DISTRICT

Fishing activities are included in the free Venture Outdoors Festival tomorrow on Herr's Island and Millvale Riverfront Park. For more, visit www.ventureoutdoors.org.

Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay: Anglers were catching bass, including smallmouths up to 6-plus pounds, in Presque Isle Bay and along the shoreline of the lake, as conditions allowed. Anglers were still landing a few smallmouths in Elk Creek up to I-90 and in the lower reaches of Twenty Mile Creek. Numbers of largemouth bass were hitting in the lagoons, as were bluegills. Anglers were targeting walleyes at night at the mouths of Walnut Creek, and Trout and Godfrey runs, as conditions allow. The best bet for perch was off the north and south piers of the Erie channel as they head to the lake. Northern pike were still hitting in shallow water in the bay, but the bite was slowing.

Shenango Reservoir (Mercer County): Fluctuating weather slowed the crappie bite, although nice catches were still reported. The lake was 2 feet above summer pool level and the Shenango River was high and muddy Wednesday.

Lake Wilhelm (Mercer County): Quality crappies were hitting around structure in the stumps and in shallow water near Launch No. 3 and by the dam. Some anglers say they were the nicest crappies in years -- some up to 14 inches. Walleyes were nabbing Hot n Tots and crawler harnesses. A few perch also were reported. One angler boated four nice walleyes, 20 to 24 inches, before Sunday's storm. Pressure was light.

Oil Creek (Venango County): Good conditions prevailed as of Wednesday. Trout were hitting mostly subsurface flies and rising sporadically. Hatches include caddisflies, Blue-Winged Olives and an occasional March Brown.

Lake Arthur (Butler County): Fair numbers of crappies were reported, although larger-size fish were a little shy. The 15th annual Bob Reddick Memorial Crappie Tournament is tomorrow. For more, call Appalachian Trails at 724-865-2178. Walleyes were reported, as were angler releases of largemouth bass. Hybrid stripers were starting to follow alewives to shore near the Route 528 launch and the Bear Run launch at night.

Pine Creek (Allegheny River): Carl Scholtz of Shaler released 10 trout Wednesday and nine Tuesday in good conditions. Fish, 10 to 12 inches, were aggressively taking Rapalas. He caught two smallmouth bass, including a 12-incher.

Allegheny River: Sam Stellitano at Memories Tackle says the river has been on fire in recent days with numbers of smallmouths, saugers, walleyes and white bass hitting. Steve Visomirski of Shaler released four muskies kayaking in Allegheny County the past two weekends. The muskies were 30, 32, 38 and 41 inches. On the North Shore, the Venture Outdoors Downtown TriAnglers landed 27 fish, including 21 bass caught on minnows. Bigger catches included John Force's 18-inch flathead catfish, Morgan Hezlep's 15¹/₄-inch largemouth bass, Tom Lippert's 22¹/₄-inch smallmouth buffalo, and Bob Miller's 12-inch walleye.

Ohio River: Walleyes, saugers, hybrid stripers and a couple of smallmouth bass were reported in the back channel dam and the mouth of Montour Run Wednesday. The mouth of Moon Run under the I-79 Bridge was yielding a variety of species. No big sizes were reported.

Cross Creek Lake (Washington County): Kathy Cooper of Canonsburg released an 18-inch, 5-pound largemouth bass, and her husband Gary Cooper a 25-inch, 5 1/2-pound saugeye on a yellow jighead and crawler-tipped white Twister tail, Sunday. The couple reported good panfishing, too, with numbers of nice-size crappies caught so far this spring.

High Point Lake (Somerset County): Crappies were hitting in mixed sizes, and the smallmouth bass bite was starting to pick up.

Youghiogheny River: Anglers continued to do well on stocked trout. Flow was still high Wednesday from the weekend's blowout.

Youghiogheny Reservoir (Fayette County): Ken Harding and Dave Sines of Oakland, Md., won Saturday's 14th annual Yough Walleye Association Invitational Tournament with a six-walleye limit totaling almost 15 pounds. Dave Jenko and Jim Gwyn of Belle Vernon caught the 5-plus-pound lunker. In all, 34 teams caught 96 fish totaling just over 221 pounds. Crappies and a few perch and bluegills were hitting. A few smallmouths also were hitting.

Spring Creek, Fishing Creek, Penn's Creek, Little Juniata River (Centre, Huntingdon, Clinton, Union, Mifflin counties): Spring Creek is the only stream that was fishable in recent days, given recent rainfall. This limestoner tends to drop more quickly than the others. More rain is forecast. Hatches include Sulphurs, remnants of the March Brown, Olive and Tan Caddis and a few Blue Quills. For daily condition updates, visit www.tcoflyfishing.com.

Curwensville Reservoir (Clearfield County): A 31-inch walleye was caught May 6. Anglers also were catching perch, bass and muskies. The fourth annual Alan Bloom Memorial Crappie Tournament is slated for May 24. For details, visit www.curwensvillelakefishing.com.

Pine Creek (Lycoming County): Great flow with dropping water levels was reported last weekend. The region could have used some rain, but streams were fishing well. Water temperatures were in the low- to mid-50s, which could bode well for June. March Browns are expected to continue for two to three weeks, and Gray Fox and big stonefly nymphs for about a month. Sulphurs and Blue-Winged Olives also were reported along with Tan and Olive Caddis, and Green Egg Sack Caddis. The mouth of the creek was yielding walleyes.

Little Pine Creek (Lycoming County): McConnell's Country Store stocked the Delayed Harvest section with big German brown trout Tuesday. In addition to 17- and 18-inch fish, a few 20-plus inchers were expected in the mix. For more, visit www.mcconnellscountrystore.com.

Report your catch to fishingreport@post-gazette.com. Include angler's name, age (if he or she is a child), place of residence, species, size, body of water, date of catch and phone number (not for publication). Publish your digital photos of fishing, hunting and outdoors adventures at Post Your Catch, www.post-gazette.com/sports.