KJN
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Piney Dam in Clarion
Anyone fishing this? Do they draw the water down this time of year? Do you know if the Toby launch is still usable this time of year?
The Allegheny river is blown out and doesn't look to get any better in the next week or two, so I looking to fish Piney.
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/10/31 12:58:52
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I would try to launch of out the Millcreek Launch. I don't care for Toby launch. It is too steep and too tight of turnaround.
I live about 10-15 mins from Clarion, I only use Piney Dam in the spring to blow the winter storage cobwebs out of my outboard, with couple passes up and back from Millcreek.
Musky guys troll Piney, no idea on how well they do. Some guys will fish the upper end past Millcreek where the slack water turns back into the natural river, mainly for smallmouths and maybe some walleyes.
I'm sure if you ease into the feeder creeks, might find some panfish, but to me, Piney in general is not very "fishy". Great for tubing and skiing.
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Guest
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/10/31 15:56:40
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KJN I've never fished there and know nothing about it but I have a good buddy who would rather fish for smallmouth than do just about anything else and he told me a few weeks ago he saves a vacation day or two a year JUST to fish Piney in the fall.
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BeenThereDoneThat.
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/10/31 16:21:16
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Piney....WOW now there's some memories. 1955 first ride I'd ever taken in a boatermoat was on Piney, is that big asz rock still there?
Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~  Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/10/31 16:24:29
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rsquared
KJN I've never fished there and know nothing about it but I have a good buddy who would rather fish for smallmouth than do just about anything else and he told me a few weeks ago he saves a vacation day or two a year JUST to fish Piney in the fall.
Well yea, that is no different than the dredged free flowing sections of the Allegheny. The smallies starting stacking up for winter. Clarion River above Piney is quite shallow, so course there going to migrate down into the reservoir.
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KJN
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/01 09:29:31
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I am heading up Friday morning. I will be looking for whatever bites. I think we are going to take some bait, but I will be throwing lures at first. I will let you guys know how it goes.
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/01 16:22:26
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Clarion River @ Cooksburg 4:00pm 11/1/18 was discharging at 4090 CFS. The mean for 11/1/18 is 883 CFS, and the median is 606 CFS.
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Jester2
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/01 16:30:32
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☄ Helpfulby crappiefisher 2018/11/01 19:43:05
psu_fish
I would try to launch of out the Millcreek Launch. I don't care for Toby launch. It is too steep and too tight of turnaround.
I live about 10-15 mins from Clarion, I only use Piney Dam in the spring to blow the winter storage cobwebs out of my outboard, with couple passes up and back from Millcreek.
Musky guys troll Piney, no idea on how well they do. Some guys will fish the upper end past Millcreek where the slack water turns back into the natural river, mainly for smallmouths and maybe some walleyes.
I'm sure if you ease into the feeder creeks, might find some panfish, but to me, Piney in general is not very "fishy". Great for tubing and skiing.
Your experience is what most would give. But, stands to reason with as plentiful as the fish are in the Clarion River, that Piney has to hold some untapped opportunity. Much like Tionesta Lake, I think that the recreational ski/tube traffic in the summer makes it less fishable . . . the depth and steep drop-offs make finding fish holding spots challenging, and catching even more challenging. BUT, the fish HAVE to be there, because they are in the River. It's finding them, putting the right presentation on them, and getting them to bite. FWIW, now that it's November and water temps backing through the 50s into the 40s, a 'blown out' Allegheny can be VERY productive for Walleye in eddys slack water, even when it appears 'too muddy' to fish for many. Go bigger . . . darker (black/brown/olive will out produce chartreuse and pink in muddy water) . . . or smelly (LOVE a 3/8 oz black jig tipped w a 3" Gulp shiner and a stinger hook). Also, seek out 'color lines' at mouths of streams (the mouth of Pithole Ck at Henry's Bend between Tionesta and Oil City is an underappreciated Walleye spot) . . . they will lay on those lines waiting for baitfish. Good luck! Let us know how Piney fishes!!
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/02 08:35:27
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As of 8:00am 11/2, Clarion River @ Cooksburg is 4700 CFS
As of 7:45 am 11/2, Clarion River .2 miles downstream from the dam is flowing at 5550 CFS
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KJN
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/05 07:33:17
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We put over 30 small mouth in the boat Friday. Most of them were under 10 inches. We got 2 that were right around 20". All were caught on tubes, color didn't seem to matter. The strange thing was we caught all of these fish in about a 200 yard stretch, we couldn't get a bite anywhere else. Some were pinned up against the shore others we out a little ways on the shelf. It was just us and two other boats.
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/06 11:38:14
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That is about what I would expect from Piney
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treesparrow
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/14 07:42:57
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My family has property above Clarington on the river and we fish it every year. Recent years have been very poor fishing for Smallmouth and it seems the bait has been non existent. Even the crayfish are scarce. Has anyone else experienced the same?
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/15 09:33:40
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Dr. Trout before he passed, was about the only angler on this forum that would fish the upper Clarion with regularity. I think since the Clarion is not a river that sees many if any jet boats, you wont get much info. The last PFBC biologist report on the Clarion is from 2003. https://pfbc.pa.gov/images/fisheries/afm/2003/2_06-06clarion.htm
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Fisherlady2
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2018/11/15 09:41:01
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@worldfamous fishes it in the Cooks Forest area, he may still check the boards even if he doesnt post anymore. Ok, I thought placing the @ symbol before user name would tag them on a post..... 
post edited by Fisherlady2 - 2018/11/15 09:44:31
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KJN
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2019/01/31 12:16:33
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Has anyone ever noticed anyone ice fishing Piney Dam?
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psu_fish
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2019/02/01 15:17:01
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Kahle and 2 Mile are within easy driving distance, I doubt many try Piney
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flyfisher11
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2019/02/21 09:34:41
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My family has a camp along Piney Dam and I've fished it every year since I was a little kid, but really got into it a few years ago. They had the dam drawn down for a few years and that really exposed the shore and I hammered them for a year or two until it came back up. While it was down though I saw numerous largemouth that were at least 5+ and lost one that looked very bit of 6 and I caught lots of smallmouth in the 3+ pound, 20+ inch range. However it's been pretty bad since the water level came up and I only really had success when there weren't any recreational boaters on the river. I like t throw a wacky worm and a shaky head and if you're fly fishing clouser minnows and a dry and nymph dropper worked really well and the fish I do find are normally really grouped up. Tight lines all!
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KJN
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Re: Piney Dam in Clarion
2021/04/12 10:03:01
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Fished this lake Saturday, throwing fatheads. Hoping to get into some perch, I only got 1 little small mouth and 1 very small walleye. Maybe 6 inches. Talked with a few other boats and they didn't do much better. Fished from 8am till noon. I was shocked that we didn't catch more than that??
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