Good places to go fishing in Pennsylvania include creeks, lakes, ponds, streams, reservoirs and rivers. Some are fisheries where you can always be assured of a catch, including bass of several varieties, catfish, crappie, panfish, even salmon and trout. Others are more remote, along mountain streams, found only after a strenuous hike. Presque Isle Bay is the only bay in Pennsylvania, with excellent fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass, panfish and pike.
Lakes
Pennsylvania's largest lake is Pymatuning, on the western border with Ohio. Although its size and location makes it a popular spot for fishing tournaments and derbies, it is always one of the best places to go fishing for walleye. If the Pennsylvania side is too crowded, you can go over the causeway and fish the Ohio side on your PA license. Lake Erie is Pennsylvania's second largest lake and the only one in which anglers can find every species of fish found in the state.
Ponds/Reservoirs
On the "Pennsylvania Fishing Hot Spots" list kept by the state's Fish & Boat Comission, Upper Woods Pond is good for deep-water trout fishing and Lower Woods Pond for bass, panfish and pickerel. Muddy Run Reservoir in Lancaster County has largemouth bass and trout, while Quemahoning Reservoir in Somerset County has the biggest bass in the state.
Rivers
Pennsylvania's best fishing rivers are the Allegheny for walleye, musky and Northern pike, the Delaware in Wayne County, one of the few rivers where you can find wild brown, brook and rainbow trout, the Shenango for stocked brown and rainbow trout, the Susquehanna and the Youghiogheny for smallmouth bass.
Trout Streams
Pennsylvania has several kinds of trout. Their natural habitat is cold mountain streams, but many of the state's lakes and ponds are stocked with fishery trout. To have a true trout-fishing experience, go for brook trout in one of the the state's top trout streams, such as the Clinton Branch of Fishing Creek or Cedar Run. You will need to be in good shape to fish for wild trout in Pennsylvania.
Ice Fishing
In winter, good places to go fishing in Pennsylvania include Beechwood Lake in Tioga County, Kahle Lake in Clarion County and Lily Lake in Luzerne County. Each are sites for ice fishing tournaments sponsored by the North East Ice Tour, with ice fishing clinics held the day before the tournaments begin, so that novices can learn the sport. Lake Pymatuning is also a good ice fishing location because it is shallow and wide-open enough to freeze quickly in the winter and melt quickly in the spring, both prime times for catching walleye. Ice fishing for trout and largemouth bass is allowed on Upper Wood Pond, as well.
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