Pa Fellers, need your help (Altoona area)

[JCrzy4Bass]

I'll be up in Altoona all weekend next weekend. I'm looking for any mud puddle and or pond, stream, creek, river, lake I can find within' a 10 - 20 minute drive.

Any help would be appreciated. Wife might be nice and let me take the car early one morning to get a top water bite or search for some smallies. Not familiar with the area much so nothing that will get me lost fellas. Though I will have my GPS

Thanks in advance.

I found a few by satellite on google. Has anyone fished any of these:

Kittanning Reservior

Mill Run Reservoir

Kettle Reservoir

Lake Altoona

Lakemont Resrvoir

and or the pond on Old Mill Run Rd (allegheny reservoir) before you reach Mill Rin Rez? What about the pond after Kittaning?  What about the ponds off Locke Mountain Rd?

There is also Canoe Creek Lake, and then a creek in the same park. Does the creek have smallies?

Are there smallies and largies in these? One or the other? Can anybody point me to a website where I could locate information about these locations and so forth?

Also which one of these spots has the best opportunity for shore fishing?  Don't have a boat to bring.  Any cheap rentals for these places early in the am around 6am?

Any other tips, pointers for the area?

[smallfry]

I used to live in that area.  Most of those reservoirs I don't know by name, but I assume they are the drinking water lakes that are not open for fishing (or anything else).

Canoe creek has both largemouth and smallmouth.  I used to fish it from a float tube.  You can catch fish from shore, especially on the side with the park (not the boat ramp side, the other side).  There is an old road bed that crosses the lake from the "upstream" side of the boat ramp area over to the park side.  You can to it on the park side.  The weedbeds down stream from this always have some largemouth.  You can probably cast to the creek channel upstream from this as well.  I've heard the spillway holds fish too, but I never really fished it.  

For smallies though, the best thing to do would be to go to the Frankstown branch of the Little J.  I fished a lot from its end in Petersburg all the way upstream a ways past the Etna furnace area.  For an outsider not familiar with the area the easiest thing to do may be to park off 22 at the Water Street flea market and walk upstream a little ways.  Theres a park around Etna Furnace where you could access the river too.  Those may be further than you want to drive though.  Upstream from Williamsburg would be closer, but I don't really know how the fishing is so I can't offer advice.

[basser89]

Check this out! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1213857815

That should answer your questions about the waters you have listed! While I grew up in PA, I never fished up in that area of the state. Good luck!

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I am originally from that area, Altoona was our neighboring rival in football.

Like was said above, anything you see with "reservoir" attached to it will be off limits.

I have seen some large fish come out of Mill Run Res though     :-X

Canoe Creek (and lake) has fish in it, but unless you are night fishing, no boat = no fish typically. You can catch fish, but be there early.  Best fishing will be on the back side of the lake, across from the swimming area. Keep going on Route 22 about 1/4 mile past the turnoff from the main entrance.  The main road will bear around to the right, but you want to go straight. Follow that side road and you will see the access area I am talking about.  Stump field at the upper end is decent, but limited w/o boat.  Take some old clothes and shoes and you can wade it.

If you go right down the road from Canoe Creek on Route 22 (toward Huntingdon), you will find a portion of the Juniata River known as the Frankstown Branch.  There are smallies in there.

PM sent w/ phone number.  Give me a call when you are up there if you are having trouble finding anything.  I will give you some directions.

[paangler3117]

for smallies the frankstown branch is your best bet, like speed said. I fish it pretty regularly, and have been doing real good on plastics (brown grubs with black fleck, and motor oil 2-3 inch) one other thing is if you plan on fishing it, your best bet is wading. It's a small "river" and wading is pretty easy, I only know of three places in it over my head! Good luck and have a safe trip!

Jim

[Sam]

I thought you were going to Ebensburg.

Change of venue?????

I can ask my brother-in-law in Indiana, PA, but I doubt he knows the Altoona area.

Let me know.