Time to Fish!

[Red Childress]

Well, it is time to shift gears over to fishing now. Oakland Catholic was too much for the Lady Dragons last nite. I plan to get the boat in the water on Sunday (after Saturday’s storm moves thru) to make sure the boat is running right.


Good Luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

It was a little too crappy out on Sunday just to go for a test drive! This weekend looks much better.

[Red Childress]

My addiction to the NCAA wrestling tournament might keep at home today…..plus, the rain might suck just enough to keep me from a Saturday test drive.:). Leaning towards doing this on Sunday morning after the snow flurries are finished. I never feel comfortable taking Spring customers out before doing a complete boat check. Varmints have a way of chewing up wires and building nests in strange places no matter how much “deterrent” is used in my (heated) boat garage.

Water temps are finally warming up after some decent weather here in NW Siberia (I mean PA).

Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We decided to reschedule today’s and tomorrow’s trips to wait for warmer weather and water temps. River outflow temps are in the 37-38 degree range and the discharge level is running fairly high. Muskies, Pike, Trout and Bass can be targeted, currently. The harvesting of bass ends on April 8 and then the C/R season lasts until 6/15. The harvesting of trout on the Trophy Trout section of river (Kinzua Dam to the Confluence of the Conewango) is between the opening day of trout season and Labor Day.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We chased big browns after my appointment yesterday and lost every fish we hooked. They were not aggressively hitting our artificial lures so we slowed things waaaaaay down which made things even tougher to get the hooks to bite. Water temps at 38.3 is some of the coldest water I have ever seen for April Fools Day. The horizontal sleet storms also made things more fun for us.:) The river is very stained at the moment and did not help our cause either.

We decided not to fish today or tomorrow and push them to later this Spring. Today is looking like a good day to scrub down my boat since it will be above freezing.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another weekend of crappy weather and water conditions coming up. We decided to push this weekend’s fishing to a later date. I am still trying to understand how the bad weather always seems to fall on the weekends. Last year we had weekend snow during the second week of May!

With Spring Break beginning on Monday, I will be on the water every day. Let’s hope the water clears up some before then.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We decided to fish the high water yesterday since the visibility was better. The bite was tough for us but Dave managed to stick a beautiful musky and lose a huge (accidental) walleye at boatside. The wind/rain/hail was a pleasure to endure.

We are not fishing in this crap today. Temps in the 60’s beginning tomorrow. Let’s hope the fish like it!


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After we decided to reschedule Monday and Tuesday’s trip, I hit the water solo for about 6 hours looking for pike in some “less traveled” locations. Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone and try new areas when conditions change. I had 6 fish moving (5 pike and 1 smaller musky) but couldn’t get them to eat at boatside. The fish seem to be coming out of the cold water funk but still not as active as I would like to see.

I forgot to mention the crazy strike that Dave had on Saturday. We pulled into an area and within the first 10 casts, Dave hooked the 2nd largest fish I have ever seen on the Allegheny. As soon as he hooked up, the fish immediately broke water and for an instant we both thought it looked like a sturgeon but it was a Paddlefish. As soon as she landed and rolled the lure popped out. We both agreed she looked to be in the 55-60 inch range including the bill. (The largest fish was another Paddlefish we had follow up back in ‘13 or ‘14.) It would have been the 4th paddlefish landed by my boat over the past 15 years and the previous 3 were hooked squarely in the mouth. Who said these fish won’t eat large meals?:)

Today’s plan is to hit a different stretch of river while looking for pockets of active fish. A different weather pattern coming today so let’s see what happens.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

After 6 hours of chasing pike in areas I rarely fish, the net stayed dry again today. I did not even move a fish in the ‘abnormal’ sunny conditions. The river may have bumped up a little bit while I was out there as well.

We will chase bass and pike today while hoping to get spared by any thunderstorms passing thru.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We moved 3 decent pike in the first 4 hours then the crazy storms hammered us. After a very short discussion, we decided to seek shelter and call it a day. We were just fishing and enjoying great conversation when we began to noticed the severe temperature drop. As we looked downriver, the black clouds were coming and the big thunder began. The days of fishing during lightning storms are long gone.:)

Today, we are going to pound Tionesta Lake and see if she will cough up a nice musky or two.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We worked our butts off yesterday while fishing thru big winds, a rainy morning and a flooded lake. The result was a dry net and no Esox sightings either. I am taking today off and will be back down there on Saturday to take another shot.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another rainy and cold morning yesterday. Within the first hour, we raised a big fish but could not get her to take Ian’s fly. After 7 more hours of grinding, we just couldn’t find anyone hungry. Lake levels are slowly receding and the temp dropped a degree or two.

No Easter fishing for me this year. I did wake up to an inch of snow this morning…..will it ever stop.:)


Good luck, stay tuned and Happy Easter!

[Red Childress]

Another tough couple of days chasing toothies for my boat. We did catch some accidental pre-spawn smallies and had several rutting rainbows chasing our musky baits but no Esox sightings at all. We hit Tionesta on Saturday and decided to give the high-running river a shot on Sunday. The weather sure was nice but the Esox did not seem too turned on. Clear water fishing sure can be brutal.

The lake and river temps are finally headed in the right direction. Thunderstorms forecasted for today and snow coming on Wednesday. :(


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another lackluster weekend of musky fishing for my boat. We were sunburned on Sunday and rained out after 3 hours on Sunday. Booker had a decent fish follow on Saturday and 0 sightings on a shortened day on Sunday. River water temps range between 43 and 47 depending on location. Just when the river is ready to come down to normal levels, we get smacked with more rain yesterday and more forecasted for this week.

Water temps are slowly coming up but we are still behind the norm for May. The water clarity has been super clear as well but yesterday’s rain should have added some stain by now.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Eric had a very nice musky hooked up around 10:15 on Saturday but 1/2 way back to the boat, she hit a nice gator roll and was gone. That was our only action of the day.

We decided not to fish for trout today after the river was bumped up for the 2nd time this week. It would have been a rough trolling battery grind with 4 of us in the boat fighting the current.

I am really forward to warming water and lower river levels sometime soon. I have officially had enough high water fishing.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

I had some inexperienced musky hunters out today and we had a good time but the fishing was poor wherever my boat was parked. We couldn’t buy a pike either. We only fished about 6 hours or so. The River temps are in the prime spawning temp range but at least the river was as low as it has been in 11 weeks.

We are hoping Day 2 provides some different results.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After a last-minute decision to chase bass and walleye, we ended up having a pretty good day. We only netted a couple prespawn bass with the bulk of our fish being males or juvenile females. We landed about 15 smallies and 2 post spawn walleye in about 6 hours. Water temps were 55-57 where we were fishing. No accidental pike or musky.

A busy 3-day fishing weekend coming up for us. Muskies/pike on Saturday and a Presque Isle smallmouth hunt for Sunday and Monday. Let’s hope the weather is normal and the water keeps warming up.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Been a hectic 3 days! On Saturday’s Allegheny trip, Elias the 7 year old manchild, had 2 toothies hooked-up (1 musky and 1 nice pike) but they both shook off. Al and Dave both had muskies chase them to the boat but could not convert. We did net a couple accidental bass and a smaller pike while down-sizing our baits later in the day.

Sunday’s smallmouth trip to Presque Isle was met with a nasty, rainy cold front with air temps dropping 30 degrees from the day before and 20-25 mph winds constantly pounding us. The fishing was decent in the morning but got very tough by noon. We mainly caught smaller males but a few prespawn females were netted. As the last boat left around 2:30, we decided to pack it in too.

Monday was a much better day as the fishing picked up as the temps rose into the afternoon. We had a very diversified species day with smallmouth, largemouth, pike, rock bass, perch and a single bowfin to round it out. I was surprised at the sizes of the pike that kept eating our jerkbaits and shiners over the 2 days. Our heaviest smallie was around 4-5 pounds and all 7 pike were 30+ inches except for 1 that was 28”. Water temps ranged between 64 on Sunday and 61 on Monday.

We are planning to do the same trip this coming weekend and battle the craziness known as Memorial Day.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After a final discussion regarding the crazy amount of water traffic on Presque Isle this weekend, we decided to postpone our trip. So, we spread 6 yards of mulch and a few other outdoor jobs yesterday and more of the same slated for today.

Be safe and good luck out there!

[Red Childress]

Saturday was a good day on the water. Anthony (who is 14), caught his first musky and he had a larger fish shake off a couple hours later on a Rig Boss 7”. Craig had an extremely tight follow just before noon but couldn’t get the fish to commit and that was it for us. Noon to 2pm was the dead zone for my boat.

A little later start for our musky hunt today as travel plans get tweaked a bit.

I have gotten away from posting pics the last couple years but since this was Anthony’s first musky, here it is:

32153

[Red Childress]

Sunday’s musky hunt started off with us visiting each spot where we had action the previous day with the hopes of finding a hungry fish. Instead, we fished thru those areas 2x but no action at all. We ended the day without seeing an Esox anywhere.

Water temps were 63-64.5 where we were fishing and clarity was very good. Another week of school in NY and then back at it again for the weekend.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We had a very slow morning looking for an Esox until Ben hooked his first-ever musky around 1pm. He fought the fish thru the first set of headshakes and then his line went slack and the fish was gone. That was the only action of the day as we quit at 2.

River temps were 62-64 depending on location with some stain leftover from Wednesday’s heavy rains.

Today, we will chase muskies again with some first-time musky hunters. Let’s hope the lightning holds off long enough to squeeze in the trip.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another crew of first-time Esox hunters decided to try their luck on Sunday as John kicked off the day with his first-ever pike around 8am and then Steve (father) scored his first-ever musky around 10am. I’m sure glad I had the proper release tools because the fish gator rolled himself into a giant web of netting. After cutting some hooks and pulling the net out of her mouth, we managed a successful release. Steve also lost a big smallie after a few acrobatic jumps.

As soon as we get some consistent warm temps, I think the river will wake up and come alive again. I am just not seeing the normal surface activity or baitfish schools like I was just a couple weeks ago. The birds of prey hunting the river have been scarce which usually means their food source is staying deeper where the water is warmer. We have actually lost a degree or two since last weekend.


32158



Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We pounded on a steamy Chautauqua Lake yesterday looking for muskies. After a slow few hours, we had an upper 30’s come in on a Musky Bomb, take a couple laps and left. The second fish was much larger (mid to upper 40’s) on a Beaver and showed up last-minute from underneath…….One lap later she left but we brought her back for another 1/2 lap and gone. The third fish was around 40 and went around a few times, left and came back and left for good. A fun day and a little frustrating.

Back at it Saturday looking for bass/walleye.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We set sail yesterday looking for walleye and bass during a serious weather change. This cold front is about as bad as you can get. We had on extra sweatshirts as well. There was still some overcast during the first few hours and that was when all of our action occurred. We scored a few bass and had a small muskie boil at boatside. Then the sun popped out and we saw nothing the rest of the day. The river levels are low for sure.

Today, Jeff is chasing a musky with the fly rod. We are hoping the crazy winds from yesterday have calmed a bit.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We had a successful day as Jeff was able to score his first PA musky on the fly rod. He also had another (larger) fish hooked up for a few head shakes until it rolled on the surface and was gone. The first fish came out of nowhere and crushed his fly at boatside. It was one of the coolest boatside attacks I have seen in awhile. That fish measured at 37”. I will post pics as soon as I get them.

Today will be a little shorter musky trip while using traditional reels.

32157



Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We musky fished a few different areas today and only had 2 small pike and a big smallie slash at the boat. There were absolutely no musky sightings.

That was (likely) the last weekend of RIVER fishing for my boat until school starts back in September. I will stick with weekdays on the river to avoid the water traffic. I am heading to Chautauqua Lake this weekend to hunt some toothies.

River temps climbed back up a little as the cold front finally pulled out.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We had a good day on Saturday with 3 muskies and 1 largemouth hitting the bag…..plus 4 follows. The 3 fish measured at 37, 40 and 43. Adam was finally able get his first boatside musky around 10:40 and she put on quite the show before being scooped up. The largest fish we saw was in the 46-47” range. We are starting earlier today so we can beat the afternoon storms.

The south end of Chautauqua water temp was 74 in the morning and got to 79 before we quit. The heat dome was real yesterday! Today’s plan will be very similar to yesterday’s. Leo’s and Shallow Invaders seemed to be a reliable food source yesterday. They will be on the breakfast menu this morning as well.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

It’s amazing how things can change in 24 hours. We had a very slow day yesterday with only a smallmouth and a largemouth hitting the net. We saw zero action from the muskies before quitting at 2:30.

Today, we will do a half day of bass and walleye before the sun gets overhead. I am not sure where we will fish until checking to see if we have any muddy tributaries after the storms last evening.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We needed some sweatshirts this morning as a pretty decent cold front moves thru the area this week. The river was stained but still fishable as Brian landed his first ever musky around 7:30 as well as 7 bass hitting the bag. We had another 2-3 fish shake off before seeing them. We did see a big walleye flash at boatside but that was it until we quit around 11:30. The musky was around 34 inches and caught on bass tackle.

Water temps dropped a little with the cooler weather. This morning will be a similar plan.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

A little cooler than Monday morning and we even had some patchy fog as well. The bite was tougher for us but Nate came thru with 2 plump walleye in the 19-23” range plus a couple small bass while Brian scored the largest bass around 18”. We quit at 11 with no (sharp) toothy sightings.

We will chase a mixed bag of fish this morning while just trying to get a rod bent. River fishing techniques will be the primary focus this morning and catching will be secondary.

Water temps have been kinda stagnant the past few days.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We hit a few bass and a decent pike but lost a boatside musky strike after a few thrashing headshakes and 1 other musky follow before we quit at 11:30. We threw a mixed bag of lures and had action from a mixed bag of fish.

I was nice to sleep past sunrise today in preparation for a little evening brown trout hunt coming later today.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We had to deal with an ‘abbreviated’ evening trout hunt last nite due to travel snags. John tried to work his fly magic but couldn’t find any takers. Water temps near the dam were 62 when we left before dark.

I am taking a few days off until the 5th. Again, we will be looking for browns on the fly.


Good luck and stay tuned.

Have a happy 4th!

[Red Childress]

Ken decided he did not want to get wet this morning so we cancelled our trout hunt. We will give it a shot on Thursday. The river flow is low but stable. Over the next couple of days, my wife and I might poke around a few areas known to hold big walleye and see if she can get one.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Ken and Mitch worked nymphs and streamers for 4 hours yesterday morning and had 5 takes but could not get the hooks to stick. We worked several different areas but just couldn’t get the net wet.

My wife and youngest daughter hit the river for the afternoon shift. After my wife loses a decent smallie at boatside, she still took a 1/2 point lead for her efforts. It wasn’t until I made an “illegal” cast that brought the first walleye to the net. Our short tournament concluded under protest and video will be examined sometime today to declare the winner.:)

Andy and I are planning to musky fish Chautauqua this weekend but we haven’t decided which day yet. It won’t be long before the Chautauqua water will be hitting the 80 degree mark.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Well, Andy and I were not able to make our schedules work for a Chautauqua musky hunt last weekend and we moved yesterday’s trip to another date. So, we will focus on smallies tomorrow with traditional tackle. I am anxious to see if we end up contacting another accidental musky on lite tackle.

Friday’s trip will be a bunch of gun-slinging fly guys looking for a musky or two. The upcoming weather looks pretty stable with little rain likely to hit the ground.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

On Wednesday, Seth and I grinded out a decent day of smallies and walleye. During the first 6 hours, we netted the bulk of our fish. The last 2 hours produced the only 2 legal walleye of the day. Water temps ranged between 64 and 69 depending on location. Conditions are tough with low, clear water and very little tributary influence out there at the moment.

Today, we will chase toothies on the fly this evening and then right back at it Friday morning doing with the same game plan.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We set sail around 4:30 and drove to our first spot. After 9 or 10 casts, Joe hooks up with his first musky on the fly. After a nice backflip, the fish hit the net at 5:10. That was the only fish we would see until Joe missed a small pike just before we quit at 9.

Today, it will be Ryan’s turn to fish thru the areas first. Water temps climbed to 71 before the sun went down.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We decided to fish a different stretch of river yesterday looking for muskies. Joe enticed 2 nice fish to follow his fly to the boat but they just wouldn’t eat it. After 6 hours, we decided to switch rods and finish up with some smallmouth fishing. After landing several fish of various sizes (on Clousers), it was time to quit. As usual for this river, every bass caught had big bellies and were well-fed.

Water temps were varied with an average around 69-71. No fishing for me (again) this weekend but we will chase muskies on Monday if the weather holds.

Here is a pic of Joe’s first musky on the fly:

32166


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

On Monday, Dylan and I pushed our start time back a little to allow the heavier rain to move thru the area. He was hoping to catch a musky over 40” and beat his PB of 39. We got to our first spot just before 8 and within 7-8 casts, he had the largest fish of the morning come in hot but spooked at the boat. We both agreed that fish was easily over 40. Over the next 90 minutes, he had 3 more fish come to boatside but none would commit. He did stick a decent pike and we finished up at 12:30. The other 3 muskies were in the 34-38” range.

I plan to do some experimenting with a couple different musky presentations on Thursday. It’s always fun trying to modify low-water techniques hoping to get bit more often during the dog days of summer. Today and tomorrow will consist of taking care of some chores hoping to prevent a divorce.:)


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

I really liked 1 of the 2 modifications I tried out yesterday so today I think it will see some live action. We are chasing muskies and smallies this morning in between thunderstorms, hopefully.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

It was a pretty good day for hooking smallies but a terrible day getting them to the net. It is that time of year when many of the bass are hitting artificial lures very lightly and are difficult to keep hooked. The highlight of the day was when Ryan (17 years old) caught his first musky at the very end of the trip. While his dad and 2 uncles were bass fishing, Ryan kept chucking the new-ish presentation I had just tested the day before. It had been about 4.5 hours since Ryan had his first follow earlier in the day when he got slammed by a hungry musky in shallow water. It was also the last spot we were going to fish before quitting!

No fishing for my boat this weekend. On Monday, we plan to target muskies in the morning but may switch over to “just getting a rod bent” mentality later in the day. Hopefully, the storms stay clear of us.

Here is a pic of Ryan’s first musky. I should have re-positioned his fish for the photos but was in too much of a hurry to get her back in the water.

32167


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Well, we launched the boat this morning hoping to find some clean water. After a 5 mile drive, we couldn’t find any so we called it a day and went home. We got hammered last nite and every tributary (no matter the size) is running mud today. It very likely could be 2-3 days before things clear up.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

This afternoon, I plan to fish with a local crew who recently bought a jet boat and are trying to learn the travel routes/general fishing areas on the river. If the river south of Warren is still too muddy to fish, we will head upriver looking for clean water. The travel routes will be the main focus.

The river sure was a mess yesterday.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We chased muskies yesterday evening and after not having any action at all, we quit at 9:30. This morning’s plan has muskies at the top of the list as well. The water sure seemed dead last nite. Hopefully, this cooler weather hasn’t slowed down the toothy critters.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

A very slow morning for my boat yesterday as the weather cooled off just like the musky fishing. Todd did manage to stick a 4lb. smallmouth that thought she was ready to tackle a musky sized meal. We had zero follows of any kind as well.

On Monday, we will chase toothies on the fly. Hopefully, the warm moist air returns and the sky isn’t so blue.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

The cooler weather sure cooled things off for my boat over the past several days. Once again, we had zero action from the muskies on Monday morning. The river has finally cleaned up from last week’s storms but has also cooled off a couple of degrees in the process.

Looks like I will take a few days off from the river and get some jobs around the house completed before visiting my dad down in the flood ravaged areas of Appalachia. My next trip will be Tuesday next week.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

A late positive Covid test (last nite) for one of my guys forced us to cancel today’s fishing. We were already thinking about cancelling due to to today’s forecast so this made it much easier.

My next trip will be Friday. We will chase muskies. Hopefully, the river stays clean and in good shape by then.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We set sail at sunrise on (a very cool and foggy) Friday morning looking for muskies. Things were very slow for the first 4 hours but after the sun worked its magic, we moved 2 nice fish in the last hour but were not able to force-feed them at boataide. Both fish were in the 36-42” range. The river is low and not much coming from the tributaries either. Be careful out there!

We may hit the water on Tuesday and Friday next week if our schedules match up.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Looks like the weather will allow us to chase muskies on Friday. The river was bumped up a little this week to help keep the barges afloat and endangered aquatic life healthy in the lower river.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

On Friday, our goal was to have an enjoyable day on the water and that is exactly what we did. Chris had 2 nice muskies visit him at boatside but both decided to skip the easy meal and vanish under the boat. We found a little stained water downriver and decided to focus our efforts there for most of the morning. River temps have dropped about 4 degrees the past 2 weeks. Fall is sneaking up on us.

On Monday, we plan to chase a mixed bag of fish but just haven’t decided which ones yet.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After looking at the forecast one last time last nite, we decided to play it safe and cancel today’s fishing. The threat of lightning was the biggest concern. Hopefully, we can sneak it in before school starts. Oddly enough, the same exact thing happened with these guys last August.

My wife and I might even try to squeeze in 9-holes today if we can find a break in the weather.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After shuffling some schedules around the recent weather, Joe is going to chase muskies-on-the-fly tomorrow and then the boat will go into the shop immediately afterward for a scheduled pit-stop. (Joe was the guy who bagged his first fly-musky a few weeks ago after only 9 casts!)

It looks like tomorrow will be my last weekday fishing trip before school starts. Hopefully, today’s rain doesn’t muddy things up too badly.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

There wasn’t much action for Joe and I yesterday. Other than a few smallies following Joe’s musky-sized fly to the boat, the net stayed dry for us all day. We fished some off colored water most of the day hoping to offset the sunny skies. The plan sounded good on paper.:)

Today we take our youngest daughter to college. The nest will be officially empty today. My boat goes into the shop tomorrow as school work-days begin later next week.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

I plan to pick up my boat this weekend after some serious yearly maintenance has been completed by Wiegel’s Marine and then play a little golf over the holiday. I plan to wait another week before getting back into “weekend warrior” mode for the next 3 months.

Have a safe Holiday and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Picking up the boat today and preparing to kick off the Fall fishing season this weekend. We will be targeting muskies both days. The river discharge is running lower than normal so be careful out there!


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

After a severe butt-kicking yesterday, we decided not to fish in the rain today.

‘Tis the season for the floating weeds/grass to begin. As the days get shorter and the river bumps up, the mature vegetation is starting to break free. The pea soup coming out of Chautauqua Lake is adding some color to the river as well. It won’t be long before the Corps begins switching the gates to a bottom discharge which always adds some color to the upper river too.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We are suppose to be chasing muskies this weekend but some airline travel snags may force us to cancel. I will know more later today. The river flow is still running low as local fishermen only have 1 week before the big tourney next weekend. I haven’t had a chance to check on the water clarity yet this week but I expect to see some color.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We were only able to squeeze in a 4-hour day yesterday but netted a very solid pike and I pulled the lure away from an upper-30’s fish at boatside with the hopes of a little ‘bait and switch” technique. Ryan threw back a couple times but no luck. Water clarity looked nice and the river was actually a tad higher than last weeeknd. The smaller tributaries are running higher from last week’s rainfall. The Fall cooldown has arrived which means floating vegetation is increasing.

No fishing today for my boat. My wife informed me that since both kids are finally in college, I needed to take her golfing today.:)

Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

I took the weekend off and traveled back home to Virginia for my 35th HS reunion. I haven’t been fishing the same weekend as the State Tournament for a few years now. Now, it is time to get serious for the Fall bite! Looking forward to lots of fishing over the next couple of months.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

Looks like we will be chasing walleye on Saturday and muskies-on-the-fly Sunday. I have a feeling there will be some very colored water to contend with if fishing South of Warren.

There will likely be a bass tournament happening on Saturday as well.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We had a very solid day hunting walleye yesterday while fishing some very colored water. The accidental bass fishing wasn’t too shabby either. Our largest walleye was 27.5 and largest bass was was just shy of 4#. Most everything we caught was on the larger side of the spectrum for some reason. Temps ranged between 57.5 and 64 depending on location and floating vegetation was manageable. The bites were especially aggressive with most lures being completely eaten.

Today, we will look for a musky on the fly and not sure of the gameplan until I check the river conditions. Hopefully, the wind will not be too problematic.

Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

A tough day to sling flies with big winds out of the NE and clearing skies. We did not see any fish at boatside but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there as the clarity was around 2 feet. We did hit Matt’s personal best smallmouth around noon. I also had a pike smash my spinnerbait but shook off. That was it for the action.

Getting ready for a 3-day musky stint over the upcoming holiday.


Stay tuned and Good Luck!

[Red Childress]

We had a great time fishing but the catching was the tough part.:). After not see any signs of life for 7 hours, we decided to quit an hour early.

Today, Doug will try to catch his first musky with a fly rod. Let’s hope the wind calms down a little and the toothies wake up a little. River levels are suppose to be falling today too.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

Doug worked his tail off trying to get his fly into the right places as the wind made things challenging yesterday. The floating vegetation continued but not quite as bad as Saturday. We finally had a fish flash-off around 12:30 but that was it. Hopefully, the cold front has worked its way thru the area and things are trending upward once again. Water temps south of Warren are around 57 and upstream temps are in the 62 mark.

Jeff will try his luck with the fly rod today. Muskies are on the menu.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

It was a little better out there on Sunday as Jeff had a boatside slasher try to steal his fly around 1pm but missed the hooks. Other than that, we had no other action to wrap up a very unproductive 3-day musky stint.

River levels were trimmed back down to very low levels on Sunday nite. Temps around 56-57 south of Warren.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We knew it was going to be a windy day but did not expect THAT much wind………and floating leaves along with tons of suspended strands of river grass. We kept moving North while hunting for fishable water. After 5 hours of unproductive casting, we gave up. Over 70% of our casts came back with salad attached to our lures. We did find a few bass that were interested and that was it.

Today, we are looking for muskies while hoping the winds/vegetation are manageable. Downstream temps are around 55-56 and upstream temps in the low-60’s.

Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

Another fun day of fishing but a terrible day for catching as we failed to put any muskies in the net (once again). The wind cooperated for us during the morning helped keep the floating leaves at bay. The afternoon was a little different story. We also had more river discharge fluctuations again this weekend and I am not sure why.

Time to regroup and prepare for next weekend’s musky hunt. The first really big cool-down coming our way this week as well. Snow in the forecast for tonight.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

My boat will be looking for muskies (again) this weekend with the hopes of breaking out of the recent slump. There have been a few times over the past few weeks that a live bait approach would have likely made things a bit easier but we stuck with the artificial approach anyway.

The weather looks very nice but that doesn’t mean the fish will like it. Let’s hope the floating vegetation isn’t too bad. We are entering the time frame where there can be massive amounts of leaves floating. Fingers crossed.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

Things got a little better yesterday but the net still stayed dry. We had a couple of small-ish toothies come to the boat during the late-morning and that was it. The wind picked up around noon and the leaves became a problem. We quit after 7 hours. Today, we will change our tactics and see if we can finally get someone to eat. The water South of Warren has some pretty good stain. River levels have been bumped up a little but still very low for this time of year. The summer drought is to blame.

Downstream temps are 49.9 and upstream temps are in the upper-50’s.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

We did some different stuff and fished some different areas on Sunday. The first and largest fish we saw was around noon as a low-40’s fish sluggishly followed Dave’s Rig Boss to the boat. 3 hours later, an upper-30’s fish decided to eat the bait and the musky slump was finally over. Gary had finally caught his first pure bred musky in the last spot we were going to fish!

This week, we plan to fish muskies on Chautauqua and chase trout on the river followed by a full weekend of hunting bass/walleye.

Stay tuned and Good Luck!

32172

[Red Childress]

We moved our Chautauqua trip to next week due to the rainy weather we had last Wednesday. Yesterday’s trip went pretty well as Lenny caught his first musky. He also had a much larger musky come in hot with his nose almost touching the bait but just wouldn’t eat. We had some pretty good trout action as well as Lenny landed a 23” brown with a couple more near-misses.

Today and tomorrow we will chase as many bass/walleye as humanly possible. Dave and Ken are two of the best finesse bass fishermen I have ever fished with. Their skills will be tested during a pretty tough Fall river bite. Warmer than average river temps and much lower river levels will be a challenge. Looking forward to watching these guys work their magic under super sunny skies today.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

Dave and Ken put 45-48 smallies in the bag yesterday with another 10-12 lost fish. We went hunting for big walleye for the first 1.5 hours and came up with nothing so we moved to bass around 10am and quit at 5. Largest measured bass was 21.5. No musky or pike sightings. We fished a variety of areas and used various artificial techniques until a pattern was established.

Today’s plan will be pretty much the same but we might change the order of the spots we fished based on yesterday’s results.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After a hot morning start, things cooled quickly for us in the afternoon as we put 31 bass and 1 walleye in the net. The leaves became a problem south of Warren later in the day. We were just shy of the 20” mark.

Water temps ranged between 50 and 55 depending on location. We plan to chase muskies at Chautauqua on Thursday and then 2 straight days chasing muskies for the weekend. Mild temps and southerly winds forecasted for the next week.


Stay tuned and good luck!

[Red Childress]

It sure did not seem like November musky fishing yesterday but it was still musky fishing, nonetheless. We had 2 of the largest fish I have seen all year come to the boat…..1 tried to eat and missed the bait while the other fish was looking at the bait (partially covered with weeds) but wouldn’t pull the trigger. Both fish showed themselves between 11 and 11:15 and that was all the action we had. Water temps were still in the low-50’s!

Friday and Saturday will both be musky-hunt days on the river. Let’s hope the floating vegetation isn’t a problem.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another fun and memorable day on the water yesterday as Scott landed his very first musky and Conner had 2 respectable fish come to the boat but evidently did not like the menu items. We battled some floating leaves as the wind forecast wasn’t even close. Water temps have actually risen over the past couple weeks and I was fishing in shorts by 11am.

Today’s plan will likely be the same but will need to check the water conditions at daylight. The incoming rain will also be a factor.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Sunday was a tougher day for my boat as the net stayed dry and no musky sightings. We fished the exact same spots as Saturday but couldn’t get anything going. Water temps have actually risen by 6-7 degrees over the past 2 weeks. This has affected the northerly migration of all species, especially bass.

It’s gonna be another 3-day weekend of musky fishing coming up as we celebrate Veteran’s Day. It will be my first Vets Day in 28 years without Charlie Brant. RIP brother.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Friday’s rain forecast was enough to cancel fishing but mostly due to the potential for floating vegetation washing into the river. Muddy tributary water is also a real concern too. I had forgotten we were going to watch my daughter play a couple basketball games on Friday nite and Saturday as well.

We are still looking to fish on Sunday but will have to wait and see how bad the river looks Saturday evening. Big weather changes on the way!


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After 3 inches of rain on Friday, we decided to cancel Sunday’s trip as well. The river will rise a couple more feet today and Tionesta Lake jumped 23 feet in 40 hours! The floating vegetation is terrible since this is the first high water we have had after the Fall leaf-drop.

We plan to hit the water next weekend after things flush out.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

With the drop in temps and increasing wind speeds coming for the weekend, we have decided not to fish. River levels have been high and will remain high for several more days. Wednesday and the rest of Thanksgiving vacation is looking promising weather-wise but river levels may still be too high.

I hope to squeeze in a few more fishing trips before having my hip replaced on 11/29.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Wednesday’s musky adventure is happening and hopefully the rain forecast will allow us to fish Friday and Sunday as well. Saturday is looking pretty good too.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After a 9 day break due to high water and crappy weather, I was surprised at how much color there was in the river. We had a solid morning while netting 2 nice pike and losing a musky after rolling her on the surface. The river had a substantial outflow drop around lunchtime and so did our fishing action as we did not see another toothy the rest of the day. The super sunny weather didn’t help much either. River temps have really dropped the past week and are getting closer to the normal ranges for this time of year.

We are keeping an eye on tomorrow’s weather but still plan to fish as of now.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

A tough day of cold-front fishing for my boat. Not only did we not see a toothy but the wind and wind direction was a real pain in the arse. We covered tons of water using different techniques but just couldn’t get anything going.

With tomorrow’s forecast looking bleak, there is a strong chance that today will be my last day on the water for 2022. My hip replacement is finally coming on Tuesday and excited to get things fixed.

Today will be another musky hunt and it would be great to end the year with 1 more slimy net.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Saturday was another rough day for us. We didn’t see a toothy all day. We decided to cancel today’s outing mostly due to the rain (that is arriving soon) but also the lack of action over the past 2 days helped to make that decision.

So, that is it for 2022. The boat began her winter hibernation yesterday while mine begins today.:)


Good luck and Happy Holidays!

[Red Childress]

The hip replacement went well and I am on Day 6 of rehab. The rehab has been somewhat painful since I elected to bypass the heavy painkillers and just stick with Tylenol. I can assure you the same strategy will not be used with the knee replacement.:)

Modern medicine is pretty amazing.


Good luck on the water or in the woods!

[Red Childress]

The river levels have dropped back down and are very manageable but there could be some heavy coloring South of Warren as a result.