Jonathon Freeman, of Buffalo, N.Y., caught a 24-inch hen steelhead at Walnut Creek Access Area using sucker spawn. He caught another on skein, and both were landed on an ultralight rig spooled with 4-pound test.

His fishing partner, Edward Lawrence, of Corry, caught three steelhead including a 25 1/2-inch, 6 1/2-pound buck upstream of the mouth of Twenty Mile Creek in late October. All hit on skein. Lawrence is a NWPA Outdoors contributing writer.

Erie Times-News contributing writer Ed Lawrence, of Corry, caught this nice steelhead Sept. 21 at Twenty Mile Creek.

Watch for Ed’s story on early-season steelhead tactics on the NWPA Outdoors page in the Sept. 30 Times-News sports section.

Be sure to submit a photo of your trophy steelhead or other gamefish this fall for posting on the NWPA Outdoors blog and possibly in the Erie Times-News. Upload your photo here or e-mail it with your name, hometown and fish details to sports@timesnews.com.

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.