Tioga County Fishing

[tackleshack]

Hello again .  Just wondering if you guys are interested in weekly reports for tioga county on this site too?  I keep them up to date all winter on Ice shanty.  If you want them here too I can do that as well.  

Looking forward to some open water!!

[Thor]

That would be great!  Thanks.

I've only fished in Tioga County twice (Hills Creek & Cowanesque), but I wish I could get there more often.  When would be a good time to take my kids on a camping trip to Hills Creek and try to find some panfish action?

[tackleshack]

If you can get here in May/June, the fishing is at its best.  Hills tends to fish pretty good year round though.  Ice season is great there and the open water is usually always good.  Plus if they aren't biting good on Hills, there's plenty of other lakes in a short drive to try too.

[tackleshack]

I'll start putting up some reports next week.  not much happeneing right now as we wait for the ice to melt.  Still guys fishing on 6-9 inches on Hills Creek.  A couple on Beechwood and Nessmuk even too.

Don

[tackleshack]

We had hundreds and hundreds of people in this week for the trout opener and most reported the same thing. Tough Conditions with higher, cold water. Murky to muddy water opening weekend made things especially tough as well.

Hamilton saw good numbers of people with the best catches coming on powerbait off the bottom. Pink, Natural (White), and Chartreuse salmon eggs also worked off the bottom and with a bobber. Many people used the Gulp!, Gulp! Alive, and Powerbait eggs too. The big advantage with these is that they contain the same powerbait/gulp scents, but they remain on the hook much better than the paste or nuggets. Again, these were fished off the bottom. Keep the bait 18-24 inches away from the sinker so that it will float up off the bottom. Trollers struggled the first few days. Most the fish are hanging deep and are pretty sluggish. Those that did do well were catching them on glow spinners, joe's flies, and F-3 or CD-3 rapalas. The new panther martin Fish See UV spinners have been particularly popular this season as well. For the Joe's flies, mostly the dark brown's and blacks have been popular in sizes 8 and 10. Until it warms up though, expect it to be a tad slow.

So far, the biggest fish we saw out of here was a 25" Palimino brought into the shop yesterday!! Lots of other nice ones were caught too.

Beechwood Lake was about the same story. High water had people frustrated the first few days, but powerbait off the bottom was working well. Trollers struggled here too and many boaters found a better bite by anchoring and fishing bait instead.

Pine Creek was up for the opener, but water color remained pretty good. Rain last night might have changed that. I have not been out today to take a look. Waxworms, redworms butterworms, and salmon eggs were the most popular out there. Redworms/crawlers are typically a good bait when the water levels come up. Their bigger profile is easier to find in stained water, plus high water pushes many of the worms on the shoreline into the water. Many noted a tough bite on lures with lots of chasers by few takers. Black, Chartruese, and silver roostertails worked, as well as the darker panther martins and a variety of Joe's flies. Some were caught on Rapala CD-3's and CD-5's in Silver, Gold, and Brown Trout. Slowing down and making long casts helped make the fish bite. Fly fishermen picked up fish on nymphs and streamers. Most the standards worked well, Pheasant tails, Hare's Ears, Woolly Buggers, and Muddler Minnows.

Asaph saw lots of people this week. Salmon eggs were real popular here. Pink Garlic, Pink Shrimp, Orange and Chartruese all worked well. Unfortunately, we are sold out of Pink Garlic at the moment and have very few shrimp in stock. More due in soon. Redworms also worked well.

Marsh Creek frustrated many people. High, muddy water made fishing really tough and many people were skunked. As the water came down, fishing improved and waxworms, mealworms, and butterworms worked well. Many noted lots of fish chasing spinners here too, but few takers. As things return to normal, they should eat a bit better. Salted Minnows worked well on a minnow rig though.

Stonyfork was tougher than expected for many. High water pushed a lot of the fish from the easy access holes to new areas. Many of the deeper holes had plenty of fish, but many are scattered throughout the stream now. Waxworms, butterworms, mealworms, and salmon eggs were all popular.


Few reports from Cowanesque, Long Run, Mill and Corey Creek. We had a few people out on all of them, but didn't hear much back. A few reports of decent catches on waxworms and redworms.


CRAPPIES....

Not much happening yet on all the lakes. I've been getting questions about them this whole month and right now the cold water has fish slowed down. Fish are starting to stage on a few lakes, but the bite isn't really 'ON' yet. Water temps need to get up to the mid 50's or so before things really start heating up. Hopefully by the end of the month. They are catching some now on live minnows, but the best bite is yet to come.

Bass...

Bass fishing is starting to pick up. It is suspending jerkbait weather. Rapala X-Raps and Husky Jerks are great right now. Slow presentations with long pauses has worked well. Jigs and plastics picked up some too. Many bass are in the warmer shallows.

Muskies...

Nothing to report. Many questions about them, a few people fishing, but no reports back. Again, water temps need to come up before these really turn on.


Cowanesque/Tioga Rivers

The bite's been decent down in the rivers with good numbers of smallies, rock bass, and walleye caught on grubs and live shiners. Perch at both spillways have been pretty good too on live minnows or baby crawlers/redworms.




Don

[crappie_rod]

Keep um coming Don!!!!!!!!!!

[tackleshack]

Cold water had the bite slower again this week, but many more good reports did come in.  Warm days had a decent bass/panfish bite on the lakes too.

Hamilton- Trollers still struggled to find a good bite.  Some fish were caught trolling spinners and small stick baits (Rapala CD3 and F3's mostly), but most fishermen did better fishing the bottom with powerbait, waxworms, or even salmon eggs.  Some panfish were picked up too on minnows and redworms or crawlers.  Rainbow, chartruese, salmon peach, and orange powerbaits all worked.  glitter or no glitter didn't seem to matter.  pink and natural (white) salmon eggs worked best.  Hamilton saw pretty good numbers of people compared to the streams this past week.  Hamilton is due to be restocked tomorrow (4/27)

Beechwood- powerbait has been popular all week.  Rainbow, chartruese, and salmon peach all worked.  Trollers did a little here, but noted the water was still a little off color too.  Trolling with rapala CD 3's and 5's in firetiger, gold, and trout patterns worked.  Small silver spoons did well too.  Some people are starting to find a few crappies in the mix with live minnows.  Beechwood will be restocked on 5/4.


Much of Upper Pine was restocked this week on 4/24.  Reports out here have been really mixed. Some great reports, and many poor ones too.  Water conditions are a bit more favorable this week.  Levels were up all week, but color and clarity remained good.  Cold water had the fish sluggish with many lookers and few takers.  CD3 rapalas in gold and silver worked, and so did many larger spinners including size 6 panther martins, 208 roostertails, and the 1/4 ounce joe's flies.  Fish were taken on a variety of smaller spinners too fished with a small split shot placed a foot or so above the spinner, especially for the smaller joe's flies.  Popular live baits were salted and live minnows, waxworms, butterworms, and redworms.  Most people are fishing the minnows threaded on a minnow rig.

Long Run and Cowanesque River had decent reports.  Powerbait was popular in some of the slower holes. Anglers noted the fish were taking the baits and spitting them out very fast.  Most fish were not chasing and would only take baits drifted to them.  Waxworms, mealworms, and butterworms were popular live baits.  Trout magnets caught fish too.  yellows, greens, and pinks worked well. 


Marsh Creek was slow again this week.  Some fish were caught on spoons in gold and silver.  Joe's flies in the darker colors worked too.  Mealworms, waxworms, and redworms worked best for bait fisherman.  Color/clarity is pretty good right now.  water is still up some.


We did not receive many reports from Mansfield area though a bunch of people were fishing Corey and Mill Creeks, but a few anglers noted a decent bite on trout magnets and waxworms.  Feel free to share your reports if you were over that way!


CRAPPIES-

We're starting to hear better reports on the crappies.  Warmer days had good schools of crappies moving towards the shallows.  Good reports came out of the stumps on Hills Creek a few days, but cold fronts pushed them back off shore.  Some are being caught on the shores of Nessmuk and Hamilton too.  Fishermen on Hammond and Tioga found some schooled in deeper water.  good numbers of perch were taken on Tioga too near the bridge.  Live minnows have been the best  Probably a good week before things really heat up.  Water temps need to come up some to push good numbers of fish in shore.  I hope to get out this week and get a better report from Hammond.  Be sure to watch the lake boards for more info.

Bass/Pickerel-

Pickerel are starting to get pretty active.  We're hearing good reports on them in the ponds and small lakes.  A bunch were taken on jerk baits, and crankbaits in Nessmuk, Hills Creek, and the farmponds.  Shiners have worked well too.  Some very good reports on early season bass from Hills and Nessmuk too.  The jerkbait bite is pretty good right now.  Try a Rapala X-rap or husky jerk.  Many bass are moved into the warmer shallow water right now on the bigger lakes.



Don

[tackleshack]

Lots of good reports this week from trout fishermen. Powerbait continues to be one of the more popular baits. Salmon Peach and Rainbow are selling out as fast as we get it in for both the lakes and streams. Live minnows have been more popular too this past week, but waxworms, mealworms, and butterworms were still the best selling live baits. Lots of good reports on waxies in most all the waters.

Pine Creek- water looks great right now. Many are already concerned that we need rain soon if we want these levels to stay good through the derby weekend. Reports were pretty good throughout most of upper Pine all week. We had a number of fly fishermen out too, most of whom found a good nymphing bite with little surface activity. Hatches have been good so far with good numbers of caddis, bwo's, and hendricksons among others. Powerbait worked well for many anglers with salmon peach, yellow, chartruese, and rainbow being the favorites. Orange, Pink Garlic, and Natural salmon eggs all caught fish too. Live bait fishermen did best with waxworms, live minnows, and butterworms. Spinners and spoons did well also. Phoebe's, Kastmasters, Joe's flies, Panther Martins, and Roostertails were all popular. Lots of people using Gold colors or gold blades these last few weeks. Parts of Pine were restocked on 4/24 and 5/2 from PFBC. I do not know club stocking schedules for our waters.

Asaph- lots of pressure up there this past week with it being restocked on 4/29. Waxworms, redworms, live minnows, and salmon eggs all worked well.

Cowanesque River- Restocked on 4/29

Long Run- restocked 4/29

Hamilton Lake-Restocked 4/27. Another stocking next saturday 5/11. Reports up there were great all week. Both boat fishermen and shore fishermen were doing well. The panfish bite is also starting to turn on too. Not a ton of reports, but those targetting panfish found good numbers of crappies with live minnows and a variety of panfish on mealworms and waxworms. For the trout, powerbait or power eggs have been the best. Rainbow, Salmon Peach, and Chartruese were again the best sellers. A few decent reports on white and yellow too. Many people are still fishing the bottom, yet many did well under a bobber this week too. Lure fishermen caught them on small stickbaits in purple, firetiger, and trout patterns as well as 1/4 ounce Joe's flies, Phoebe's, tiny Colorado spinners, and roostertails. Trolling and casting both worked.

Beechwood- Mostly the same reports as Hamilton. PFBC is restocking tomorrow 5/4 so expect lots of fishermen this weekend. Powerbait and waxworms were the most popular baits. Trollers did well with both spinners and stickbaits.

Pretty decent reports out of Corey, Mill, and Stonyfork- Stonyfork will be restocked on 5/9. Waxworms, salmon eggs and mealworms have been the most popular baits. trout magnets tipped with bait worked well too.



Hills Creek- Crappies are starting to be more cooperative here. Not much happening during the morning, but late in the evenings, the fish have been pretty active. Good reports of bluegills and perch too. Live minnows have been the most popular on a small jighead. Bass fishermen are doing well too with shiners, worms, and jerkbaits.

Nessmuk-Lots of bass and pickerel being caught. the panfish bite is turning on nicely with good numbers of fish moving to the shallows. Medium shiners worked well for the bass. Jerkbaits and plastic worms also worked. Waxworms and crawlers or baby crawlers worked for the panfish. Nows a great time to fish this lake from shore. As we get later into the summer, weeds make it tough to fish. Right now, there's lots of easy access spots form the shoreline.

Tioga & Hammond- Both are fishign well for bass. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits all worked this week. Good numbers of bass are up shallow right now. Crappie fishing is just starting to heat up. We spent some time out there and found a few fish around the docks. Fish were definitely moving better late in the evening. We will follow this bite as much as possible for the month of May up on Hammond.  I will update water temps as much as possible too. Did not have a thermometer last night. Good numbers of perch came off of Tioga this week. Anglers weeded through many small ones to pick up a bunch of keepers.

**Expect heavy pressure on Hammond and Tioga this week. We have big groups of guys coming to fish on both lakes. We were slammed here in the shop already this morning with boaters and tomorrow we are expecting an even bigger crowd**

Above the lake, up in Crooked Creek, a few people were out and found a pretty good smallie bite on Joe's Flies and X-raps.


Cowanesque- Reports starting to trickle in of decent bass fishing. No word on the muskies yet. A few guys were out for crappies and found a real slow bite and only a couple small fish. Hopefully this will turn on better this weekend. Reports up at the falls have been a little better. From the bridge down to the lake, decent numbers of crappies were caught on small twister tails, mealworms, and minnows. no reports on smallies up there.


Both Cowanesque and Tioga rivers have had good reports of smallies. Expect heavy pressure at the spillways this weekend. Walleye opens up tomorrow 5/4. Some are being caught on live minnows, worms, and stickbaits. Mostly small ones reported.



Good Luck this week. The month of May is one of the best months to be out fishing. The Crappies will only get better each day through the next couple weeks. We have plenty of minnows on hand for everyone too.

[tackleshack]

Mostly goood to great reports came in last weekend and through the start of the week, then this cold stormfront came through and slowed things up quite a bit. Temps back in the 40's-50's with lows in the 30's these next 4 or 5 days is going to change things for sure. Rain had some water murkied and up some, but plenty fishable.


The big question-"What are the crappies doing???"

Well, like I said above, the bite was really starting to get going last weekend with good reports coming from most all the lakes. As the cold fronts moved in late this week, fishing died off considerably. With temps in the shallows dropping, the crappies should move back off shore till things stabilize again. So far there have been few reports of crappies in real shallow and it is unlikely that we will see that this weekend too. Decent reports came off Tioga and Hammond from mostly boaters fishing the steeper ledges and drops off the spawning grounds. Some fish are moving in around the rocks on the dam and along rt 287. Good numbers of fish are along the west side of Tioga holding near timber piles. Fallen trees and some small offshore humps are holding fish on Cowanesque. Decent reports of fish around the falls and creek channel too. Not quite peak fishing on any of these lakes yet. Eggs are still tight and compact in most fish.

Hills Creek has had good action most the week. Good numbers of nice crappies were taken on fatheads. Afternoon/Evenings have been best.

Crappies on Hamilton were hit hard around the tower and dam. Good reports for the last week or so in these areas, but much of it slowed down these last few days, especially for shore fishermen. Anglers noted fish moved out to different spots on the lake and boaters were able to access those fish much easier.

Nessmuk has had a few boats and shore anglers all week. Few crappies are in on the dam and the rocks along 287 yet. mostly smaller fish are in shore. better fish have been holding around the vegetation. some were pulled off the docks,but many are just out of casting range.


Beechwood saw a few days of great crappie fishing, but for the most part its been slow. Reports have been minimal from here.


So far, hot jig colors have been black/chartreuse, red/chartreuse, silver/white, blue/chartreuse. Small silver/black or firetiger stickbaits have worked too.

Also popular have been the Roadrunner style lures (jig spinner with a grub tail) in white,shad, and firetiger patterns.

***Expect heavy pressure on the lakes these next few weeks. We have big groups coming up plus plenty of others fishing so any decent days will have the lakes pretty crowded.***


TROUT...

Fishing was pretty good for trout this past week. Lots of bug activity with good numbers of fish rising. Likely this front will slow them down some, but there are still plenty left to catch. Stony fork was restocked this week and Hamilton will be restocked again tomorrow 5/11.

Water levels rose some on Pine Creek and customers late yesterday tell me it has murkied up some. Fishing was fair. Anglers worked to catch a limit on live bait and spinners. Live minnows have been popular. Waxworms and butterworms are still working too.

Powerbait has been hard to beat on the lakes. White Power eggs or powerbait have been especially popular. Normal colors of powerbait all worked well too- salmon peach, chartreuse, rainbow. Many trout were taken on butterworms as well.


Still plenty of fish left in all the stocked streams. Decent reports out of Corey, Mill, Long Run,and Cowanesque River, waxworms, mealworms, and butterworms have all beenworking.


BASS...

Bass fishing was good all around most of the week. Tioga, Cowanesque,Nessmuk,and Hills Creek all fished well. A few nice ones and a couple big pickerel came out of Hamilton. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, and creature baits have been popular.

Muskies...

Reports starting to come in of some muskies up on Cowanesque. Live suckers, shiners, bluegills, and perch have been popular baits. no reports of any real big ones. Many were seen while bass fishing. A few were caught in the spillway and down river.

[tackleshack]

Big weekend here in Tioga County. First off, the Upper Pine Creek Trout Tournament is this weekend. On top of already good trout fishing, the club's restocking lots of nice fish for this event. If you are fishing upper pine, expect a lot of extra pressure.

Fly hatches have been good. Reports of lots of caddis, March Browns, BWO's, and more. Water levels look to be good going into the weekend. Nymphs and streamers have still performed the best, but better numbers of rising fish were reported this week.

There are no more stockings from the state this season. Hamilton was restocked on 5/11. There are still plenty of fish in all the trout streams and lakes though!

Waxworms, butterworms, and powerbait were the bait of choice for many. Joe's flies are producing some real nice fish on both the lakes and the streams. Darker colored spinners seem to be working best. White power eggs or Gulp! eggs have been especially popular on Hamilton.


Crappies, Crappies, Crappies!!!

The fish are finally cooperating on most the lakes after Sunday/Monday's terrible cold front. We had some exceptionally good reports on Hammond, Tioga, and Cowanesque these last few days. A lot of fish are moving in shore. Many males on the shoreline making nests. Most the better fish are still holding off shore. Some are coming in, in the evenings. High winds made fishing conditions tough these last few days for both boaters and shore fishermen. Today it looks to be more favorable. Water temps on Hammond were 62-64 yesterday. Many reports of near limits of 10 inch or better crappies came in this morning and last night. Lots of small fish are being caught in the mix too though. Mostly white crappies out of Hammond & Tioga with few, but big, black crappies mixed in. Fair numbers of 15+ inchers caught already this year too!! Many in the 10-14 range! Good reports are coming in from Nessmuk and Hills Creek too. Again, live minnows were the most popular.

Live minnows are working well. jigging on the bottom or running them under a slip float is producing fish. Crappie Magnets, Stinger Shad, Crappie Critters, and a variety of tri-color and bi-color crappie tubes are working well. Any mix of chartruese is producing fish. Silver/white, red/yellow, red/blue, were also popular. Small chartruese, yellow, and white twister tails caught many fish too. 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigheads in white, chartruese, black, or unpainted have been the preferred method.

Trollers are catching fish on live minnows, small stickbaits, small spoons, and curly tail grubs.


There is going to be a lot of pressure on Hammond this weekend! With crappies picking up and nice weather there will be a lot of people out. Our phone's been ringing nonstop all week with questions about the fishing.



Bass fishing has been great this past week too!!

Jigs, Creatures, Beavers, and plastic worms all worked to catch nice bass on Nessmuk, Hills Creek, Cowanesque, Hammond, and Tioga. Some fish were taken on crankbaits and spinnerbaits on Cowanesque and Tioga too. Lots of fish are shallow right now as they too prepare for the spawn.


Bluegills-

Good reports of bluegills and sunfish on Hamilton, Nessmuk, and Hills Creek. A lot of the bigger fish are holding in shallow or near shallow water. Waxworms, mealworms, and butterworms under a bobber have been the most successful.


Tioga Spillway Action has been good. Walleyes are being caught in decent numbers on medium shiners, fatheads, shad colored crankbaits, and twistertails. Striper reports have been minimal this year. Lots of nice perch, crappie, rockbass, and smallmouth are being caught. Live shiners and fatheads have been the most popular. Many were caught on nightcrawlers too. 2-4" twister tails in chartruese, smoke, white, and yellow were popular as well.


Bullhead and catfish fishing have picked up. Nice bullheads were caught in a bunch of the lakes. Few cats have been reported. Some were caught in Hammond, Tioga River, and Cowanesque River.


Not much to report on muskies this week.



That's about it. If you want to catch fish and lots of them, now is the time to do it!! The latter half of May is going to be full of great fishing! Good luck out there!!

Don

[tackleshack]

Lots of good things to mention for the past week. These last few days have had customers doing very well out on Hammond and Tioga as well as Pine Creek. Before the rain early in the week, we had some of our best fly fishing reports of the season. Post rain, things slowed up a bit. Pine came up, but retained pretty good water clarity.

On Pine, Light Cahills were producing really well with lots of rising fish. These last few days the Green Drakes have started hatching too. This weekend should be great fishing if conditions hold out. Live bait fishermen are finding the best bite on waxworms and live minnows.

Asaph Run is still fishing pretty well. The salmon egg bite has slowed up quite a bit, but they are still catching fish on mealworms and redworms.

Some nice trout were caught in Marsh Creek on baby crawlers and redworms this week too. Good numbers of pickerel are still being caught on Joe's flies too!

Hammond/Tioga have been fishing pretty well. There are good numbers of spawning fish and post spawn fish. Anglers are catching them in a bunch of different depths. Some fish, including many smaller ones, are in shore. Few larger fish, up to 11 or 12" have been caught shallow too, but most of the better ones were caught deeper. Good numbers of crappies are schooled up still and suspended in the column. Afternoon and evenings have both offered a great bite. Tubes, jigs,spoons, spinners, and live minnows are all working. Those catching lots of fish are finding plenty of unproductive water and then hitting schools were the bite is great. Some are doing well trolling/drifting over 14-16 feet of water. reports of 12+ inch fish were minimal this week with most fish being in the 6-11 inch range. Live minnows have been working well after dark. During the day, silver, red/white, chartreuse, chartruese/red, and other colors have been working.

Bass fishing has been good with lots of fish real tight to the shorelines. Spinnerbaits, jigs, and jerkbaits all caught fish.

Pretty much, if you're not catching fish, move and find them. Water temps are around the high 60's to low 70's. Heat these last few days has brought them up. Some stripers have been in the mix. Most were caught by guys fishing crappies down towards the dam. No real big ones were reported.


Few crappie reports from Cowanesque this week. The few reports we had, were spotty at best. Some being caught in the east side timber. More musky and bass fishermen were out this week. Spinnerbaits and crankbaits are both working well. River fishing below has been pretty steady. A few musky fishermen even managed multiple fish days on large plastics and live shiners. Some 40+ inch fish have been seen, but mostly smaller ones in the 30's were caught.


Bass/Crappie fishing on Nessmuk was slow this week. High winds pushing against the shore muddied up the water early in the week making the bite tough. Some fish were caught on Rapala X raps, live shiners,and flukes. Weeds are starting to be a nuisance from shore. Texas rigged flukes and plastic worms worked well to fish them though. White/shad colors worked best. The same baits worked for pickerel too. A few nice 20+ inch pickerel were caught. Good numbers of bluegills were caught by fly fishermen using worm patterns,nymphs, and small poppers.

Lots of bluegills were caught on Hills Creek. Waxworms,mealworms, and pieces of night crawler all worked well. Bass and pickerel were caught on shiners too around the stumps and the docks.

Trout are still being caught on Hamilton and Beechwood. Mornings have fished best. Some bass were caught on live shiners and nightcrawlers at both lakes. trollers found some fish using joe's flies and small stickbaits. Powerbait and powereggs are both working for trout. Live minnows worked well too. Good numbers of bluegills are in shore and being caught on mealworms and waxworms.

[tackleshack]

Lots of good news out there again this week. Reports on Pine have been coming in all week with lots of rising fish and Pine staying at great levels! Green drakes are about done, but good numbers of browns are still coming off in the evenings and good numbers of coffin flies still after dark. BWO's came off in good numbers in the morning and light cahills and sulphers in the afternoons. A few slate drakes are mixed in as well. Smaller flies int he 16-20 sizes are working well early in the day. Some fish are still taking the drake patterns, but many are keying in on smaller bugs now. For bait fishermen, nothing is better than live minnows right now! Whether on a minnow rig or just a plain hook, guys are catching lots of trout on them!! Fishing has been good throughout much of upper Pine and both branches are fishing well out towards Galeton too. Smallies are being caught through the canyon down to Tiadaghton on flies and spinners.

Good numbers of fish are still being caught on Hammond. From shore, most anglers are finding smaller crappies and bluegills along the docks and towards pine camp. Few bigger ones were caught from shore. Bug activity has been great on the lake bringing panfish to the top for fly fishermen. Few guys have been out with the fly rod, but they had good reports on small Gaine's poppers for gills and some crappies. Boaters are fairing better for bass and crappies. We were out the last few nights and saw water temps ranging from 72 to almost 76. The better fish were scattered over 10-12 feet. Fishing the dropoffs or deeper structure has been effective for anglers too. Live minnows are still the favorite bait. We caught all ours trolling Rapala Scatter Raps in a few different colors. Crappies were suspended and moved higher in the column towards dark. Some stripers were taken this week on fatheads and crawlers. Bullheads were hungry all week. After dark, there's been lots of action using minnows and nightcrawlers. No reports of channel cats. Spinnerbaits, frogs, and plastics are all working for bass.  Many carp are spawning now.

Tioga fished very well again this week. Bass fishing with jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits has been effective. Fish are holding tight to cover and the banks throughout the lake, but the majority have been caught out of mill bay and along the 15 side shoreline. Some nice pickerel were taken on live shiners and crankbaits. Leeches are working for bass and crappies too. The catfish bite was slow. Crappies are being taken around timber piles and outer edges of the weeds.

Cowanesque saw fair numbers of anglers with a bunch of muskies caught! A few reports of multiple fish days on musky gear. Spinnerbaits have been a favorite for them. Reports were slim in the Cowenesque spillway. Good numbers of smallies are being caught at the falls. Artificial hellgrammites worked well, as did nightcrawlers, crayfish, and shiners. Some crappies were caught downstream towards the bridge on minnows too. Out on the lake, bass fishing has been good. Many fish holding tight to timber with a mix of spawning and post spawn fish. Lots of carp are in the shallow water still.

Some nice bass were caught on hills creek using shiners and leeches. Bluegills are still in shore spawning. Mealworms, waxworms, and pieces of nightcrawler are working really well!!

Tioga spillway fished better this week. Good numbers of walleyes were caught on stickbaits and shiners. Most walleyes are short, but some up to 22 inches were caught. Smallies and rockbass have been biting well too. Some reports of cats and bullheads after dark on chicken liver and worms.

Kid's Fishing Derby
The Annual Kid's Fishing Derby is this Saturday, June 8th on Cowanesque Lake. More details can be found here www.tiogacountybassanglers.com/kids_fishing_derby.htm . This event is a great time with lots of prizes, food, and fun for everyone. This event is a great, FREE way to just go out and have fun fishing with the kids for a day. I've been very fortunate to help with this event over the years and everyone always has a great time. The weather forecast looks perfect for Saturday. Hope you can make it. Invite your friends and family and help make this another successful event!

[THEcrappieslayer]

whats the age limit on the derby cause..... well i wanna win!!!!!

[tackleshack]

whats the age limit on the derby cause..... well i wanna win!!!!!

Open to all kids under the age of 16.  It's a great time!

[tackleshack]

Very slow start to bass season this year. Some contributed to the weather, some say its just moody post spawn fish. Regardless, its tough right now!! Hammond, Cowanesque, and Tioga all had similar reports. Slow bite with soft, subtle takes. Plastics and jigs worked best. Drop shotting finesse worms and smaller shad type baits caught fish. Green pumpkin and watermelon varieties worked well. 5" senkos were the most popular in green shades.

Crappies were sparse on Hammond and Tioga. Some were caught trolling stickbaits, some drifting with live minnows. Better fish were hard to come by. Better fish came along the dam on both lakes.

If you want bluegills, they're still hungry on all the lakes. Most are still in shore spawning and the action has been great! Waxworms, mealworms, and baby crawlers or pieces of crawler all worked well. Fly fishermen got them on Gaines poppers, royal wulffs, stimulators and an assortment of nymphs. some are being caught on small twister tails, crappie nibbles, and trout magnets too.

Weeds are making shore fishing tough on Nessmuk and Hills Creek. Other than bluegills, action on both has been slow. Afternoons and evenings were best for bass and pickerel. Some perch and crappies were caught on minnows too. Bullheads were caught after dark on crawlers and chicken livers.

Hamilton fished decent this week. Some nice bass were caught along the dam and the far shoreline. plastic worms and lizards were popular. Rock bass and bluegills were caught on crawlers and mealworms. Few trout were caught.

Some better reports on Tioga River. Numbers of small walleye and a few keepers were caught. Smallmouth have been active and many were caught on the surface using poppers.

Good luck out there!

Don