A video from photojournalist Jack Hanrahan to whet your appetite for steelhead fishing:

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissioners today approved a grant that will help the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy acquire public access to Elk Creek, the leading steelhead stream in Erie County.

Commissioners authorized a grant of $209,300 toward the purchase of 84 acres of Fairview Evergreen Nursery property mainly along Creek Road in Girard Township, including 3,600 linear feet of access on Elk Creek. The access is adjacent to existing public fishing easements and, on completion of the project and with the inclusion of other pending easements, will provide a public access corridor of some 2.7 miles — from the Conrail Railroad tracks near Route 5 upstream to Route 20 in Girard.

The project also will include a parking area and a footpath to Elk Creek. The Conservancy will own and control the property and grant an easement to the Fish and Boat Commission for fishing, boating and riparian and fishery management

The Conservancy also is receiving a $137,000 grant from the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and $112,400 from a private foundation.

The Commission also is working with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation on a new lease agreement for the Linesville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County. The new lease is expected to last at least 25 years.

More from today’s meeting here.

This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:

Off-and-on rain Monday and an all-day soaker Tuesday brought the the Lake Erie tributary levels up to fast and muddy conditions There is  rain and possible snow in the forecast which may help to which may spawn additional steelhead movement and help keep water levels up and flowing. Catches have been good with anglers doing very well at the mouth of Trout and Godfrey runs and throughout most of the trib areas. The rain triggered some action at the Walnut Creek Marina basin with a good number taken over the past week on shiners, paste baits and tipped jigs. With the on-and-off rainfall, Crooked Creek has been productive and less crowded than the lower sections of Walnut and Elk. Current Lake Erie water temperature is 48 degrees. Area tribs were flowing and muddy as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Perch must be a minimum of 7 inches beginning Dec. 1 through March 31, 2012, for Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay. The creel limit remains at 30 fish.

We again want to emphasize that it is wise to wear at least some orange in the outlying areas of the tribs, especially on Elk, Crooked and Conneaut creeks. With the rainy weather we had for opening day and the kill possibly down, many deer hunters will be out over the next two weeks as the colder weather and possible snow reaches our area. Don’t put your self in their sights, wear some orange. If you are on State Game lands, wearing orange is a requirement during hunting season.

Charles Allen, co-owner of Crowley’s with wife Ginger, caught a 28-inch steelhead from Elk Creek on a blood dot egg pattern.

28 inch Steelhead on Elk

There’s nothing wrong with the good ol’ fly rod or noodle rod for fall steelhead on the Lake Erie tributaries. But have you ever thought about using a switch rod? Lake Erie Ultimate Angler owner Steve Brugger recently demonstrated the use of a switch rod on Elk Creek.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is encouraging those who own stream frontage on Four Mile, Conneaut, Crooked, Elk, Walnut and Twenty Mile creeks to attend a public meeting about public fishing access and conservation easement programs Nov. 1.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Big Green Screen Theater at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, 301 Peninsula Drive. It is being hosted by the Fish and Boat Commission and Pennsylvania Sea Grant.

Landowners interested in attending should RSVP by Oct. 28 to Dave Skellie at PA Sea Grant at (814) 490-3248 or dus18@psu.edu.

“Acquiring public access easements is part of the agency’s strategy to improve public fishing areas and ensure that the public has access to these opportunities,” said Jackie Kramer, the statewide fishing and boating access coordinator for the PFBC Bureau of Boating and Access. “Private landowners interested in providing public access for anglers and learning how this easement purchase program operates are encouraged to attend.”

A public fishing easement is a voluntary and permanent legal contract between the landowner and the Fish and Boat Commission. The easement typically provides a 35-foot corridor along a stream bank that allows the public to wade in or walk along the stream bank for the purpose of fishing. The landowner continues to own and control the land.

Sam Zacour, of Millcreek Township, brought a big buck steelhead to hand Oct. 6 on Elk Creek at Streuchen Flats. It went for an egg-colored blood dot.

Streuchen Flats Steelhead

Randy Zacour, of Pittsburgh, took a steelhead out of Elk Creel a day later.

Randy Z with Elk Creek Steely

This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:

Read the rest of this entry »