gonna be traveling from butler to dubois tomorrow and will have a couple of hours after our obligations in dubois to fish in some places with my son that i am very unfamiliar with but that we have often wanted to.  
 
where would you fish - wading or from shore - with a preteen kid who can handle his bizniss pretty well on the water (been fishing the erie tribs since he was 6 and i can take him anywhere there to give you an idea).  no particular target fish but we have gear suited for smallies, walleye, channel cats - typical western pa big creek type stuff.  we could also fly or spin fish for trout closer to dubois.  don't need specific spots or directions, just a general location along our way would be helpful.  
 
we could take i-80 from dubois to emlenton and fish the 'gheny from the emlenton area down to east brady.  i've heard it's fairly shallow and ok for wading in that stretch but have never fished it.  
 
we could take i 80 from dubois to brookville and head south along redbank creek through new bethlehem down towards kittanning.  mahoning dam and mahoning creek are a little out of the way, but doable.  i have never fished any of those, but have read about fishing around the dam in new bethlehem which is probably where we'd try without other suggestions.  
 
would also be willing to head a half hour north, east or south of dubois for a fun couple of hours.  
 
 

Not familiar with the area but looking on the map sure looks like some good spots to try. Bunch of creeks and a couple lakes.

solitario lupo
Not familiar with the area but looking on the map sure looks like some good spots to try. Bunch of creeks and a couple lakes.

too many choices!  
 
i love wade fishing bigger creeks but am not very good at it.  lake fishing is ok, but we have more fun getting in the water and trying something new and different.  
 
i have checked out some of the info on all the blue lines and class a wild trout water around dubois and we may head to a couple of those with our fly rods too and do some 'splorin.  

There is the "city lake" in DuBois, actually called Juniata Lake - bass, panfish & stock trout.
You could run north a bit to Ridgway and hit the Clarion River.
There is Cloe Lake down near Punxsutawney.
Kyle Lake just west of DuBois is just now refilling from construction - don't know if any fish in there!
Mahoning Creek runs through Punxsy to the dam - smallies, cats, rock bass and the random eye.
In Falls Creek, there is a creek that runs behind the "tie plant" and the rail yard (Larkeytown Road) - the locals fish it for muskies.
Parker Dam State Park is east of DuBois.
Little Toby Creek runs through the middle of Brockway (just west of DuBois).

erie mako i wanted someone to help me narrow down the options, not give me more!  haha.  
 
thank you very much for the advice, very much appreciated.  just a quick google-ing of some of the names and places you threw out might have helped me find something i wasn't even aware of that looks pretty promising that we would really enjoy and is much more in our wheelhouse.  

You can detour a half hour north off 80 at brookville to hit the clarion river at/near Cooks forest... or fish it closer to clarion at the boat launch just north of piney dam lake (on map just outside of clarion) for variety I think the clarion may be a good bet, smallies, rock bass, suckers, trout and catfish.

A fellow who went by the screen name @world famous on here fishes the clarion pretty steady with his wife through the summer. If you can find his name still on the list it may be worth sending him a PM, though a long shot of him seeing it soon enough to help.

Mako and Fisherlady I know there's no spot burning allowed but your secrete will be safe with me 😇, if you had one spot to fish near DuBois, where would that be?

I would play around in the creek near the tie plant.
 
But then again, as a kid I could waste entire afternoons exploring a local creek and turning over rocks looking for crayfish....

Stella-Jones by the Pilot still in operation and who says ya have to be a kid to hunt crayfish. lol