Fishing The 3 Rivers (Pgh)

[fishingkidPA]

i live like 10 mintues away from the 3 rivers and i never fish them. mostly because i dont have boat access but i just got a canoe. I usually bank fish at nevilles island and the emsworth lock. I heard the smallmouth fishing is mediocre. But alot of people say you can catch a couple 15+ inchers in a day if you fish the right spots. Regardless smallmouth fight good no matter how big so i dont honestly care right now. I know the rivers all so have some big saugeye, walleye, and carp + catfish. if anyone wants to share some info on some good spots that'd be awesome.

[BASS fisherman]

Bank fishing is tough on the rivers. Ill rate the ease of access from 1 to 10. Ten being a ramp or handicapped accessable area. One being a steep cliff you have to repel down.

A few spots I have hit and sometimes still do.:

On the Mon river there is a warm water discharge from one of the plants. I cant remember which one tho, its either the PPG plant or US steel plant. It is on 836? south of the Duquesne bridge on the western side of the river. Go across that bridge and go right. It loops around and head south. You will drive about 2 miles. Go across some RR tracks and then to a light. At the light make a left into a dirt lot. Park there and you can walk down to the river. Good winter spot. EOA- 9

From the Oakmont area you can hit several spots all in a few hours. From Oakmont, going down Hulton rd towards the bridge, you make the very last left you can onto a street before you get onto the hulton bridge. Then make the first right intot the school. Drive all the way back and park. You can walk down and fish there. There is also a park there where you can park also. EOA-8

Leave there and go across the hulton bridge and turn right. Around or less than a mile down the road you will see an entrance to a treatment plant on the right. If you pull in that drive and immediately make a left there is a small lot there to park in. You have to scale a scetchy hill tho to get to the water. There is a creek mouth there too. EOA-3

Pull out and go right towards Lock 3 bait and tackle, and there is a PFBC boat launch on the right just a bit up the road. Pull in but stay to the left of the lot. Back in the corner you can walk down to another creek that enters the river. I have caught fish around the ramp, but dont interfere with the people trying to launch and load boats. EOA- 8

Across the street from Lock 3 bait and tackle you can park and walk down over the hill and fish. That is right below the dam so fishing is good. EOA- 5

After that pull out making a right on freeport rd. You will go into springdale and I cant remember the street name, but it is before sheetz, and there is a carpet store at the top of the road. If you find that store near the sheetz, drive all the way down and that is the springdale launch. I rarely see anyone there just stay off the private docks. EOA- 10

Get back on freeport heading right again. Your going to go through tarentum and drive like your going onto the tarentum bridge. Basically take freeport to the light and make a right at the bridge. Once you start going across it there is a ramp on the right. Take that ramp and when you come to the stop sign, make a right. That is the tarentum launch and has lots of shoreline to fish. There is also a creek mouth there and a handicapped dock too. Someone caught a 55" musky off that hadicapped pier a few years ago! EOA- 10

If you go back out the same entrance but go straight instead of left, you will see Allegheny bait and tackle on the right on the next block up.

Now go across the bridge and go through I think 4 lights. There will be a BP gas station on your left, and a taco bell to your right. Make a left and drive for about 2 miles. As you drive you will notice the road is straight. It goes up and down but is straight. At around 2 miles the road has a slight bend to the right. When you see that bend, get into the left turning lane and turn down over the hill. The road is called "Edgecliff". Follow that to the stop sign and make a left. Follow that untill you see the river. Closer to the dam there are some spots to park on the right hand side of the road. There is also a small pond on the other side of the road from the river that is kind of hidden. I have caught some nice fish there, however it is loaded with poison ivy. So loaded that you can not avoid it. Just dont park in the plants parking lot unless you ask. Otherwise they will chase you out of there lot. And some gaurds are grumpy and wont let you park there if you ask anyway. EOA- 3

In PA, the fish commision thinks bass are a self sustaining population. In other words the PFBC does not pay as much attention to bass as they do say.......trout. There are some nice bass in the rivers, but in my experience and what I have seen recorded, the numbers of big bass are not there. For other fish those numbers are nice! If I am going river fishing, I go for cats But for bass, you can catch them anywhere on the rivers. I have caught smallmouth across from the point right behind the Carnegie science center. You know right near the sub? If you can find somewhere with some rocks on the bank there will be fish there. Do you know what current breaks are? Thats where you will find the bass.

[Lucas412]

Wow, nice post! Thanks a lot for this.

Luke