Northwest
Reminder: The PFBC does not monitor ice thickness. Ice thickness and conditions can vary greatly across the lake. Use caution as you head out onto the ice. A life jacket and a set of ice awls can be extremely important if you fall through the ice. Remember SAFETY FIRST: http://www.fishandboat.com/Boat/WaterandIceSafety/Pages/default.aspx
Crawford County
French Creek
Anglers are catching a few Walleye and Northern Pike near the mouth of Conneauttee Creek.
Woodcock Creek (below Woodcock Dam)
Anglers are catching some Walleye in this area. Reminder: Woodcock Creek (including dam outflow) is Stocked Trout Waters and is closed to ALL fishing beginning March 1st through 8 a.m. opening day of trout season.
Eastern Erie County
Area Steelhead Streams
Steelhead fishing has been slow. The weather just isn’t cooperating in 2017. The streams rise when it warms up and then it turns bitter cold. 16 Mile has been the best stream of late. Prepare for anything as far as the weather is concerned and be careful; Erie tributaries can rise very quickly.
Inland Lakes
Inland fishing is non-existent. The ice comes and goes. Even when the ice is thick enough, the fishing has been spotty. Lake LeBouef has been flooding so that hasn’t had any anglers on it. Howard Eaton had a few people out with limited success on Largemouth Bass and panfish. Howard Eaton has aerators in the water so use extreme caution where you walk.
Inland Streams
Inland streams close March 1st until the first day of trout.
Central Erie County
Area Steelhead Streams
The Erie tributaries are free of ice and the forecast looks like they will remain that way for a while. With all the recent rain and snow melt, some Steelhead have come in.
Presque Isle Bay
Anglers are catching some nice Yellow Perch shore fishing from Dobbins Landing and the Old Border Patrol building.
Warren County
Allegheny River
Anglers are reporting great Walleye fishing around Mead Island area. Most of the good fishing starts at the island and continues down to the Starbrick Access area on the Allegheny River. The preferred bait for Walleye is jigs or some of the anglers are using a combo of a jig with a minnow. Please monitor the water conditions because the river can rise quickly.
Northeast
Lackawanna County
Last weeks’ rain and warmer than usual weather have caused several area lakes and ponds to have deteriorated shorelines and many locations have unsafe ice conditions. The blanket of snow, which fell this past weekend, won’t help matters. The deteriorating conditions caused personnel at Lackawanna State Park Lake to cancel this past Sunday’s scheduled ice fishing tournament. Prior to the deteriorating conditions, anglers were doing well catching blue gills, nice sized crappie and bass through the ice. Jigging with wax worms seem to work best for the panfish while utilizing live minnows and tip ups are best suited for bass fishing. Remember there is NO ice fishing allowed at any of the PA American Water Company Reservoirs.
Southern Wayne and Pike Counties
Recent fluctuations in temperatures have degraded ice in the region causing fishing activity to wane. Anglers should use caution when venturing out onto frozen lakes and ponds and avoid fishing on unfamiliar bodies of water.
North Central
Tioga County
Ice conditions were O.K. this morning; however, warm weather is predicted to return this weekend.
Hills Creek Lake – Currently, ice anglers are catching Chain Pickerel using large, fathead minnows, fished under tip-ups at varying depths. Anglers are also catching Crappie before sunrise and after sunset. Bait of choice is wax worms on a jigging rod.
Slate Run, Cedar Run and Pine Creek – Black stoneflies are hatching. With a winter thaw, good trout fishing usually follows.
Anglers are catching trout using nymphs (e.g. black stone fly nymphs; san juan worm; squirmy wormy and hares ear nymphs).
REMINDER – Slate and Cedar Run are managed under special regulations.
Slate Run – Catch and Release Fly-Fishing Only http://pfbc.pa.gov/fishpub/summaryad/catchreleaseffo.html
Cedar Run – Trophy Trout Artificial Lures Only
http://pfbc.pa.gov/fishpub/summaryad/trophytrout.html
Western Lycoming County
Pine Creek – With cold temperatures, not many anglers are out. A few anglers, utilizing drift boats/rafts, are catching trout in areas where most anglers don’t venture. White streamers are working best.
Anglers are catching trout by casting streamers toward the bank and retrieving them at varying speeds back to the main channel.
Anglers, fishing from the bank, are catching trout using crank baits (floating category). Reel the crank bait quickly through the target water and see what happens!
Anglers are also catching trout using nymphs (golden stone nymphs, green weenies, squirmy wormy). Make sure your nymphs are on the bottom.
Clinton County
Fishing Creek – The water is up and a little off color. The snow melt will add to water levels and temperature changes.
Anglers are catching trout using nymphs (e.g. beadhead prince #12-16; gold bead pheasant tail #12-18). Anglers are also catching a few trout using olive/black streamers size 6-10.
Trout are hanging tight to the bottom. Fish your lucky areas slow and be patient.
Centre County
Spring Creek– The water is up and slightly off color.
With potential warm temperatures returning, anglers might be able to catch a few trout on dry flies (e.g. adult midge; bluewing olives).
Anglers are catching trout using nymphs (e.g. sowbugs, scuds, walt’s worm, black zebra midge,green weenie). Anglers are also catching trout using olive and/or black streamer patterns #6-10.
Anglers are catching trout on lower Spring Creek using streamers (e.g. size 6-10; olive or black colors), spinners, worms and waxworms. The best time to be on the water is late morning or mid-afternoon.
Southeast
The Greater Philadelphia Outdoor Show in Oaks runs from Thursday, February 23 to Sunday, February 26. There will be presentations on anything that has to do with the outdoors, a trout fishing pond, a 5000 gallon aquarium, a rock wall, archery range, as well as vendors that will have all the newest and greatest of outdoor gear, including boats and fishing equipment. The physical address for the show is 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA 19456. For more information, go to http://www.sportshows.com/philadelphia/index.html , and for directions: http://www.sportshows.com/philadelphia/directions.html
The 22nd Rivers Conservation & Fly Fishing Youth Camp will be held at the Allenberry Resort on the Yellow Breeches in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania on June 18 to 23. The program that was started in 1995 and is open for 32 qualified students that will be selected through a very competitive admissions process. The program is a weeklong stay-over camp that was founded by Dr. John R. Beck, “Jack” and by the late Enoch S. Moore Jr. “Inky”, a former Pennsylvania Fish Commissioner. To apply for the program, you must be between 14 and 17 years of age and be a leader in your class. The purpose of the program is to educate future leaders of our Country who will one day be the environmental advocates who will then be able to make positive changes to the aquatic and environmental resources of our nation. Students will be given classes, taught by numerous experts in their fields, in fishing, fly tying, aquatic biology, the natural sciences, best management practices, watershed management, and more. Students will also get to work on an actual stream improvement project as part of the curriculum. For more information you can visit the website at www.riverscamp.com . The deadline for applications for the camp is March 31.
On Sunday, February 26, The Delaware River Shad Fishermen’s Association will host a Fishing Flea Market. The show which will have both hunting and fishing items will be held at the Sewyco Fire Company Social Hall from 08:00AM until 1:00PM. The physical address for the hall is 3621 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bethlehem, PA 18015. For more information, visit the webpage at http://drsfa.org/
N. Bucks County
The spring 2017 trout stocking schedules are on our website!
http://fbweb.pa.gov/stocking/TroutStockingDetails_GIS.aspx
When you open the link, first pick your county (BUCKS), then select a starting and ending date (or leave blank for the whole 2017 season), then click GO. If you’ve picked the whole calendar year, pre-season and in-season trout stockings will then be listed.
If you’ve selected Bucks County, you will see that the pre-season scheduled trout stocking for the East Branch Perkiomen Creek Section 2 (Perkasie/Sellersville Section) is scheduled to be stocked on March 4, 2017. This is a Saturday trout stocking, which means a great time to get the kids out for a stocking. Most of this section is off of the traveled portion of roadways, so traffic safety is less of a concern, lending this particular trout stocking to one that is kid-oriented. This particular trout stocking is Section 2, not to be confused with Section 4 in Montgomery County, which is scheduled to be stocked on 4/25/2017. So if you have a child that would enjoy a day outside, weather they have fished for trout or not, this is a great way to get them outside away from screens and video games and hopefully inspire them to fish!
Trout stocking information is also available at PA Fish and Boat Commission’s Mobile App at: https://www.fish.state.pa.us/mobile.htm
S. Chester County
Trout were biting on 2/14/17 for Deputy Ed Guthrie in the MBWCC DHALO, (Middle Branch White Clay Creek Delayed Harvest Artificial Trout, Keystone Select Trout Waters), below Good Hope Road (big rock). A #20 black/gray embroidery floss midge larvae and a #22 red thread body/red glass bead head midge landed 6 fish and two strikes. Hits were evenly split between the two flies. The midge naturals the fish were eating were notably smaller than the flies fished – the naturals probably were #32 or smaller. The air temperature was just below freezing and warmed only a little. The afternoon would have been great given the high 50s, even 60 degree temperatures, around 3 PM. There were a few trout working the surface for black midge emergers (#28-32). The rises were not as frequent as I had seen during the warm days earlier this week but enough to justify trying a dry fly.
The Middle Branch White Clay Creek Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures is one of the streams that the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission maintains as one of the states Keystone Select Stocked Trout waters. This means that the state will stock the 1.7 mile stretch with 2 to 3 year old fish, 14 to 20 inches in size at a rate of around 250 per mile. Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only regulations will be strictly enforced in this waterway to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to catch these trophy class trout. You can get more information on the web about both the Keystone Select Stocked Trout Waters and the Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only regulations at http://www.fishandboat.com/fishpub/summary/delayedartificial.html
A Basic Boating Course will be held on Wednesday February 22 and 23 at Hibernia County Park Hibernia Mansion at 1 Park Road in Coatesville, from 3 PM to 7 PM. Boating Safety Education Certificates are required for all operators of personal watercraft, regardless of age, and for boat operators born after January 1, 1982 that operate motorboats of more than 25 horsepower. This free PA Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) course is designed to help boaters make better informed decisions on the water. Instructors will provide course materials and information via a classroom setting to help you reduce the risk of injury and conflict on the water. Those who successfully complete the course may obtain this certificate, which is good for a lifetime (fees apply). A minimum of eight hours of classroom instruction is required to pass the course. Participants should bring a lunch and snacks. There will be a few other classes in Chester County in February. Pre-registration is required at adesko@pa.gov
You can also get more information on the web at http://fbweb.pa.gov/Calendar/All_Gridview.aspx?TN=boating_courses&DAY=ALL
If you live in Southern Chester County on the south side of 322, consider coming out this year and helping to stock the Stocked Trout Waters. The Stocked Trout Waters in Southern Chester County include Beaver Creek, Buck Run, Brandywine West Branch, Pocopson Creek, Elk & Big Elk Creeks, Octoraro Creek East Branch (in-season only), and four sections of the White Clay Creek (including one Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only Section that is also a Keystone Select Trout Waters). We had very little help last year on some of the stockings which made it difficult to distribute the fish as evenly as we would have liked to.
We often get the angler who wants to call in and report that a favorite hole was not stocked well enough, and for reasons of bad weather and proximity to the road and or, for lack of help, it may have to be passed by. The first thing we ask is if they came along to help stock and the usual answer is no.
Stocking is a lot of fun and gives you a chance to give something back to the resource. It is also a great way to spend a day with a kid and to get them off the web and video games for a while. The web site below has been updated and will give you all the dates, times and meeting locations for any county in Pennsylvania. Simply put in the county that you are interested in and hit search and a list of all the stocked waters will come up. Thanks in advance for your help!
http://fbweb.pa.gov/stocking/TroutStockingDetails_GIS.aspx