Lake Erie Pa fishing report 3/28/2014

All of the steelhead creeks are in reasonably good condition. The better fishing on the west side of Erie has been at Elk Creek and Crooked Creek. Fishing in both is best as far upstream as you can get. Catches have been about 50/50 silver fish and dark fish. On Elk Creek, steelhead are upstream from McKean. This might be a fitting time to check upper Conneaut Creek. At the mouth of Trout Run, anglers have been fishing both on the ice and fishing open water. Steelhead are feeding on emerald shiners. A couple of 30-inch steelhead were reported on the west side. Both were spawned out and were not heavy. White has been the hot color on the west side. White jigs, white flies and egg sacks with white netting have been effective.

All of the main east side creeks hold steelhead. Probably the better fishing has been upstream on Twenty Mile Creek. No exceptionally large steelhead have been reported. Many of the fish have been silver. In addition to baits mentioned for the west side, pieces of nightcrawler have been very effective here.

Anywhere you fish for steelhead now, emerald shiners can be the most effective bait. For fly fishers, it seems that black stone fly patterns are effective at about this time. White and olive streamers can be hot at times. At this time of the year especially, rain can change stream conditions quickly. If the water gets color, try egg sacs in orange or red netting, or nightcrawler pieces.

At Presque Isle Bay, perch have been hitting in the open water sections of Presque Isle Bay, including the Stink Hole and the South Pier. A few anglers were on the ice this week, but the warmer weather now will deteriorate this ice quickly. The best advice is to stay off the ice. Even a wind change could open water along the shoreline while you are on the ice.