Hi, might be moving to the Pittsburgh area and was wondering the bass fishing situation. Is there any close to the city for bass boats or maybe weeknight tournaments? I see there are several places around an hour and half and Erie is still only a couple hours away. Appreciate any info, thank you
Plenty of fishing near the city. Obviously you have the 3 rivers. Many guys do not like fishing them but they are loaded with fish. You have Shenango, Conneaut, Edinboro within 1.5 hours. A bunch of smaller lakes as well with 20 HP limits--lake arthur, wilhelm, pymatuning. Also some great lakes within 1.5 hours in ohio--Mosquito, Tappan, Milton. Hope this helps
Good fishing. Great access. If you are south of the city the Mon is pretty good. I like putting I at 10 Mile Creek in Washington County. You will need to buy a permit which is cheap. In addition I like the upper Allegheny River around Freeport and Kittanning. My personal favorite lake is the Youghiogheny Lake. This is in Somerset County and under a 2 hr drive or shorter depending if your north, south, east or west of the city.
There are a few bass clubs in the region that you could possible join. There are more than enough open tournaments too.
The only other thing I will mention is on most if not all State Parks you are limited to 20hp. In addition there are electric only lakes.
Two tips. Great Muskie fishing on the Mon near 10mile. I do well with bass and Walleye too. Best kept secret if your willing to learn the lake, Yough is fantastic for small mouth.
Pymatuming is most everyone's favorite.
Another one not mentioned is Kinzua Dam.
Don't know much about bass fishing in/near city but some really good bass fishing right outside for sure. Guys before me pretty much summed it up-- Mosquito Lake, Lake Milton, and Berlin Lake in Ohio. Lake Erie and Presqy Bay, Youghiogheny River Lake, and Middle Allegheny River(Templeton and Kittanning) in Pennsylvania. Deep Creek in Maryland. If you wanna buy a 20hp motor/boat or a jet outboard u get even more options.
Thanks for the replies, I have a 21’ bass boat and right now live is a phenomenal bass fishing area. Just was wondering if I had any options other than the drive. We will most likely be on the west side if work moves us there.
"Yinz aint gonna catch Cayuga or 1000 Island's kind of size bass round here". Once you get used to the small fish just try to enjoy the local tournament trails we have.
Not looking to hijack thread , but is there any weekday / evening tournaments around the area?
Lake Arthur has a Wednesday night tourney 6pm-10pm, bring your 20hp or use your trolling motor on your big boat.
The 3 rivers are loaded with small fish. Being 2 hours away from Erie/ Presque Isle and 2:45 minutes away from Chautauqua will fill your bigger fish itch. Loyalhanna Lake is a small lake about an hour east of Pittsburgh that sees tournament action. As mentioned above, Youghiigheny Lake has some decent smallmouth and a decent walleye bite. Further south is Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. Great early season action before the boat traffic picks up.
But nothing beats Erie. You can fish the bay when the wind is up and fish the big water when the wind is light. Nothing else can compare in both numbers and size. Plus I79 is an easy interstate drive from Pittsburgh to Erie (and I90 and I86 to Chautauqua).
'14 Triton 18XS 150 Optimax Pro XS Fortrex 80
Kropf Park model on Chautauqua Lake
Fish Chautauqua Lake and Lake Erie
Love bass and fly fishing for Trout and Steelhead
When do they normally start biting in Erie?
Mid April. But Normally first couple weeks in May are really good.Originally Posted by nitro26
Justin Hrach
Hi, so we ended up buying a house in cranberry. Will be moving in June 28th. Do many people use bass boats for the Wednesday night tournaments on lake Arthur?
I haven't fished Lake Arthur in years so I can't answer your tournament question. However Arthur's has a max 20 hp regulation. There are 8 or 9 boat launches there, but the lake is over 3,200 acres making it tough to run your trolling motor only if you have a high HP bass boat. Cranberry is in the middle of the I79 corridor making Erie a fairly short haul.
'14 Triton 18XS 150 Optimax Pro XS Fortrex 80
Kropf Park model on Chautauqua Lake
Fish Chautauqua Lake and Lake Erie
Love bass and fly fishing for Trout and Steelhead
Are you talking about fiberglass bass boats? We have a 20hp restriction on Arthur but there are a few guys that will use the trolling motor on Arthur with their big boats.
Yeah a glass boat, is that the only weekly play around the Pittsburgh area?
The only weekday tournament I know of around the area is the lake arthur one. My buddy and I fished it before we had kids and they got good amount of boats and it was run well. Not sure about how things are now. Tournaments in general in the area from what I hear are way down. I dont fish the wednesday night tournaments anymore because it was the same handful of teams/guys fishing the same spots/brush piles and have been fishing the lake since it was flooded. Unless you know know it very well your most likely just donating like most of us.
Still run very well and they get roughly 50+ boats each week. Always fun to fish a few hours mid week throughout the summer.
Pittsburgh to Shenango is 1.5 hours. I drive 1.75 to fish it.
Coming from Rochester, You are gonna have to get used to the "downsized" bass that we have here
Do yourself a favor and make a trip to the Youghiogheny Lake. Fishing has been outstanding. Those who know the lake have been having outstanding days. Just don't tell anyone else about the downsized bass they are being caught. Let's just say your going to be very surprised. Points and some select shallows have been very hot if you take your time and fish slow. Not sure how long it will last but you have missed three great weeks. I will be hitting it once more before heading to SML next weekend. I fish the Yough about 10 times a month.
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