Fishing in Pennsylvania Lake Erie

Though only a small portion of Lake Erie lies within Pennsylvania, Erie is still the biggest fishing hole in the state, covering 640,000 surface acres and 42 miles of shoreline. Here is excellent fishing for walleye, smallmouth bass, lake trout, and steelhead. Several of the 14 permanent tributaries are visited annually by steelhead. The only natural bay, Presque Isle, and its connecting lagoons, hold good numbers of both largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskellunge, and panfish.

Erie was declared dead in the national news media during the 1960s, although it never was; water quality has improved considerably since, as has the fishery. Unfortunately, some species were lost. Most notable was the blue pike, a close relative of the walleye, which was a mainstay of both sport and commercial fisheries. It is now presumed extinct. Gone also are the native lake trout, although strong efforts are being made through stocking to re-establish a self-sustaining population.

Exotic species have also had an enormous impact on the native fish, sea lampreys being most notorious. This species may have done more to wipe out the native lake trout than anything else. Other exotic intruders include alewives, white perch, zebra mussels, and spiny water fleas. Pacific salmon were heavily stocked in Lake Erie and flourished for a while, but they are now only a minor part of the Erie’s sportfishery.

Lake Erie is a notoriously treacherous body of water, one that requires big-water boats. Anglers unfamiliar with it need to be cautious. The popular access areas in Pennsylvania are at Walnut Creek, the City of Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and Safe Harbor Marina near Northeast.

Smallmouth bass fishing is exceptional at Lake Erie. Five-pound smallmouths are common, and 6-pounders are caught frequently enough. Skilled anglers expect their daily catches to number in the dozens. The best smallmouth action is during May and June, before and following the spawn, when these fish are in relatively shallow water.

Water clarity, wave action, and sunlight play significant roles in determining where the smallmouths are. As a general rule, the larger bass will be beyond the depth where bottom disappears (on calm, sunny days when the water is clear, you can see bottom in under 35 feet). Smallmouths congregate near irregular, rocky structure and over rocky rubble; dropoffs and humps are best located with sonar, and vertical jigging is effective when there’s a concentration of smallmouths.

This is the only place in Pennsylvania where guiding is big business. The guiding or charter boat business was first built on salmon, but now walleye are the primary goal, and guided anglers, as well as many good private boaters, have no trouble catching 6- to 8-pound walleye. During July and August, anglers troll using various methods for walleye that are suspended over deep water (90 to 130 feet).

There are two distinct types of walleye behavior in Lake Erie. One group spawns in the western basin, in Ohio, then migrates throughout the lake in summer and provides deep-water suspended fishing. Another group spawns in Pennsylvania and inhabits nearshore water generally less than 75 feet deep. These walleye tend to hug bottom. Although not as widely known as the deep-water fishery, anglers land them by trolling, drifting, or jigging at night in water as shallow as 15 feet. Probably the best shore-fishing pattern for these walleye occurs as they feed on young steelhead entering the lake from tributary creeks during spring.

Steelhead management was intensified, and salmon management reduced, after it was determined that the return rate (from the lake to tributaries) was much better for steelhead. An aggressive stocking program has built an excellent steelhead fishery, although in the lake steelhead are caught incidentally. The best steelhead fishing, however, occurs when they migrate into tributaries from late September through the following May, and the best action is usually when creek flow is rising.

The significant Lake Erie tributaries in Pennsylvania are, from east to west: Twentymile Creek, Sixteenmile Creek, Twelvemile Creek, Walnut Creek, and Elk Creek. Because most of the Lake Erie shore is privately owned, fishing access is limited. The Fish and Boat Commission maintains access along Elk and Walnut Creeks.

Although it is adjacent to the third largest city in the state (Erie), Presque Isle Bay and connecting lagoons in Presque Isle State Park offer good fishing for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, muskies, panfish, and steelhead. Ice fishing is very popular.