Mercer County suggestions?

[ColdBore]

I have lived in the general area off and on for a while, and recently moved back (hopefully for good this time).

Due to lots of things, I had less & less time for serious fishing, and fell out of touch with the "hot spots" around here. Now I'm making a conscious effort to get more time on the streams.

Other than the obvious Fish Commission resources, etc, is anybody willing to share a few favorite streams in the Mercer/Crawford/Butler/Venango-ish areas for somewhat isolated (I'm not into crowds or "family-style" fishing) and enjoyable trout fishing?

Not looking for secret honey holes or trophy fish, I'll just be happy getting back on some pretty stretches of stream with fishable numbers of something interested in eating a little ball of fur and feathers.

Thanks!

 

[ColdBore]

I'll take it that based on the silence, there just aren't any worthy streams around here any more.

Going to start spending more time fishing for pure relaxation in some local ponds, nailing bluegills and bass.

 

[Fishidiot]

ColdBore wrote:
Going to start spending more time fishing for pure relaxation in some local ponds, nailing bluegills and bass.

This. ^
I'm not familiar with that part of the state but I've long attempted on these forums to emphasize fly fishing options for fish other than trout (esp during the summer). Western PA has world class warm water fishing, including many small streams that have bass, walleyes, even muskies and white bass.
"Think outside the trout box."

 

[dryflyguy]

It's not one of favorite areas to fish for sure. I live an hour or so away from that part of the state - and if I'm going to drive that far to fish, I'm better off going south and east of the burgh.
But there are some decent options to consider. You probably know about cool spring and neshannock creeks already. Towards Venango county, you can try sandy and oil creeks. The latter has a nice bike trail running along most of it, that allows easy access to it's remote sections. And can provide some rather isolated fishing. It's heavily stocked, and they usually put some large fish in.

 

[ColdBore]

...I've long attempted on these forums to emphasize fly fishing options for fish other than trout (esp during the summer). ..... "Think outside the trout box."

Yep, going back to the basics, with no stress and lots of easy fun.

 

[ColdBore]

You probably know about cool spring and neshannock creeks already.... Towards Venango county, ... oil creeks. The latter has a nice bike trail running along most of it, that allows easy access to it's remote sections. And can provide some rather isolated fishing.

Yep, know about Cool Spring and Neshannock. I get over that way fairly often, so will probably end up hitting them.

The bike trail thing beside Oil Creek sounds like the ticket though!

Biking is one of my other favorite pastimes. Combining the two will be a nice fit.

Thanks for that info!

 

[PennKev]

There are more than enough small stream trout options just to your northest. If you live in the NW section of the state and are not into small stream fishing you are missing out on an enormous number of wild trout opportunities. Some of them are just as good as you would find anywhere else in the state for similar sized freestone streams.

Kev