Yough river pike

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the site. I've seen great info so far.

I love fishing for pike, although that is not to say I'm really good at it. I know there are pike in the Yough. Can you catch them this time of year? If so, where? Is the Connelsville area any good?

Thanks ahead of time.

If your looking to get some big ones wait until early to mid March just after the ice is gone and fish Jockey hollow at the Yough dam.  Large shiners on a float or smelt on the bottom...bite only lasts a week or two, theres some real monsters up there caught a number of them over the years.

I also plan on hitting the yough hard for musky this season. Never heard of a stellar pike population in the river, but I certainly dont know it that well. I plan on doing a couple marathon canoe floats to get a feel for some of the fishy spots of the river. In general(jeff, seems like you know a bit about the yough) how does the river differ as it moves north? I have done a couple floats in my canoe from hazelbecker's(however the hell you spell it) and have gotten into some decent smallmouth. Although, the action was mostly limited to some hot spots. Anyways, im hoping some of those exploration floats uncovers some good stuff, but I am curious if anyone could give me some input on how the river changes as it approaches the mon.

I have fished the Yough from the mouth of the Mon up to buena vista in a 14ft Jon boat. A few spots bout a foot deep upstream from Boston launch and up and down from buena vista. Is imagine you'll be fine in a canoe. Never did really great on these stretches but have had some good days. You start to pick up eyes sauger sheepshead cats and white bass down towards the mouth. Plus smallies all the way through.

ORIGINAL: FishinGuy

I have fished the Yough from the mouth of the Mon up to buena vista in a 14ft Jon boat. A few spots bout a foot deep upstream from Boston launch and up and down from buena vista. Is imagine you'll be fine in a canoe. Never did really great on these stretches but have had some good days. You start to pick up eyes sauger sheepshead cats and white bass down towards the mouth. Plus smallies all the way through.

Fished that same stretch many times.  You're spot on.

Btw, there is some excellent smallmouth fishing down in the jacobs creek area.

I've fished from Cedar Creek Park down to Smithton.  I've fished under the 70 bridge also.  Real shallow water the times I fished there.  I never knew that there were pike there?  I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I'm there.

I also have caught toothy critters in the Yough. Not sure if they were Musky or Northerns. They are an added bonus when you're fishin' for bass or trout. Biggest one was 35 inch caught on a Johnsons spoon. Others caught on suckers and chubs while fishing for bass/eyes. Most have been caught in the area between Layton and Connellsville. Someone mentioned the 70 bridge, yes I've hooked two there but only landed one right up against the cement pillers under the bridge. Never keep them, they are just fun to mess with.

caught 2 pike on yough lake last year within minutes of each other off the point of sandy beach ( i think thats what they call it) mid june on on a rappela crank n rap the pike were definatly hitting then seems all anyone on the lake was catching was pike i was trolling what i thought was too fast approx 2.5 mph

I have been musky fishing the yough for about 6 years and only caught 2 pike. As mentioned Yough lake is supposed to have some nice pike in it and I also have seen them in the Jockey Hollow Area. If you are after pike though you may as well head a little farther up the road to High Point.

If you check the pa f&bc website stocking history you will see that several years ago they stocked musky above connellsville and I believe in 2005 changed the targeted area for musky stocking from the connellsville dam to the mouth. A group of us have been helping them "float stock" the muskies from boats for four years now. I have no clue where they put them before that but I know the first year it was just me and one other guy and the truck driver said he was going to drop the rest at Mckeesport! We are now trying to stock them anywhere from Boston to Connellsville. Last years fish were average 9" and the nicest by far. If you guys want to help musky programs in the area look into the 3 rivers Musky Inc club and their fundraisers for supplying minnows for muskie fingerlings.

I have no clue if they are reproducing in the river but if you catch a musky most likely it was stocked as a fingerling and if you get a pike probably natural reproduced in the river or came from the lake.