Interesting turn of events: where to fish in western PA?

[Six-Gun]

Well, there is a *chance* that I may be getting military orders out of Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and into Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, OH. Obviously, that would be a huge change as far as my hunting and fly fishing options are concerned, but it's not something I would be terribly upset with. However, I'd also be pressing the reset button on my knowledge about where to go since I've never fished western PA.

Given that I am still a PA resident, I would have no issue buying an annual license/trout stamp and fishing the western edge of the state. If I'm after wild trout, heck, even stocked waters, what part of the western edge of the state should I be looking at? I'm not even talking specific waters, but what county, is a good place to have a lot of options?

Thanks for your help.

 

[DaveS]

There are a number of places, but for my money the Yough is the best in the SW. (Youghiogheny River) It's not necessarily easy, and does have a tendency to beat you up occasionally, but it does give up some lovely rainbows, huge browns, and the occasional eye-popping bikini (in season of course)

 

[Fishidiot]

Six,
Unfortunately, the western counties of PA are largely a trout fishing desert. There are some waters and things get much better as you head further east into more mountainous areas.....but the counties bordering OH are pretty slim for trout. Check the link in the upper right side of this page "Pennsylvania Trout Streams" to get started.

The good news is that western PA has some excellent warm water fishing. The entire Allegheny watershed has very good bass fishing and western PA is a first class muskie region as well. And of course, there's steelhead up around Erie.

 

[bikerfish]

there are quite a few good trout waters in the western part, like Dave said, the yough is good, also lot's of other good waters around that area. the northwestern part of the state also has a good number of wild trout streams along with stocked streams, plus Lake Erie tribs and steelhead in pa and ohio. I'd be willing to bet there is some good smallmouth fishing close to Dayton as well.
BTW, been to the Air Force museum at Dayton, WOW!!
Thanks for your service, and good luck!

 

[Six-Gun]

Thanks a lot for the info, fellas. It's going to suck leaving my favorite mountain creeks that I've discovered in Utah, but I really learned to love warmwater fishing for largemouth while I was stationed in Nebraska. I was using baitcast and spinning tackle back then, but I can, of course, adapt to fly fishing this go-around. No matter what, I plan to engage myself in the Erie steelhead insanity at least once if this order goes through.

 

[krayfish]

+1 to the suggestion from DaveS and you also have the Potomac in WV.

 

[streamerguy]

Don't overlook the Mad River while you're in Dayton..

 

[boychick]

In Western PA, check out the Yough, Oil Creek and Neshannock Creek. I've never fished the Mad yet, but its close to Dayton and its Ohio's only good trout stream. The smallmouth fising in the Little Miami, and the Stillwater river are good too. Check out the brookville tailwater in SW Indiana on the otherside of Cincy for trout too. I think there are some trout streams in KY, but I'm not sure where.

 

[Six-Gun]

Thanks again for more suggestions, especially the ones that would be close to home if I lived in or near Dayton. The Mad River is darn near on base, so even though the trout options are limited, that really would be a big plus of living out there. There's just no doubt that I'll be hitting up anything western PA within a day's drive.

 

[streamerguy]

Also an option for a little side trip on the way to/from Neshannock and Oil is the Shenango River. Great multispecies river, everything from smallmouths and trout(great caddis hatches), to white bass, walleye, and pike. Don't think anyone mentioned the Allegheny yet, which is another great fishery, and there's plenty of trout(wild and stocked) options around the middle and upper Allegheny watersheds.

Another Ohio trout option is the Clear Fork of the Mohican. I've only fished it twice, and have only been successful once there for trout, but I hear it's pretty good. Though not as good as the Mad.

Depending which way you go, Little Beaver Creek in Ohio near the PA border is a good warmwater option on the way to the PA streams. Nice creek that's good for smallies, but I've also gotten my share of panfish(including white bass), walleye, sauger, and other species. Weird catching 'eyes out of a trout stream-like creek.

 

[PatrickC]

There are no trout streams in western PA that rival the hog potential of the Mad. DO NOT overlook her. Not a put down to any of the streams in western PA. I love them and fish them regularly (today in fact). I grew up on the Mad. There are browns in the 28-30" class caught on the Mad every year. The Mad is not as beautiful as the PA streams. It will take some time to get to know her, but when you do, you'll be rewarded. She's a great river for big streamers.

 

[Six-Gun]

Patrick -

If I do end up out there, I'm going to have to look you up. Living that close to a river with that kind of potential sounds like a real treat.

 

[PatrickC]

Keep me posted

 

[Six-Gun]

I got word from my boss while I was elk hunting in Colorado this week that my orders and subsequent move to Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, OH is all but certain. I'm going to leaving sometime in May/June. Looks like I will be joining up with some of our Ohio members in the somewhat near future.

 

[SBecker]

Sorry to hear that.

 

[Six-Gun]

Naw, it's not too bad at all. I would say that anything is better than Vegas, but the truth of it is that I am going to miss driving "next door" to fishing Utah a lot. Sure, it's a haul getting out there, but the fishing in that state is excellent. Moving to Ohio will still present some travel challenges for fly fishing, but it's going to open a lot of doors as far as hunting and using my German Shorthaired Pointer to hunt upland birds again. I'm pretty pumped about it, actually.

 

[pcray1231]

Well, for one, Dayton is a LONG ways from the PA border. Far enough that most of us easterners would say too far for hunting/fishing purposes. But westerners will drive half that distance for a pack of cigarettes, so....

Ohio is a trout fishing desert. You have, in both Ohio and PA (and NY), the Lake Erie fishery, which for steelhead is just ridiculously amazing for fall/winter/early spring. It's also a little artificial feeling with huge fish in small water, and the crowds are equally ridiculous. If you have weekdays to deal with and time to learn the ins and outs of the fishery, it can be very rewarding.

If you are the boating type, there will be plenty of warmwater (mostly bass) opportunities in Ohio and if you get something big enough to handle the great lakes, you can take trips there. Walleye and smallmouth bass are the main ones, but just about anything. There's a lot of perch junkies up there.

Hunting is probably good in Ohio if you can get access to land, but no rifles, shotguns only. Lots of Ohio guys invade PA in rifle season for that reason. Plus, a lot find large unbroken expanses of hilly forest more enjoyable to hunt than a patchwork of farm fields and little isolated pieces of forest that you find in Ohio, even if the farmland grows bigger bucks. The border areas are just more of the same as Ohio. North of 80, and East of the Allegheny River is when you get into the large forested areas. Some private and much of it public, like the National Forest. South of 80 can be even more productive, but the woods are generally thicker and the population density is higher, so there's a few houses around just about everywhere.

For trout fishing, there are a few stocked streams in the border area. But for wild trout, consider Oil City/Franklin to be your SW corner of the better areas. North and East from there, you have generally largish stocked streams with good hatches, and smallish wild streams. In that area it's mostly browns but you start getting a lot of brookies as you get further northeast into the forests and hills of the national forest and surrounding areas.

You could also look at the Laurel Highlands area. The Yough is a fantastic tailwater fishery, and there's other stocked and wild options in that area too. This is the mountainous area SE of Pittsburgh, from about Uniontown to Johnstown.

And if you're gonna go that far, central PA isn't "that" much further.

 

[Six-Gun]

As always, pcray, thank you very much for the info. Just looking at a Google map, I could tell that my trout fishing options were going to be much slimmer than what I have over in Utah. The good news is that long drives to fish (3.5-4.5 hours) have been the norm for me since I started this game, so that much time on a road to PA will feel like nothing much has changed. now, I may have to beg and plead with some of the members to help me out come steelhead season since that IS a long way to go to end up on the most crowded stretch of an Erie trib known to man purely out of ignorance, but for simply exploring and finding a secluded brookie stream over a couple of days in the regular season, I would have no issue venturing out on my own.

I'm glad you brought up hunting! I'm an avid hunter and will work my butt off to find someplace worthwhile in Ohio proper. I have shot enough various game with a rifle (and a couple deer with a bow) that I can live with a bow/shotung/muzzleloader lifestyle for a few years without much worry. The fact is, the freezer is full for a good while after my recent Colorado private land-only cow elk hunt last week (me on the left, my buddy from Nebraska on the right):

http://www.sierrabullets.com/sierra-scrapbook/index.cfm/sid/309

My most coveted hunting project is to head back to PA to go for ruffed grouse. I have that German Shorthaired Pointer that was working pheasants in Nebraska with me when he was just 7 months old and who I would LOVE to take out for grouse. I just have to nail down my public land options and scout a bit, and it sounds like northwest PA is the place to go.

 

[pcray1231]

grouse can be good farther south, actually, where the forest is thicker. I have a few decent grouse spots in western PA, hit me up when the time comes. It's been years since I've hunted any of them so things may have changed. But old strip mined areas are often good for grouse.

 

[Six-Gun]

I'll definitely will take you up on that. Have gun, have dog, will travel. Just bring yourself, your gun and as much ammo as you see fit and we'll have some fun.

It really kills me that Nevada is so hit and miss for upland hunting. In a good year, the Gambel's quail can be thick in numbers fairly close to Las Vegas. Two years ago, I had a great year hunting quail and I didn't even have a dog! I just knew spots where they were thick and would walk the scrub brush with good success. The trouble is that the population for quail, chukar and all of the other desert upland birds is incredibly weather depenedent and for two straight years with bad drought, the the hunting has sucked. I drove 10 hours north this year - almost at the Oregon border - to the supposed "Mecca'" of chukar hunting in the state and had exactly one bird flush (well out of gun range) in 4 days of hunting. Thank goodness the fishing was excellent or that trip would've been a wash of epic proportions.

As far as that goes, I plan on going on a for-fun/scouting trip to PA look for grouse shortly after I settle in in Ohio. It will get my dog used to the new surroundings and offer an excellent excuse to break the fly rod back out. Let me know if you want to come.