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Claire Eskra, 5, of Ross shows off her first fish with a little help from her brother Luke, 8, at North Park Lake.
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Fishing Report: Weather crimps crappie and perch spawn; Pymatuning muskies biting

Justin Eskra

Fishing Report: Weather crimps crappie and perch spawn; Pymatuning muskies biting

Lake Erie and tributaries (Erie County) The smallmouth bass bite was picking up in Presque Isle Bay with good fish taken off the Perry monument and cityside docks. Stream-spawning smallmouths continued running up Elk Creek. Walleye were taken trolling worm harness off Walnut Creek, and lake trout were in 60-70 feet of water off North East.

Pymatuning Reservoir (Crawford County) The fish of 10,000 casts was a little easier to catch with hookups reported all over the lake. Two anglers caught and released 10 muskellunge on May 1, and two from the Pittsburgh area were trolling crankbaits and released six. Another pair of anglers boated two muskies, also trolling crankbaits. Crappies were under lily pads and walleye were caught in daylight in 3-15 feet of water. Largemouths and smallmouths were caught on the north end.

North Park Lake (Allegheny County) Claire Eskra, 5, of Ross caught her first fish, a 14-inch brook trout, on April 15. Her brother, Luke, a veteran fisherman at 8, took a nice golden rainbow March 26 using a rod loaned to him by nearby anglers.

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Carnegie Lake (Allegheny County) Squirrel Hill’s Michael Kirshenbaum landed an 18-inch largemouth bass taken on a crawler.

Pine Creek (Allegheny County) Fly angler Jim Friend of Shaler released a rainbow trout in excess of 20 inches taken on a white Wooly Bugger.

Big Sewickley Creek (Allegheny County) Erica Gazdik, 17, of New Sewickley caught a 19-inch golden rainbow trout using rainbow-colored Powerbait.

Cross Creek Lake (Washington County) One fisherman took home a bucket containing 20-30 pre-spawn crappies. Most were mid-size, one stretched to 15 inches and all were caught in 10-15 feet of water on live minnows under bobbers. Yellow perch were taken, fillet-size but on the small side.

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Time is running out to enter the annual Post-Gazette Trout Photo Contest. Attach high-resolution images (1 MB minimum) to your Fishing Report and include the angler’s name, age (for minors), town, species, size, body of water, details of the catch and phone number (not for publication), as well as the photographer’s name and town. Submissions accepted through May 17 at fishingreport@post-gazette.com. Winners in the Big Fish, Kidstuff and Artsy Shots categories will be interviewed for web and print publication May 24.

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First Published: May 7, 2020, 4:51 p.m.

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Claire Eskra, 5, of Ross shows off her first fish with a little help from her brother Luke, 8, at North Park Lake.  (Justin Eskra)
Justin Eskra
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