you can almost hear crickets in here....

[jah1317]

WOW! Winter has hit hard! not a soul posting in here..... what did everyone get from santa? Anyone find open water and get to fish? C'mon this is killin' me! I know Red is taking some time off but where did everone else go?
I will start off,
Santa brought me: 2 super d's, an orange and black suick, super shallow manta, 2 8" jakes, 2 6" jakes, and 2 baby shallow raiders.... apparently I was good. I went and fished cussewago on the 26th and did not have any luck but the water is going back into it's banks I hope that it does not freeze again! I got laid off so now that I have time, I am sure that it will freeze ( this weather is not helping). I have been working on my lure wallets, getting them sent out and finalizing my logo keep your eye open for them in '09. By the way happy new year!

Take care,

Jacob

[river rat 83]

I was wondering the same thing?! I have been checking in and you can hear a pin drop!


***Jacob, what is cussewago creek like? I suppose you are around Meadville, or northwest of there. Do you fish the Allegheny at all? I do most of my fishing south of Kennerdell and we have run into a few nice eyes' but no musky yet. I would be interested to see the population of musky in that area compared to the northern reaches towards tidioute and warren....A few summers ago my brother caught a 5" fingerling in a minnow trap. We were wondering if it was the result of stocking or was born in the river? Will research the PA fish and game site***

Keep casting guys & good luck!

JEFF

[jah1317]

Jeff,

I am located in Meadville so I am just a couple of miles away from Cusswago. I don't fish allegheny too much I have made a few feeble attempts when we are at our camp near it for the 4th of july but thats it. As far as fishing in this area (meadville) French Creek, Cussewago Creek, Woodcock Lake, and Tamerack Lake are all within 10 min of where I live. Cussewago is a prime musky Creek it is deep, slow, and full of logs and musky. To the best of my knowledge, Cussewago is not stocked it is all from natural reproduction. I have seen 2 small (4") and caught one 14" musky last year which points to natural reproduction because the fish comission does not stock fingerlings generally. Any time you are up this way look me up I will take you for a float down cussewago in the canoe. Out of the 11 fish I caught last year (not too bad for my first year) 8 of them were from cussewago, 2 from french creek, and 1 from woodcock lake. I am planning on checking out to see where the water levels are either today or tomorrow.

Take care,

Jacob

[toothyfishman]

My dad got me a Mag bull dawg and a Super Freak, and a gift cert. from a cool place to eat in Bulter for when I'm at the show so that was nice.

Fished the 14TH and got a 43"
Fished the 23RD and my boat partner got a 38"
Fished that crazy 40mph wind day and got nothing, don't remember the date?
Fished the 30TH after work for 4 hours with nothing.

That's it so far for wintertime stuff, which I am happy with since the water levels have been nuts!!!

Any fish in the wintertime just seem to "Count" more........

[jah1317]

I have to agree with the winter fish "counting" more the same goes for fall fish you go out when the weather is bad but the crazy thing is that there are fish eating! Make hay while the sun shines I guess! I suppose the more risk of bodily harm the more they count.... BTW one of my birthday presents this year was a self inflating life vest, I would suggest it to anyone! They were on sale at Cabelas for $65 or so. You really can't beat it!

Take care,

Jacob

[b.bent66]

Santa decided not to bring me any fishing gear this year,he did get me some good books. ive been out a couple times in the last week. did manage a couple small eyes non keepers.with the dam pumping out so much water its hard fishing from the bank. expessially at the tail waters. the fishing pier is under water and waves about 2 to 3 ft crashing into the bank. i would take the boat out but i dont think the 9.9 will have what it takes to get me back too the launch. anyone hear use those smart link split rings that release the hook under steady pressure, i wanted to get some opinions on them. with my luck they would work great till have a state record on the other end right at the boat or my feet. looks like they are going to start reducing the out flow from the dam .

[toothyfishman]

I'm just going to go ahead and purchase the Mustang float coat for next season. I guess when you start to get older you think about those things more and are smarter.
One trip-up on something, over you go with the outflow so high, your not going to just swim back to the boat, expecially if there is wind blowing the boat away as well.
Now that I have a larger boat I'm hitting larger bodies of water with rougher conditions as well.

Really we all should wear them, water was 34 degrees last trip, you don't last long if you are lucky enough to get out.
It's hard enough to swim with just sneakers and shorts on.
Put 6-7 layers on and some pack boots, your turtle food!!!!!!

[ttabaleulb]

Great ideas for the PFD's!!

This Winter is going to drive me up the wall. Since I have not been able to get out to do much fishing, I have spent more time on the web which causes me to find more Musky stuff that I "need" which then causes my bank account to decrease!! LOL

I am hoping the rivers will be down a bit this weekend so I can keep the casting arm in shape and try to find some of these fish. I read an article recently that mentioned how many Musky they catch in the riffles on rivers. I initially figured to spend the most time in the slower sections. Do you guys get a lot of action in faster water?? I know thats a relative term, but I'm curious if I have been passing certain sections for no good reason.


Jay

[RapRunR]

The only thing i received for Christmas fishing wise was a very old 35HP Evinrude Aquasonic outboard from my son-in-law. This thing is about 5 years older than i am and i'm 45. I have it dated in the late 50's. It supposedly has been gone all through and is in working order. I was actually thinking about seeing if i could trade it for a trolling motor, not sure yet what i want to do with it. I mean how reliable could it be really, not sure. I seen a couple on eBay that were smaller HP selling from $150 to $400.

Haven't fished in several days and need to get back out there. I have caught some nice eyes before that and seen some others catch some as well. The river was giving them up on a regular basis lately. Last time i fished was 4 days ago and watched about 15 baitfish come out of the water. Reeled in my chartreuse floating jig with a 3" shiner and as i did that the baitfish exploded again and only 12' off of shore. I had my 9 ft noodle so i lobbed the jig out expecting a walleye to be feeding. 3rd cast and it ended up being a little 22" musky. First musky i have caught since the weather turned cold which is unusual here.

[jah1317]

Great ideas for the PFD's!!



I am hoping the rivers will be down a bit this weekend so I can keep the casting arm in shape and try to find some of these fish. I read an article recently that mentioned how many Musky they catch in the riffles on rivers. I initially figured to spend the most time in the slower sections. Do you guys get a lot of action in faster water?? I know thats a relative term, but I'm curious if I have been passing certain sections for no good reason.


Jay

I have not caught alot in faster water but I always remember my dad telling me about getting a softshell crab (crayfish) nailed as he reeled it back in up a riffle while fishing for smallies. I guess it was spinning while he retrieved and all he saw was a big open mouth behind it and slam! I am going to be hitting some faster water this year I know where a few live.....

[RapRunR]

When the water is warmer i have caught them in the riffles but usually sitting just off of the current like an eye would. Now that's it's cold i'll work the eddies and back areas.

[muskie24/7]

Whats your input on catching muskies in the riffles? I know now days you can't really stop that "River Cruise Ship" off yours in the lower water,(LOL) But how about trips in the past? Any Luck?

Brian

[ttabaleulb]

I fished the mouth of a feeder on the Juniata on Saturday with not so much as a follow. The spot looked like a "classic" Musky spot to me. Nice current breaks and some deeper slack water, I'll definitely be back there in the future. It was tough to fish from the shore. There is a layer of mud thats slides under your feet like a sheet of ice!! LOL Needless to say, I about bit it a couple of times trying to get an extra couple of feet on my casts.


Jay

[Red Childress]

I am alive and well here in Warren this morning.........oldest kid is sick so I will not be at work today.

As for the muskies being caught in the riffles, that is very true in certain situations. It mostly depends on the amount of dissolved oxygen of the river/stream at that time. I really believe all "river" muskies will relate to faster moving water entering slower water and use this feature as a feeding location, especially if your water has trout or horned-dace. Both of those fish require more oxygen than suckers, carp or bullheads for survival. In my stretch of river, oxygen is never an issue as we have cooler water in summer and warmer water during winter but the muskies can regularly be found in riffles under low light conditions or at night.

As the dog days begin and the water warms to 78 and higher, many fish (especially muskies and larger pike) fish will pull into areas of faster moving water to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat buffet near these areas. Your best bet for muskies in late-Fall/Winter is slower moving areas.......the deeper the better as the colder days of Jan/Feb/March approach.

[Red Childress]

As for the river cruise ship.........that baby can stop just about anywhere that is deeper than 6 inches. Much more versatile than the smaller boats with outboards I have had in the past.

I can even slam this new boat in reverse at full throttle and stop it on a dime.......(not that I ever will)........it is like having a jumbo jet ski that will not slide!


NO MORE CRICKETS NOW FELLOWS!!!!!!! :)

[FrenchCrickJunkie]

Glad you are safe and sound Red, it was awfully quiet in here!

[Red Childress]

I drove 1100 miles with 2 kids in 3 days then I had to "force" myself to stay with my wife in Pittsburgh for 2 nights without kids. Then I had to eat steak, lobster pasta, shrimp scampi and drink beer. I barely survived it........pounding keys for this message board is much easier than I once thought.

The sarcasm is running thick today. :)