Erie fell victim to a significant lake effect snow event on Monday with a blanket of 4 to 5 inches of heavy wet snow. With temperatures climbing in the fifties and rain predicted combined with the gradual snow run off, we should see a nice rise in the tribs along with some good color. The West county tribs are loaded with steelhead and the bite generally has been great. Crowded areas this past weekend included the Legion Park area, the Girard Boro Park Area near the sewage treatment plant, the Elk Creek Access area and of course the Walnut Creek Access area. Current trib conditions are still on the clear side with fair to good flow in many areas.

Law Enforcement

Area officers have been extremely busy 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This past weekend yielded dozens of violations and warnings. We occasionally hear that we are not around when needed, however, anglers can rest assured that law enforcement presence is exceptionally strong this year and producing positive results. Poaching, netting, and snagging violators are being caught and prosecuted.

A number of anglers have been very helpful in these apprehensions. Those wishing to assist us in these efforts with any helpful information are advised to contact area officers when a violation is observed and never to attempt to take matters into their own hands. Frankly, you just don't know who you may be dealing with. When reporting a violation, your efforts should be directed at having good information including a detailed description, location and time, suspected violation, type of equipment used, vehicle description and license plate number etc.. The more good information received, the better the chances of prosecution.

Area bait shops, local sportsmen's clubs, and the Walnut Creek Access office have free convenient wallet size cards available with contact numbers for reporting violations. These "Turn in a Poacher" cards are free of charge.

One interesting incident this past weekend involved an individual foul hooking and taking possession of a steelhead. He was so proud of his catch, he had his wife video the the whole thing complete with close ups. Unfortunately an onlooker elected to report the incident to Officer Jim Smolko. After talking with the individual, Smolko cited the impatient individual and seized the video tape implicating the angler (if you can call him that) and his guilt.

Another interesting case was an individual attempting to buy steelhead along one of the tribs. He attempted to buy fish from an undercover WCO. It is a violation to buy, sell, or barter for these fish or their eggs.

Violations in our area can be reported as follows:

• WCO Brook Tolbert, West Erie County: cell 814-566-7869
• WCO Ed Stuart, Central Erie County: cell 814-572-0066
• WCO Jim Smolko, East Erie County: cell 814-572-0078
• WCO Tom Edwards, Northwest Region Office: 814-337-0444
• PA State Police, Lawrence Park (East Erie): 814-898-1641
• PA State Police, Girard (West Erie): 814-774-9611
• Walnut Creek Access Office: 814-833-2464

A larger than usual number of snagging cases have surfaced this year. Anglers should be aware that even an accidental foul hooking necessitates immediately releasing the fish unharmed. This means playing the fish no more than necessary (or cutting it loose if need be for it's survival) and if possible removing the hook while the fish is still in the water. So often we see an angler reel in a foul hooked fish, net it, toss it on the bank, admire it, show it to his buddies, play with it while his conscience debates whether or not to keep it, and in some cases, of all things he will take the time to take a photo. After all this, he will release it thinking he did the right thing only to have the fish float belly up downstream. It is important to remember that regulations state "catch, kill or possess." Taking possession of a foul hooked fish obviously would be a violation, but equally so, not immediately releasing the same fish unharmed and causing a kill through careless and intentional over-handling would be equally in violation.

Cold Water Fishing

Fish become less active as the water temperature drops and the Erie area is already hitting the freezing mark at night. Sometimes it is necessary to induce the strike. Bright colored Glo Bugs and Blood Dots and sucker spawn in red, chartreuse, pink and orange can be the ticket in cold water. "Jigging" will often produce a strike when the fish aren't hungry. Twitching a small marabou jig under a very light float will often produce the desired result. Try pink, chartreuse, or white in cold water. Steelhead are cold blooded and as such their body temperature adjusts to the water temperature. The colder the water, generally the less active the fish will be. A slight increase in water temperature by just a few degrees can trigger activity that was absent the day before.

The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association will be holding their monthly meeting on Wednesday, November 12th at the American Legion Post on West 12th Street (Route 5 near the airport) at 7:00 PM. The public is welcome.

Local Weather

Wednesday Night
Showers. Not as cool with lows in the lower 40s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.
Thursday
Showers. Breezy with highs in the lower 50s. Southeast winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers. Lows in the mid 40s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph.
Friday
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Friday Night
Showers likely. Lows in the upper 30s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Saturday
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers. Cooler with highs in the mid 40s.
Saturday Night
Snow showers likely. Lows in the lower 30s. Chance of snow 60 percent.
Sunday
Snow showers likely. Highs in the mid 30s. Chance of snow 60 percent.
Sunday Night
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Lows around 30.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and snow showers. Highs in the mid 30s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Monday Night
Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow showers. Lows in the lower 20s.
Tuesday
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Highs in the mid 30s.

The rain from last week brought the west county tribs up enough put the steelhead on the move again. A good number of fish moved in and upstream as far south as the Mckean Hole on Elk Creek and the Millcreek Mall on Walnut Creek. Fishing was good to excellent through this past weekend as the tribs lowered. The tribs have now dropped to the lower levels we saw before the rain with fish holding in the deeper pools and pockets. This past weekend saw anglers frequently catching their limits throughout the tribs and conditions as crowded as it can get. The Walnut Creek Marina basin is now open for fishing and anglers have been doing very well there, especially at night.

Current trib conditions as of this writing are low and clear with some flow. Lake Erie water temperature off the Port of Erie is 55 degrees.

From the Department of Environmental Protection Regarding Walnut Creek

The Department of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting this week to discuss a restoration plan for the Walnut Creek watershed, which is impaired due to increased commercial and residential development.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, at Asbury Woods Nature Center, 4105 Asbury Road, Erie, and will provide information about the tools and resources that are available to businesses, industry and the public to protect and restore the watershed. All are welcome to attend.

The Walnut Creek watershed includes parts of Millcreek, Fairview, Summit, McKean and Greene townships. "Walnut Creek runs through the heart of northern Erie County," said DEP Regional Director Kelly Burch. "We must work together to protect this vital watershed that supports a renowned steelhead fishery, contributes to the nation's biggest freshwater resource for drinking water, and provides habitat for threatened and endangered plant and animal species." The department performed a comprehensive assessment in 2006 to determine the environmental conditions of Walnut Creek. Among other items, the study identified impairments to aquatic life, habitat alterations due to soil being washed into the creek, and stream flow variability caused by land development, urban storm water runoff and storm sewers. In response, the department developed a watershed protection and restoration plan that focuses on steps to reclaim the impaired creek.

A copy of the plan is available for review at the regional office, or the plan can be viewed by accessing the "Community Involvement" link at the DEP Northwest Regional website: http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/northwestregion/site/default.asp.

Area officers have had their hands full over the past week with the good fishing conditions and the large crowds. With the often low and clear conditions, and line shy fish, many anglers have been all too tempted to keep the easily foul hooked fish resulting and a substantial amount of citations. Other common violations have included over the legal limit, license violations, litter, nursery water violations etc. Litter has been exceptionally bad this year especially at the Walnut Creek Access. Anglers are reminded that officers have a zero tolerance policy regarding litter and fines can be steep. Sleeping overnight on Commission Property, (WCAA) continues to be a problem with many warnings issued. Should this problem escalate any further, the appropriate citations will be issued.

Support Your Local Sportsmen's Clubs

The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association will be holding their monthly meeting on Wednesday November 12th at the American Legion Post on West 12th street (route 5 near the Airport) at 7:00 PM. The public is welcome.

Why are the Steelhead Allowed to Stack Up at Trout Run

We were again asked this past week about the steelhead trout that collect at Trout Run where it enters Lake Erie in Fairview. This is a common question with many people wondering what happens to all these fish and why are they blocked from their upstream run. Trout Run is marked as nursery waters by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and as most anglers know, it is off limits to angling and highly protected.

Trout Run is heavily stocked and controlled throughout the fall months. A gate, or "weir" as it is called, is used to control fish migration on the trib. The weir is typically closed through late fall which confines the migrating fish in a small easily accessible area. Typically fish are netted and trucked out of this area in the late fall by the Commission with most going to the Fairview Hatchery for sorting and milking. The spawned out fish then are released back in other trib areas and occasionally the Walnut Basin and the Mckean Hole. Once this process is complete the weir is normally opened to allow the fish to move upstream. Although many of these fish do not survive the winter, there are a good number that actually return to the lake.

Trout Run is a very small trib that is perfect for this process. If the nursery waters have an over-abundance of fish the Commission will often move the fish from Trout Run to other areas, a process that has often been assisted with by local sportsmen's clubs.

Local Weather

Wednesday Night
Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows around 50. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.
Friday
Partly sunny. Showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Friday Night
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers. Lows in the lower 40s.
Saturday
Showers likely. Much cooler with highs in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Saturday Night
Rain and snow showers likely. Lows in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
Sunday
Rain showers likely. Highs in the lower 40s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and snow showers. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Monday
Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of rain showers. Highs in the mid 40s.
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain showers. Lows in the mid 30s.
Veterans Day
Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain showers. Highs in the mid 40s.

The long dry spell was recently broken with some precipitation this past weekend, however, it was not significant enough to have much effect on the tribs. Generally conditions are still pretty low and clear in most areas. Steelhead have been able to work their way upstream above Route 20 only to often get trapped in what few deeper pools there are. Nonetheless, anglers have been making the best of it with many limits taken. Light line and small presentations are simply a must. There has been plenty of elbow room in the upstream areas with the crowded conditions remaining near the mouths and access areas.

As good as it gets in Erie

Wind and extreme wave conditions combined with gale force winds have kept boaters off the lake. Waves were hitting 12 to 14 feet as of Tuesday afternoon.

Current West County trib conditions are low and clear with some flow. Current Lake Erie water temperature off the Port of Erie is 56 degrees.

Walnut Creek Basin

Weather permitting, the docks and launch ramps are scheduled to be removed this week with the Walnut Creek Marina basin schedule to be open to fishing on Friday, October 31. Costumes are optional. The Walnut Creek Basin can provide great fishing, especially with the low trib conditions we are experiencing. The basin is handicap accessible and is a great place for the kids to fight that first steelhead. Restroom facilities are close by along with a a place to warm up, phone service, ice, information, and fishing licenses.

Law Enforcement

With the low and clear trib conditions, the temptation to keep foul hooked fish increases along with snagging violations and other poaching problems. Area officers along with additional officers from around the Commonwealth have been busy with a good number of these cases. Litter has been a serious problem, especially around the crowded access areas. Officers typically will use a zero tolerance policy with regards to any of these types of problems. Anglers are again reminded that sleeping over night at the Walnut Creek access is considered camping and can be subject to fines.

Hunting Season

With hunting season upon us and deer season right around the corner, anglers are reminded that wearing some type of bright clothing especially in the remote areas of the tribs will help keep you out of hunters sights. There is no special rule or regulation on this but a little blaze orange makes good sense in any wooded area this time of year. Many of the upper areas of Elk and Crooked creeks run through prime hunting areas.

Walnut Creek Marina Wall Update from Christie Ferrier

The wall is filling up! We still have room however, for Memorials, a Birthday, Christmas, or Anniversary gift. The Holiday season is rapidly approaching and for those hard to buy for friends and family, consider a memorial paver as a long lasting gift which all can enjoy seeing for many years to com.

There are only four of the large capstones left on the garden side of the wall. These are much larger than the pavers and can be yours for $325.00 each. If you have not been to the Walnut Creek Marina in a while, stop and see the garden and the wall and see what some to the pavers say. Many are very touching, some are quite humorous, but all are interesting.

While the Walnut Creek Officer is still open, you may pick up a brochure in the office or get in touch with me at the addresses below. The proceeds from the sale of the pavers and capstones go into a non profit fund at the Erie community Foundation to pay for upkeep and maintenance of the garden wall for perpetuity.

Christie Ferrier, phone 814-474-2577, email, cbfbeach@mac.com.

Local Weather

Wednesday
Rain or snow showers and a chance of thunderstorms. Snow accumulation an inch or less. Very windy with highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. A chance of rain or snow showers in the evening. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.
Thursday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 40s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows around 40. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph.
Friday
Mostly sunny in the morning...then becoming partly cloudy. Not as cool with highs around 60.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy in the evening...then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 40s.
Saturday
Partly sunny. Cooler with highs in the upper 40s.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.
Sunday
Mostly sunny. Highs around 50.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.
Monday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s.
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
Tuesday
Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s.

Rains this week brought the water levels of Twelve, Sixteen & Twenty Mile creeks back up, and more steelhead moved in. The levels have remained low to moderate, and clear. Fish have made it to the upper limits of Twelve and Sixteen Mile creeks. On Twenty Mile Creek, fish have made it up to the Pennsylvania, New York line. Anglers have also reported catching fish in the early morning and late evening hours in the lake at the creek mouths.

Erie County (Central)

Recent rains have brought in fresh runs of steelhead trout to Lake Erie’s central tributaries within the past few days. Four Mile Creek is seeing a notable increase in angler pressure. Reports of snagging, littering, and trespassing have dramatically increased as well. Most fish being caught appear "fresh" and have been reported to be actively taking various baits. Few fish have run up Seven Mile Creek, although some fish are in while angler pressure is still light. The fishing pressure on these tributaries is moderate to light at this time.

Fishing on Four Mile Creek north of the golf course dam is restricted to the west side of the creek. All applicable NO TRESPASS areas are well marked with signage. Trespassers who ignore the NO TRESPASS signage on the east side of the creek and choose to fish there, and also ignore the NO TRESPASS signage on the private property around the fishing club, will be charged and prosecuted--no questions asked. All anglers, when asked by a club member to identify themselves, must identify themselves to that club member or face prosecution under Title 30--Fish and Boat Code.

Erie County (West)

Anglers have had good success, dependant on water conditions, in the lower stretches of Elk and Walnut creeks. There are steelhead in Crooked Creek, but angling pressure has been light. Many steelhead creels inspected have exceptionally large fish. Law enforcement officers have been citing several snagging, over limit, license, and nursery water violations. There are still trespass violations occurring on adjacent landowner property to the PFBC Elk Creek Access area.