Hello everyone ! My first post here. Just retired this month and would like to start fishing for crappies. My wife and I live in DuBois Pa. Any advice on how and where to get started would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Hello everyone ! My first post here. Just retired this month and would like to start fishing for crappies. My wife and I live in DuBois Pa. Any advice on how and where to get started would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Welcome to Crappie.com and the Pa board. Some info, do you bank fish or from a boat. What surrounding lakes are you fishing? That will help to help you. As you can see I'm the Pa moderator. Keith
Thank you Keith.
We have a 16 foot aluminum fishing boat with a 20 HP outboard. We fish from shore also. We have not specifically fished for crappies. If we caught them it was by accident. We moved to DuBois in December of 2020 so the area is new to us. We are originally from the Erie area. Most of our fishing was for walleye, perch and trout. Because we are getting older we would like to start fishing smaller lakes that don't have the potential to get as rough as Lake Erie. We would also consider going on a guided fishing trip for crappies.
Congratulations on your retirement! Look forward to hearing about you living your best years
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Welcome & Congrats on your retirement. Wife and I went the same route as far as Lake Erie fishing. Same boat different motor. This is the place to learn and everyone is not afraid to share.Quote:
Originally Posted by gdengr
Thank you for the welcomes.
We are looking for recommendations of lakes to try fishing. We were thinking about Pymatuning and Shenango for sure. Also looking at trying Kahle lake.
Unfortunately you probably have left better crappie fishing area then you moved to. I am not real familiar with your area for crappie but have fished the area with in a hour of you for trout. I could help you with some streams for that species. However my wife and I spent a few days at Bald Eagle State park last year. It is a beautiful lake and your boat could be a good fit. It is located North of State college near Howard. I have read of some decent crappie fishing but can not attest to that. This would be about a hour drive from your area. There is not a lot there in the way of restaurants and other amenities but adequate for most fishermen.
We will check out the Bald Eagle State park near Howard. Also looking at Glendale Lake. Probably do some scouting trips before spring.
We will be looking at the main crappie fishing forum for techniques and tackle suggestions also. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
I fished Howard a couple of times if I remember correctly and only small crappie were caught. A friend lives near and stated not many keepers in the lake. Double check as I may have this lake mixed up with another one.Quote:
Originally Posted by gdengr
Kyle lake appears to be near you. Here is PFBC survey results from 2014 + 2015 (latest). Lots of black crappie. 84% under 9".
Attachment 392456
Mike
Thank you for the suggestions. Did a quick check of Kyle lake. It was recently drawn down for dam repairs. Fish were removed and transported to Cloe lake. It appears that the dam has been recently repaired and the lake is being restocked with panfish first. Fishing should be ready in 3-5 years. It will be in our plans for the future. Cloe lake is a small electric only impoundment. I will check it out also.
Heard the same thing about Howard having small crappies.
Are there any places to stay near Pymatuning or Shenango lakes? We could consider a trip for a couple days.
Plenty of hotels within minutes of the lake. Lots of places to eat too. Only problem is not very many bait shops. Jigs work very well on this lake so minnows aren’t that important. Gulp minnows will suffice if you’re not comfortable with just jigs.Quote:
Originally Posted by gdengr
I think chaunc ment shenango for the bait shops , pymatuming has plenty of bait shops , and lodging a little less than shenango, welcome to the area !
Thank for the info. We plan to do a trip to the area to check things out before we make a fishing trip in the spring.
Do you ever have any get togethers for the members? We would be interested in attending if the COVID situation improves.
Hey gdengr: I am Zimmerman and live just off of the Reynoldsville exit on 80 . I have fished for all and just fish for crappie , walleye and perch now. I can help you! This site is great [emoji106] I have a Lund with a 20 and electric motor too! I did hard water fish till couple years ago now it’s just soft water . I have fish all over pa and Ohio . Do you live at Treasure lake? Some good fishing [emoji476] there. Get back to me I am also retired and ?? to fish. Hope to hear from you![emoji476][emoji476][emoji476][emoji476]
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Hi Zimmy.
We live near the Dubois Mall. Other side of Interstate 80 from Treasure Lake. Trying to learn the area.
Hey that’s great. At one time I had time share at TL good fishing there . Sold time share now I don’t fish there. But there other places : I like to fish high average lakes . Glendale , yellow creek lake, lake Arthur , Wilhelm Shenango, Pymatuning, every year in May take 1-2 weeks and go to port Clinton for walleye weeks, love it out there, totally different then Erie pa. If you see a white GMC Acadia in DuBois with a front plate that says I ?? fishing that’s me . Hope I can help you and wet some jigs[emoji476][emoji476][emoji476][emoji476][emoji476][emoji476]Quote:
Originally Posted by gdengr
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Zimmy named some more good lakes.
As far as a get together, will wait to see what will happen with restrictions. But, some like Zimmy offering for you to go with him, is a good thing for now.
Agreed.
Will hang tight for now and do some scouting around the lakes mentioned.
Again, thanks to everyone willing to help.
Any suggestions for getting topo maps of the suggested lakes?
I get mine from the sporting goods places . Walmart , bait shops, bass pro. I get the water proof ones.
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For Shenango, if you go to the dam, they give tours, or at least use to, they have maps for free(?), that are on paper. It gives you all the info, plus where they put cribs, and possibly xmas trees too. Have had one for years, that a neighbor laminated for me, so of course, it isn't current with newer ones. But is still a valuable tool.
Npt sure, but the tours might be only on weekends.
Thank you. I will check that out.
Here is an idea of what you can expect at Shenango and Pymatuning. PFBC survey netting results. May have more recent ones soon.
Attachment 392627
Attachment 392628
Many local bait shops have good maps. Hot Spots is the brand I think. $12.00 ?
Mike
Thank you! Interesting results. Looks like Shenango has a healthy population of crappies and Pymatuning has more walleyes and yellow perch. I will have to take a trip there soon to check out the bait shops.
Did a search on "Hot Spot Fishing Maps". I was able to order waterproof maps for Shenango, Pymatuning, and Wilhelm. All were under $12 each. More maps for other lakes are available. Thank you for the information.
Gdengr, can you make a new post, sharing the link for the maps? Then I can make it a sticky at the top of the page.
S10CHEVY
Here is a link to the Hot Spots homepage. Different map choices-- printed, digital and mobile.
Fishing Hot Spots | America's Preferred Fishing Map
Mike
Welcome to the site. I live in the Brookville/Summerville area. Pretty close to where you live now. I love fishing lake Wilhelm. My brother and I do very well on crappies there,you have to sort through the little ones there but there are alot of quality fish there. Closer to home,we fish the Clarion River alot for walleye and perch and there are alot of big crappie. We mostly troll there for walleye but we pick up alot of huge crappie and perch. We do very well on all three there.
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Welcome from TN. There is plenty of folks up there to help, Good luck.
Wilhelm is a nice place to learn. Very good placement of launch ramps to cover most of the lake. In my opinion it is an easier place to find spots and last year not as crowded as Pymatuning. As patrapper said you will run into a lot of small fish but when you do you are learning. Don't sweat the bait if you have nibbles.
basic gear
Attachment 392721
A lot of good information. I have nibbles and slab sauce. Can't wait to try them out.
From the suggestions, it looks like I will have to spend some time on Lake Wilhelm.
Thanks to everyone.