East Brady Evening Fishing 7/6/14

Rye Boating Key

Saturday evening was a late night for me – One of my very close childhood friends got married. I was in the wedding so it was a long day of having fun which ended up being a late night. I had planned all week to fish but I wasn’t sure where I would be going.  Above I have this boating key I made with mileage to my favorite fishing destinations. On the key I have the body of water, type of motor requirements and the mileage to each destination from my house. I always factor in gas mileage and time I have before each trip. Sunday was free most of the day but I was feeling alittle groggy from being up late. I had to get groceries with the GF (weekly trip) before I couldn’t do anything so I planned this being a evening trip regardless. I texted Doug to see if he was up for a boat trip on the Yough but he was working nights. Sorry if I woke you up Ray!

3 cups of coffee into breakfast I decided my destination would 64 miles north of Pittsburgh to East Brady. The upper Allegheny River has be unfishable for weeks due to mass amounts of rain in Kane. IM planing a trip up there for the weekend in two weeks so I wanted to get some time on the river before the trip. Also the motor was acting up on the start my last trip out so I wanted to work on that.

I arrived at the boat ramp around 4pm to find it packed with people and PFBC checking boaters to make sure they have all their proper gear. 4pm on a Sunday, slight overcast with passing rain drops turned into a bad time to put the boat in the water. I was on a solo mission so launching the boat by yourself is not an easy task. I feel I do a pretty good job by myself but it makes it hard if you dont have a dock right next to the ramp. East Brady has one of the nicer launches in the area but when there is a line of boats on the river 6 deep and 3 boats sitting at the dock, its hard on one guy. I try not to get stressed and just take my time but when 3 boats where sitting on the dock I couldn’t stretch my dock line to the side of the dock so I had to wait for a spot to free up. I also knew my motor was going to need some TLC so I didn’t want to drive it off the trailer, park it.. then run back up and move my truck.

After my hour wait and about 10mins of my motor being pissy I was off and heading up river. The water was murky and alittle swift so I knew fishing was going to be hard. I talked to angler coming off the water that looked like he knew what he was doing and he said the walleyes were hitting good. I forgot to mention I stopped by Steiners Bait and Tackle on my way to get minnows and a fishing report.  They also said the walleyes were hitting so I had a feeling I could find some. I fished for a bit up the river working the shorelines looking for clearer water. No luck… I made a good choice to head down to RedBank Creek and fish up the stream. I knew the creek would have much better water conditions.

RedBank

I rode my motor as far up as I could go to the big rocks. The water is crystal clear and about 3 foot in some parts and 10ft in others. The bottom of the creek is bedded with monster boulders that is really a cool site to see. Big ledges and tons of structure for great fishing. I dropped the trolling motor and navigated around the big boulders to set up my drift.  I consistently caught smallmouths the whole way down the creek for about two hours. Most of the fish were in the pound to 2pound size. I did have a nice keeper walleye on that I broke off on the boat. I made a mistake of grabbing the line before he was ready to come in and snap! It was a big lazy move considering I had my net right next to me. It was definitely a net worthy size fish. I figured IM fishing by myself and the photo would never do justice. I’ll just grab this and SNAP!  I was really mad at myself I did that.  Few hours past and it was 7:45pm before I knew it. The boat ramp does not have a street light so it was time for me to head back.  I didnt have any luck on artificial baits. I tried jigging and a few other baits nothing. Shinners and Flatheads were the ticket so Im glad I stopped to get some.  I also need to replace the line on my reels – they are in bad shape. The shinners seemed to produce bigger fish and quicker hits then the flatheads. I think my last trip up I had the exact opposite luck.

I have two weeks until my next trip up their to change the lines on my reels and figure out what IM going to do with my motor. It starts but it takes 20+ key turn overs before it will ever go. I hear its the type of motor it is but I think its due for a tune up. I also have one break light working on the trailer. There is a short somewhere on the wiring but I can’t find it.  I called U haul to see if they would rewire my trailer but they said they don’t do that.  Any recommendations?

Doug will pull me over!  SMS