I feel for you guys that fish the river bite. 8 years is way too long to be keeping your limits of eyes and not know the stocking had stopped. With very little to no reproduction, they had to be getting harder to catch. Hope your petition to start stocking again makes it thru. It'll still take a few years to get back to par tho.

It's sad and it's a shame at how bad it has gotten. I've fished the river three times this year and basically gave up going. Walleye , Pike , and Stripers have diminished to almost nothing. There were years those Pike were almost a nuisance down river......gone! Walleye action peaked about 5-6 years ago then spiraled down to just about zero. Stripers were about the same in the river steady action up till about 5 years ago. I'm with you on them I believe they were migrating from water down below not coming through the sluices. Maybe some fingerlings squeeze through and are lucky to make that deadly journey. Your dead on about the Shad in the lake . Those large roaming schools of Shad have defiantly been absent for the past 4 years. Yea there are a few small schools but nothing like what was on that lake past years. I'm like you I've spent many days on that river as well as the lake and something good has gone bad !
 
On another note up on the lake where have all those Hybrids gone ? Oh yea there banging a few over at Orangeville when the river's up but I'm talking the big packs that were roaming the lake all Summer .We slammed those big Hybrid Stripers for about five years and the past four years have been far and in between. We are strictly catch and release on those, they fight too hard not to enjoy again. Not really sure what happened up there but something isn't right. 

CAPTAIN HOOK
 He also told me that the Fish Commission has never stocked Hybrid Bass in the lower river they all must be coming through the sluices into the river.  I don't know I'll take his word on that.

mike55
Yea I was told the hybrids are shot through the dam as well. Would love to see a 30 inch fish shot through with that amount of force, hit the center pyramid in the sluice, and survive.
 
They migrate up stream to the dam. They are not shot through the dam.

 
Something to ponder:
 
-Neither the lower Shenango River nor the Beaver River are stocked with hybrid striped bass
-Shenango Lake and the Ohio river are stocked with hybrids
-Between Shenango Lake and where the Mahoning dumps in(to form the Beaver River), there are 2 dams(near Sharon)
-There are also 3 additional dams on the Beaver between the confluence of the Shenango/Mahoning and the Ohio River(near Beaver Falls)
 
If the hybrid striped bass are truly migrating up from the Ohio River, and not dumping out of the lake......
 
-Why aren't any being caught in the Mahoning? Near New Castle, Youngstown, Warren, heck even below Lake Milton?
-What about lower Neshannock Creek, Connoquenessing, Slippery Rock Creek??
-Other parts of the Shenango near New Castle, Pulaski, etc.?
 
You figured if these fish are able to swim up to Shenango Lake Dam from the Ohio River by jumping over dams, swimming through shallow riffles/rapids and such, they will be in these other waterways as well. And if they can get over those dams, they can certainly get over the dam on Pymatuning Creek in Orangeville. And during most years fish do not make it above that dam(unless the lake level is high and the dam is underwater).
 
I certainly don't doubt the fact that they can swim up from the mighty Ohio(if they're able to get above the dams), but I still think the vast majority are coming out of the lake.
 
But yeah, how they survive going through the dam is beyond me lol

CAPTAIN HOOK
 
On another note up on the lake where have all those Hybrids gone ? Oh yea there banging a few over at Orangeville when the river's up but I'm talking the big packs that were roaming the lake all Summer .We slammed those big Hybrid Stripers for about five years and the past four years have been far and in between. We are strictly catch and release on those, they fight too hard not to enjoy again. Not really sure what happened up there but something isn't right. 

If I had to guess, ^this^ is likely the reason for the poor hybrid fishing below the dam. Poor fishing in the lake AND the river. Gotta be a connection there
 
But looking on the PFBC site, stocking numbers have remained relatively consistent?? I think you guys might be onto something Mike and Captain about the shad....
 

Glad to see you looked a little better into that Troutguy, I'll go with the flow. They must squeak through the sluices as fingerlings and grow in the river. There is no doubt the Striper action up on the lake has slowed way down compared to previous years. Several friends who also target them steady all agree there is a big difference over the past 3-4 years. I 'm not blaming the stockings they seem to be as you say . The numbers they put out say there being put in steady so I'm not sure what's going on.  ????
 
Anybody been seeing the big schools of Whit Bass lately ? Usually they start boiling up on the surface about this time of year. Can't miss them they pop the surface chasing bait in fairly large packs.  Even on their frenzy feeding they seem to be very selective on what they inhale. I've yet to find the magic Hot bait or lure for those guys. You would think live minnows......think again ! I've seen what they are chasing they look like neon needles zipping everywhere in the water. I have no idea what kind of baitfish they are, but those White Bass love em ! Tip of the week.............LOL

troutguy,
 
They are way down river.. A few buddies have caught some hogs down towards westmiddlesex/pulaski this year.
 
They have always been down that far and always show up the same time every year.
 
If they were shot through the sluice the dam would always hold big stripes. The lake has tons. They are not making their annual runs all the way up anymore. Why? I dont know. My guess is the shad population.
 
Am I 100 percent sure they swim up? Not at all.. But I am 100 percent certain I have caught them miles and miles from the dam downstream. Way farther than they would stray from it.
 
Who knows. I have been trying to figure it out for years. Wont know till someone starts tagging them haha. The river is just completely shot. I complained about this 4 years ago to PFBC and it is just nice to see someone else realizing now.
 
 edit.. Going through more of the thread.
 
Troutguy I agree with your points on the trout stockings. Creeks like coolsprings in mercer and such don't even get a quarter of what they used to anymore. PFBC found ways to save money for their new pickup trucks and building. Cut stockings.
 
Regarding the PFBC on shenango river water quality.. We just started getting stonefly and mayfly hatches for the first time a few years ago. The water quality is improving. It will only get better as time goes on. Nothing is being dumped into it anymore as it was with all the manufacturing years ago. And why can one person decide the fate of an entire fishery? "I decided to have all the fish put here." We know this guy doesn't fish. Its ridiculous. 

Because he can and he will continue too as long as special interest groups control the PFBC or, until John Arway is released by those who RR him into position so, John could fix their river for bass fishing.

Haven't ya heard the Susquehanna has suddenly (for the past ten years) been producing "hermarphrodite bass"?

Why rumor has it some bass are born crossed eyed with two tails and no lips. How the heck do you expect BassMaster Bobby to catch bass without no lips. Don't you support your local bass clubs by attnding their tournaments and watching them "ripping lips" when they set thier 1/0, 2/0 and 3/0 hooks?


Whyyyy... what's the matter for ya.... anyway?

I gotta get!

Best of fishin' to yinz.

I don't fish below the dam nearly as much as I use to but I will say. in 2009 between myself my brother and a buddy we probably caught about 150 walleye between us, all being 11-14'' long in a few hours. 2013, i fished below the **** every weekend never caught a limit of eyes but always managed 2 or 3 each outing. for myself the pike fishing was phenomenal that year also. I caught 20+ pike, 3 of them being 35 inchers and a hefty 38 incher in October. as for striper I don't know how they got into the river but ive caught them, its a shame that they haven't stocked the river in that long, like I said I don't fish it as much I use to up there. the Shenango river in new castle though I fish a couple times a week. theres no fish either. here is a few though
 

 

 

 

ok guys,ive been trolling this post for a long time and I usually don't respond but here goes.to captain hook,im glad to see you are so concerned about the quality of fishing below the dam.as far as the lake goes,here is what I know.i fish the lake every weekend from april to November and sometimes after work.ive been doing it for over 30 years.as far as walleyes in the lake.there are plenty,and they are very numerous.the shad problem stems from the last 2 cold winters.they will rebound with the first hatch of fry that will show up in july.I net shad for hybrids and they will be about 3-4 inches long by early august.they can spawn 2 times a year and grow 3 - 4 inches long in a few months.the reason your not seeing the big schools of stripers is because the shad are just not big enough yet.by late summer they will be schooled as usual.you can still catch hybrids in the lake but you gotta change your strategy.i remember the days when there were shad everywhere due to mild winters.i could throw a cast net in any cove and I would have a net full.now I have to search for schools,there still there but not overpopulated.the white bass are also still there in great numbers.same scenario as the stripers.they will target them on top very soon as the first major hatch grows to eatable size,this pertains to the little neon needles you see.they are baby shad.just match the size and you can catch them till you grow tired of it.not tryin to be a know it all here.just giving my prespective on the lake.its in great shape as are the numbers of fish.i hope that captain can get the river fishing back to normal as I agree with what he sees happening there.

mike55
troutguy,
 
They are way down river.. A few buddies have caught some hogs down towards westmiddlesex/pulaski this year.
 
They have always been down that far and always show up the same time every year.
 

Interesting! I personally don't fish that section and don't know of many people that do, but I do know people who fish those other waterways, and I do as well, and hybrids are nowhere to be found. Just find it odd that you don't hear of ANY being caught anywhere....especially for the amount of people that fish the Mahoning(there used to be some caught below West Branch Reservoir until they quit stocking the lake). And I still find it very odd that none make it over the dam on Pymatuning Creek(except for during flooded periods), yet the fish make it over the dams on the Beaver and Shenango just fine???? If they can swim up to the Shenango dam from the Ohio River, then you'd think there would be a crap ton that would make it above the dam in Orangeville. And for what its worth, there would be a ton directly below Pymatuning as well. Shenango Reservoir to Jamestown is a breeze compared to the Ohio River all the way to Sharpsville. Just my opinion.
 
Like you said though, I guess we'll never know for sure unless they start tagging fish haha.
 
And yeah......as far as the water quality goes, the Shenango is improving. As I said in one of my previous posts, the thing about the PCBs is just an excuse(and a poor one at that).
 
Good stuff striperguy