Why Does Bass Fishing Get Overlooked In PA?

 This is going to be mostly opinionated, but that's sometimes-what blogs are supposed to be about right?

Although bass fishing is becoming more popular, everyone sees Pennsylvania and thinks TROUT. PA has a lot of perfect trout condition streams making it the opportune fishing. I am not going to bad mouth trout fishing; I grew up trout fishing and still trout fish to this day and it is a blast. It's just not sustainable for year-round fishing in some areas. 

I just think the big problem here is that bass are not as per say "famous" as they are in other states. People travel from all over to come to PA to trout fish and there is nothing wrong with that. But I do feel they are so overlooked. I just want to strongly encourage people that when the trout fishing gets to the point in the year where it "fizzles" try your hand at bass fishing. 

PA does have a few "Big Bass Regulation" waters to help the bass population and help them get bigger. I just want to make it my mission to let everyone know, it's not just about trout fishing here. We have some of the BEST small mouth bass riverways. We also have lakes that produce nice sized largemouth and of course Lake Erie small mouths are like no other. 

Whipple Dam State Park - Petersburg, PA

Whipple Lake & Laural Run are a 22 acre area where trout are stocked by the PFBC. Ice fishing is allowed, but causon  as the ice is not monitored.

Although not listed on the website I was able to piece together a list of fish species from YouTube videos and articles. 

• Trout
• Largemouth Bass
• Chain Pickeral 
• Blue Gill

Central PA Walleyes - Regulations

Knowing regulations is very important. It is never a good idea to just go out and fish without doing some research. So lucky for you guys I am going to do it for you and try to put it in simple terms, so you don't have to read through all the garbles. 

• Fishing is permitted Jan 1st- March 14th, May 6th - December 31st. 
• Must be 15 inches minimum. 
• 6 per day to keep.

Regulations are the same in Lake Erie. 

Fish For Free - Happy Independance Day

 Hello everyone! I wanted to reach out and wish everyone a happy Independence Day. 

If you didn't know, Pennsylvania allows two days a year that you can fish without a license and July 4th is one of them. "Fish For Free Days."

I want to encourage everyone to take your kiddos out and get them interested in fishing or if you don't have any plans go out and throw a line in the water yourself.  This day is perfect for someone who is interested in fishing but worried they won't like it or for parents with kids that want to try it. 

Remember, kids get bored when fishing. Keep it interesting for them. Plus, there's nothing more American than throwing a line in the water. 

Happy Fishing and everyone enjoy a safe holiday! Don't forget to throw a line in the water on July 4th. 

Central PA Walleyes - The Science

 What's a walleye and why do I care? Good question. 

So I know this is a bass page, but it is always important to discuss other fish and PA wildlife. I want to start by introducing a species that is most famous for fishing in Lake Erie, the Walleye. 

• Walleyes have several other names, Yellow Pike, Yellow Pike-Perch and Yellow Pickeral. 
• The name "Walleye" comes actually from the fish's eyes. They stare off into opposite directions as if "staring at walls." according to Aikens Lake Wilderness. Also, they are only able to see shades of red and green. This is important when choosing lure selection.
• These fish will live between 15-20 years, although the females will typically live longer. At 5 years old the females are considered sexually mature and will start to out grow the males. 

I know you see walleye tournaments and all sorts of things like this on specifically Lake Erie. However, we have walleye and a lot of waterways in Central PA. PFBC actually has a stocking program for walleye. Walleyes tend to prefer deeper waters and lakes. 

Some of the local water ways that have good walleye fishing:

• Curwensville
• Prince Gallitzin
• Raystown Lake 

Plastics vs Live Bait - What You Need To Know

 You might be thinking, "I grew up using live bait and caught plenty of fish."

 Well, I'm not going to lie to you, I grew fishing with live bait too. But here is why plastics can be better especially for bass fishing.

According to Bass Master, here are some pros and cons:

Pros: 

• Less mess
• Easy to change.
• Can be retrieved faster.
• Unactive fish can be persuaded. 

Cons:

• Cost, they can be expensive.
• Don't always work.
• More of a challenge 
• (Convincing a fish that something not real, is real)

One of the most important Pro's to using plastics or artificial baits is that it is the most catch and release friendly. The first are LESS likely to swallow artificial bait whereas they almost always swallow live bait. Click the picture to check out a great YouTube video.

Largemouth Bass & Lakes

If you follow the blog, you would have noticed that I did a post on why smallmouth bass prefer rivers. You're guessing it right. This is why largemouth bass prefer lakes and ponds as habitat. 

According to Bass Habitat, largemouth bass prefer deeper waters during the day 8-15ft and tend to prefer shallow waters in the evenings and mornings at 1-5ft.

Largemouth bass prefer temperatures over 60 degrees. Unlike small mouths who can tolerate cooler waters. Lakes typically offer a lot of cover for the largemouth which they thrive having. Lakes can provide lily pads, down trees, and other vegetation. A big difference is that a small mouth requires current to survive where as a largemouth, just prefers it. Smallmouth bass can be found in lakes, but the largemouth bass typically out breeds them. 

This is why you can see a distinction between the habitat of the two, however this is some over lap in certain areas.