Slammed the walleyes Wednesday. Beautiful day to be out. 

Drove to Erie for the weekend, spent a few hours on the boat on Saturday afternoon. Didn't see a lot of activity on the graph, tried trolling didn't get any bites. Then the flies came out and we called it a day. Currently calling for rain and t-storms on Saturday, hopefully that will change and I can get back out on the river.    

Fished Erie Wednesday thru Saturday. Lots of bugs, heat and fish each day. Most eyes were 25-45 ft down. Landed a few steelhead each day as well. Bigger fish were found in the upper 60s lower 70s ft of water. Managed a 37 lb box (6 fish)Saturday good enough for second place in the Walleye bash. Current was much stronger Saturday than other days. 5 color core n shallow divers did most of the damage.

Hosted the wife's parents at the lake this weekend, we got out on the water late Friday morning. Managed to catch 3 walleye and a 20lb laker with crankbaits. Released the laker and cooked the walleye for dinner. 

I’ve been trying to find some decent creeks to wade. Looking for stuff that’s closer to home, so like 30-45 min from pittsburgh.

I hit connoquenessing around zelienople last week. Waded about a mile-long section and caught a bunch of small bass. I figure there has to be sections of the creek with some bigger fish, I just need to find them. There are a bunch of posts in this forum that mentioned some other access points that seem worth a try. Definitely a lot of fish in the creek though.

I also tried the kiski at avonmore on the kayak. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this river, but it didn’t seem healthy. I saw few if any baitfish or crayfish or any other forage in the water, no vegetation either. I ended up getting a handful of bass, and a couple were decent sized… but they were all super skinny and scrawny looking, like they just finished spawning. Maybe it’s just a bad stretch of river, I dunno. I might try another access point. I have a feeling there are some water quality issues. Although it was surprisingly crystal clear, like visibility may have been around 10 ft.

Fished Tarentum this morning, the dam was a ghost town. Moved to jigging structures, picked off two keeper walleye and a bunch of smallmouth. Got off the water at 9:30, water temp was 80 degrees.   

Took the boat out on Saturday up in Dunkirk NY, apparently there was another fishing tournament so parking was a pain. Lots of marks on the graph between 95 and 107 FOW,  I managed to catch 3 smaller walleye (14"-17") with a dipsy diver and a purple bayrat.

Had an interesting question posed to me today, thought some of you Pittsburgh River guys might have some good insight into. 

On the Allegheny itself, at what point (City, Town, ****, pool, etc)  would you feel comfortable wading and swimming? 

I've been swimming, wading, fishing, etc pretty much the entire river from start to the point, so I'm not sure where my cutoff would be. Probably wouldn't take my kid swimming near the point, and for **** sure not after rain. 

What say yinz? 

Wading & Fishing: I have seen guys knee deep on the opposite side lock at the C.W. Bill Young Lock and Dam in Harmarville. I wouldn't dare try bare footed, god only knows what you could potentially step on. 

Not sure you want to risk trying to wade at the Trentum or Freeport stretches of the river. One step your in 2 feet the next step it could be 7-8 feet. 

Swimming: I would most likely go up to where Red Bank Creek meets the Allegheny.

I have waded the islands below Lock 3 and have “swam” in some of the slow current areas between the islands. As in, it is 90 degrees, dip my body in, maybe swam a few strokes, then back to fishing. Not spent hours swimming or would advise anyone to take a family there swimming.

I think around the Parker area is where the river sort of changes from the lock and dam pools to the more natural rapids and pools with the islands. Maybe half way between there and East Brady? The last of the lock and dams is just below East Brady. I don’t think there is one from there until the big dam (Kinzua) to make the reservoir. I’m sure there is wading and swimming well below that, but seems to be where it changes to more of a “natural” river.