Fishing report: Variety of fish biting in Allegheny River in Venango County

• The Allegheny River in Venango County is offering up a variety of fish to anglers trolling its waters, including walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass.

• According to reports, fishermen are gearing up with soft plastic baits and are receiving a good deal of interest from the fish. A small number of muskellunge catches were reported in this stretch of the river, too.

• At Yellow Creek Lake, anglers are reporting large northern pike catches. As of last week, there were reports of pike catches measuring 35-plus inches.

• Keystone Power Dam is still a hot spot for crappies. Using live bait such as minnows is a good strategy.

• In Allegheny County, the Ohio River is loaded with catfish as anglers are reeling them in at increasingly high rates. Per usual, live bait such as chicken livers or minnows should do the trick. Fishermen using minnows as bait around the river are also catching a few bass.

• Anglers at Lake Pleasant are utilizing a setup of worms and bobbers to reel in a solid number of panfish.

• Fishermen are enjoying a solid trout bite at Brady’s Run Lake, particularly with the recent hatching of cicadas in the area. Other baits such as maggots or paste baits appear to be effective when fishing for the trout.

• The Beaver River is still playing host to walleye and muskellunge. The rate of catches around the New Brighton Dam appears to be holding strong, with fishermen utilizing setups with jigs and minnows to find success.

• At Lake Erie, fishermen are catching walleye and smallmouth bass with some regularity. Yellow perch and lake trout are out and about as well but were reeled in less frequently. The smallmouth bass are biting at rigs and jerkbaits in about 30 feet of water, and the walleye are interested in plugs and crawler rigs casted out in about 50 feet of water.

• The crappie bite at Lake Arthur remains steady. For the better part of the month, the crappie are inhabiting the shallower portions of the lake. Hybrid striped bass are still being spotted in the lake, though most of the catches are coming at night and appear to be decreasing in regularity.