Dashields Dam, Little and or Big Sewickley - Anybody tried?

I am planning to head out on Friday to my luck around the Dashield dam.  I havent ever been there before and was looking to try the Moon side first before trying the sewickley creeks.  I havent ever tried fishing at a lock before, so i will really take any pointers i can get.  I would doubt that i can get much further than the parking lot (by the looks from google maps)...but it would be nice to get out on the locks to get closer to the turbulent water.   Is fishing from the shore downstream still a worthwhile effort?
 
Anyone tried their luck around there lately?

I've only fished upstream of there, so no specific pointers to Dashields.  I would keep an eye on the flow charts.  With the snow melt and possible showers, the river might be high.  I have never done very well on the rivers in mid Winter.  For a few years, I would hit them, any warm spell like this weekend.  Not sure if I have ever caught anything in 20+ trips...  Most of those trips didn't last more than an hour.  When it warms up and stays warm, mid March, the fish seem to turn on.  Same thing with right before it gets too cold, November and even December.  Not to be a downer...  Just saw that this is your first time at a lock, and don't want you to be discouraged.  They are great places to fish, during the Spring and Fall, and even Summer.  I'd personally hit a lake that has open water, or below the dam of the lakes around, a warm water discharge of the rivers, or even Erie.  If doing the river, I'd recommend live bait, live creek chubs seem to be good cold water bait.  The fish aren't going to be very aggressive in 35 degree water, so wouldn't move the bait around too much either.

Do a search on river eyes, Dashields, walleye, ect. and posts by guys like eyeassasin, walcat, transamws6, fisherofmen and a ton of other river guys on here that I can't think of their screen names off hand.  A ton of info, you'll see when they are getting into them, and can probably get some data off of the USGS on temps, flows, ect. around the times of their reports.  They're pretty good at giving up some good info on what they are using, ect in their posts too.  Some are mostly boat guys though, but if you are fishing close to the dam in deep water, you might be doing similar techniques (I always did better lighter from shore, and heavier from boat).  Digest some of that stuff, and I can almost guarantee you slam some eyes in the Spring.  My guess is, even those guys have trouble getting into river eyes now.  They're definitely in there, but guessing very lethargic.
 
Musky, good luck!  There are guys on here that focus on them, and get into them.  I've only landed on small one, and another to the surface before taking off.  That's all waters, and over 30 years of fishing.  Pike, not sure if there are many in the rivers (mostly tiger musky, so half northern).  Do a search on them as well.  The lakes north have a good population, and so do the ones to the east, in the higher elevations.

the sewickley side is ok but kinda tough to get too, and u always run the risk of meeting up with the railroad police (roro popo).  U might find better action there up against the lock, but be very careful im sure this time of year its a bit high and slippery on those boulders.  

Do you mean the moth of montour creek? Or do you mean the dam that is east of 79?

Wen to dashields a few weeks ago for a night trip...cold and windy. Didnt catch a thing. I hear creek chubs dragged extra slow on the bottom get em this time of year...good luck and post a report!

Very cloudy days and early morning or dusk produce the best walleye bite for me in winter.

FishinGuy

±1 to slow dragging chubs. Try to find a current seam and fish that. Creek mouths points and edges of eddies

This.  Once the water warms a little more you cant go wrong with a jig and mr twister curly tail. Green or white.
I use to know a guy who fished pretty hard for eyes in jan/feb by the dams, he swore by using a soft plastic lizard and just letting it sit out there.....I wouldnt believe it if he didnt show me the pictures. He said that the mud puppies will come onto the nests and clear out all of their eggs, so if you fish something close to a mud puppy the huge females will destroy it if it gets anywhere near their nest.

River eyes or fall stocked stream trout are probably the two best options right now IMO.

Thanks - We are gonna give it a shot.  Hopefully the snow on the sides of the tracks has melted enough to get out there....

Well amidst the wind and rain today we tried out the small sewickley creek... Watched another guy pull out one eye and me and a buddy... We didn't do so hot. Caught 5 salamders, which I didn't even know existed.

We are going to give it a shot again tomorrow, got a few new tricks high hopes and dreams. Lol

Walleye:



Sauger: (sorry for the crappy picture, not much of a view for the coloring)

Awesome!! Howd you get em/ what did ya catch em on?

I was using Fatheads casted out on a slip sinker. Some guys were doing good with the traditional jigheads and curly tails.