Neshannock Creek access

mayfly418

mayfly418

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Sep 19, 2007
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I am looking for other areas to fish Neshannock Creek than Volant?
Is there any access areas that hold trout in New Castle or Neshannock Falls?
Thank you in advance
 
I've never fished it above Volant.
But know of a nice stretch downstream a few miles, around the covered bridge.
And a little further down yet, there is another nice section that's in a bit of a gorge.
Can't remember if that's where Neshannock Falls is though
 
Used to fish an area called the "old girls scout camp"..... Can't remember the exact area it's in......The owner of the fly shop in town( Volant) will know where it's at...... Never really did good anywhere but below the upper part of the Catch and Release area....
 
Neshannock Creek holds trout all the way into the city of New Castle.
Below the DH area, they stock at every bridge and at least 6 places between the bridges. I fish Neshannock creek multiple times every year and have never fished the Delayed Harvest Section.

The only location to avoid is the ground owned by the Shenango China Sportsman club. At one time, that was probably the most heavily stocked area on the creek, but about 8-10 years ago a club member wasn’t willing to share the stocked trout with a blue heron so he shot it. Although everyone knew who did it, the club would not give the name to the PFBC, so the PFBC refuses to stock that area. Downstream from the Shenango China club is an area where the creek runs along road. This stretch along the road running to where Hottenbaugh run enters the Neshannock has been posted for many years. So that whole stretch is out. Otherwise about 90% of the stream is open to fishing.
 
Prospector wrote:
This stretch along the road running to where Hottenbaugh run enters the Neshannock has been posted for many years. So that whole stretch is out. Otherwise about 90% of the stream is open to fishing.
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I'm not sure where you saw posted signs but you can fish the stretch above Hottenbaugh along Lakewood-Neshannock Falls road at least until where the creek turns away from the road. You can't go roaming around in the yard of that one house that is there, but that should go without saying. I think that house may have a posted sign along the edge of their yard, and the opposite side of the road has a lot of posted areas farther up.
 
SmoothOperator wrote:
Used to fish an area called the "old girls scout camp"..... Can't remember the exact area it's in......The owner of the fly shop in town( Volant) will know where it's at...... Never really did good anywhere but below the upper part of the Catch and Release area....
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That is in the middle of the DHALO area. They post their side of the creek, but that really doesn't keep you from fishing anywhere in the DHALO. At one time I guess they had problems with people driving down their lane and parking.

The whole DHALO is good fishing. Wherever there is decent looking water, there are fish. In fact, I almost never fish "behind the shop."

From what I've seen, there are way fewer fisherman on Neshannock than their were 10-15 years ago, while the DHALO is as crowded as ever. If you aren't stuck on catching the Keystone Select "trophies" you can have a great time catching fish almost all by yourself elsewhere. Probably the best kept secret is how many fish are left in the rest of the creek after after the truck chasers quit in early may.
 
Thank you, I’ll ask Bob about it the next time I’m in the shop. I have fished Neshannock since the 90’s, though only in the special Regs area to the covered bridge. I would like to find a less crowded area now that I’m older and grumpier. 🙂
 
PennKev wrote:

I'm not sure where you saw posted signs but you can fish the stretch above Hottenbaugh along Lakewood-Neshannock Falls road at least until where the creek turns away from the road. You can't go roaming around in the yard of that one house that is there, but that should go without saying. I think that house may have a posted sign along the edge of their yard, and the opposite side of the road has a lot of posted areas farther up.
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I agree with you that there are not many signs, but I try not push it. I interpret the posted sign at the house meaning their entire property is off limits. Plus as you know that property has been open then closed again many times over the last 40 years. I used Hottenbaugh as the best concrete landmark since I didn’t want to tell someone to fish an area where a conflict could arise. Below Hottenbaugh is safe and as you mentioned a little upstream of it is fine too. However there does not appear to be an obvious parking spot anymore.
 
There's no formal lot, but often enough I see cars just parked on the creek side of Lakewood-Neshannock Falls Road. Regardless of posting, the parking situation kinda sucks there.
 
Sorry for coming into this late, but I fish it every year along rt 956 from Covered Bridge Road down to Sipe Rd to the village of Nashannock Falls. There is plenty of parking... and actually a Fish and Boat Commission Access Area right on 956. The entire stretch is polluted with fish. And even becomes fun for smallies when the water heats up.
 
Watch yourself fishing the Coal Pile stretch.....Almost drown there back in spring of 2013..... Stream bed is " soft " and swallowed up one of my legs to my crotch......Had to throw my rod to the bank and use my arms/ hands to hoist me out...... Not a good day.....
 
I checked out many places mentioned here on google maps. I saw trucks and cars parked all over the place. Some spots looked a good 15 trucks deep. Is this high pressure fishing or is there good spacing?
I am looking to fish there soon.

thanks,
 
GonnaFlyNow, if you can give it a go during the week, you'll find some solitude pretty easily. Weekends have a bit more traffic especially right after they've done any of the stockings.

Hope all is well, enjoyed fishing with you a few years ago at the steelhead jam, hopefully you hooked into a few this past year!
 
Thanks Dan. A weekday trip is definitely doable this year. I'm looking to get more fishing in this year. I would like to hit more PA streams as well as more time fishing the ocean. Let me know if you have time for a day trip.

Cheers,
 
GonnaFlyNow wrote:
I checked out many places mentioned here on google maps. I saw trucks and cars parked all over the place. Some spots looked a good 15 trucks deep. Is this high pressure fishing or is there good spacing?
I am looking to fish there soon.

thanks,
Click to expand...

The google maps satellite images happened to have been taken on opening day of trout season. Dead serious. That's why there are so many cars parked. It's actually kinda useful when scouting areas with google maps/earth. A large portion of the state has images that were updated opening weekend.
 
PennKev,

Thanks for that info. I noted all the spots that had good parking. This is very useful especially when you don't know the area. I should be up there soon.

Thanks,
 
Looking over the maps on google earth for the first day it looks like the fishing pressure is the lowest on the lake Erie tribs. I would rather get hooked up onto a big somewhat wild fish than a hatchery dink.
 
CRB wrote:
Looking over the maps on google earth for the first day it looks like the fishing pressure is the lowest on the lake Erie tribs. I would rather get hooked up onto a big somewhat wild fish than a hatchery dink.
Click to expand...

You need to use google earth to check the image dates. It looks like many of the relevant Erie images were taken just prior to the opener (Thurs. 4/14/16), or much later in the year.
 
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