Dog Gone Gobies!

Been out fishing off the south pier a couple times over the past week and although I did not catch any perch, I caught a lot of other species. The bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, are abundant and hitting well. Rock bass are beginning to show up and over the next few weeks will be hitting well off of the piers.

The round gobies, which are an invasive species from the Caspian Sea, are making fishing difficult and are attacking live bait shortly after it hits the water. If you are interested in gobies and how they arrived in the Great Lakes, here is a good read from the USGS ==>http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/main.php?content=research_invasive_goby&title=Invasive%20Fish0&menu=research_invasive_fish

I took a picture of one and here it is so you can look at this prehistoric looking badguy. May your hooks be happy and your lines be tight! Remember, bass season is not here yet, so please return your fish unharmed.

P.S. For the boat fisherman. Jumbo perch are being caught in large numbers in 32 to 40 feet of water. The schools are concentrated and can be found in the waters north of Northeast PA.

Pier Fishing Update.

The water is a little warmer now and the smallies are hitting well. Yesterday, I saw quite a few caught off of the south pier in the afternoon. They are still out of season but they are good fighters.

I heard that there were a couple really good days of perch fishing off of the north pier but have not seen it myself. I have been seeing some nice perch in fisherman's buckets on the south pier but not large amounts. The luckiest fisherman yesterday had 8 fish in his bucket and they were all jumbo perch.

Rock bass are also beginning to show up on the north and south piers and should provide some action over the next month of fishing. May your lines be tight and your hooks be happy!

Panfish Hitting Pretty Well

I talked to quite a few fisherman and did some fishing myself over the past couple days. Some nice perch are being caught off of the south pier and I saw one fisherman with 10 nice sized fish in his bucket (8-10 inches).

I managed to catch a few crappies with my nephew off of the south pier but they were pretty small. Bluegills are hitting well. Steelhead fishing is now done for the season. At last look, I did not see any fish remaining in the streams.

Remember, it is not regular bass season yet. Silver bass are in season and are also being caught off of the south pier. Personally, I have been having more success fishing in the evenings than the mornings. I really have not caught a lot of fish yet this season but a few each time makes it worth the while.

Largemouth bass are still hitting very well in Presque Isle Bay and in the lagoons. On Saturday, while fishing for crappies, I hooked seven bass and they were all pretty big again (15 to 20 inches).

My cousin caught one of the largest bluegills I have ever seen caught out of the bay. It was the only fish in the bucket so I threw it back in alive and well after we were done fishing.

The water temperature is around 52 degrees now so all of the panfish should be hitting well. May your lines be tight and your hooks be happy.