little Yellow Creek, and my luck has been a little better! I have caught about 15 out of there in the 3 or 4 trips, when normally I would catch that amount on each trip.

Yesterday I decided to head up north and fish a few streams. I started in the morning and fished about two miles of Mill Creek! I saw a total of 2 trout, yep, two trout. The waters were crystal clear and I could see to the bottom just about everywhere. Not a single hit in there. Next, I headed to the west branch of the Clarion River and fished with no luck at all. After that, I hit up the West Branch of Tionesta Creek. I fished a very large section without a single hit, but finally found a small hole and I was able to pull 3 of them out, and my best friend pulled one out! We then left there and fished the South Branch of Tionesta Creek, and we fished another 2 mile section and finally found a small pocket of trout! I was able to pull one out, and I got about 2 hits, while my best friend had two on that spit his hook! These fish were acting very very spooky, they were holding under cut-away banks, and they would not follow anything if it was more than a foot away from the bank!

The biggest trout that we caught yesterday was about 9" long! The biggest one this season was a 13" rainbow!

Something is definetly fishy here! These places are normally loaded with fish, or atleast you can catch fish there! This year, there are pretty much no fish at all, and if you are lucky enough to find one, they are acting incredibly spooky!

Has anybody noticed a pattern like this, or has anybody got the "inside scoop" on the stocking program?

CattNY

Patience. I also am not having luck, but several others are. I think some streams, they only stock the holes by bridges and the streams. You'll have to wait til the trout disperse some. I recommend going out on an overcast day.

Buck Magnet

Catt,

That is one reason why I don't really care for Little Mahoning Creek anymore! When it is stocked, it gets stocked pretty much in just a few areas! These areas are surrounded by fisherman the entire first week! Heck, the one huge hole on that stream had about 5 tents set up around it and guys with lawn chairs just sitting there all day!

Most of the other streams around here are usually stocked pretty good so the whole stream has fish.

Hardly anyone that I have talked to around here have caught any fish! One of my friend managed to pull out the 'big palamino" out of Little Mahoning this year. 23-1/2"!

Its cloudy now, and it rained this morning, so I am heading out. I have been fishing in sun, rain, cloudy, windy, ect... weather so far, and not much luck. Hopefully that changes today!

MikeE51848

Maybe that's why you're not catching fish there. Either that, or Gary Alt
is running the trout program!

Jason N

BM, I've been seeing the same type of activity around here and from the folks I've talked to. I've been catching fish, but not as many and not as quickly as usual.....and the size is just pathetic. 9" fish are normally small, but this years that's been average. My largest so far has been an 11" brookie......I've been catching stocked fish that are measuring 8" and less on occaision. Something definetley smells funky to me too!

Buck Magnet

Mike,

I catch and release! I only keep trout that I am gonna put on the wall!

Jason,

The trout just don't seem to be there, and the ones that are there, are so sppoky that you have to spend 20 minutes to catch them! The "average" size was supposed to be something around 11.8" this year, but today, I caught 7 trout and only one was more than 9", and it was a 17" rainbow that the local trout club had stocked! My girlfriend caught three trout today and they were all about 8-1/2" long!

The one thing that I have noticed is that the trout around here want a VERY VERY slow presentation. Today, I caught 3 on a white 1/8th oz. Roostertail, and I had to pretty much drift them in the current straight down stream from me. If I reeled in at all, they wouldn't hit. I just cast straight down stream, waited till the the blades started spinning, and just let it sit there spinning. The Yo-Zuri Pins Minnows normally are best on a fast retrieve with a really snappy action, but, today, I had to float the lure on the surface and just twitch it to catch the 4 others!

I am probablly going to e-mail the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and let them hear about it!

PABowhntr

No Jason. You are not the only one noticing a drop in the number of trout both seen and caught. Working down at the local shop gives me a relatively decent handle on the number and size of the trout caught in local waters. Opening weekend was very good locally with more than average large trout caught in the area. However, north of the Lehigh Valley and since opening day the reports have been few and far between and the size of the trout caught has been relatively small. Heck, I spent 4 hours fishing the Lehigh River over a 1-1.5 mile stretch and my brother and law and I managed to catch 2 trout....

I don't know if anything "fishy" is going on but I seem to remember something about the number of trout being stocked this year was going to be down because of some hatchery problems. I could be wrong though.

PAHUNTER21

Buck Magnet,

Well your first mistake was hitting Mill Creek and the Clarion...... I lived in clarion for 4 years and fished both heavily. Never had too much luck, especially in the past couple years. There is alot of fishermen in that area. As for the other places..... I dunno. have you tried the kinzua area yet?

osiris

It's all Alts fault!

Actually, the water has been really cold this year and with all the rain we have been receiving I can see how you are having a hard time. Here in NY, I personally, don't start to fish real hard til mid May and fish hard for trout through mid July when the streams are a little lower and warmer. I ahve geat luck that way someimtes catching over 30 fish a day. (catch and release) I also only fly fish for trout so that makes that time of year even better as we experience good hatches. Give it some time, it will turn around. The weather just hasn't been cooperating. Good luck. TGK

Buck Magnet

PAHUNTER21,

Mill Creek gets fished hard? I was there the second Saturday of season and there was probablly about 10 other guys out there at tops!

My best friend has a camp right near Mill Creek and he has had some awsome luck there!

Now, if you want to talk about fishing pressure, you should see the stream in my town Little Yellow Creek) on the first day, there are probablly 300 cards parked at the bridge! At the other section of the stream, there are usually about 150 cars![:-]