Area waters offer some great bass fishing
Nothing beats the ferocity of the strike of a largemouth bass.
Bass season has been open for more than a week.
?I haven’t been out, but I sure have the itch.
The hard-hitting style of the largemouth bass is what makes it the heavyweight champ of the freshwater fishing arena.
Last year I landed a few nice largemouths, but it was the ones that got away that really make me want to get out.
I hooked into one last year while fishing for trout at Dunlap Creek that snapped by 4-pound line after breaking water and heading for the weed bed.
It was a bucket-mouth-class bass and definitely the largest I’ve ever hooked into at Dunlap, making the two- and three-pounders I’m used to catching look miniscule.
The popularity of bass fishing is only fueled by the growing number of bass fishing tournaments, which range from the Bassmasters Classic down to local club events on the local level with all sorts of pro and semi-pro events.
Battles with largemouth bass are legendary and encounters with local lunkers have sparked many tales — some true, some outright lies and most greatly embellished, but they are still repeated again and again wherever and whenever bass fishermen gather.
The heavier largemouth bass is sought after more as a trophy than the smallmouth, but largemouths are not as plentiful in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Only a few impoundments are known for their largemouth bass fishing, while most area lakes, rivers and larger streams have populations of smallmouths.
A prospering bass fishery in this are is Cross Creek Lake in Washington County, which is now part of the Fish and Boat Commission’s Big Bass Program.
While not a “big bass” lake, Dunlap is rapidly gaining the reputation as the place to fish locally.
Several trophy bass come out of the impoundment annually, not to mention lunker trout, and occasional Erie-size walleye, plus a supporting cast of channel cats, bluegills, perch, crappie bass and carp to delight anglers of all ages.
Mill Run Reservoir in Fayette County is also a “Big Bass” lake, as is Quemahoning Dam and Lake Somerset in Somerset County, and most Westmoreland County lakes, including Bridgeport Reservoir, which lies near the Fayette County line. The others are Mammoth Dam, Keystone Lake, Westmoreland, Northmoreland, Upper Twin and Lower Twin lakes.
Cross Creek is a 258-acre lake located in Washington County on Route 50, halfway between Route 18 and Avella.
The lake has nearly eight miles of shoreline, is just over three miles long on the centerline and 60 feet deep at its deepest point.
In Fayette County, Virgin Run Dam, Dunlap Creek Lake, Luzerne Park Lake, Green Lick Lake and the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers are great bass fishing locations.
Indian Creek and Meadow Run also hold some nice smallmouth bass.
Several streams in Greene County are excellent smallmouth bass fisheries. They include the South Fork of Dunkard Fork and the Dunkard Fork of Wheeling Creek, Ten Mile Creek downstream from Mt. Morris, Browns Creek, Muddy Creek and Whiteley Creek.
Before it was drained due to issues with the dam, the old Waynesburg (Wisecarver) reservoir off Route 18 had yielded many lunker largemouths over the years.
There are decent bass populations in the ponds on State Game Lands 223 near Garard’s Fort, which are seldom fished.
In Washington County, Canonsburg Lake is a great bass fishery.
When I was young, my father and I fished the sister lake, Dutch Fork, where we caught loads of smallmouth bass. It, too, has been drained due to a leaky dam.
The pond on State Game Lands 225 also holds bass and the old Bentleyville Reservoir was a place we caught many bass years ago.
Many Washington County waterways have good populations of smallmouth bass. They include Wheeling Creek, the Monongahela River, Ten Mile Creek, Little Chartiers Creek, Pike Run and Templeton Fork.
One of the oldest and most-revered largemouth bass lakes among the old-timers is Cranberry Glade Lake in Somerset County.
Its fame has diminished in recent years, as reproduction is way down at the impoundment. In years past, the state stocked fingerings in the lake to replace missing year classes, but I’m not aware that the lake is still being stocked.
High Point Lake in Somerset County is also a popular destination among bass fishermen and for those wanting to wet a line as part of a family picnic, Laurel Hill and Kooser lakes hold some bass.
Loyalhanna Lake and Loyalhanna Creek in Westmoreland County are bass hot spots, as are Lake Donegal and the Allegheny River at New Kensington, plus the previously mentioned “Big Bass” lakes.
Bass fishing tactics vary from one fisherman to the next.
As a rule, largemouth bass prefer the rather sluggish weed-choked backwaters, while smallmouths like rocky-strewn shorelines and polished boulders of moving waters.
Both species are comfortable in 70-80-degree water, but smallmouths prefer slightly cooler temperatures.
Bass prefer the shallows for feeding and anglers will fare best if they fish the structure. Largemouths lurk around downed trees, boat docks, brush, boulders, weedbeds and any area containing lots of vegetation, while smallmouths are most likely to be found in the rocky drop-offs in about 15 feet of water.
Baits and lure selections are about the same for both species with jigs, plastic worms, tube baits, live nightcrawlers, minnows and crayfish proving to be the best all-around bass-getters.
Bass will also readily take popping bugs, spinners, spoons, buzzbaits and top-water and shallow and deep-driving crankbaits.
Except for special regulation areas, the limit on bass is six per day. The minimum size on lakes and ponds is 12 inches, while bass caught in the rivers and streams must be 15 inches long.
On “Big Bass” lakes and streams the minimum size is 15 inches and the daily creel limit is four right after opening day, but it changes, so check the rules and regulations.
Whether largemouth or smallmouth, bass are pound-for-pound the best fighter on the block, which is why bass fishing is second only to trout fishing in popularity in Pennsylvania.