Shenango River, Mercer County, 2/1/14

[streamerguy]

Decided to take advantage of the heat wave today and fished the Shenango River for a little bit this morning with my brother. We don't ice fish, so tailwaters and spring creeks were our only options and luckily we have this river 20min from home.

Started out fishing some streamers. Caught one and lost two others on a small black zonker early on. My brother was tossing some white buggers, which is usually a good bet for multiple species on the Shenango, but he didn't get a nibble. After a little while we decided to switch to nymphing and it was game on! This river has a terrific caddis population and when not fishing streamers I probably catch more trout on caddis imitations(both nymphs and dries) than anything else. We both set up with a sz14 green and black caddis larvae trailed with a sz 16 frenchie. After the switch to nymphs we ended up landing about 5 fish and had probably long-distance-released 5 or 6 others. Must have had dull hooks or something..

Nice day on the water. Probably our best day fishing it in the winter, and they didn't even do a winter stocking this year(which they normally do) so all of these fish are from the fall. Good way to cure cabin fever!

 

[turkey]

Those are some nice looking fish. Looks like they aren't missing any lunches. Ya know, I've driven through Mercer County probably 1000 times and I know nothing about this river. Looks like a good day.

 

[streamerguy]

Thanks turkey. For the most part just about every single trout I have caught there long after the stockings were all plump and healthy. Not so much now in the winter but by the end of May the rainbows seem to be really strong fighters and acrobatic at times. I'd imagine a lot of the bigger and better looking fish I catch in the late spring are from the previous fall/winter stockings(last year was the final winter stocking). That river certainly doesn't lack food, especially caddis. Also on a side note, I noticed a bunch of dying shad below the dam today and the gulls were taking advantage.

The Shenango is and always will be a warmwater river, and a VERY GOOD ONE at that, but the trout are certainly a welcome bonus. Where else can you catch bass, white bass, wipers, 'eyes, carp, pike, panfish, trout, and cats out of the same short stretch of river? Definitely one of my favorite local-ish spots.

 

[Alnitak]

Very pretty and healthy-looking rainbows!

 

[dryflyguy]

Nice way to break some cabin fever for sure!
I've kinda wondered if those trout stocked there hold over - with muskies and pike around to eat them for lunch. And it looks like they do just fine

I've fished that caddis hatch there a few times, and it is quite heavy. But finding fish rising to them seemed to be hit or miss.

 

[fishingnoob]

nice report streamerguy. I am so amped to hit the shenango again this spring for the caddis hatch. But looking from your photos I might have to head down there sooner than later!

 

[streamerguy]

Thanks guys.

dryflyguy wrote:
Nice way to break some cabin fever for sure!
I've kinda wondered if those trout stocked there hold over - with muskies and pike around to eat them for lunch. And it looks like they do just fine

I've actually caught trout into July before. Not sure how long they lived after the release because of the temps, but that goes to show that they escape the predators pretty well. That river certainly has a good population of pike and a bunch of muskies as well. There's a few flatheads in there too..

I've fished that caddis hatch there a few times, and it is quite heavy. But finding fish rising to them seemed to be hit or miss.

For the most part my experiences have been about the same, though last spring I have had pretty consistent success with the caddis hatches just about every time they were hatching. Fish rising everywhere. I know fishingnoob has had good days there as well.

But I've also been there many, many times when it was snowing with caddis and not a single rising fish was seen. Not even a bluegill. That river can be a mystery sometimes..

 

[streamerguy]

Fished it again today. Can't get over how well fed these fish are...

Also foul hooked and caught tons of suckers as well

 

[geebee]

Nice fish - it always seems to me that rainbows holdover better and stay in condition better on big water like that.

Maybe there are more springs and deep runs than your average 30-40ft wide creek, I don't know but it's just something I've observed before.

 

[Spats]

I have family that live in Pierce Bluffs, and have contemplated fishing below the dam, but have never done it, and usually opt for Neshannock or Cool Spring, instead. I'm guessing that it's productive all the way down into Sharpsville? Would be nice to simply walk from my "base camp" to the stream.

 

[Fishidiot]

Neat report on a river I'd guess is more likely associated with warm water fishes(?).

Anyway, those are some quality looking stockies. The upper fish has nubby fins but the others have developed some good looking fins....not to mention the healthy girths.

 

[streamerguy]

Spats wrote:
I have family that live in Pierce Bluffs, and have contemplated fishing below the dam, but have never done it, and usually opt for Neshannock or Cool Spring, instead. I'm guessing that it's productive all the way down into Sharpsville? Would be nice to simply walk from my "base camp" to the stream.

For trout, I find myself opting for Neshannock and Cool Spring as well, and occasionally stop by Shenango on the way home or during the week if I have time. Last year I would say was my first really good year actually targeting trout there, so I'm slowly starting to figure them out and fishing for them more.

Most of my experience has been from the dam down to the bridge, which is a hair under a mile I think. For trout just about that entire stretch can be good. I think they also stock it at a point farther down..

That stretch is great for other species as well. SMB spread throughout, cats in the deeper runs and holes, panfish in the slackwater, pike and muskie in the holes, and right below the dam you can get into lots of white bass and a bunch of wipers as well as all the other species mentioned plus walleye. Sight fishing for carp is a blast also.

I've also fished the upper river(between Pymatuning and Shenango Lakes). No trout up there.

Neat report on a river I'd guess is more likely associated with warm water fishes(?).

I've always wondered how it would fish if they quit stocking it with trout all together. The trout definitely bring a ton of pressure, and it already gets a lot of pressure from the warmwater crowd. By late June though the trout are pretty much toast, but during the cooler months(say late April through early June, and the beginning of Oct) I can definitely see them competing with smallmouths as they both inhabit the same holding lies. I can't complain though, it's still a great bass river.

Fortunate to have this fishery close to home. I fish it a TON from late spring through the summer, and it's nice to have fish to target(trout) in the colder months as well when the warmwater fish hunker down.

 

[greenghost]

That pool has given me some of my best days ever carpin' in late summer. I've also caught hybrid stripers, trout, walleye, bass (smallmouth and largemouth), bluegill, crappie ... you never know what you're going to hook.

 

[streamerguy]

That's what I love about that river. Never know what you're gonna reel in!! Even the sections up near Greenville and Pymatuning. Everything's game.

I guess even the sections from Sharon down to New Castle is improving also. It has taken me quite a while to learn the ins and outs of the fishery, and I've gotten more than my share of skunks there, but the hard work is rewarding in the end.

 

[geebee]

Wow, that's some nice fish right there.

 

[greenghost]

Awesome streamerguy! Your passion, dedication and skill are terrific!

 

[streamerguy]

Thanks for the kind words greenghost and geebee. I would consider it my "home water" and spent a great deal of my fishing learning curve fishing it, so I've learned a thing or two about the watershed 😉

 

[turkey]

I love the pic of that hybrid. I'll run into a few white bass on the Allegheny every spring but not quite as hefty as that one.

 

[ScottTaylor]

Nice February report, thanks for sharing what looked like a great day!
ST