Clarion Lake(East Branch Lake)...........

[McDunnoftheAllegheny]

Anyone ever fish Clarion Lake I went there today we fished below the dam for trout but I want to go back with the boat and look for the big toothy creatures all I know is that it gets tiger musky........

[steelerhead95]

That is the extent of what I know about it as well. I know it gets tigers, and supposedly they get pretty big in there. I know of a couple of guys that used to catch some musky in there some years back. I have never been there, but it is also on my list of lakes to hit in the near future. I can't stop going to Tionesta Lake till I finally catch one.

[muskyjerk]

The fish commision magazine's most recent issue had an article if this is the lake that is below I-80. They called it the Piney resevoir (sp?). Tigers yes. Deep resevoir with ledges. Sounds like not to different From Tionesta lake. Walleye, bass, crappie and perch too. Water skiiers on the weekend. I think the launch is in or not far from the town but I have no first hand experience and the article didn't touch on this subject.

[w pa muskie bound]

lake is norh of I -80,its up there i believe its like an hour above 80.all 2 lane roads,i'm thinking johnsonburg area,i'd have to get a map out and look,its alot like tionesta deep at the dam and has some shallow water also. has them pesky skiers and tubers.we went quite a few years back when we had all that rain for weeks,didn't do any good that day,it was a long drive just to fish one day.

[muskyjerk]

sounds like a different lake than the one I thought it was.

[McDunnoftheAllegheny]

yes it's north of 80 near johnsonburg but it's back in the jingweeds a bit it sure looked good, I could tell by the dam thats it's very deep but looking at maps i thing the head of it might be a good place to start. I will post a report after I go.

[toothyfishman]

Since most of you are not even sure where it is.....this is probably the best report you'll get.
I live real close to the lake, I can be unloaded on the lake in 20 minutes.
Pretty much spent most of my younger years fishing it with my dad, good bass fishing back in the day, now the bass are smaller, you can catch a good amount during the right times of the year but like 14" is the biggest I normally catch????
Muskie fishing was great in the 80's then tapered off. Early 2000's I was strictly casting and would see like 1 fish per trip. 2005 was the last I caught a muskie there and I had a pretty good spring and caught a few and saw some nice fish.
I believe that was the year they lowered the lake, suppost to be a problem with the dam they are working on but in like 2012 or something crazy like that is completed dam repair, plus filling it again. The dam level is down 20-30 feet from normal which pretty much kills any casting and shallow flat type areas, pretty much stuck with trolling the main channel and two bays that are left.
You'd think it be easy now....it's not.....I haven't caught a fish since 2005. I don't waste a lot of time there but nights after work and weekends I can only fish 1/2 days or whatever I go there. I did finally have a fish on and lost it this spring early in May, seemed like a nice fish, felt good.
Normally I fish Pymie in the spring but it was dead this year so I actually spent a lot of time there this year thinking it has to be easier with the fish having less water but....the fish are not playing. I did spend full days there this season.
I keep hoping it will be good or I can figure something out since it is so close but it just doesn't happen.

I say your time would be better off spent somewhere else, if you want to fish a pretty lake I don't think you'll find a nicer one. Very little boat traffic since it is drawn down low. The launch gets shut down early, last year it was end of Aug. and they were below the launch with the water level so the good months were out!
They did extend the launch last fall so hopefully I can try it later on in the fall.

By best fish there is 47.5 in 2000 and last fish caught was 2005 before the draw down of the water.
Not a very promising report for you but that's what I got. I sure wish it was better since it is so close.....if it was I probably would of kept it hush hush hush ......ha ha ha

If you do go let me know if you do anything.

[McDunnoftheAllegheny]

well it's better to know that now, doesn't sound promising........

[toothyfishman]

Here is the link to their site on the project of the dam repair.

http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/ebdam_safety.htm