I'll try to keep this short. Basically I started fishing later in life and don't really have anyone to learn from so here I am. I catch smaller cats, panfish, lots of bass, and lots of stocked trout but I'm kind of getting tired of the same thing. Any advice on how to find spots (shore mostly), stripers, bigger cats, walleye, pike, etc... just getting a little bored with the same species and I want to fish for something big and a fun fight. I'm in butler county, pa near west sunbury. any help is greatly appreciated I really just dont know where to start or how to locate fish on large bodies of water.

Where are you from? Right now later evening and night time you can hit the beaches around the west side tribs of erie county for walleye. Casting spoons and plugs work well. Dont be afraid to wait til late evening either like 11 or midnight .... What the weather and wave reports would suck if you have to drive up here and get here to find its not fishable from shore. Just an option.... You can hit our creeks also earlier for some pretty big smallmouth as well towards the mouths. 

I'm pretty close to slippery rock/west sunbury. Erie is a little but of a drive but that won't keep me from doing what I have to do. I'd love to catch a walleye. Never have!

2 links that are very important to us up here :
https://v2.wqdatalive.com/public/55
 
https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/raw/fz/fzus61.kcle.glf.le.txt 
This one scroll down to section says from conneaut, Oh to ripley new york this covers the whole PA lake line
 
Bring your waders ...... get in there up above your knees keep the light to a minimum if you wear a headlamp ,they can be caught in just a few feet of water. 

Learning help

All the advice above is excellent.  I fish Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  I don't start fishing for the lakes until May.  Walleye can be caught in close to shore lines mainly during the evening hours.  I believe the same is true at Moraine. 
 
You probably need to check with local bait and tackle shops.  By the way, that is the best place to get the latest news.  Keep going back to the shops that gave you good info the last time.  
 
I usually wait til June to start my pursuit of walleyes on Erie.  As the water warms up, so does the walleye fishing.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I've been on lake Arthur quite a bit. I've done great with largemouth and perch there but gotten skunked every time I go out for stripers or walleye. I've never tried for pike or muskie (yet) just because I feel like I have a lot more to learn before taking on that difficulty level.

You missed it this year, but you can wade at dusk and into the night at Pymatuning in late March and April for walleyes. Wade out and feel for gravel bars and points. Yellow/Chartreuse round ball jig tipped with a live minnow fished very slow will get you a walleye. Also, can use Original F11 floating Rapala in Fire tiger, Flo Orange/white, Chartreuse, Gold colors. Cast out and let it sit for a good bit, wind couple times, let it come back to surface and chill then repeat. Slower the better, but the fish will tell you the action they want.

Can of corn and pymy just sayin

Pf15
I'll try to keep this short. Basically I started fishing later in life and don't really have anyone to learn from so here I am. I catch smaller cats, panfish, lots of bass, and lots of stocked trout but I'm kind of getting tired of the same thing. Any advice on how to find spots (shore mostly), stripers, bigger cats, walleye, pike, etc... just getting a little bored with the same species and I want to fish for something big and a fun fight. I'm in butler county, pa near west sunbury. any help is greatly appreciated I really just dont know where to start or how to locate fish on large bodies of water.

It takes a long time and a lot of slow days to start to develop good patterns of when and where to fish local Waters for certain fish. When I was a bit younger I fished 3 or 4 days a week year round. All over the place. Learned allot. Got skunked allot. As a full time working father of a toddler, certain dates and water temps keep passing by and I'm reminded of all of the good fishing I'm missing. Soon he'll be old enough to come with me to allot of these events. Can't come soon enough. Keep fishing, change spots, try something different. You'll figure it out.

Shenango River should be near you I believe....no pike ,stripers ,walleye or musky down that way ? Ask around local bait shops . We've caught all from Sharpsville to Pulaski but further down access is harder from shore.
 
Many new and old fishermen fish when they want to go.... not when fishing is best . First light , late evening are best also early spring . Some days we cast over three hours steady in pursuit of bigger fish. Don't over do it on line.... 6-8 lb. will land many big fish with a decent reel or adding a short heavier leader on the toothy guys. Plan on getting skunked many a day big fish don't fool easy but they all have to eat ! Persistence pays off !